In finance, risk is best judged in a portfolio context. Is this true Essay

In finance, risk is best judged in a portfolio context. Is this true Why - Essay Example The giant players of this sector, the business are generated by management of the funds of the High Net-worth Individuals [HNI] clients and the big Corporate Houses. The services are obviously for a pre-determined fee which is generally structured on the basis of the returns generated by the investment bankers. In most common cases, there is a fixed portion of fee as well irrespective of the return generated by the fund managers (View, 2007 p.144). In this essay the researcher will analysis different aspects of portfolio. The theoretical background of portfolio especially risks and return is the integral part of portfolio discussion. So, here the researcher discusses this part at the first part of the essay. After that the researcher will discusses different aspects related with the portfolio i.e. CAPM Model, Long term financing, capital structure, WACC model, dividend policy and option. After discussing these aspects the researcher will summarise the whole topic and find out risk is the best judge in the portfolio context or not. Risk and Return In the terms of Investment, risk is the probability of difference between the expected returns and the actual return of investment. Since, the risk indicates the possibilities of reducing the part of initial or original investment or all amount of original investment. The risk is calculated through the standard deviation of the average or historical return of the particular investment. Presently, the market is too much volatile. So, most of the Companies are spending a large portion of time and money to develop the risk management strategies for the purpose of manages the risks attached with the business operation. On the other side, the return is the reward of taking the risk in investment. So, return indicates the loss or gain in the securities with in a particular timeframe. Portfolio Theory This is mathematical formulation which derived from the diversification concept. According to this theorem more than one inves ting assets are selected to minimise the risk of the each assets. There are two primary aspects of portfolio theory i.e. tries to minimise the portfolio risk at a certain level of expected return or to attempt to maximise the expected return of the investor at certain level of portfolio risk. Harry Markowitz was the person who introduced the idea of diversification in the year 1952. The concept of equity diversification in the international market is aimed at reducing risk, thereby maximizing the value of the portfolio. In the current market scenario, there are two views in the market that are quite competitive in nature. One of the views accept that diversification in the international equity markets have the capacity of eliminating the factor of risk involved in an investment, whereas the second view accepts that if the disturbances in an economy is specific to a country, then the diversification benefits can be achieved as a result of correlation between the markets remaining at a lower level. But in case the correlation existing between the marke

Vaccination debate Essay Example for Free

Vaccination debate Essay People ought to have a right not to vaccinate their kids, even if refusal to do so puts one’s own kids at risk, along with other people’s children. Do you agree? Childhood immunisation must be one of the most significant public health advances in medical history. Thanks to vaccines, children and teens that have been immunised would not have to experience the abhorrent epidemics like polio, mumps, measles and smallpox the older generations did. While it is safe to assume vaccines are here to stay, critics have presented damning yet unverified accounts of the ineffectiveness and harmful side effects of vaccinations urging parents to second guess their choice to immunise their child. The act of immunisation itself is the process of equipping one’s immune system with an immunological memory by introducing a weakened foreign molecule to the body that orchestrates an immune response that the body later uses to protect itself against an attack by said foreign molecule. Immunisation has been under constant fire since its inception in the late 1700’s with the introduction of the smallpox vaccine. People believed that the smallpox vaccine could literally turn vaccinated people into cows because the vaccination for smallpox was inducted from cows (William and Gunn, 2004): There was a famous Gilray cartoon [of vaccinated people sprouting cow heads in] 1804, which I always interpreted as people just being concerned about the source or purity of the vaccine. But they weren’t. They were concerned that they or their children would actually turn into cows. (Melnick, 2011) This proves that people’s views in regards to the ineffectiveness of immunisa tion are not always logical thus bringing to light the question of whether or not parents should be allowed to decide to or not to vaccinate their children, bearing in mind parental and social responsibilities. Parents should have the right to be aware of all the risks and advantages involved and understand for themselves that the pros far exceed the cons. People tend to be misled, in the scurry to do the best for their children, by other parents and antivaccine activists who base their beliefs on unproven, board dismissed studies and theories. One such theory brought to life by a British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield who claimed to have discovered a strong co relationship between the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccine and autism: Wakefield based his conclusions on a case  study of a dozen children who’d been brought to his clinic at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Almost immediately, Wakefield’s research methods and his interpretations, which had been published in the medical journal The Lancet, came under fire. Wakefield’s response was to appeal to the public rather than to his colleagues: The medical establishment was so determined to discredit him, he said, because he threatened their hegemony by taking parents’ concerns seriously. The media took the bait, and despite Wakefield’s lack of proof and his track record of dubious assertions and unverified lab results, they began churning out stories about how a maverick doctor was trying to protect innocent children from corrupt politicians and a rapacious pharmaceutical industry. Within months, vaccination rates across Western Europe began to fall. (Mnookin, 2011) Wakefield’s research was based on a very minuscule percentage of the entire population thus rendering unreliable. Despite the G.M.C’s (General Medical Council) dismissal of his studies, Wakefield utilised the media to manipulate paranoid, confused, gullible parents into depriving their children of the MMR vaccine. As a result, incident rates for two out of the three diseases increased significantly in the UK rising from 56 confirmed cases in 1998 to 449 cases within the first five months of the year 2006 with the first death since 1992. (Asaria and MacMohan, 2006) Since the wake of Wakefield’s MMR-Autism theory, issues have been raised linking thimerosal (a preservative containing ethyl mercury) to the cause of autism. Mercury is a known neurological hazard but the quantity of mercury present in vaccines then were ‘around 50micrograms 0.5 per-ml dose’ (Biba, 2009) which was ‘far short of toxic.’ Although the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) publicly suggested the subtraction of a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal from childhood shots in 1999 (Mnookin, 2011), the CDC has found no relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism after conducting scientific studies. (CDC Factsheet, 2004) (Melnick, 2011)Unsatisfied with the provided information parents tend to overlook proven statistics and rather look to their inner circles or celebrities with no knowledge of the background science, that have been given inappropriate media attention and ‘who have no new or credible data, and for which their assumptions and hypotheses have  been discredited.’ (Poland, 2011) They risk contracting a vaccine preventable disease to avoid a different health issue they believe the vaccinations themselves will cause proving to be a dire lose-lose situation. ‘Such individuals are denialists at best and dangerous at worst.’ In addition to the autism scare, parents also worry about a concept known as ‘immuno- overload.’ This is when some believe, the injection of multiple immunogens (foreign agents) in one vaccine or even spread out, may overwhelm the immune system of a toddler/child. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006). This however isn’t accurate: Children are given vaccines at a young age because this is when they are most vulnerable to certain diseases. Newborn babies are immune to some diseases because they have antibodies given to them from their mothers. However, this immunity only lasts a few months. Further, most young children do not have maternal immunity to diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hepatitis B, or Hib. If a child is not vaccinated and is exposed to a disease, the childs body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. An infant’s immune system is more than ready to respond to the very small number of weakened and killed infectious agents (antige ns) in vaccines. (CDC FAQ) Parents are drawing their own conclusions of the importance of immunisation. They presume certain vaccines are no longer necessary because there is no longer a threat. This is absolutely bogus. It is because of the vaccines the diseases that once swept out children and adults alike in the millions, are now invisible. If even a few parents stop vaccinating their children these diseases could resurface. (Biba, 2009) This generation of the pre-Wakefield, dubious parents, who have mostly been immunised themselves, have not witnessed the true calamity of the diseases the vaccines they withhold from their children, prevent. They have a diminished sense of urgency for vaccination. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006) Instead they choose to believe ‘†¦anti-vaccine books claim that all shots are bad, the diseases arent really anything to fear, and as long as you live a natural and healthy lifestyle, you dont have to worry. I think this is a very irresponsible approach to the vaccine issue. Vaccines are beneficial in ridding our population of both serious and non-serious diseases.’(Sears, 2011) Parents ultimately have a duty towards their children, but also have a social responsibility as a citizen. They have a right to be conscientiously involved in their child’s health and welfare. But as most parents choose to ignore the unbiased scientific studies that have been conducted, consult the internet for vaccine information. Anybody who has access to a computer has the liberty to free float their own thesis’ ridiculous or not, which appease to the parents unsatisfied with factual evidence which has become a serious cause for concern. (Haase, 2012) Combined with the self-reinforcing nature of online communities and a content-starved, cash-poor journalistic culture that gravitates toward neat narratives at the expense of messy truths, this disdain for actualities has led to a world with increasingly porous boundaries between facts and beliefs, a world in which individualized notions of reality, no matter how bizarre or irrational, are repeatedly validated. (Mnookin , 2011) Obviously, the more kids who are vaccinated, the better our country is protected and the less likely it is that any child will die from a disease. Some parents, however, arent willing to risk the very rare side effects of vaccines, so they choose to skip the shots. Their children benefit from herd immunity (the protection of all the vaccinated kids around them) without risking the vaccines themselves. Is this selfish? Perhaps. But as parents you have to decide. (Sears, 2001) Parents may justify their decision to deny their child of immunisation over the illusion that it is for their own good, by riding on the herd immunity for protection. But with more and more parents succumbing to the bystander apathy, the levels of herd immunity thins resulting in ominous consequences. (John and Samuel, 2000) In reference to the question at hand, it is beneficial for the health of society that laws are passed to make compulsory the immunisation of children given the vaccinations are meticulously researched and tested for safety and effectiveness thus disagreeing with the statement provided. Vaccinations are a medical gift to the progressing world and should thus be taken advantage of. If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. Choose science. (Sagan, 1997) Bibliography William, S., Gunn, A (2004) The Surgeon’s Word- Vaccination. World Journal of Surgery. DOI:0.1007/s00268-003-7346-4 Melnick, M. ( 2011, February) The Dangers of the Antivaccine Movement. (Conversation with Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Centre at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.) Time Magazine Retrieved from: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2053517,00.html Mnookin, S. (2011) The Panic Virus. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mxqVQQMZzFcCprintsec=frontcoverdq=The+Panic+Virushl=ensa=Xei=jV5FU5yJE8jVkgXogIHwAgved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=The%20Panic%20Virusf=false Asaria, P., MacMahon, E. (2006) Measles in the United Kingdom: Can we eradicate it by 2010? BMJ 333 (7574): 890-5. DOI:10.1136/bmj.38989.445845.7C Biba, E. (2009, October) How to Win an Argument About Vaccines. Wired Magazine Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/2009/10/ff_waronscience_argument/#corrections CDC Fact Sheet. (2004) MMR vaccine and autism-CDC (measles, mumps, and rubella). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved from: http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/MMR_VaccineAutismFacts.pdf. Poland, G. A. (2011) MMR Vaccine and Autism: Vaccine Nihilism and Postmodern Science. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 86(9): 869–871. DOI: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0467 Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257990/?tool=pmcentrezreport=abstract Hilton, S., Petticrew, M., Hunt, K. (2006) ‘Combined Vaccines are like a sudden onslaught to the body’s immune system’: Parental concerns about vaccine ‘overload’ and ‘immune-vulnerability’. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.03.003 CDC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/multiplevaccines.html#6 Sears, R. (2011) The Vaccine Book: Making the Right decision for Your Child New York, N. Y, Little, Brown Haase, N., (2012) Parents Trust Other Parents: Lay Vaccination Narratives on the Web May Create Doubt about Vaccination Safety. Sage Publications. DOI: 10.1177/0272989X12445286 John, T. J., Samuel, R. (2000) Herd immunity and herd effect: New insights and definitions. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 16 (7): 604-6. DOI:10.1023/A:1007626510002 Sagan, C. (1997) The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballentine Books New York Scheibner, V. (1998) Vaccination: The Hidden Truth (Documentary Video). Taycare Private Limited Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqsT5EoIk8U#t=34

AIDS Prevalence and Awareness in South Africa :: AIDS HIV Disease African Essays

AIDS Prevalence and Awareness in South Africa Johannesburg, the largest metropolitan area in the continent of Africa. The population of the main metropolitan area is 1,907,229 ( WorldBook encycl.130). Johannesburg is also one of the world richest gold fields. Despite these positive aspects, Johannesburg is a city with a dismal future, because it is suffering from one of the world's worst AIDS epidemics. Every Saturday, nearby cemeteries are busy with the arrival of people who have died from AIDS. Funeral directors state that about 30 or 40 people are buried every week, as a result of AIDS. It is said that in South Africa, one of every ten people has AIDS. Some 17 million people in Africa have died representing almost 80% of AIDS deaths world wide. This is the equivalent of the combined populations of New York City and Los Angeles (www.Time/2001/aidsafrica). There is a conspiracy of silence fueling the spread of HIV in South Africa. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, and has one of the fastest growing infection ra tes AIDS is now South Africa's leading cause of death. Last year it accounted for 40% of all deaths between the ages of 15 and 49 (US.news2.yimg.com). By the year 2010, HIV prevalence in adults is projected to reach 25% of the total population. South Africa is projected to have the highest AIDS death rate until 2015. At that point, the population will have decreased to the point that the death rate will no longer be as high as in other areas. South Africa has a population close to 40 million people - an estimated 4.2 million (10.5%) are infected with HIV. Of these, half are women ages 15-49. Over 40% of pregnant women are HIV-positive. The impact of AIDS in South Africa is overwhelming. The disease has orphaned 370,952 children 95,000 children have been infected with AIDS. The adult prevalence rate of HIV is 20%. While there are limits in extrapolating the general population, it is estimated that 4.2 million people were HIV positive in 1999, compared to approximately 3.6 million in 1998. (www.securethefuture.com). Statement of Need: Understanding who is Affected by AIDS Demographics show that those most affected by AIDS are women and children. African women and children have been particularly hard hit by AIDS. There are now 16 million African children who have lost at least one parent to AIDS. Johannesburg medical agencies state in their reports that in the next 10 years, that number will reach 28 million.

The Great Depression Essay -- essays research papers

Carmack 2 The Great Depression   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression is known as a time of economic disaster, and for its impact on the social structure of families. As times got harder, the family way of life changed. Families that were well off did not suffer as much as those that were already struggling. When men lost their jobs they also lost the ability to support their families. Children were forced to leave home and find work without adequate schooling. The Great Depression affected people both physically and psychologically. It was an era of unemployment, family struggles, and the way they survived.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression was an era of unemployment. One of the main causes of unemployment was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the twenties. The unequal distribution of wealth had gone on forever. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle class, between the United States and Europe, and even between industries and agriculture. The unequal distribution of wealth had created an unstable economy. Companies were losing money because of this unstable economy so there for they had to make some changes. The first thing that had to be done was to save money and they did this by cut the pay role. Employees of many years were fired or took massive pay cuts. The employers only kept a select few workers that they had to have. Carmack 3 If one did not make the employer’s expectation, they were fired.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Monte Cristo had a list, a little roll call. And one by one he took them each for a ride Saying One and Two and Three and so on Till the names were all crossed off And he had cleabsed the world of a giving number Of betrayers who had personally wronged him. He was judge, jury, and executioner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Sandburg 445) Finding a replacement was not difficult since everyone; men, women, children, and even grandparents, were looking for work. I’m not asking for social equality, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ All I want is a job with a decent wage, To exist now and provide for old age. So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you, Give me something to do. (Proudberg 9-16) With few job openings and so many people looking fo... ...yday study the buffalo on the nickel, †¦. Study before the nickel, the dime is spent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Sandburg 456) A lot of the people today have long forgotten the lessons that their parents had taught them. Today people really do not appreciate the value of a dollar, but they know all about â€Å"plastic,† or commonly known as credit cards. I think a small dose of depression would do people today some good but not too much, because I think we would have a lot more people killing themselves and others just because people have fewer moral values today. Carmack 8 Worked Cited Hawes, Joseph M. Children Between the Wars. Ed. Joseph M. Hawes., N. Ray Hiner. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. Proudbeg, Jim. â€Å"Poor Nut Ambitious (too Proud To Beg).† 21 Apr. 2000. http://www.mudcat.org/!!-song99.cfm?stuff=fall99+9902682. Sandburg, Carl. The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970. Underwood, Mark. â€Å"Black Thursday.† The New York Times on the web. 1 May. 1996. 4 Apr. 2000 . The Great Depression Essay -- essays research papers Carmack 2 The Great Depression   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression is known as a time of economic disaster, and for its impact on the social structure of families. As times got harder, the family way of life changed. Families that were well off did not suffer as much as those that were already struggling. When men lost their jobs they also lost the ability to support their families. Children were forced to leave home and find work without adequate schooling. The Great Depression affected people both physically and psychologically. It was an era of unemployment, family struggles, and the way they survived.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Depression was an era of unemployment. One of the main causes of unemployment was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the twenties. The unequal distribution of wealth had gone on forever. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle class, between the United States and Europe, and even between industries and agriculture. The unequal distribution of wealth had created an unstable economy. Companies were losing money because of this unstable economy so there for they had to make some changes. The first thing that had to be done was to save money and they did this by cut the pay role. Employees of many years were fired or took massive pay cuts. The employers only kept a select few workers that they had to have. Carmack 3 If one did not make the employer’s expectation, they were fired.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Monte Cristo had a list, a little roll call. And one by one he took them each for a ride Saying One and Two and Three and so on Till the names were all crossed off And he had cleabsed the world of a giving number Of betrayers who had personally wronged him. He was judge, jury, and executioner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Sandburg 445) Finding a replacement was not difficult since everyone; men, women, children, and even grandparents, were looking for work. I’m not asking for social equality, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ All I want is a job with a decent wage, To exist now and provide for old age. So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you, Give me something to do. (Proudberg 9-16) With few job openings and so many people looking fo... ...yday study the buffalo on the nickel, †¦. Study before the nickel, the dime is spent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Sandburg 456) A lot of the people today have long forgotten the lessons that their parents had taught them. Today people really do not appreciate the value of a dollar, but they know all about â€Å"plastic,† or commonly known as credit cards. I think a small dose of depression would do people today some good but not too much, because I think we would have a lot more people killing themselves and others just because people have fewer moral values today. Carmack 8 Worked Cited Hawes, Joseph M. Children Between the Wars. Ed. Joseph M. Hawes., N. Ray Hiner. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. Proudbeg, Jim. â€Å"Poor Nut Ambitious (too Proud To Beg).† 21 Apr. 2000. http://www.mudcat.org/!!-song99.cfm?stuff=fall99+9902682. Sandburg, Carl. The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970. Underwood, Mark. â€Å"Black Thursday.† The New York Times on the web. 1 May. 1996. 4 Apr. 2000 .

Trifles Susan Glaspell Irony Symbolism Theme

Elizabeth NolanNovember 24, 2012 English essay Favorite Play â€Å"Trifles†, a play by Susan Gaspell, is a story of women banding together to protect one another in a male dominated society. The play is titled â€Å"Trifles† because women’s concerns were often considered mere trifles, and not worth the thought and time of men. The use of theme, symbolism, and irony are the reasons why this play is so appealing, especially to women. â€Å"Trifles† contains themes of female identity, revenge, and protection.The protagonists of the play are women, but they are not known by their first names. They are only called by their husbands’ name. It is only when they speak of Mrs. Wright before her marriage that she is called Minnie. The men believe that the women are small-minded and assume the identities of their husbands. Minnie Wright was a vibrant, outgoing young lady. After her marriage to John Wright, the light in her dimmed until she was nothing but a sh ell of her former self.He took away her self worth, making her life with him unbearable. This is the reason she snapped and murdered her husband. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover evidence that the men could not. They approached the house as a home instead of a crime scene. The women identified with Mrs. Wright after piecing the story together and decided to keep the evidence that would convict her to themselves. By protecting her, they are standing up for women everywhere. Mrs.Wrights pet canary is a symbol of herself. She had once been a beautiful girl with a nice singing voice, but her marriage to John Wright was like a cage. She was secluded from others and treated poorly by him. The bird was her only source of happiness in her cold, lonely life. When john strangled the bird, he killed the last part of Mrs. Wright that was Minnie Foster. He had taken away her only comfort in life, and this is why she decided to strangle him with the rope.

Translation of Phraseological Units with Animal Names Essay Example

Translation of Phraseological Units with Animal Names Essay Example Translation of Phraseological Units with Animal Names Essay Translation of Phraseological Units with Animal Names Essay INTRODUCTION Phraseology is a study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units, in which the component parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than or otherwise not predictable from the sum of their meanings when used independently. The classification of phraseological units can be different. According to Vinogradov, there are phraseological combinations, unities and fussions. The Koonin’s classification is the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology. The classification is based on the combined structural semantic principle and it also considers the quotient of stability of phraseological units. It is represented by nominative phraseological units, nominative communicative phraseological units, phraseological units which are neither nominative nor communicative include interjectional word-groups and communicative phraseological units. My research is related to the phraseological units with zoonimical component and their semantic structure. Zoonims, that are used in our language, are really meaningful, they are directed to the allegorical characteristic, probably metaphorical and stylistically emphasized. The aim of this research is to explore deeper the given phraseological units. I have set such objectives: 1) to explicate a concept of phraseological unit with zoonimical component and to reveal the regularities of their usage; 2) to analyse their semantic and structural peculiarities. The methods investigation research strategy are as followed: 1) method of the system analysis, that is a study of the subject of the investigation as a totality of elements, that create a system; 2) descriptive method, that gives the full description of phraseological units. The object of my investigation is the phraseological units with zoonimical component. The subject is the expressive means of Modern English phraseological units. These means are the morphological, syntactical, phonetic and lexical peculiarities of these phraseological units. Theoretical and practical value of the research consists in that fact, that nowadays there is a small amount of investigations about phraseological units with zoonimical component. Besides, the researches in the area of phraseology have become popular in the last decades. The results of this study are also important for the translation, as the translator should know the peculiarities of different idioms, in this case with zoonimical component. Composition of the research paper: The research consists of the introduction, two chapters, that are theoretical and practical parts, the conclusion and the bibliography.

Expressing Quantity in English for Large Amounts

Expressing Quantity in English for Large Amounts There are many expressions used to express large amounts in English. In general, much and many are the standard quantifiers used to express large quantities. The Basics Much is used with uncountable nouns: There is much interest in learning English around the world.How much money do you have?There isnt much butter left in the refrigerator. Many is used with countable nouns: There are many people who use the computer every day.How many students live close to the school?There arent many books on that shelf. The following expressions are often used in place of much and many, especially in positive sentences. a lot oflots ofplenty ofa great deal ofa large number ofthe majority of These expressions can are combined with of in the sense of most, many or much. A lot of people enjoy listening to jazz.A great deal of time is spent understanding these issues. Note that much, most and many does NOT take of. Most people enjoy listening to some type of music. (NOT: Most of people...)Much time is spent understanding math. (NOT: Much of time is spent ...) Formal/Informal A lot of/lots of/plenty of are generally used in informal situations: There will be a lot of food at the party.Theres plenty of time to finish your homework. A large amount of/a great deal of/a large number of/a majority of are used in more formal situations, such as written business English and presentations. There is a great deal of pressure to finish this project on time.There are a large number of individuals who prefer to do banking online. Countable/Uncountable A lot of/lots of/plenty of are used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Theres a lot of juice in this jug.There are plenty of opportunities to learn online.There are lots of people who like chess. A large amount of/a great deal of are used with uncountable nouns such as water, money, time, etc. Theres a large amount of work to be done on this project.There isnt a great deal of time to finish this report. A large number of/a the majority of are used with countable nouns such as people, students, investors, etc. The majority of investors are interested in low-risk opportunities.A large number of our pupils continue their studies at university.

Bolshevism essays

Bolshevism essays In an attempt to create system in which everyone is equal and enjoys equal distribution of wealth, where there is no private ownership of any enterprise or property, Karl Marx generated the Communist Manifesto. By reinterpreting the works of Marx, Lenin modified the communist ideal to his convenience. Some examples of Lenins contribution to communism were an elite government, elimination of oppositional parties, and suppression of free press and many other civil liberties. Although barbaric at face value, Lenins domination of the Soviet government was very organized. With Trotsky as his vehicle, Lenin was a dreamy politician with high ambitions and elaborate ideas drawn from his attitude that the end justifies the means. There is a difference between civil war and revolution. These are two completely separate elements in society. So what happens when the two come together? The long anticipated collapse of the tsarist regime in 1917 ended a system that had been in place since the fourteenth century. Surely there were many major contributing factors to its demise historically but the immediate agitators were more significant. Most obvious was a unanimous rejection towards the poor coordination of the war effort against Germany who proved to be very consistent in defeating Russian forces, forcing Russia to cede catastrophic portions of territory, literally ripping chunks out of its geographic constituency including valuable prizes such as Poland. Shortages of food and fuel along with inflation rapidly brought the people of Russia to disparity. Politicians, well anticipating governmental failure encouraged citizens to rally, thus further instigating revolution. This helped Russias bureaucratic system dissolve quickly when Nicholas II lost power on March 2, that year. Without any civil order or political structure, Russia ascended into a state of chaos, yielding to the ambi ...

The Business Strategy Game - BSG Online game Essay

The Business Strategy Game - BSG Online game - Essay Example Industry overview As we entered the footwear industry the notion of being highly competitive in the market was our main subject of concern. Through the knowledge we had gained in business studies, we had to apply Michael Porter’s five forces so that we thoroughly understand the market and promote our company’s competitive advantage (Roy, 2009). Thus, we put the following forces into close consideration. Firstly, on the bargaining power of buyers, we saw that, since the footwear industry provides an extremely competitive market, this force was at all times undergoing a steady rise. The most important opportunity under this force was that our company had the prospect of applying our differentiation principle for the products offered by our company. However, we observed that there was always the threat of consumers having a high bargaining margin thus bringing in the possibility of a lower profit than the one we had anticipated. About the bargaining power of suppliers, we saw that since there are very many suppliers in the footwear industry, this force is always very low. This was a very important opportunity to our company as it meant that, we could get supply of raw materials at low price. Thus, it aided us in meeting the strategy clock principle of selling quality products at low price. Concerning the threat of new entrants, we saw that the industry offered a great opportunity to our company. Since industry 7 was limited to five (5) groups, this threat was not applicable. In this sense, the footwear industry offered a huge opportunity for our company since we had to lay all our concentration mainly on outshining our existing competitors. Regarding the threat of substitute products, we saw this was a subject of great concern for our company. This is because, this competitive force was always very high as at most times the products available in the market were substitutes of one another. However, this force was an important opportunity to our compan y since it motivated us to be very innovative. Finally, we saw that the force of competitive rivalry was a great opportunity for our company to triumph in the industry. The opportunity offered by this force was that it ensured we did all our best in innovating higher quality product designs. However, our company had to face the threat of our competitors using our product designs to come up with more advanced ones. Company overview As we took over management of Zenith Company Limited, we observed several essential strengths and weaknesses that the company already put in place (Brott, 2009). Among the most essential strengths that Zenith had created is a huge market share of around 20%. Secondly, the company had a good customer base for its products particularly in North America and Europe Africa. It had also done a lot in promoting its brands over the internet thus enjoying the advantage of selling its products at higher prices per pair. Our company also had the advantage of having u tilized a significant number of retail outlets (Hill and Jones, 2010, p. 178). However, the company had some weaknesses and they included lack of celebrity appeal. The company further had a weakness of taking a lot of time in delivering goods to its clients. Decisions Year 11 There are several decisions that we had to concur as a team. This was to ensure that our company was going to meet the goal of being very competitive

Human Nature Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Nature - Assignment Example me instances, human beings restrain themselves from pursuing their interest if it results in- harming others, or when it results in aiding other human beings (Williams 102). In the context of the criminal justice system, the concepts of ethical and psychological egoism are very applicable. For instance in the prisoner’s dilemma, where two convicts are given choices to pursue self-interests that may result in them serving minimal, moderate or maximum sentences. I would take pity on the parolee because her actions seem to be motivated by a greater sense of duty to her children, who cannot fend for themselves in her absence. My motivation for feeling pity on her would be the sense of altruistic feeling I would get from not uprooting her family. My motivations are in contrast with Hobbes’ assumption, that even seemingly altruistic behavior has self-serving purposes. On the contrary, it is because I already place value in helping the less privileged and the feeling of happiness, due to helping others, is a by-product of the action and not the main agenda. As a servant of the law, the police officer is bound by rules and ethical conducts of the police force, whose primary aim is an obligation to protecting the people from harm while upholding the law. The officer has an ethical and legal duty to the public and by illegally ‘planting’ evidence to arrest the seemingly guilty sexual offender, the officer has accomplished his ethical duty to the public, by protecting potential victims. By using illegal means for the greater good of the community, the officer has done the right thing. Additionally, the officer does not seem to benefit from the arrest and has in fact risked his freedom, to pursue justice on behalf of the victims and families of sexual abuse. His sole aim is upholding justice and helping others. The motivations that informed the newspaper’s decision to run the story are- correcting the injustice against the wrongfully convicted man, bolstering its

Matlab Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Matlab - Assignment Example The results indicated to show that system (a) had a significantly larger absolute steady state error as compared to the system (b). It is equally clear that system (B) displayed a greater accuracy with less absolute steady state error as compared to that of the system (a). This leads to a conclusion that the positive error value of system (b) established the system output’s stability. Prior to the introduction and calculation of the error formulas, it is possible to determine the system’s performance by the use of its constant (K) value. A perfect system with no steady state error, ideally, Kp would be equal to zero, Kv would be equal to one and Ka would be equal to one. It is however extremely challenging to attain this kind of a system. If Kv or Ka would be equal to zero, then the steady state error would be infinite as illustrated in the results in the table. If Kpos would be equal to negative one, then the steady state error would become infinite. The results from the table show that the Kpos is very close to negative one. This is basically the reason as to why it has a large value of the steady state error. The sign recorded by the steady state error gives an indication of whether the output is greater than the input or vice versa. For instance, the table shows that system (a) displays a negative error value making the output of the system to be greater than the input. This designates some degree of amplification. On the other hand, the system (b) displays a positive error making the output smaller than the input.

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global Warming - Essay Example This paper will first describe the greenhouse effect then will explain the way man-made and naturally occurring gases affect it in addition to the potential consequences of these forces. It will then present a rebuttal. What is Global Warming? Basically, the greenhouse effect behaves in the following way. When sunlight pierces the atmosphere and strikes the surface of the earth, not all of the sun’s solar power is absorbed. Roughly 30 percent of this energy is reflected back into space. Certain atmospheric gases act in much the same method as does the outer wall and roof of a greenhouse, consequently the terminology. These gases allow sunlight to pierce then trap a portion of this solar energy. The remaining energy heats the earth (Gutierrez, 2008). It is a precarious balance and due to these greenhouse gases being artificially amplified by man-made sources, more continuously builds up in the atmosphere thus trapping more of the solar energy and reflects less back in to space. This avoidable circumstance is causing the earth to warm. Reasons of global warming Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most common of the greenhouse gases. Trees ‘breathe in’ CO2 and when they die, CO2 it is restored back into the atmosphere. The clearing of trees by mass burning, which is occurring at a phenomenal rate in the tropical rain forests, is decreasing the amount of CO2 that is absorbed therefore increasing the quantity that is added to the atmosphere. CO2 contributes about half of the total gases that produce the greenhouse effect. Though deforestation is contributing greatly to the excess of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, a larger fraction is caused by the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Fossil fuels are burned by electricity-producing power plants, vehicles and factories to name a few sources. The great majority of this excessive fuel consumption, its toxic pollutants and greenhouse-enhancing byproducts are found in the U.S., Russia and Europe. Among other greenhouse gases are methane, which is released when plants are burned during the clearing of land, during the coal-mining process and oil exploration activities; chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which is the gaseous substance which cools refrigerators and provides aerosol cans with propulsion and nitrous oxide (N2O) which is the lesser cause of greenhouse gas. It is estimated that man-made causes represents half of the CO2 production. (â€Å"Treaty,† 2001). The rising amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is becoming progressively more disconcerting. Eighty percent of the earth’s population lives in countries that, combined, emit just 35 percent of the total CO2 while the U.S. and the Russia combined are responsible for creating half. Motor vehicles are a significant cause of air pollution. The burning of fuel to heat homes and power industries along with the poisons emitted from smokestacks at coal-burning power plants. â€Å"Vehicles produce high levels of carbon monoxides (CO) and a major source of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), whereas, fuel combustion in stationary sources is the dominant source of sulfur dioxide (SO2)† (Socha, 2007). If the balance between the CO2 levels of the ocean and atmosphere is disturbed by adding ever-increasing quantities of CO2, the oceans will continue to take in greater concentrations than it would naturally. The resulting warming ocean waters are less capable concerning their capability of absorbing CO2 and when the seas can no longer

What explains the widening and deepening of international peace Essay

What explains the widening and deepening of international peace operations after the Cold War - Essay Example Promise of Peace The ideal state of freedom, security and happiness among peoples and nations in the world perfectly outlines the concept of world peace, which has been extremely elusive to humankind since the dawn of a competitive civilization. Non-violence, understanding and cooperation among countries as well as their leaders signify the essence of this universal aspiration, which for many is a seeming Utopian dream. But, in theory and practice, peace is never impossible.1 While it is believed that it is already embedded in human nature to be violent and adversarial, it is also factually acceptable that war is only man-made and could be prevented through a firm resolve and humane freewill. Immanuel Kant in his classical treatise entitled Perpetual Peace, upheld that the epitome of humanity only occurs when there is a total cessation of hostilities and not just a temporary suspension of conflicts.2 It should be noted, however, that Kant did not imply that there should be a total ab sence of disputes and conflicts before peace is attained. Theoretically, the stress was only placed on the term ‘hostilities’ and that it also implied the polite way of handling issues and settling differences. There has been a wide-ranging scope of theories and conjectures about the idea of peace. Various interpretations were already offered and at times disputed. According to Kacowicz, there is a threefold typology of peace.3 First is precarious peace, which is the temporary absence or armed conflict between nations (some Arab states and Israel). Second is conditional peace, where one or both sides see the necessity of deterrent activities to avoid war (United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War). Third and lastly is the stable peace, which neither side employs force or make a threat of force in any of its disputes (United States and United Kingdom during the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis). As an ongoing and dynamic process, stable peace involves the process of achie ving a continuum of absence of war resulting from a balance of power, deterrence to conflict resolution and consolidation of societal security. For most part, stable peace is the one denoted by historicists and written about by romanticists. Beginning and End of the Cold War Dubbed as a war on ideology, the Cold War (1947-1941) was a period of tension, conflict and competition between the capitalist West and the socialist East. Spearheaded by world superpowers, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic ventured into a prolonged political and military struggle that also involved other countries, called satellites (Eastern block) and allies (Western block). The rivalry for influence in the Third World and dominance in the military force was said to be the major germ that caused the war.4 A considerable mix of calm and high tension appeared in the international stage during this period. The Berlin Siege of 1948, the Korean Civil War in 1950-1953, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the Vietnam War in 1959-1975, the Missile Attacks in Cuba (1962) and the Soviet-Afghanistan War in 1979-1989 all accounted for the terrible lethal strikes that occurred within this span of time. An imminent nuclear war precipitated by the Able Archer 83 Exercises of NATO was also documented. Nevertheless, the fear of a guaranteed mutual destruction engendered by their own sophisticated nuclear weapons served as a reason for a

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global Warming - Essay Example This paper will first describe the greenhouse effect then will explain the way man-made and naturally occurring gases affect it in addition to the potential consequences of these forces. It will then present a rebuttal. What is Global Warming? Basically, the greenhouse effect behaves in the following way. When sunlight pierces the atmosphere and strikes the surface of the earth, not all of the sun’s solar power is absorbed. Roughly 30 percent of this energy is reflected back into space. Certain atmospheric gases act in much the same method as does the outer wall and roof of a greenhouse, consequently the terminology. These gases allow sunlight to pierce then trap a portion of this solar energy. The remaining energy heats the earth (Gutierrez, 2008). It is a precarious balance and due to these greenhouse gases being artificially amplified by man-made sources, more continuously builds up in the atmosphere thus trapping more of the solar energy and reflects less back in to space. This avoidable circumstance is causing the earth to warm. Reasons of global warming Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most common of the greenhouse gases. Trees ‘breathe in’ CO2 and when they die, CO2 it is restored back into the atmosphere. The clearing of trees by mass burning, which is occurring at a phenomenal rate in the tropical rain forests, is decreasing the amount of CO2 that is absorbed therefore increasing the quantity that is added to the atmosphere. CO2 contributes about half of the total gases that produce the greenhouse effect. Though deforestation is contributing greatly to the excess of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, a larger fraction is caused by the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Fossil fuels are burned by electricity-producing power plants, vehicles and factories to name a few sources. The great majority of this excessive fuel consumption, its toxic pollutants and greenhouse-enhancing byproducts are found in the U.S., Russia and Europe. Among other greenhouse gases are methane, which is released when plants are burned during the clearing of land, during the coal-mining process and oil exploration activities; chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which is the gaseous substance which cools refrigerators and provides aerosol cans with propulsion and nitrous oxide (N2O) which is the lesser cause of greenhouse gas. It is estimated that man-made causes represents half of the CO2 production. (â€Å"Treaty,† 2001). The rising amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is becoming progressively more disconcerting. Eighty percent of the earth’s population lives in countries that, combined, emit just 35 percent of the total CO2 while the U.S. and the Russia combined are responsible for creating half. Motor vehicles are a significant cause of air pollution. The burning of fuel to heat homes and power industries along with the poisons emitted from smokestacks at coal-burning power plants. â€Å"Vehicles produce high levels of carbon monoxides (CO) and a major source of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), whereas, fuel combustion in stationary sources is the dominant source of sulfur dioxide (SO2)† (Socha, 2007). If the balance between the CO2 levels of the ocean and atmosphere is disturbed by adding ever-increasing quantities of CO2, the oceans will continue to take in greater concentrations than it would naturally. The resulting warming ocean waters are less capable concerning their capability of absorbing CO2 and when the seas can no longer

Review of Literature on the Attributes of the Ideal Leader in Higher Research Paper

Review of Literature on the Attributes of the Ideal Leader in Higher Education - Research Paper Example Quaqebeke & Knippenberg (2012) contended that leaders can only be effective when they are able to exercise influence over subordinates. A researcher viewed that when subordinates look at their leaders as ideal, they will follow them with respect and likes to be self-identified with them. Using self-other-overlap measure, researchers determine the level of respect accorded by the respondents to their leaders through their communicative openness with them (Quaqebeke et al., 2012). Mael and Ashford identification questionnaire was also utilized to know if they can self-identify themselves with their respective leaders.Researchers confirmed that the relationship between leader categorization and openness to leadership is stronger, which posit that more subordinates thought of themselves as imbibed with ideal leaders qualities. They further agreed that people's categorization of leaders and themselves is contingent upon if the ideal leader category is viewed as far from standards set as t he benchmark.Aaker (2003) meanwhile studied the leadership styles of female administrators in Tennesee using 13 two-year community colleges (p.1). Through Leadership Practice Inventory and with demographic data of varied respondents, Aaker (2003) argued that the traits commonly used in leadership are enabling, modeling, encouraging, challenging, and inspiring (p. 1). Aaker (2003) likewise affirmed that there are no significant differences between female executives designated in students affairs (p. 1).

The price at the gas Essay Example for Free

The price at the gas Essay The price at the gas pump seems outrageous as the national average price per gallon hits $3. 09, but the real tragedy of the rising prices is in the unseen affects across the spectrum of daily life. While several surveys have said people are not changing much due to the rising cost of gas, they are doing some things and the rising cost of gas has affects that people do not even realize. In some cases, the effect of the effect is the real news. At the grocery store, people are not even equating the rising cost of groceries with the cost of fuel, but it is a major factor. Consciously or not, people are traveling less and putting off other expenditures because they are spending so much more on gas. The rising cost of gas is affecting the amount people spend on groceries, the amount they travel and the amount they spend on other things. It’s easy not to think about the rising cost of gas as it relates to the rising cost of groceries, but in some markets the increase has been dramatic and the cost of gasoline and other fuels are a factor in the price increases. Last week, the U. S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the cost of making a Thanksgiving dinner was up 11 percent over the same dinner last year. With some items the price increase is only a few cents, but over the course of a holiday meal or a month’s worth of groceries, the difference is very noticeable. Strangely, efforts to reduce the cost of gasoline may also be contributing to the rise in prices at the grocery store. Many of our food products are animal based, eggs, milk, cheese and meat at the very least. All of these products rely on the animal being fed, usually a mixture of corn and other things, but because of the demand for corn to make ethanol, the price of feed corn has skyrocketed. An effort to reduce the cost of fuel in one area passes it on in another means. Based on personal observation, costs of dairy products are up an average of 25 percent over last year. While consumers realize it or not, the cost of gasoline is affecting them at the grocery store. Another effect of the high price of gasoline is the choice to make fewer trips. This means that people are not simply running to the store for every little thing they need or are going to only one store instead of shopping around. It means a late night snack attack will usually have to be met by whatever is in the house and it means that people are planning their spending more wisely. By taking fewer random trips to the grocery store and other stores, impulse shopping is reduce and the entire economy is affected by the price of gasoline. Furthermore, people take fewer random pleasure trips when the price of gasoline is high. Deciding to drive an hour or so to go to a concert or another event takes on a new dimension when the cost of actually getting there has to be considered a major expense. When people do decide to travel, they are travelling to areas closer to home. This has an interesting economic effect. Smaller, more out of the way travel destinations may see an increase in business as people try to find vacations close to home, but traditional resort destinations may see significant reductions in the number of visitors because of the cost of travel. Additionally, some people may elect not to have a vacation at all. With the rising cost of gas and its effects on the costs of other items, many people are choosing to forgo vacations and luxury purchases because their disposable income level is dropping. People are choosing more fuel efficient vehicles over luxury cars and many are choosing to eat at home instead of having dinner out. Even the important things, like oil changes and other car repairs are sometimes being put off indefinitely because people are spending more on gas. It may not seem like a few cents more at the pump would make a huge difference, but when added to the other things that are affected by the price increase, it means people simply have less money. The first visible effect of having less money was the move to more fuel efficient vehicles. It meant that the ultra big sports utility vehicles which had been in their heyday were suddenly being traded in mass for smaller, cheaper and more fuel efficient vehicles. Suddenly, Americans were more concerned about where every penny was going, some without even realizing why. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem like a big deal – a few extra pennies per gallon at the gas station, but then it began to build. The rising cost of gasoline and the devotion of corn to ethanol production drove up the price of food. Then, people stopped driving as much, making fewer trips to the store and other places because they wanted to save money and that meant fewer impulse purchases. Finally, the impact of rising gasoline prices made a significant dent in the average pocketbook and Americans had to find other ways to save, by cutting back on luxuries, forgoing unnecessary expenses, or putting off necessary expenses in hope that a time would come when things might be more affordable. Suddenly, in the big picture, that few extra cents hurts a lot.

Competitive Advantages Over Spaghetti House In Hk Marketing Essay

Competitive Advantages Over Spaghetti House In Hk Marketing Essay Abstract and aim By using personal survey questionnaire, 150-200 students of City University of Hong Kong will be asked, in order to find out the competitive advantage of Pizza hut and compare with Spaghetti House for places to buy food in names and addresses from Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories. Addresses were area code to census tracts. Based on individual factors are traditional explanations for the inability of some people to change dietary habits. This study examines the food service by Pizza Hut and its competitive advantages over Spaghetti House Aim This work aims to find out the successful factor of other competitors and to provide suggestions and evidences in order to increase the sales and profits of Pizza Hut by improve Pizza Huts services and its competitive advantages. Background / outline Hong Kong is an international city. There are seven million residents and lots of tourists would love to shop in Hong Kong thus there are different social cultures exist including diet habit. Foreign food is playing an important role in Hong Kong to suit customers different needs. There are a lot of western restaurant in Hong Kong such as, Spaghetti House, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut etc. Lots of people especially teenagers like Pizza Hut very much, they love to eat western foods, so Pizza Hut attracts a bulk amount of regular customer for a long period. Pizza Hut is an American famous restaurant chain, offering different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread, Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., the worlds largest restaurant company, with approximately 34,000 restaurants, delivery-carry out units, kiosks in 100 countries. Pizza Hut has been serving Hong Kong for almost 30 years. The first Pizza Hut restaurant opened in Hong Kong in 1981 with its first delivery service began in 1992, while the business of Pizza Hut is still increasing every year. Since 1987, Hong Kong Pizza Hut franchise has owned by the Jardine Matheson Group. At present, Hong Kong Pizza Hut has a total of over 70 branches and more than 3000 employees. The main competitor of Pizza Hut is Spaghetti House. Spaghetti House is also a famous western restaurant in Hong Kong. The menu of Spaghetti House is similar to Pizza Hut; its target market is a little different from Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut vs Spaghetti House  ¼Ã… ½Which one is more famous?  ¼Ã… ½Which one do customers prefer?  ¼Ã… ½Which products are more competitive? We hope to find the answer during this project. In this project, well analyze the 7Ps of market strategies of Pizza Hut and take the personal survey in order to find out the competitive advantage of Pizza Hut and the comparison with Spaghetti House in Hong Kong. More, we can also know that which one is better and more famous. Secondly, we focus on physical evidences from customers opinions to improve the environments of both restaurants. Finally, we refer to the result gained from questionnaires to make the recommendations and suggest new marketing strategies to Pizza Hut for the improvement. Objective and research questions Study the demographics of target customers Determine which attributes of pizza are the most important to the customers Determine the preference of product package by the customers Determine the acceptance of new products by our target customers Identify the purchase behavior of the customers Identify which promotion channels are the most effective Measure the satisfactory level of customers towards Pizza Hut Critical Literature Review Western fast food chains development and impact in Asia Majority scholar to believe food is more affected by culture to restrict in consumption product. As far as relatively other products concerned, that is more difficult to change the customers behavior such as U.S breakfasts manufacturer Kelloggs to spend 20 years time in Japan, ability success to entry use as major rice and kelp soup make breakfast of consumption market. Some country and district such as Japan and Hong Kongs children as regards coke, pizza and spaghetti etc foreign countrys food never again, but that local food is accompany children to grow and combine in local culture. From the above, Pizza Hut can identify market opportunities and develop targeted promotion plans. Therefore, research and development professionals stay on HK of competitor initiatives and explore demand for fast food products. Advertising agencies working with clients in the food industries understand the product buyer to develop messages and images that compel consumers to purchase Italian food products. Business development executives understand the dynamics of the market and identify possible partnerships. Finally, information and research center librarians provide market researchers, brand and product managers and other colleagues with the vital information they need to do their jobs more effectively. A 360 ° View of Fast Food and Impulse Habits Here has huge market growth potential for manufacturers and retailers to development in fast food chains and fast food services. According to the ACNielsen survey result, citizens average monthly purchase frequency in fast food, impulse food and drinks is around 20. Monthly Purchase Frequency for Impulse Food and Drinks in Hong Kong In addition, in a global consumer survey conducted over the Internet by ACNielsen in October 2004, 30 percent of Asia Pacific consumers claimed to eat takeaway at least once a week, closely behind the US (33%). As the result, eight of global top tens fast food consumption market from Asia Pacific, and Hong Kong ranks is the worlds No.1, have a fast food than traditional 26% higher than the United States , hard upon is Malaysia (59%) and the Philippines is 54%, 12% said never again to eat fast food, have 35% eat fast food even more. ACNielsens data also showed that although in the United States have 97% of adults do not mind eat fast food, but this data has also been Asia exceeded. From this result, fast food culture can popular in Hong Kong is about the Hong Kong peoples to demand fast and convenient lifestyle. Many people require swift and convenient, hurried cadence of life may not have time to cook at home, it affects our lifestyle, make to popularity of fast food culture in Hong Kong. As the same time because of the convenient location, the price is cheaper. In additional, because may about Hong Kong peoples personality, most are not satisfied to spend too much time on waiting. However, teenagers usually to eating fast food more during the noon or after school. While an adults to eat breakfast is out of home that provides an opportunity for suppliers and retailers. So, fast food culture is the most sales in Hong Kong. Top 10 Global Markets for Weekly Fast Food Consumption Hong Kong 61% Malaysia 59% Philippines 54% Singapore 50% Thailand 44% China 41% India 37% US 35% Australia 30% New Zealand 29% Source: ACNielsen Online Survey, October 2004 Modeling repurchases frequency and customer satisfaction for fast food outlets In this competition environment of Hong Kong, leading the company is necessary customer that requires spending many resources to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction with the company. Therefore, the company need understanding what factor is affect customers behavior and satisfaction, and then try to improve the customer services quality in the fast food industry, thus help make more loyalty customers. Improving service quality has become one of the most important strategies a service provider can use to differentiate itself from its competitors and thus position itself more effectively in the marketplace (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Rust and Oliver (1994) suggested that quality is one dimension on which satisfaction is based. Although many studies provide a theoretical basis for studying the relationship between waiting time, consumer satisfaction and return frequency, they have failed to investigate the relationship between waiting time and the return frequency. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of waiting time and other service quality factors on customer satisfaction and return frequency in the fast food industry. As waiting time appears to be a vital factor of the services in fast food operations, therefore, fast food industry is chosen for our research purpose. Based on a survey of fast food outlets, we formulate a repurchase frequency model and a satisfaction model. The repurchase frequency model describes the relationship between the number of return visits and service quality factors including waiting time. The overall satisfaction model describes the relationship between the customers overall satisfaction level, the waiting time and other service quality factors. These models will help managers to identify root causes for customer satisfaction and loyalty and thus enable them to make focused improvements in critical areas to improve profitability. Hong Kong fast food culture Hong Kong is a delicacies paradise, and also is a fast food paradise, various Chinese and Western fast food restaurant at Hong Kong everywhere, lunch take-out to office are also has good idea or business. Hong Kong fast cadence of life, high working performance, many things have to stress efficiency and effectiveness of demand. It is because fast food more emphasize fast, therefore many foods have prepared cooked and heating for consumers. So, fast food culture offers fast and convenient especially popular for peoples. Nowadays, the purposes to co-operate for healthy fashion, fast food already changed into emphasize foods quality and sustenance, many foods have consumer to pay or order then start cook. Therefore, foods will more fresh and higher quality than prepared cooked. At the other hard, fast food chain to be particular about decoration than before, show the high class and city lifestyle; Detrude of fast-food restaurants in recent years, hot pot, iron meals and other food types, making customers to stay longer in the fast-food restaurants, but also because of the fast-food restaurants to make food choices many more customers are willing to patronize fast food restaurants. A financial tsunami to assist development fast food industry Although global financial tsunami cause economic recession, but fast food always is catering trades exotic flowers, Pizza Hut, Burger King, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) these fast food chains have grow a business volume in this period. Cafà © De Coral, Pizza Hut etc. also want to development this period. Due to economic crisis affected unemployment and so on reason, thus affected consumers confidence. However, relatives enhance of fast foods attraction, increasing peoples in order to save times or money abandoned traditional restaurant meals, and tend to choice fast food. Therefore, fast food chain has obtained more market. Form the above; Pizza Hut should continue its diversification strategy to gain more market share. It should incorporate or develop healthier food include low-carbohydrate pizzas to satisfy the needs of different customer. If it is able to stay ahead of the competition in this aspect, they will have a strong competitive advantage over other companies. Service quality in the fast food industry Service quality has become a predominant part of all advanced organizations strategic plans. Increasing attention paid to service quality has resulted in more progress and profit for organizations. At an international marketing level, in a struggle for a share of market, managers have to understand and know how to modify their operations for success in the various cultures of Hong Kong. From the above reason, can organization provide good service; staffs quality and skills have important influence. Therefore, enhance staff with the training and improve the quality of services, Including improves the quality of staff and customer service and provide effective services such as staff is advised to review the guests a la carte in order to reduce opportunities for error, the menu and dishes can be coded to facilitate data input, restaurant customers should be informed in advance of waiting or cooking time and adoption a recognized service standards and guidelines etc. These can be satisfying consumers needs and attraction their have to patronize. Research methods/ Methodologies Category Options The degree to which the research question has been crystallized 1. Exploratory study 2. Formal study The method of data collection Monitoring Communication Study The power of the researcher to produce effects in the variables under study Experimental Ex post facto The purpose of the study Reporting Descriptive Causal-Explanatory The time dimension Cross-sectional Longitudinal The topical scope Breadth and depth of the study Case Statistical study The research environment Field setting Simulation The participants perceptional awareness of the research activity Actual routine The main purpose of our study is needed to find out the comparison of Pizza Hut and Spaghetti house. We need to collect the primary data and secondary data to analysis Pizza Huts 7Ps mainly. (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical environment) First, we collect the secondary data from internet to know backgrounds, histories, objective, and the annual reports of Pizza Hut and Spaghetti House etc. Then, we collect other useful information on the internet. Afterwards, we go to libraries to find books such as population information and literature. After that, we use Self- Administered Surveys (Intercept and computer) and Personal Interview (Questionnaire) to collect the primary data. Indeed that information is related to our objective. To collect primary data, we will design a set of questionnaire about 7Ps. The method is taken by samples in Hong Kong (different regions in Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territory). The proportion will be 60:80:60, a half of male and female. It can be avoided unfair saturation. The sample size will be 200 that it can be reduced bias. The age distribution limits are 10 to 40. Our survey method is face-to-face interview, after the interview well give them a gift. (Such as coupon) We can understand Pizza Huts competitive advantage through information and make the recommendations on new market strategies for Pizza Hut for further improvement. However, we have limited information in secondary data. In conclude, our information mainly come from primary data. Secondary data is collected from other peoples or organizations, general major secondary datas sources are internet and daily, moreover including survey, census and companys records. However, the primary data is reversing the secondary data, its major used in survey research works. Secondary datas advantages is save more collect datas time, because many background work may carried out or complete, such as some reviews and case studies was carried out, statistics and published book may used to media promotion. And about the secondary datas disadvantages, because the data sources not every is trusty, even authorities data may undependable. Secondary data can be obtained from two different research strands Quantitative and Qualitative. Quantitative included housing, social security, census and other related databases. Qualitative included focus groups transcripts, observation records, structured interviews, semi-structured, research-related documents and other personal. Any required respondent to complete the questionnaire by oneself is referred to as a self-administered survey. The most survey method is via use internet, fax, newspaper and e-mail, or via restaurant and shops feedback form. According to this self-administered survey is require some inaccurately questionnaire considerations, because have some respondent may cause sensitive question or other special reason thus to indiscriminate answer the questions. Self-administered surveys advantage is using anonymous form to answer the questionnaire, thus make the questionnaires answer have more effective and true. At the other hard, can make respondent more convenient to answer, and can eliminate the bias, the cost is more than telephone and personal interview cheaper. However, the most of self-administered survey also not actual to control who to answer questionnaire, the respondent may read other part of respondents answer, thus affect their feedback. A personal interview is one of direct research method that allows face to face conversation between an interviewer and the respondent at home, in shopping centers or everywhere. The use of personal interviews provides interviewers with opinions, and the process of interaction via understanding. Personal interviews allow analyses of thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and opinions that have a high level of content validity (Babbie, 2006). Personal interviews are an appropriate qualitative data collection methodology in a variety of settings including exploration of issues in sensitive areas such as internal agency evaluations or internal agency satisfaction studies. Personal interviews allow participants to share qualitative information in a manner that allows freer expression of ideas and opinions. Advantages of personal interviews: 1. Qualitative data obtained from small sample. 2. Rapport leads to fewer refusals. 3. In-depth answers possible. 4. Observation improves accuracy. Disadvantage of personal interviews: 1. Invasion of privacy. 2. Interviewer bias. 3. Cost: Professional Interviewer expensive. 4. People not at home. 5. Can be slow and time consuming. 6. Postal surveys: Distributing or mailing door to door a written questionnaire to a sample of buyers for their completion at home or at work. Project Plan/Gantt Chart

In chapter 5 a lot of different ideas come out about the beast. :: English Literature

In chapter 5 a lot of different ideas come out about the beast. Lord of the Flies In the lord of the flies there where a lot of things happening on the island but one thing that was mentioned through out the story was the beast, there where a lot of different sightings and mentioning of it. The firs time the beast is mentioned is in chapter 2 when a younger child asks Ralph what he is going to do about the beast, he asks Ralph through piggy as the child is to scared to say it in front of everybody. Piggy says to Ralph â€Å"He wants to know what you are going to do about the snake-thing† he the n goes on to say â€Å" the beastie thing came in the dark†,† in the morning it turned into them things like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches†. The child seems anxious to know whether it will return. Although all this information is coming from a small child and he might just be making up there is always a possibility that its true so they cant afford to just laugh it off. Although all this is at the back of Ralph’s mind he tries to put confidence into the group by saying â€Å"but there isn’t a beastie† the group seems to take Ralph’s word for it. Then as things start to settle jack jumps up ands says â€Å"Ralph’s right of course but if there was a snake we would hunt and kill it† this is the best thing to say because it is leaving the minds open to think that there is a beast and it puts everybody’s minds un easy again. In chapter 3 they decide that they need homes for shelter and security. They all say its in case it rains just to give them some shelter if need be, and give them somewhere to sleep. At the back of all there minds is still the beastie so they are doing it for protection, it will be like there home because everybody feels safe at home so they are trying to get some security between them selves like that. In chapter 5 a lot of different ideas come out about the beast. The first person to bring it up is jack he says there isn’t no beast and fear cant hurt you, and all everybody is doing is fearing fear so you are all a bunch of babies, jack is partly correct in what he says but he isn’t think like it really is he is just trying to prove that he

George :: essays research papers

George B. McClellan came from a well-to-do family. His father was a Doctor, which accounts for George's good education. Also his mother and father where christians serving the Lord, which accounts for his concern for his fellow man. His grandfather was a revolutionary war general, which may account for his going into the military. Since George had concern for his fellow man he was careful while moving his army, the Potomac, to new places. He also always wanted to be well prepared before battle. When George would ask the leaders in Washington for more supplies and men they would turn him down. So he would delay an attack until he thought he was ready for battle. This unfortunately cost him his career in the miltary. After he was out of the military, he was nominated as a presidential candidate, but not surprising to Geoge he lost the election. George wanted to live a normal life after this and due to investments he would be able to live comfortably for a long time. Later he and his family traveled to England and spent three and half years touring all over Europe. While he was in Europe President Lincoln was assassinated, when George heard this news he was devastated. In early October 1885 George had experienced chest pains and on Octob George B. McClellan tried to not to act against his belief in the Lord. He prayed everyday in hope of keeping his family and men safe. He was very concerned about the wellfare of his men. The leaders in Washington did not care for George and his men all they where concerned about is the appearance in the papers about the war and wh at people thought. So soon enough George was asked to step down from his postition. George still kept his faith in the Lord and moved on. Never once did he doubt his belief. If it was not for his strong faith in the Lord he probably would of lived a nonfulfilling life, but since he did keep his faith he lived a long fulfilling life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George B. Mcllellans life was inspiring to some people. No matter what he kept his faith in the lord through thick and thin. He tried his hardest when going for something and did not give up easily.

12 Angry Men sociological analysis Essay

12 Angry Men focuses on a Jurys deliberations in a capital murder case. A 12- man Jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year- old Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the Jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis’ bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion after all, the Jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the Jurors’ complex personalities (ranging from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless), preconceptions, backgrounds and interaction s. That provides the backdrop to Mr. Davis’ attempts in convincing the other Jurors that a â€Å"not guilty’ verdict might be appropriate. A huge feel of the film is gotten through the time period it took place in. People’s views on race were made very publicly within the Jury. Many of them seemed to have personal vendettas against different races. They deemed the boys Hispanic race to be slum and nothing more than that. A universal problem that is shown in several ways throughout the film is personal prejudice getting in the way of Judgment. Juror number ten’s reason for saying the accused boy was guilty was because he felt people from slums should not be trusted and that they kill one and another for fun. His prejudice lead him to discriminate against the boy initially by voting guilty earlier in the film, before being convinced in voting not guilty. This was during the civil rights era and all of that. We all know blacks weren’t treated equally and this makes it apparent that it wasn’t easy for any minority within the US. Theyd rather lock them up and throw away the key than give them a fair trial. Tensions run high the second the Jury went into the private room to deliberate. It was a very hot day outside and the fan wasn’t working nor would the windows open. No man wanted to spend more time than what they thought would be efficient to determine the verdict. Some even spoke about their plans for right after, thinking it would be a sure bet theyd be out of there soon with the whole night ahead of them. They were wrong. From then on the film turned into an example straight out of a sociology textbook. Everyone didn’t deviate from the norm of the group†¦ All except one, Juror #8. The rest of the Jury was outraged and deemed him a radical. They could not believe two things. One, that he voted not guilty, and second, hat he went against the group norm. He tried not one bit to conform. Rather, he stood up in grand fashion and presented his doubts to his fellow Jurors. Slowly but surely his grand scheme was working. He did not know for sure whether he was guilty or not guilty, but he had a reasonable doubt and that’s all about what the justice system stands tor. It’s so interesting when you bring a group o t 12 random people into a setting like a Jury and see what you come up with. All of these men, from different walks of life , they all brought something special to the table that was ital to their key decision. The sociological theory that tone of this film could easily fall under is the conflict perspective. At the very beginning, viewers can clearly see the tension is between the Jurors whom most have a personal prejudice against the boy for certain reason. Some Jurors simply expected that a boy from the slums would commit an act like that they were stereotyping that all people who come from slums are criminals. Even if a person is not personally prejudiced against and individual or group, stereotypes can have them make discriminatory actions such as vote guilty. The reason most of the Jurors stereotyped the actions of the accused boys is because of socialization. The way of transmission was most likely through media; crimes shown by television new or new papers are frequently from neighborhood of low economics standing. Deviance a topic I touched on earlier, is another sociological aspect that can be examined in this film. Deviance is a very relative term where depending on the group and situation, it varies. Juror 8 was the only that felt from the beginning the boy was not guilty. When the first vote most of the other Jurors by he fact he could think the boy was innocent and even were upset at him for thinking that. As the film progressed the Jurors began changing their votes, eventually the roles were reversed; Juror number 3 appear to be the one committing the deviant act since it is revealed his own reason for voting guilty is because of issues with his own son. One of the most important things I learned in observing the sociological aspects of this film is how easy norms can change. The norms of eleven out of the twelve men voted guilty, changed entirely to guilty as the film came to a chose.

The Impact of Instant Messaging in the Financial Services Industry: Benefits, Challenges and Recommendations

January 2009 Executive Summary Unfortunately, while Instant Messaging (IM) systems have the ability to change the way financial service companies interact for the better, many of today’s implementations pose problems and challenges to address. IM technology has the benefits of gathering input from many different people in dispersed locations. This adds speed and ease to workplace communication, and presence detection eliminates the time typically lost to missed telephone calls and wasted trips to see colleagues. Speed and efficiency are increased from knowing the status of financial transactions in real-time. A main challenge in financial compliance is the regulatory financial framework, which forces financial service companies to archive IM conversations. Poor management in security and retention controls increases the legal risk and personal accountability to corporate officers. Consumer-grade IM has potential for security breach and the leak of corporate data which can be particularly devastating to financial service companies. IM is widely used to distribute research, negotiate prices, execute orders, and stay in touch with clients and colleagues. It provides a direct mode of communication with co-workers, clients and other broker-dealers that enables far closer and more personal relationships. Imposing an IM ban could result in the loss of clients and valuable employees to competitors who are more tolerant of the use of IM in the financial markets. Key recommendations include: Installing an enterprise-grade IM system for all employees in the firm. The addition of consumer-grade IM for client facing employees to keep client loyalty. Educating employees on a company IM policy including regulatory guidelines and using IM for personal use. Enforcing rules through software that monitors and records IM conversations, and also through disciplinary action. Forming a management team to coordinate a strategic IM plan that meets all regulatory and legal needs and effectively solves the challenges and problems discussed. Continuously investing in new technology, updating IM policy, and educating employees to meet long-term regulatory and security requirements, and issues regarding the future direction of the firm. Introduction Instant Messaging (IM) was the first mass based communication application rolled out by users, rather than management who saw immediate business value in this new form of communication. Financial Industry and Government regulators have clarified IM as a form of real-time written correspondence that creates a business record. This paper seeks to explain the risks and problems IM brings to the financial services industry and challenges for management, such as determining the effect on employee productivity. This paper reviews the benefits IM brings to the financial services industry, in the form of improved communication, collaboration, efficiency, monetary benefits and information archiving. It also discusses the problems and challenges that management should be aware as well as the impact on the business, and makes recommendations for addressing these issues and achieving benefits for financial service companies. The Potential Benefits that can be gained from IM Enhanced collaboration There are many arguments for the use of IM as a communications tool in the business environment, including improved brainstorming capabilities and the ability to multitask. Many workers today use the telephone and IM simultaneously, so they can chat with each other privately while, for example, on a group call to a client. Ellen Isaacs (2005), reports that â€Å"users like that they could respond to quick IM questions from co-workers while engaged in another task, such as talking on the telephone, or processing documents or email. Studies note the ability to multitask is a major benefit of IM in the workplace. Current theory emphasises the value of informal social interactions for exchanging information, collaborating, and initiating spontaneous interactions (Cross & Parker, 2004). IM suggests that systems that depict social cues facilitate information and social interactions, enhancing performance. Over time, people develop comfortable working relationships through prior collaborat ion and through socialising. IM has proven its overwhelming value when it comes to gathering input from many different people in dispersed locations. For example, in financial trading, UBS has created over 5,000 group channels around certain topics like foreign exchange, equities and fixed income. Pritchard (2006) reports that if something's happening in European equities, or in foreign exchange, someone can put it on the chat line and other traders can see it instantly. Improved efficiency Processes that were once agonizingly slow and inclined toward misunderstanding and errors can now be accomplished in record time. Handel (2002) reports how this has led to increased popularity among workers because it adds speed and ease to workplace communication, and eliminates the time typically lost to missed telephone calls and wasted trips to the office of a co-worker who is absent or otherwise occupied. It is clear that IM can be an efficient, thought-provoking communications tool, not only within the office but as a bridge between geographically dispersed locations. Jim Craige (2006) at UBS Investment Bank explains how in fixed income trading, having a secure connection to a network of dealers with whom he's in constant contact lets him take care of business faster, as â€Å"it drastically cuts down on the time it takes† to know the status of transactions. Improved communication IM differs from email, primarily in that its focus is on the immediate delivery of messages. Many also acknowledge the tool as less intrusive and a time saver when compared to the telephone due to the ability to detect the presence of other users. Users can set status messages telling others whether they are available or not, which adds to IM’s value as a skilful means of communication. There is often some type of icon next to the name of their buddy to determine how long the person has been online, and if they are actively messaging or â€Å"away† from their desk. From the author’s experience, this saves on making unnecessary phone calls if you can see that the person you want to speak to is not at their desk. It can be decided whether to contact the person later or send an email, voicemail, or other message that the recipient can respond to later. In other instances, help consists of referrals to others who can provide answers or help solve problems. UBS formed a help desk channel for IT where employees could input trouble tickets (a specific IT problem) through a chat system and then receive real-time feedback on the status of their ticket. IM offers a way to quickly resolve questions and issues as they arise. Cost Benefits IM has proven return on investment benefits in certain situations, such as conferencing. Group members can be conferenced in to a conversation from around the world, which saves on long distance calls and travel expenses. Diseconomies of scale in distance can be solved through IM, due to increased collaboration and the cut in communication costs (Cameron & Webster, 2004. ) According to Saeedi (2005), Morgan Stanley saves $18 million annually by relying more heavily on IM than phone calls, plus another $98 million per year in trimmed travel costs, as there is diminished need for face-to-face meetings. Many analysts see IM as stimulating positive change in organizations because of its rapid diffusion, diminishing costs, and ease of use (Jones, 1998). Information Archiving Archiving IM meetings and conversations has become an essential business process for financial companies, since IM users don’t generally just chat, but they also exchange documents, contracts, trade details and other financial information. Starner, T. (2004) says how â€Å"Instant messages are business records, just as e-mails are business records. † This enables employees to go back and review crucial information (they may have forgotten) that is needed for themselves or that is requested from them. Financial institutions are wary because of regulations where in some areas such as trading they cannot use instant messaging without logging and archiving them. There is also scope for managers to review IM conversations and therefore ensure productivity is not being compromised by personal IM use, and that disclosure and industry regulations are being followed. The challenges and problems with the implementation of IM Compliance Compliance regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, have forced companies to archive IM conversations. This is because an IM conversation is still regarded as a sort of document. Sarbanes-Oxley regulation requires an annual evaluation of internal controls and procedures for financial reporting, as well an assessment for the effectiveness of these controls. As IM is involved in this process, these communications need to be logged, archived and available upon request. Many IT units are having difficulty managing several IM systems installed without their knowledge that are used for both personal and important business communications. For example, Thomas Weisel Partners LLC in San Francisco tried to shut down the use of America Online Inc. ‘s Instant Messenger, Microsoft Corp. s MSN Messenger and Yahoo Inc. ‘s Yahoo Messenger after the 11th September terrorist attacks. However, due to resistance from users, the company was forced to adopt monitoring software instead. Managers are in agreement that in financial services, client facing employee’s need the more popular systems to communicate with customers, so efforts to implement a standard IM p roduct rarely work. Beth Cannon, a former Chief Information Officer at a brokerage explains that â€Å"it comes down to some of our institutional customers who required IM as the method to communicate with them. When a client insists on using a specific consumer-grade IM and management who choose to shut it down, they create the possibility of losing that client. However, if they keep it then they open up the company to risks, as well as additional costs in monitoring, archiving and enforcing policy on the technology. The problem of resistance to the removal of the multiple IM systems can be circumvented to a large degree through the use of monitoring software. More vendors of all sizes, such as Stellar Technologies Inc. are scrambling to build robust tools to monitor IM for financial firms, which must meet new government regulations requiring that electronic conversations be monitored and recorded. When organisations implement information management solutions, they must ensure ade quate management controls. Grace Financial report that their administrative tools are great for inputting problematic key words and reviewing highlighted logs. On the other hand, they also report that they have had limited, if any, issues with misuse – just increased software costs. However, they find that it has come in most useful for reviewing conversations where there is a problem with a client order. There is a significantly increased legal and security risk from lack of user management, security and records retention controls for employee use of instant messaging technologies. Following the lead taken by the New York Attorney General, the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) has already issued some multimillion dollar fines for non-compliance of regulation (Ministries, J. 2002). In May 2002 Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $100mm penalty resulting from hyping stocks that internal communications revealed that they knew to be bad. However as part of the settlement Merrill Lynch set up a proper system for logging and monitoring IM. With IM becoming such a popular communications tool, it's reasonable to assume that conversations conducted will, at some point, contain information that is company confidential. Therefore an IM system is needed that provides security for messages as they are transmitted, even if all such transmissions will be within the company’s own network. Goldman Sachs has spent considerable financing on ‘Bond. Hub’ which delivers secure messaging beyond firewalls of new fixed-income product issues. This new software could only be implemented with complete security as they wish to protect their extremely valuable client list. The security of ‘Bond. Hub’ has kept control with the dealers and protects access to the high-value content. The right solution of IM security will depend largely on the value of the data, and the company’s view of risk. Unmonitored, uncontrolled consumer-grade IM, such as Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger are essentially open channels between corporate networks and the outside world. This involves an amount of risk that most business leaders are unwilling to accept. â€Å"Instant messaging could be fine between two companies if the data being exchanged is very insensitive,† says Miles Clements, a project manager at an Information Security Foundation. â€Å"But a trader should not be able to use IM to trade with another bank. † It is argues by security experts that free consumer chat programs can tear gaping holes in security efforts. This is mainly because consumer-grade IM allows unlimited numbers of people to connect directly to a corporate network. † This was made evident in a case that occurred at the beginning of 2001, where a hacker stole logs from an instant messaging client belonging to the CEO for a company called eFront which specialises in financial services software. The hacker posted the logs to several places on the Web, thereby creating one of the worst possible corporate nightmares. These logs included sensitive company data regarding business partners, employees and affiliate websites. After the posting of the logs, several members of the senior staff for eFront resigned. There are reports already of cybercriminals and hackers exploiting the growing popularity of IM by using it to introduce viruses or other malicious software into financial firms. The Vice President of a top investment bank had his computer infected by a virus and found that his entire ‘buddy’ list had been sent a record of all his IM conversations. He was fired because of negative comments he'd made about his colleagues in what he thought were private IM conversations. Obviously, for the firm in question the logs leaked several confidential facts that were hurtful to the company’s reputation and future business deals. In spite of this, virus attacks are not yet frequent on IM applications, but the latest threat is likely to send worry in to the mind of IM users and the financial service firms that employee them. IT departments need to take a strong lead on securing IM through many different approaches. However, an outright ban on running IM software is unlikely to succeed or risks damaging productivity by closing down a useful communications channel. It seems that financial companies need to act to assess the state of IM use within their organizations and put into place the necessary measures to make sure their IM use does not run afoul the compliance requirements and vital security needs of the financial services industry. From the author’s own experience at Morgan Stanley, employees have to view and learn several materials and then take a test on the dangers of IM, in order to educate users on correct use and also place more legal obligation on the employee and take it away from the company. Employees can frequently disclose information when they are conducting several different IM conversations at once, and accidentally send a message to the wrong person. Inside information, prospecting information etc. can be leaked in these ways fairly easily, with no malevolent intention on the part of employees. This author has experienced the simplicity of replying in the wrong IM conversation when several conversations windows are open. The leak of valuable corporate data can be particularly devastating for financial service companies. Computer experts have warned that a lot of leaks are actually intentional and that financial service professionals are increasingly using untraceable electronic instant messaging systems to communicate sensitive information secretly. The Financial Services Authority said there had been concerns about instant messaging for some months. However, the City watchdog said its existing rules covering conflicts of interest were sufficient to cover such new forms of communication as IM. In the US, securities regulators have cracked down on the use of instant messaging, when the National Association of Securities Dealers told its members they must save instant messages for three years or restrict employees in using the technology. There is the impression that some companies have banned the use of IM technology. On the other hand, Mr. Palmer of Kroll Ontrack, said it was reasonably easy to place a device on a computer server to divert the messages and search for information. If IM technology is to be allowed then employees need to be advised of its use, due to the interception of private information. There is a mixed view on IM security; however there are solutions to plugging leaks and enforcing policy to keep employees in line with company policy. Productivity Instant Messaging can be a productivity-enhancing tool for efficient financial communications with co-workers, clients, customers, vendors, and the like. Although, Nehra (2005) explains that various reports describe how productivity may be adversely affected by employee abuse or overindulgence in personal instant messaging communications. This presents the major challenge with implementing IM technology into the workplace. One thing that has kept deployment of instant messaging at investment banks a low priority among business managers is the perception that it can distract workers from more critical tasks, says Kim Cross, a VP at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Many financial companies believe instant messaging detracts from employee productivity and introduces new temptations to converse with others beyond their job duties. From the author’s experience at Morgan Stanley, IM offers the opportunity to converse quickly and continuously with friends in a secret manner that the telephone does not allow and this can decrease productivity significantly. However, a study by the Radicati Group looked at the time it took employees to complete two typical daily tasks—both with and without IM—and found that companies could save an average of 40 minutes a day per user with IM. They estimated that a financial services organisation with 5,000 people could see a $37. 5 million a year savings in productivity. Limitations and communication consequences are a definite cause for concern when implementing a new IM system. Possible decreased worker productivity, a lack of direct communication among colleagues, and misinterpretations can be common place when using instant messaging. Additionally, IM does not give the same personal verbal delivery that direct communication gives. From the author’s experience at Morgan Stanley, IM does not always give the same authority or conviction that a ‘real’ conversation over the telephone permits and so may not make clear enough the importance of particular requests. Although IM may have been initially frowned upon, some managers look at this communication as team building â€Å"because it enables peers to bond and form stronger working relationships. † (Robbo, R). However not all sources concur. Shiu, E. (2004), suggests that in fact, 32% of those individuals who use IM in the office acknowledge that IM can encourage workplace gossip, and 29% note that IM has been a distraction at some point in the past. These extensive risks still do not change the opinion of most executives, who are in agreement, that blocking IM entirely is not an option. The question is how to bring out the benefits of consumer IM while ensuring it is properly managed, secure and compliant. The impact of IM when implemented in financial service organisations The primary reason that IM has been such a success in the business environment is that its benefits, even when weighed against the risks, are both immediate and tangible. Industry-wide effects Centrally managed IM deployments have just begun to take hold in business, says Aberdeen Group analyst Dana Gardner. The rapid increase in the adoption of IM is linked to the fact that recent university graduates have developed a strong affinity for IM. Although there is a strong concern over the security of consumer-grade IM, managers have to accept that IM is a preferred communication technique of young employees. Clients want to use IM and so employers have to set-up and integrate IM in to their firm’s communication network. The clients of broker-dealers will also deal with their competitors, and they don't want systems that only allow them to deal with one company so firms need to meet the IM requirements of clients. Top investment banks now share directories to create an open messaging environment for broker-dealers to communicate with each other and to customers. It even opens up the ability for customers to communicate with other customers. Barriers in the industry have come down as customer and broker-dealers are commingling in one giant address book. IM provides a direct mode of communication with co-workers, customers and vendors that enables far closer and more personal relationships than is available in virtually every other means of electronic communications. This could have the negative effect on the industry of making information more transparent and therefore increase price transparency and negatively affect profit. On the other hand, the increase in real-time communication links to other broker-dealers and clients could mean a larger more liquid market. Performance of employees Business IM allows employees to be more efficient in their work output. Data shows that IM users engage in multi-tasking at a rate considerably higher than non-IM users. In a recent survey, 91% of IM users reported that while participating in IM sessions they also perform additional tasks either most or all of the time (Haskin, D. 2004). However it can be argued that users tend to chat often, setting aside legitimate business tasks in the process. Some employees find it hard to concentrate when messages are continually popping up on screen. If the user has their presence detection on, then colleagues and clients will believe that their message has been received and read, therefore attention needs to be given to each instant message. This could mean an overload of information for the user, continually distracting them from their primary tasks and therefore decrease their performance. However, the more successful employees could use the multitasking capability of IM to take on even more work, and show up the less successful employees. This in turn could create the effect of preventing those less successful employees from wasting time using IM for personal use. The multitude of information sources that broker-dealers have competing for their attention could definitely result in a negative impact on performance, as incoming messages add to the pile of e-mail, news summaries, and other data that competes for the users productive time. Therefore management needs to maintain whether some users perhaps require IM and others do not, and if they do, to enforce rules and policies to battle the challenge of productivity. This policy along with many other things, would need to drive home this point that the organisation provides IM to boost business productivity, not as a diversion from work. It needs to be instilled into employee’s that policy will be enforced to coerce users from personal IM use. Given the chatty nature of IM, some would argue that it is bound to have a negative impact on performance, as employees chat about personal matters throughout the workday. Although personal chat with other employees throughout the day could help forge more inter-firm relationships, and this ollaboration could have a positive impact on overall company performance as more and more employees in different teams are being brought together. Therefore the firm needs to find a way to manage this balance between business and personal conversations. This seems unlikely to be controlled to a large extent and so a large amount of trust will be left with the employee. Internal and External Relationships IM appeal s to broker-dealers because they feel that IM delivers a necessary advantage that e-mail and the telephone cannot match, which is speed. They believe that they will not get clients if they do not use the technology. Banning IM seems a possible solution to the risks of IM, however it may not be so easy to enforce. Many broker-dealers facing the financial markets, where seconds make the difference between profit and loss, may be reluctant to part with consumer-grade IM. The impact of banning consumer-grade IM across the board may trigger a revolt among employees and the clients they are in regular IM contact with. Therefore imposing an IM ban could result in the loss of valuable employees to competitors who are more tolerant of the use of IM in the financial markets. As discussed in the previous section, personal use of IM can be used to help forge relationships with colleagues. These same personal conversations can be transferred to those employees who are client facing and used as ‘business’ conversations in order to build and maintain relationships with clients. The fact that IM conversations can be left open so that brokers can maintain an on and off dialogue throughout the day with their client adds significant value. Previously a broker could not call up a client to, for example, make a flippant remark on current news but this can now take a few seconds to write it in an open IM window and their client could view this while multitasking. This casual dialogue can help maintain client loyalty with is the crux of sales in the financial services industry. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of employees believe that the use of IM within their organisation improves productivity, external relationships, and their efficiency. More significantly, however, is that even business managers and IT personnel who are aware of the risks posed by IM, overwhelmingly favour its use noting that the added â€Å"real† business performance more than offsets the potential risks. Management Recommendations Managing the problems and challenges associated with implementing IM This author recommends a dual approach in response to the challenge of the multitude of IM programmes in the company. Primarily, installing an enterprise-grade IM system (an internal instant messaging system where messages can be encrypted) for all employees. Then employees can be allowed to communicate confidential information internally, but only in the guidelines of the company’s written policy. The second approach is to allow client-facing employees consumer-grade IM who insist they need it to keep client loyalty, even though consumer IM tools travel across the public Internet (not encrypted). Monitoring and security can then be focused more on these employee’s who potentially open the organisation to security breaches such as eavesdropping, accidental confidential information loss, and also the risk of intentional information leaks. This can be further facilitated by the installation of content filters to capture messages that use potentially problematic words like â€Å"rumour†. Then these IM conversations can be reviewed to ensure that neither laws nor corporate policies are broken. Achieving the business benefits of IM Instant messaging use is recommended to communicate instantaneously with other brokers, dealers, clients and other third parties so that client loyalty is increased through immediate responses and colleagues can get answers from client questions in real time. IM should be used as a less intrusive method of avoiding tasks, as a broker can use IM simultaneously with chatting on the phone and e-mailing. IM presence detection should be used so that it is possible to see whether clients are online and open to chat and brokers can determine whether they are available to incoming IM transmissions. This can be reflected through IM settings such as â€Å"away† and â€Å"in a meeting† which lets the user know that the instant message may be read or acted upon. In addition managers can quickly see who is online at the office at any given time. Employees can also be strategic in the way they contact their colleagues by first checking they are online before, for example, calling them. IM should be used to avoid the cost of travel and group conference calls through multiple people joining in on real-time IM conversations. Also whilst travelling, employees can engage in IM conversations with clients and colleagues to facilitate the efficiency of information flow. All conversations should be logged for at least three years due to compliance so that after the instant message vanishes, after it is read, and its window closes, employees can go through archiving and find the message again if they did not note important information from the conversation that they need. Further to this archiving should take place to meet industry regulations and as possible evidence to future litigation. Controlling the transition and longer term issues Once the extent of employee’s IM use is identified, the transition should be controlled through developing a strategic IM management plan. A team should be formed, comprising of risk management, compliance and litigation in order to structure a companywide policy so the firm meets finance regulations, and information security needs. Senior Management should lead the IM management controls through bridging the gap between problems and recommending effective tools to manage those risks, such as retention and archiving tools as previously discussed. New financial regulations would need to be adhered to in existing business activity and also reviewed in new financial markets. Therefore future investment in new technology is vital to help maintain IM use and abuse. The firm will need to develop effective, accessible IM tools to meet future needs of broker-dealers who rely on IM for internal and external communication. Employees need to be trained and kept up to date with regulatory guidelines and retention rules. Long-term issues of security will need to be constantly addressed. Those employees who are using consumer-grade IM offer the constant possibility of data theft and electronic eavesdropping. IM needs to be constantly updated with the latest antivirus software to protect from viruses and other threatening security breaches that might be able to penetrate the firms firewall. Finally, if the direction or structure of the firm changes then IM policy must be changed to meet this. References Electronic journals Mearian, L. (2004) IM Spread Causing Management Headaches. Computerworld. [online] 38(49), 7. Available from: http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? index=35=759250251=1& sid=6=3=PROD=PQD=309=PQD=1231380861=5238 [Accessed 4 January 2009] Cameron, A. F. & Webster, J. (2004) Unintended consequences of emerging communication technologies: Instant Messaging in the workplace. Computers in Human Behavior [online] 12, 143-160. Available from: http://www. citeulike. org/user/boosda/article/2722853 [Accessed 4 January 2009] Schmerken, I. (2001) Parlano to extend real-time collaboration to mobile finance users. Wall Street & Technology. [online]. 19(4) 54. Available from: http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? index=0=70505919=1=5=4=PROD=PQD=309=PQD=1231380676=5238 [Accessed 4 January 2009] To, Pui-Lai. et al. (2008) An empirical investigation of the factors affecting the adoption of Instant Messaging in organizations. Computer Standards & Interfaces [online]. 30(3) 148-156. Available from: http://www. sciencedirect. com/science? _ob=ArticleURL=B6TYV-4PJM9MP1=122878=03%2F31%2F2008=1==search=d=c=C000010119=1=0=122878=081247999793b8e298770009727d9918 [Accessed 17 November 2008] World Wide Web Isaacs, E. et al. (2005) The Character, Functions and Styles of Instant Messaging in the Workplace [online]. 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