McDaid Development (Ireland) Limited Assignment - 1

McDaid Development (Ireland) Limited - Assignment Example The company shall exist in its own capacity so that it can do business, carry out activities, suffer losses, enjoy profits, hire and fire employees and pay the taxes. All these procedures are done under the company’s capacity and no owner, member or shareholder is liable for those activities. The law has recognized the company as a distinct legal entity because it gives the owners the capacity to enjoy limited liability and the risk for their investment in shares and stock. This principle allows the company to be treated individually, not as a person or machine. The company cannot operate itself and so a group of experts is needed to manage the activities under the policies and rules ethically and responsibly. This concept has its roots in the UK House of Lord case of Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd. Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd was a case of 1897. Salomon was a sole proprietor who sold his business to a corporation. He was the main shareholder of that company. However, the company’s debts increased and it eventually had to be liquidated. When the case went to the High Court, it was held that Salomon created the corporation solely in order to transfer his individual business to it. This was the prima face and according to this, Salomon and the company were one entity. The company was the agent of Salomon and he was liable for the debts to the unsecured creditors. The House of Lords overturned this decision and held that Salomon and the company were separate entities and he personally did not owe any of the creditors. Since the company had its legal personality, the debts belonged to the company alone. This concept applied to McDaid Development (Ireland) Ltd as the company was a limited liability company. It had one director, one secretary, and one shareholder. The owner and director could enjoy limited liability as the company had its own property and debts. The chapter 2 of part 10 in the Company Act 2006

Socrates on Oratory, Desire, Power, and Good in Gorgias 447a-468e Essay Example for Free

Socrates on Oratory, Desire, Power, and Good in Gorgias 447a-468e Essay To critically assess the language of Socrates within the work Gorgias, a look will be taken at the key steps to refutation and how Gorgias, and later Polus, may have failed in his attempt, and further, how Socrates makes the argument that tyrants, like orators or politicians, have no real power and that they are unable to act upon their own desires because they are crippled by the very power that makes them powerful. When Socrates and Chaerephon arrive at the lecture of Gorgias, Callicles makes the blithe joke that Socrates never lowers himself to such an argument that he is about to make—but he, like an arrogant rooster, forces his way into a refutation that Gorgias never knew was coming. By way of manipulating Chaerephon into asking the questions that spark the dialogue, Socrates gets Gorgias to admit that he is a rhetorician, and that even the ability to teach others the way of rhetoric is attributed to him. However, in his attempt at precision in language, Gorgias does exactly what Socrates intended to accuse him of doing—being unable to define his being and purpose in life purely because he sought to, and admitted he was best at, explaining things in the simplest of terms. Socrates refutation follows to first get Gorgias to define something, then to expound upon that with niceties and confusion, getting Gorgias to further his argument and, essentially, dig himself into the hole that Socrates planned all the while to push him into. Furthermore, Socrates is indisputably the ideal debater because of his innate ability to disarm his opponents by getting them to not only agree with him, but to abandon their beliefs as well. He patronizes Gorgias over and over, claiming that he isn’t trying to offend, he is a nice guy just trying to understand, but, indeed, Socrates knows very well the subject matter that he tries to get Gorgias to explain and is merely entering into such debate to prove a point. He leads the conversation in such a way that Gorgias never had a chance, even though, before the conversation began, Gorgias believed himself one of the best rhetoricians around and was very pleased with his previous lecture. Because Gorgias made the bold claim that he could answer any question put to him, Socrates dove in to make the point of how very wrong Gorgias is. To Socrates, Gorgias was merely easy prey. In making such a audacious statement, Socrates knew that he had to put Gorgias into his place—which was that he really had no idea what he was talking about all along. Gorgias had it in his head that the theory of rhetoric was, essentially, the art of speaking. Much later, Socrates convinces Gorgias that rhetoric is actually the art of persuasion, which irrevocably leads Gorgias into his greatest contradiction—that of morality in persuasion. But, despite whatever one might say about Socrates’ character, he does make a philosophical point that the nature of words and arguments cannot be so simply stated. Especially one so indefinable as rhetoric. With his refutation of Gorgias, Socrates gets Gorgias to claim that rhetoricians have the ability to speak in a manner that is more persuasive than a professional in the same field, but that because all rhetoricians practice a certain code of morality, that they would not act in such a manner as to fool people into believing they are a professional when they are not. In this, Socrates has Gorgias beat. Because, as Socrates adeptly catches, anyone who practices moral ethics would not behave in such a manner, and thus, what Gorgias has described cannot exist because of that contradiction. Socrates is ultimately about finding and defining the contradiction in any argument. Throughout his refutation with Gorgias, Socrates makes Gorgias define his belief, without a doubt, and then crushes him in an instant by proving how he is wrong. Gorgias, for his part, opened himself up to this messy refutation by making his bold claim, but, in a way, he stood no chance against Socrates’ bullying. In fact, Socrates entered into this refutation for the mere result of making Gorgias look the fool in front of the assembled crowd that he had just given a lecture to—to make Gorgias look very bad indeed in front of the people he had just been proud of himself for teaching. In essence, Socrates delivers a low blow and ultimately destroys Gorgias’ reputation instantly. The conversation follows a few beats later to the claim that Socrates makes to Polus that tyrants, like orators, or politicians, have no great power because in doing what seems best, politicians strive to do what is good for them—and in this is their failing, because in their attempt to do what they believe is best for themselves, politicians are unable to do what they want. Socrates explains that politicians are the weakest of humans because they have the innate gene that makes them follow the whims of others, and, paradoxically, are unable to choose what they want to do—which makes them excessively weak. And thus, those who have the most power have the least. Socrates makes the distinction that in doing what one thinks is best, one is often unable to do what one wants. In his argument, Socrates brings up the scenario that a politician might have to execute someone for the betterment of all, despite the fact that the politician might not want to go through with this execution at all. In this, Socrates defines that politicians have very little power at all—because they have to act for the community, they are literally unable to act solely for themselves. And, it is because of this nature that they have no power. Of course, Polus is forced to agree with Socrates because he can give no argument to the contrary. But, consider what Polus was unable to argue. While a politician may have to make decisions for the betterment of his community, he still has the ultimate choice of whether or not to go through with any action, and further, he has the choice, in his heart, that he must know is not only the right choice but the choice that will actually be what he wants to do. Indeed, one could argue that a politician that is unable to make choices for himself is the weakest creature, but, if all politicians are such weak creatures, who then is running the country? There has to be someone pulling the strings—and he has to be a master orator to make those strings move in a desirable way. Perhaps Socrates is correct in his assessment, but, it can also follow that Socrates is just a pompous bully rounding on the playground to make others feel the shame of being unable to stand up for their own values. If Socrates can be said to have a talent, it is the ability to make others immediately and irrevocably give up their core beliefs without, really, much argument at all. Sure, Gorgias put up a bit of a fight, but it was clear from the beginning that he never had a chance against Socrates—Callicles made it clear that Socrates was being kind to condescend to Gorgias’ level. In fact, no one does. Because Socrates enters into every conversation with the idea of drawing a simple question into a refutation that his opponent never saw coming and never had a fair chance of avoiding. Bibliography. Plato. (1994). Gorgias. Trns. Robin Waterfield. New York: Oxford UP.

Retirement Issues In Malaysian Workforce Health And Social Care Essay

Retirement Issues In Malaysian Workforce Health And Social Care Essay Increasing life expectancy of Malaysians has raised the concern incredibly on retirement issues. In 2006, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) findings indicate that Malaysians life expectancy has increased from 1960 to 2006. Women life expectancy has increased from 55.9 to 76.5 years, a 20.6% increment, while men increased from 52.8 to 71.8 years, or 19.0% (OECD, 2007). More, latest statistical findings from United Nation Statistical Division (2010) provide that life expectancy at birth of Malaysians for women and men in 2005 to 2010 has increased from 72 to 76.7 years. With the longer life expectancy among Malaysian means without extending the retirement age, a typical Malaysian will have longer time to spend in their retirement life. According to United Nations data reviews, Malaysia are expected to have total number of 3.2 million individuals who aged 60s and above by 2020 (Yip, 2010). Furthermore, the Global Demographics Ltd also estimates that a 10% increment in the number of grey citizens will take place in coming 20 years from now (Hunt, 2009). These figures tell us that more Malaysians will be reaching retirement age and it is important to raise their awareness towards the importance of retirement planning now. Recently, Malaysian Governments announced that inclination of increasing the retirement age among civil servants in Malaysia is high. Retirement age may be set to 60 due to Governments plan of keeping experience civil servants to contribute for more human capital in nationals performance (Sarban Singh, 2010). This projection was made because it is estimated that Malaysia will lose up to one million civil workers in the early of 2011 (Sarban Singh, 2010). Despite changes made on the retirement age of government servants to 58, the mandatory retirement age for private sectors remain at 55 (Sarban Singh, 2010. In view of this, postponement issues on the public and private servants means that longer retirement life may by experience by most Malaysians (Sarban Singh, 2010). As life expectancy has increased much faster compared to retirement age, our country will have more retirees. If this happens, more challenges are coming ahead and different approaches must be taken on retirement plann ing as Malaysians are expected to have longer retirement life. As humans are bound with nature of biological aging process, shrinking in physical and mental strength is reality that no one can change (Yip, 2009). For that, continuous working becomes undesirable as age increases. Knowledge workers might be able to substitutes the physical strength with crystal knowledge and tacit knowledge gained through years of experience. However, for workers that rely much on physical strength might be a problem. Postponement of retirement age is not suits the physical strength workers because the physical body is unable to perform hard work in old age. Sometimes, they are not only having limited income but they only have limited education level. Retirement planning may serve as dreams but their income limit them to do so. Income earn is not enough for savings or investments. Proper preparation is needed financially to ensure that low income earners at least able to have minimum requirements to live and to ensure a bright future for them in retirement age. Existing retirement planning practices among Malaysians are basically relying much on savings, Employee Provident Funds (EPF) and children. Majority of them are not actively involved in retirement planning (HSBC, 2010). Although there are as much as 72 % of Malaysians having high propensity to save for retirement, 41% of them do not have a solid plan on how to build their retirement fund (Hunt, 2009). In addition, 77% of those who save for retirement rely much on fixed deposit and savings accounts which give low interest yield to them. Also, they failed to segregate part of their savings for retirement needs (Hunt, 2009). Monies put on the savings are in essence for all purposes without specific purposes for retirement (Hunt, 2009). What is alarming here is that majority of Malaysian might not insufficient source of income and there might be some risk involve if retirement planning is not done correctly during their retirement life (HSBC, 2010). Constant income scheme provided by EPF may seem adequate in the long run but it will never happen. Recent studies indicate that, 90% of EPF holders hold less than RM 100,000 in their accounts and almost 99.9% of the retirees withdraw their lump sum of EPF funds when they reach retirement years and surprisingly almost 70% of the retirees use up the money within 3 years (Hunt, 2007). EPF savings withdrawal in the early stage of retirement may create some risks during retirement (HSBC, 2010). In order to match with future insecurities, this action will without notice causes a poor retirement life. Solely depends on EPF savings may cause retirees to have a vulnerable financial position in their old age. To avoid this problem from happening, retirees awareness to act on retirement planning is strictly vital for an upcoming comfort and satisfaction in retirement life. Revolutions from ancient Asian culture to modern world today have changed the structure of a family mostly in the way how children treat their parents and expectation of taking care of them. Old forks are view as burden. Additionally, employing maids to take care of old parents will indirectly raise the living expenses. Thus, tendencies for some aging parents end up spending their life in old folks home is high. Family members or children supporting rate is relatively low today (Lee Law, 2004). Generation gap which indirectly affects the sense of belonging, responsibility, relationships and love towards aging parents has also lead to changes in cultural value (The Star, 2010). Late marriage and gap exist between children age is another issue affecting children support to their parents. Unique characteristics of each family have created different views on old parents retirement. Only strong family relationships may have higher chances to get financial aids and support from family mem bers (The Star, 2010). Therefore, it is advisable for pre-retirees to pay more attention on retirement planning to avoid end up living in old forks home. Worry-free retirement life cannot be easily reachable today compare to the past. Various impacts from macroeconomic events such as inflation, unemployment, and global recession may trigger the retirees in their retirement age. In 2008, due to increase in petrol price and global recession, Malaysias inflation rate was surged up to 5.4% high, a 0.6 % in year 2009 and now it is forecasted to be 2.0 % this year (International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2010). The impact from high inflation rate has lead to depreciation in value of ringgit, reduction in the consumers spending, and increases in cost of living over time (HSBC, 2010). No doubt, these will give a huge impact on pre-retiree of having insufficient money to spend or to save for the future reserves (The Star, 2010). Immeasurable increment in the medical fees and medical services are likely to reduce spending power and quality of retirees life over time (The Star, 2010). Addition to that, the MasterCard Asia Pacific predicts that old population will have to spend more next 5 years and will surpass RM 35 billion compared to last 10 years (The Star, 2009). These spending not only cover existing daily usage on products and services but also huge cost on medical fees and medical services (The Star, 2009). If this situation continues to trigger the pockets of each individual, greying population may have tendencies to live in financially poor conditions. Risk from all these unpredicted future events or increase in medical fees can be reduced if retirees do early retirement preparation to hedge for unfavourable events to happen. Without a proper retirement planning, increasing number of retirees might become a burden to government and society. Population restructure process not only increases the cost of government spending but may also serve a potential loss in human resources in labour force and affect the development of economy. Thus, consistent with the facts and issues raised above, preparation of retirement planning is important. Failure to derive proper retirement plan may cause various issues and impacts either to the individual, society, or government. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the on the Malaysian awareness towards retirement planning, their plan for retirement, reasons for their retirement planning, barriers they face in planning for retirement and information and assistances they need for proper retirement planning. Through this study, more knowledge and understanding about planning behaviours in the context of Malaysian will be created. Background of the Research and Research Question Growing life expectancy among Malaysians over the past few decades have signalled that Malaysian will have longer time to spend in their retirement life (OECD, 2007; Yip, 2010; Hunt, 2009; United Nation Statistical Division 2010). Problems rise today for the preparation of retirement plan are generally due to natural biological aging process, types of workers, retirement age incremental policy, family cultural changes, unpredictable macroeconomic events, medical cost increases and many more. Pointing to existing poor retirement planning practices among Malaysians which relying much on savings, Employee Provident Funds (EPF) and children, proper actions must be done (Hunt, 2009; HSBC, 2010). These facts and figures highlight the raising concern and awareness of retirement planning among Malaysians is much needed. Through the view of all the poor or lack of retirement planning behaviour and challenges ahead that are going to affect the life of retirees, this research is important in cr eating new knowledge of better understanding of the underlying problems, barriers and factors face when doing retirement planning. Issues on retirement planning have been well studied in more developed countries such as in United States (e.g. Joo Grable, 2001; Taylor-Carter et al., 1997; Duflo Saez, 2002), United Kingdom (Sargeant, 2003), Hong Kong (Lee Law, 2004), and Singapore (Lim, 2002). These studies are targeted more to the Baby Boomer generation (e.g. DeVaney, 1995; Glass Kilpatrick, 1998; Josloski, Ekerdt DeViney, 2001; Lusardi Mitchell, 2007). On the other hand, wide scope interest mainly on issues related to women in retirement planning such as the longevity life of women compared to men, economic and psychological issues on women, factors affecting retirement planning and financial literate among women have been done and the result shows that majority of women do not plan for retirement (Glass Kilpatrick, 1998; Lusardi, 2006; Lusardi Mitchell, 2008). Findings found that women are less financial literate and are economically and psychologically weak in retirement planning (Glass Kilpatrick, 19 98; Lusardi Mitchell, 2008). Besides, some findings has also been directed on retirement income (Jing Lakshmi Malroutu, 1995), level of retirement planning preparation (DeVaney, 1995; Lee Law, 2004), antecedents or factors associate with retirement planning (Taylor-Carter et al., 1997; Kosloski et al., 2001; Duflo Saez, 2002; Lim, 2003; Lusardi Mitchell, 2008), retirement planning and satisfaction of retirement life (Elder Rudolph, 1999), retirement educational programs (Joo Graman, 1998; Hershey, Mowen Jacobs- Lawson, 2003), retirement planning information search (Joo Grable, 2001), marketing of retirement planning (Ekerdt Clark, 2001), and developing guideline for retirement planning (Greninger, Hampton, Kitt Jacquet, 2000). In light of the piece of evidence from the previous research focuses on retirement planning, there are lack of retirement planning can be observed in Malaysia (Hunt, 2009). There is no research has been done to access how Malaysian plan for their retirement in Malaysia till today. The relativity low per capital income among the Malaysians might limit the applicability of the studies conducted in more developed countries to Malaysia context (Muzaffar, 2010). Therefore, this study is paramount important, in particular, to explore or fill the research gap exist and to gain insight into a proper understanding on how Malaysians plan for their retirement. To address the research gap, this study focuses on the extent to which how Malaysians plan for retirement, reasons for their retirement planning, barriers they face in planning for retirement and information and assistances they need for proper retirement planning. Through this study, more knowledge and understanding about planning behaviours in the context of Malaysian will be created and a proper guideline to assist Malaysians in retirement planning and retirement preparation will be developed. To address this issue, the following research question is constructed: How Malaysians plan for retirement and why? Research Objectives The research objectives for this study include: To examine the Malaysian awareness towards retirement planning. To investigate how Malaysian prepare for their retirement life. To study factors affecting the type of retirement planning. To understand barriers or difficulties faced by Malaysians in planning for retirement. To understand type of assistance or information needed for Malaysian to properly plan for retirement. Significance and Justifications for the Study This study is important to explore more knowledge about retirement planning among Malaysians. As retirement planning is complex and personalizes, it is important to recognize a standard guideline or procedures to assist an individual to plan for retirement can hardly be effective. Therefore, this study opt for qualitative study to better understand the current retirement planning, reasons for retirement planning, barriers face during retirement planning and information needed for proper retirement planning among Malaysians. By exploring these knowledge and information collected from their heart and soul, these knowledge may use to identify different retirement needs and challenges face by Malaysians during their retirement planning, more effective and efficient information and guideline can be developed to accommodate different needs of individuals in planning for retirement. The outcomes of this study can be used by policy makers to identify the readiness and willingness of Malaysians in retirement planning. This information is important in helping Malaysians to facilitate and formulate better planning which ensure retirees to be independent in their financial support during their retirement age. Pre-retirees, retirees or individual may know how and what direction they must take to complete the journey of a successful retirement planning through the outcomes from this study. Addition to that, this will indirectly reduce the government burden to support them. Not only that, results from this study can also provide additional insights for policy makers to consider for the development of new policies to promote welfare of future retirees and better retirement life especially for economically and socially weaker group in Malaysia. Finally, information gathered from this research can be crucial for banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in designing and marketing their future retirement planning products and services. Proper customer segmentation can ensure the products or services being delivered to the market more effectively. Fulfilments on special needs of different market segment the different can satisfy more demand and thus, facilitate better retirement planning among Malaysians. Research Scope and Limitation This study is conducted with the purpose of examine the retirement planning among Malaysians. As different people have different retirement needs and expectations, qualitative interviews are used to capture in-depth and rich information on Malaysians. Face-to-face interviews method is use in this study to focus on Malaysians awareness towards retirement planning, their plan for retirement, barriers they face in planning for retirement, reasons for retirement planning and information or assistance they need for proper retirement planning. At first, approximately 10 respondents made up from working adults in any part of Malaysia will be selected for convergent interviews. The interview will be audio recorded and transcribed. Next, another 20 to 30 interviews will be conducted for main data collection comprising semi-structured interviews will be conducted in Northern Malaysia, Central Malaysia, Southern Malaysia, and East Coast of Malaysia. Definition of the Key Terms Provide in the following format: Table 1: Definition of the Key Terms Key Terms Definition Source Financial Education Program A program designed purposely to give inform knowledge on ways and skills to perform financial-related decisions. Adapted from American Association of Retired Persons. (1992). Fact Sheet. Washington D.C. Peer Effects Retirement planning Will be further update on this on chapter 2 is complete. Organizational of Research This research is being organised into 3 main chapters which provide details for better flows of the topic under study. Chapter 1 gives the idea of how the current issues emerge real life situation on retirement planning and preparation for retirement planning. Also, it tends to identify the problems and research gap that exist in this study. Research objectives or research aim highlights the achievement needed towards this study. Other sub parts of this chapter are likely to find the importance of this research in fulfilling knowledge gaps exist in previous studies and knowledge creation in the end of this study. Justifications and limitation for this study emphasizes the importance of this study and how this study can fill up the knowledge gap exist. Finally, a table describing some key variables terms covered on this study is given for the sake of reference. Chapter 2 reviews related literatures from previous finding in the field of retirement. Next, the main context of the literature review such as the important issues on retirement planning is also being discussed here. Dependent variable and independent variables discuss the important variable exist in previous study. Summary gives a compact preview of what have been discussed earlier in this chapter. Chapter 3 emphasize on research framework development. First few parts explain what research methods, research instrument, sampling plan use in this study. The next part of this chapter provides comprehensive overview of the data collection method. How actually this data is collected throughout this study. Data analysis method further explains the tool or software used in the analysis part of this study. Chapter 2 Literature Review Introduction Retirement represents a stage of life where involvement in certain social activities and desirable conducts become narrow or fewer roles when the person reached the old ages (Parsons, 1942). Adequate retirement planning and preparation is needed to anticipate the new roles involve with the changes in major life activities (Atchley, 1982). Retirement life without planning requires continuous employment or working, lifestyle remains same with young age although that individual reaches retirement age (Lee Law, 2004). Lack of retirement planning preparation will generally bring some disappointment during retirement and yet preparation for retirement planning is not an easy task (Lee Law, 2004). Thus, planning for retirement is important (Volpe et al., 2006). Much of the literature on retirement planning focuses on studies to identify the relationship of socio-demographic factors to be related to the retirement planning (Lee Law, 2004; Joo Garman, 1998; Yakoboshi Dickemper, 1997; DeVaney, 1995; Joo Garman, 1998). Previous study emphasizes that income (Mitchell Moore, 1998; Kim, et al., 2005), age (Richardson Kilty, 1989; Joo Pauwels, 2002; DeVaney, 1995), gender (Yakoboshi Dickemper, 1997), education level (DeVaney, 1995; Joo Pauwels, 2002; Hogarth, 1985; Bernheim Garrett, 1996) and marital status (Glass Kilpatrick, 1998) are all important factors for ones behaviour towards retirement planning. DeVaney (1995) identified that income and age are important to guild pre-retirees in groundwork process of planning. In addition, gender differences also influence the early preparation for retirement planning (Yakoboshi Dickemper, 1997). Retirement education and certain related programs also affect the retirement planning behaviours (Joo Grable, 2001). There are number of studies have been conducted pertaining to retirement planning as discussed above. The sections below summarize further description on dependent and independent variables which are important to retirement planning. Summary parts provide a compact preview of what have been discussed in the whole literature reviews on retirement planning. Retirement Planning Over the past few decades, life expectancy has risen drastically of about 2 to 3 years for each decade and this number is expected to further increase in the future (Selene, 2005). As for the rising figures, financial planning for retirement becomes more important (Glass Kilpatrick, 1998; Grace, et al. 2010; DaVaney, 1995; Volpe et al., 2006). Retirement planning is vary from one another but can be observed by integrating individuals intention and behaviour that are partially different or unknown to one another (Hanisch, 1995). According to Parsons (1942), retirement is defined as a stage of life where involvement in certain social activities and desirable conducts become narrow or role less. Ming and Xiao (1995, p.17) found that having adequate income is the key to minimizing some of the problems during retirement. Income level is an important determinant for retirement wealth growth (Selene, 2005). Different types of planning will lead to different ways of wealth accumulations and lifestyle during retirement (Lusardi Mitchell, 2007). At the same time as retirement planning involves awareness and understanding of the problem underlies in life, individuals perception is strictly important to achieve the highest retirement satisfaction (Ming Xiao, 1995). Besides, Taylor-Carter, Cook and Weinberg (1997) identified that planning improves ones confidence and self-efficacy towards uncertainty typically in short or long time frame in retirement age. Although there are much researches interest on retirement planning, focus given to obtain a retirement planning guidelines in relations to the retirement planning is even more imperative to achieve a successful retirement plan (Greninger et al., 2001). Study concluded by Greninger, Hampton, Kitt, and Jacquet (2001) on retirement planning guidelines found that families should have completed their first 50 to 60% successful retirement savings goal by age of 50 and about 85 to 90 % by the age of 60. Moreover, asset allocation on more conservative investment is expected to be done within 3 to 5 years before retirement. With this, Taylor-Carter, Cook and Weinberg (1997, p. 286) found that Planning may enhance affective reactions to the financial and activity-oriented aspects of retirement, and informal transition. Earlier saving or planning for retirement may assure one to live with truly ideal and better quality life in retirement (Elder Eudolph, 1999). Demographic Variables Among the factors related retirement plans and decision, age, education level, gender, and household income are characterized as important demographic factors towards individual retirement preparation. Following parts will further discuss the demographic variables from the review of literature in details. Age A number of studies examine the effect of age on retirement shown that age to be related to retirement plan and decisions. Age has emerged as an important and consistent factor in human behaviour towards retirement planning (Richardson and Kilty, 1989; Joo and Pauwels, 2002; DeVaney, 1995). A procedural assumption found throughout the literature found that age help to guide pre-retirees in groundwork process of planning (DeVaney, 1995), lead to attitude and perception changes on retirement and also help to raise retirement confidence (Joo Pauwels, 2002). Lee and Law (2004) concluded that as age and income increases, individuals are more motivated to take action for retirement. This is supported by Montalto, Yuh and Hanna (2000) where as they found that planned retirement age are guided by reinforcement given from constant visit or review on the information needed for planning. Besides, age and income are found to be correlated in influencing ones behaviour towards retirement plannin g (Lee Law, 2004). DeVeney (1995) concluded that age and other demographic variables such as household income, educational level and household size are inter-related to guide pre-retirees in groundwork process of planning. Age has also shown to be important in the area of future educational program (Joo Garman, 1998). On the other hand, Malroute and Xiao (1995) uncover more compelling evidence on the factors affecting perceived adequacy of retirement income among pre-retired household, the finding suggest that different respondents age is likely to give different perception on income adequacy. Normally, on average individual tend to retire 3 years before the expected age (Zappala and Depolo, 2008) and the different between preferred and expected retirement age are: chronological age, perceive of income adequacy, work condition variables, and retirement attitudes. Education Level There are extensive studies on retirement covering education in general. The findings suggest that education is an important factor in affecting retirement planning preparedness (Hogarth, 1985; Joo Pauwels, 2002). Education enables individuals to explore more information relating to their retirement planning and that sources of information will influence their decisions, attitude and intention to do retirement planning (Hogarth, 1985; Joo Pauwels, 2002). Also, DeVaney (1995) addressed that the effect of education level may serve as a motivator or guidance for individuals to start the preparation for retirement planning. With the increase in age and educational level, individual tends to be more motivated to work on retirement planning preparation or take some action for their retirement (DeVaney, 1995). Joo and Pauwels (2002) found that higher educational level allows ones to experience and achieve greater confidence level in their retirement planning life. Men who had received higher education tended to be more confident in their retirement planning compared to those who had lower levels of educations (Joo Pauwels, 2002). The level of education and confidence found to be positively related (DeVaney, et al., 1995). On the other hand, older women are found to be less likely to have higher education in general because of limited education which had been given to them in the past (Lusardi, 2004). The effects of education on womens retirement makes women to be less financial literate or having knowledge on retirement and retirement planning (Lusardi, 2004; Lusardi Mitchell, 2008). Joo and Pauwels (2002) suggested that women participation in retirement planning increases as they receive education. In addition, Joo and Garman (1998) provide a good overview that education levels are significant to focus topic for future financial education programs. Highly educated people generally tend to posses and receive more knowledge relating to investing and knowledge on retirement planning compared to those who are less educated. According to Bernheim and Garrett (1996), education makes the possible of enhancing and exploring more knowledge and information on retirement for individuals and workers. Gender Gender differences are a significant predictor in retirement planning studies. According to Yakoboshi and Dickemper (1997), gender differences are the major influential factor for early preparation in retirement planning as male and female are generally will think and act differently upon their expectations and views. Males are found to be more ready and well prepared for retirement planning compared to women in general (Lusardi and Mitchell, 2008). In addition, Glass and Kilpatrick (1998) addressed that women are less prepared for retirement and this is generally due to women are lack of financial resources than men. Women are commonly found to be more economically and psychologically weak in retirement and are influenced by factors such as limited economic accessibility, low wage, pension scheme, gender prejudice and selection of career options in their intention towards effective planning (Glass Kilpatrick, 1998). Previous findings reveals that individuals either men or women who are more financially literate, richer, more tolerance to risk, and attitude towards retirement are among important factors in affecting an individual decision to engage in assistance in planning for retirement (Duflo Saez, 2002; Lusardi et al., 2007) and seek professional assistance in planning for retirement (Joo Grable, 2001). Gender differences do not bring any effect to the decision making on retirement as Joo and Grable (2001) highlight that the likelihood of both genders behaviour on professional retirement help-seeking are the same, but women involvement rate on professional help-seeking are slightly higher compare to men if they are given a chance. Women are more likely to seek financial advice from experts and those women who equipped with well financial knowledge tends to do well and more successful in their planning (Lusardi, 2004; Lusardi Mitchell 2008). Lusardi and Mitchell (2008) also pointed out that women are less financially literate to retirement planning compared to men. Majority of women do not have any plan to do their retirement planning and they depend much on the support from their family and friends in retirement age. On the other hand, Sunden and Surette (1998) identified that gender differences and marital status have significant relationships with investment decision on retirement planning. These factors will generate different level of assets distribution among women and men in retirement planning (Sunden Surette, 1998). Recent finding by Grace, Weaven and Ross (2010) indicates that males and females do not perceive and act for retirement planning in the similar way. Of an amount of 21 exploratory semi-structured interviews has been conducted to explore and identifying the differences, the result shows that males are likely to go for individual choice perspective while women tend to adopt life course perspective when it comes to retirement planning. Males tend to assume retirement as another stage of life in the future while women make no prediction on future life stages. Household Income A number of factors influence the individuals preparedness towards retirement planning. Kim, Kwon and Anderson (2005) identified that attitude and behaviour towards retirement are generally influence by household income. Household income is a critical measurement in some matter relating to retirement especially in retirement education program (Joo Garman, 1998) and professional financial help-seeking (Joo Grable, 2001). The findings by DeVaney, Gorham, Bechman, and Haldeman (1995) identified that household income is associated with the savings and investing behaviours in retirement preparation. Retirement preparation can only work when ones have enough money or wealth resources t

Wolves: An Unwanted Predator Essay example -- Wildlife Animals Gray Wo

Wolves: An Unwanted Predator Vigorous as a predator, affectionate toward its pack, the gray wolf elicits both fear and admiration among humans. This fear, along with ignorance, inspired a movement to eradicate the gray wolf from the lower forty-eight states in the early 1900’s. By the early 1930’s, gray wolf populations had been completely eliminated from the Rocky Mountains (Bangs, et al 147). In 1973, congress passed the Endangered Species Act that protected any wolves that naturally migrated from Canada (Bangs, et al 147). Public opinion began to shift and the value of the wolf on the ecosystem was realized. While the public support for a reintroduction increased, there remained many people who opposed the gray wolf. People living in the proposed restoration areas feared that the gray wolf would threaten both their livelihood and their personal safety. The reintroduction of the gray wolf to the Rocky Mountain Ecosystem should not be carried out because it bends the rules of the endang ered species act, interferes with the wolves’ natural migration back to the ecosystem and introduces a new threat to livestock in the area. The reintroduction of the gray wolf to the Rocky Mountain Ecosystem distorts and disregards the laws of the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973 to protect endangered species and their necessary habitat (McMurray 52). The purpose of listing a species as threatened or endangered under the ESA is to prevent that species from becoming extinct. The ESA implements recovery plans that stipulate specific regulations and restrictions regarding the threatened species and its habitat (McMurray 52). Under this act, any wolf that migrated to the United States ... ...e up for its past mistakes; rather, Mother Nature will restore the natural balance of her world. Work Cited Bangs, Ed., et al. â€Å"Gray Wolf Restoration in the Northwestern United States.† Endangered Species Update. July-August 2001. v18 i4. pp 147-152. Donnelly, Karen J., â€Å"Canine In the Wild.† World and I. Jan. 1999. v14 i1: pp180+. Li, Jennifer. â€Å"The Wolves May Have Won the Battle, But Not the War: How the West Was Won Under the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan†. Environmental Law. Summer 2000. v30 i3. p677-701. McMurray, Ashley. â€Å"Federal Delistings: A Case Study of the Gray Wolf†. Endangered Species Update. May-June 2002. v19 i3. pp 51-53. Richardson, Valerie. â€Å"Decrying Wolves†. National Review. March 20, 1995: pp 28, 29. United States Congress. Endangered Species Act. Washington D.C. 1973.

Pearl

Word Mastery Apprehensive- having awareness or knowledge of something Benign- showing kindness and gentleness Collusion- secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose Countenance- calm expression Divert- to turn from one course or use to another Glimmer- to appear indistinctly with a faintly luminous quality Goad- something that urges or stimulates into action Immune- marked by protection Lament- to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively Monotonous-uttered or sounded in one unvarying tone: dull Getting it Straight-Answer all of these questions.Complete sentences Chapter 4 1. In the description of the pearl buyers, what do we find out about the market in Kino's village? The market is fixed. The buyers get together and set prices to cheat the village men. 2. What happened when Kino went to sell his pearl? The pearl buyer told him it was a curiosity, not a valuable pearl. He offered Kino 1,000 pesos. When Kino disagreed, three othe r buyers were brought in; each one said it was of little value. It is made obvious to the reader that the buyers had arranged their prices earlier. Kino says he will go to the capitol instead of dealing with these buyers. . Juan Tomas says to Kino, â€Å"You have defied not the pearl buyers, but the whole structure, the whole way of life. I am afraid for you. † What does he mean? No one of the village men had ever gone against the buyers. No one had â€Å"taken on city hall,† so-to-speak. It was not Kino's place to try to do better. He was just a lowly village man; that was his station in life. Now, he was trying to improve his station and would have to have a major conflict in order to do so. Juan Tomas thinks this goes against the laws of nature and that bad things happen when you go against the laws of nature.As I heard it put once, â€Å"Little fish don't eat big fish. † 4. Again at the end of the chapter, Juana wants to throw away the pearl because it is ev il. What evil thing happened? Kino is attacked again. This time he is hurt worse than the first time. Chapter 5 1. Where did Juana go early in the morning? Juana tried to sneak out with the pearl to throw it away. 2. What did Kino do when he figured out where she went? He went after her, took the pearl away, and (in the process) beat and kicked Juana. 3. What happened to Kino up the beach through the brush line on the path? He was attacked again.This time he was badly injured, and he killed a man. He thought he lost the pearl, but (ironically) Juana found it again in the path. 4. What happened to their hut while they were away? Someone had gone in searching for the pearl. It was a total wreck, and then someone set fire to it. 5. Why did they leave the village? They left the village because Kino had killed a man. They did not think that, given Kino's recent upsetting of authority, anyone would believe the man was killed in self-defense. Chapter 6 1. What â€Å"songs† does Kino hear on the first part of their journey?He hears the music of the pearl and the quiet melody of the family. 2. What made the music of the pearl become â€Å"sinister in his ears, interwoven with the music of evil? † Kino looked at Coyotito's face. We assume that means he thought of the evil of the scorpion and his distrust of the doctor. 3. What happens to Coyotito? Coyotito cries. The tracker shoots towards the sound, towards the cave where Juana and Coyotito are hiding, and the shot hits and kills Coyotito. 4. What happens to the trackers? Kino kills the trackers. 5. What happens to Kino and Juana? They return to the village with their dead baby. 6.What do they do with the pearl? They throw it away. 7. What does the return of Kino and Juana and their throwing away the pearl mean symbolically? It means that Kino has given up his dream, his hope for a better future for himself and his family. He has lost in his conflicts with man and nature. It appears as though Juan Tomas w as right. Delving in- Answer all question in bold and choose any two to answer 1. Why does the music of the pearl change? The â€Å"Music of the pearl† changes when Kino thoughts and senses change about the pearl. 2. Why does Kino come to feel that he will lose his soul if he gives up the pearl?Kino comes to feel that he will lose his soul if he gives up the pearl. Kino thinks the pearl is his soul. Kino has become so obsessed with the pearl that nothing else matters. His soul and faith is to making his dream come true, of moving in to a upper class and his son having an education. His soul –has the pearl to make his dream come true. It is all that holds him to life and hold his great future of his desire. 3. Why does Tomas help Kino? Tomas help Kino because he cares for Kino and his family. Tomas want to protect them from danger. Also Tomas want help put less stress for family with the entire stressful problem that has come.Furthermore Tomas pity them for all going on . Lastly, it the culture to help your family member: who needs help. 4. Why does Juana feel the event s the following the pearl’s discovery may all have been an illusion? The pearl’s discovery may all have been an illusion. Juana understands the terrible cost of Kino's having found the Pearl of the World. For, it is an uncertain world in which they now live. The dream of a better life for his son using has become now only a dream that is dark, with evil hidden around them. But the pearl was thought to be all good didn’t come to the thought being bad.

Opposing the Atomic Bomb essays

Opposing the Atomic Bomb essays The bombing of Hiroshima by the United States was retaliation to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. wanted to make an example of Japan, so they dropped the most powerful bomb they had, not fully knowing what kind of devastation it would cause. Many people lost their lives and an entire city was economically devastated. Nuclear proliferation should be banned in order to prevent other countries from suffering the death and destruction like that of Hiroshima. Governments around the world have the power to regulate what kind of warfare is used during battle. However, by permitting the use of the atomic bomb, many innocent civilians are killed. Proponents of nuclear armament argue that one massive show of force results in fewer casualties overall compared to prolonged ground war, but the use of the bomb is still inhumane. In the case of Hiroshima, staticians said that at least 100,000 people had lost their lives and 37,245 had been injured. Although the use of nuclear proliferation is often used to set an example for the rest of the world, it causes intense suffering and death to many innocent civilians. Although many governments use atomic warheads to protect their own citizens from harm, the survivors of these atomic bombs are permanently affected. The effects of the bomb cause damage to physical health as well as emotions. Thousands of people suffer from severe burns, which leave terrible koloid scars. Others have broken bones, and many thousands more suffer from nausea and fatigue due to extreme radiation exposure. Many became very bitter as a result of seeing such death and destruction. Lastly, thousands of homes and business are destroyed resulting in a decline in the economy. Many people would be left homeless or living in shelters. These people would not be able to get back on their feet because they would all be out of jobs because there would be no businesses. After businesses ...

Coservative Revolution essays

Coservative Revolution essays The American Revolution was not a true revolution as it is revealed to be, but more of a gradual change in American life. Instead of a radical change, it was a result of evolutionary changes that evolved to their way of life. This statement is evident, with political, economic, and social considerations. Within these different ranges of human interest, change had occurred gradually and for some unnoticed. Politically, the governments already had a certain degree of independence, but wanted to be completely free from the oppressive ties of England. Economically, the country was developing strategies for trading with other countries, although it was forbidden, and had also developed a small amount of self-sufficiency to some degree. Social changes were only a progression through time, and a gradual change in what was considered to be socially acceptable and normal behavior in the colonies. Before, throughout and after the American Revolution, there was a noticeable evolution in the political standpoint in the colonies. Starting with the First Continental Congress, progressing to the Second Continental Congress, and finally leading to the Articles of the Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. After some men were killed at Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress came together to form a semblance of a "temporary" national government. This evolution of a congress is clear as it eventually formed the Articles of Confederation after the war. Even though the monarchy of England left a hatred for a strong centralized government, this type of government was necessary to control and aid the nation. The Revolution set in the minds of people, a love for democracy and the expectation of equal rights. There was never an abrupt change in the government, just a gradual change into a progressively stronger government. However, these changes still contained the principa ...

Original purpose Essays

Original purpose Essays Original purpose Essay Original purpose Essay In this article, the author highlights some of the major problems facing humanity today. Poverty according to him is among the very top followed by the struggle for human rights, the guarantee against arbitrary arrest and mutilation and murder. The author talks about the fact that politicians generally end up cutting expenditures which affect the poor because they have no regard for these people and have no concern for the hunger and the suffering they have to go through. The article also touches upon Marxism and reveals the authors Marxist upbringing. He is very vocal about the causes that need to be focused upon such as providing work for the jobless, raising the standard of the homeless, preventing the poisoning of the atmosphere and the degradation of the environment and to overall improve the circumstances people live in. He also talks about his opposition organizations and institutions taking on official positions on critical public issues. His reason for this opposition is that it imperils the organization or institution and impedes pursuit of its original purpose. Moreover, if members of the institution or organization have different opinion from the official positions it reduces their ability to promote the exercise of professional activities. This is all the more true for educational institutions since involvement in external issues becomes a threat to academic freedom. While the general opinion is that because educational institutions are repositories of wisdom, they should speak out in times of crisis and on issues which are important to the public. However, history does not support this conclusion. At the onset of the Nazi regime, German universities chose to speak out but the position that they took on wasnt what was expected of them. Overall, the author is opposed to all forms of political activities by universities and professional organizations. He is also of the opinion that educational institutions should be entitled to act on behalf of academic freedom whenever and wherever it is threatened as long as such action does not hamper its ability to function. The article also talks about modern approaches for economic analysis. According to the author there is sometimes no real need to come up with complicated economic models to explain old concepts merely for added realism. He believes that a well designed model ahs the ability to work effectively as long is the model is based on the trade-ff between accuracy of representation of reality and usability in analysis. If and when a new model is proposed, it should lead to oversimplification rather than end up being a painstaking attempt to complicate an already available model. The author has two key conclusions related to this aspect. First, increased realism is not necessarily a virtue. If it complicates an already existing model it is actually a moral sin. Second, a particular model can neither be judged good or bad in the abstract sense. A models effectiveness can only be judged at the time of analysis. A model may be suited for the analysis of one issue but may be ill-suited for another. Another important point highlighted in this article is the value of pure economic research. While additions to the state of knowledge is always valuable and should contribute to the improvement of the state of social welfare, research in its truest form is always useful because it helps reduce the degree of ignorance. In fact, it is sometimes the purest of research which ultimately makes the greatest contribution to social welfare. However, caution should be exercised when engaging in abstract research before hastening to apply its results to complex issues. Overall, this is an extremely interesting article and presents a different outlook to several issues such as economic research, modern economic models, the role of professional organizations and educational institutions with respect to critical public issues as well as the need to address some of the major problems facing humanity today. Bibliography 1. Baumol, William J. (1993) From the book Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies By Michael Szenberg. Published by Cambridge University Press

Motivation & Communication of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Motivation & Communication of Leadership - Essay Example Some of the strategies are having vision and quick victories, setting personal examples, instilling optimism and self-confidence among others. Lastly, leadership is applicable in any situation because of its tremendous contribution in motivating followers and offering a communication channel (Charteris-Black, 2006). Hence, the role of leadership is applicable in nearly every place since it determines the success of an operation as well as the progress. Similarly, leadership can intervene in situations where followers are deviating from the course by giving direction and defining parameters (Draft, 2014). Motivation and communication topic is very essential because it informs the scholars and the public the importance of leadership. It helps in defining some of the roles people might not know as well as the importance of providing leadership through motivation and communication. More so, the topic is important in preparing students to become better leaders capable of meeting their

Money and banking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Money and banking - Assignment Example In this context, Commerce National Bank reports interest-sensitive assets of $870 million and interest-sensitive liabilities of $625 million during the coming month. This implies that Commerce National Bank is an asset sensitive one. Since Commercial National Bank is asset sensitive, if interest rates rise, the bank will definitely enjoy a net interest margin. The bank’s productivity on interest income and earning interest will raise its basis point for basis point in line with the market. If the rates fall, it will have its net interest margin compressed. Securitization Securitization of assets refers to the process of collecting various sorts of debts such as car loans, mortgages, or credit card debts and packaging them as bonds, collateralized mortgage obligations, or as pass-through securities. They are then sold to investors. This process can consist of any type of financial assets and it is aimed at reinforcing liquidity in the marketplace. It is also vital for smaller i nvestors to buy shares in a more complex pool. The most amenable assets used in the securitization process include equipment, trucks, automobiles, home equity loans, recreational vehicles, and credit cards. Alternatively, asset-backed deals especially for exotic assets may include: consumer loans, computer leases, time shares, trade receivables, and small commercial loans. Securitization offers numerous benefits to investors, purchasers, and financial institutions. It provides financial lending institutions with a technique to remove assets from their balance sheets, thus raising the pool of obtainable capital to be lent out. In addition, lending institutions are given a chance to utilize their assets to get funds, and most specifically, replacing the lower-yielding assets with higher-yielding ones. From the lending institutions and the regulator’s perspectives, there are some risks associated with the securitization process. This may involve such risks as banks using the bes t quality assets in the procedure, which implies that the remaining portfolio may be more dangerous averagely. This will lead to an increase in the lending institution’s capital requirements. Banks and other lending institutions choose to do this because investment activities balance the benefits that loans offer. In overall, investments demonstrate less credit risks as compared to loans, as well as permitting lending institutions to expand to various places that loans cannot allow. Investment securities also give extra liquid reserves wherever more money is required, help banks to reduce their contact with huge taxes, serve as a prevaricate against losses as a result of the evolving interest rates, and offer collateral as needed by the regulations. There are prepayment and interest rate risks associated with securitized assets. This happens when borrowers pay off or default particular loans in the securitized-asset pool prematurely. The reason behind this may be due to the f all of interest and the substitution of old loans at lower loan rates. Prepayment risk may noticeably lower the security values backed by such loans and alter their appropriate maturities. Further, the considerable drawbacks in these investments such as declining in their market values as the principal assets may lead to increase in default rates. Liquidity Total assets Sales of bank assets are projected to be $18 million Total

Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Internet - Essay Example , the internet has become as effective as the face-to-face interactions, in providing political knowledge to people, and spurring them to political actions. The internet has influenced the political interactions of different regions of the world. This includes America, the Middle East, Africa, and the other entire world parts. In America, the transformation of politics by the internet was influenced by the 2006 white house and congressional selections. Internet continues to play a political role in the advertising different party candidates, helping in party fund-raising, and the spread of both positive and negative information. In the USA, both Democrats and Republicans have used the internet in their political campaigns. These have made use of their party blogs, candidate blogs, use of e-mail, and the interactive websites to aid their campaign process. This has been efficient in assembling crowds for rallies, raising money for the parties, and increasing the party preference for people. What has accelerated the use of the internet is because it is less costly and yet it is highly efficient, compared to the traditional methods, which a re slow and involving. Howard Dean is known for his use of social media during his campaign for the Democratic Presidential ticket, through MeetUp.com, where he managed to get 190,000 online supporters. Through the internet, Dean was able to raise millions of dollars in a matter of a few weeks. Apart from Dean, McCain also utilized the internet in his campaigns in the year 2000. He raised $6.8 million, and had 40,000 online supporters. This shows that the internet is influential in political interactions today (â€Å"Journalist’s Resource† Web). In the Middle East, there are concerns that the internet highly contributed to the political upheaval in the form of the Arab Spring, which started in 2011. The internet is mainly blamed for influencing negatively the politics in the area, as it has contributed to the sustenance, if not

Networking and competition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Networking and competition - Assignment Example People greatly recognized and appreciated him through his snapshots to an extent that even if he comes up with such a creative idea in future, people will still recognize him. He saw a business idea and made it happen. However, networking requires the spirit of hard work and commitment to attain the required fruits. Had Kalina not committed himself to the daily task of taking self portraits, his project would not have thrives. Competition is important to motivate business minded people to put an extra effort in their businesses. For Kalina to transform his snapshots into the most famous videos recognized today, he saw a video from Ahree Lee which served as his catalyst. Without such a competition, he would not have transformed his snapshots into something that would positively affect his career. Most businesses do not feel good if any form of competition tends to overtake them. This is because in today’s world, most customers flee to businesses that provide the best quality products at affordable prices. That is why most business individuals always strive to outdo their competitors to achieve the highest number of clients and maintain them. Competition is one powerful force that pushes business individuals to improve their performance. This powered with appropriate networking ensures that businesses achieve the expected goals and objectives of that organization. Many businesses make use of networking in their marketing plan. It enables a relationship of trust to develop between the individuals involved. It also enables the company to rank its profile at a high level. In the event of networking, most businesses learn of their competitors’ strategy and ensure that they come up with almost the same or even better strategies. However, it is difficult to get hold of a strategy used by a competitor. That is why some businesses wait for a competitor to come up with a

Employee Empowerment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Employee Empowerment - Essay Example Autonomous environments, decentralized working conditions are actually some of the variants of employee empowerment. However, it's actually a strategy in which an employee is allowed to take the decisions without consulting the upper management and he/she actually owns his/her job. Since employees are allowed to make decisions, therefore they feel motivated and this strategy actually boosts up their performance. Through this strategy employees can serve the customer in an effective an efficient manner. Brainstorming, decision making capability, increased level of responsibility actually results due to empowerment. Through empowerment organization can attain competitive edge and total quality management i.e. quality in every aspect and operation can be achieved through empowering the employees. Different approaches and models are followed by different organizations in order to adapt the culture of empowering employees and adapting such a culture would benefit the overall strategy of the organization. Empowering the employees is all about the autonomy and the control they have on their respective jobs. Empowering with the transformational model actually means that leading and empowering the employees are working together and these two aspects are carried together to achieve the ultimate goal of the organization. Transformational model actually improves employee motivation and its satisfaction to work. The conventional working techniques are transformed and since they have a sense of ownership in their tasks therefore production quality of the employees improves. Employees lead from the front and they actually take calculated risks in order to earn more return. All the leadership traits are indulged in an employee when he/she is following the transformational model and besides leadership empowerment plays a positive role and enhances the working of the employees and develops a scenario in which an ordinary employee considers himself/herself as an entrepreneur. In the transformational model both leader and the subordinates motivates each other and help each other out and develop a situation in which motivation and morality becomes the cure of different problems. In an organization when a project is launched then it might be possible that the responsibilities of leaders and subordinates are different. But Transactional model actually results in coordination and although both the subordinates and the superiors started the project as separate entities but in order to achieve higher goals and superior targets they actually help each other in every aspect and ultimately raise the bar of their performance. Empowerment without the Transformational Model Leadership and empowerment, both are actually addressed in the transformational model. Empowering the employees in the workplace without the transformational model is a difficult task because a sense of autonomy might be developed but when an employee doesn't know how to lead and he/she doesn't practice leadership then it would be very difficult to achieve desirable results. Therefore the ultimate goa

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are Essay

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are required to answer the following three questions - Essay Example It actively supports candidates who draft public policies that are related to the brand and its products. The company has its own political action committee Kraftpac which makes valuable contributions to the US Federal and State political parties and candidates; however all corporate contributions are made as permitted by law (Kraft Foods Group, 2014). The economic downturn has also affected Kraft Food sales; however it quickly launched strategies which helped it to recover from this difficult situation. For instance, it came up with meal solutions through which consumers got make the most of their grocery dollars and get quality food at reasonable rates (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [a]). In 2013, the sales of its refrigerated meals, beverages, snack nuts and enhancers increased while the sale of its cheeses decreased slightly (Zacks Equity Research, 2014); however it did miss its target slightly. On social front, Kraft Food is quite active and gives priority to health, well-being and nutrition issues. It has earned a name for itself in fighting obesity on one hand and malnutrition and hunger on the other (Siegert, 2013). It has emerged as a strong oppose of negative lifestyles and also been vocal about food quality and safety. Health maintenance, water purification and unaffordable nutrition are other factors it has been working on. During the anti-obesity drive, the company launched a policy not to target children below 6 years with its advertisements (Siegert, 2013). Better-for-you-products are advertised to children aged between 6 to 11 years. In school advertising has been eliminated and in Europe, the nutrition content is also mentioned on the packages to help consumers adopt a healthy lifestyle (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Kraft Foods has also lowered salt content and fat content from some of its products (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Innovation has always been the hallmark of Kraft Foods. It uses technology to its advantage and has come with

Networking and competition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Networking and competition - Assignment Example People greatly recognized and appreciated him through his snapshots to an extent that even if he comes up with such a creative idea in future, people will still recognize him. He saw a business idea and made it happen. However, networking requires the spirit of hard work and commitment to attain the required fruits. Had Kalina not committed himself to the daily task of taking self portraits, his project would not have thrives. Competition is important to motivate business minded people to put an extra effort in their businesses. For Kalina to transform his snapshots into the most famous videos recognized today, he saw a video from Ahree Lee which served as his catalyst. Without such a competition, he would not have transformed his snapshots into something that would positively affect his career. Most businesses do not feel good if any form of competition tends to overtake them. This is because in today’s world, most customers flee to businesses that provide the best quality products at affordable prices. That is why most business individuals always strive to outdo their competitors to achieve the highest number of clients and maintain them. Competition is one powerful force that pushes business individuals to improve their performance. This powered with appropriate networking ensures that businesses achieve the expected goals and objectives of that organization. Many businesses make use of networking in their marketing plan. It enables a relationship of trust to develop between the individuals involved. It also enables the company to rank its profile at a high level. In the event of networking, most businesses learn of their competitors’ strategy and ensure that they come up with almost the same or even better strategies. However, it is difficult to get hold of a strategy used by a competitor. That is why some businesses wait for a competitor to come up with a

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are Essay

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are required to answer the following three questions - Essay Example It actively supports candidates who draft public policies that are related to the brand and its products. The company has its own political action committee Kraftpac which makes valuable contributions to the US Federal and State political parties and candidates; however all corporate contributions are made as permitted by law (Kraft Foods Group, 2014). The economic downturn has also affected Kraft Food sales; however it quickly launched strategies which helped it to recover from this difficult situation. For instance, it came up with meal solutions through which consumers got make the most of their grocery dollars and get quality food at reasonable rates (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [a]). In 2013, the sales of its refrigerated meals, beverages, snack nuts and enhancers increased while the sale of its cheeses decreased slightly (Zacks Equity Research, 2014); however it did miss its target slightly. On social front, Kraft Food is quite active and gives priority to health, well-being and nutrition issues. It has earned a name for itself in fighting obesity on one hand and malnutrition and hunger on the other (Siegert, 2013). It has emerged as a strong oppose of negative lifestyles and also been vocal about food quality and safety. Health maintenance, water purification and unaffordable nutrition are other factors it has been working on. During the anti-obesity drive, the company launched a policy not to target children below 6 years with its advertisements (Siegert, 2013). Better-for-you-products are advertised to children aged between 6 to 11 years. In school advertising has been eliminated and in Europe, the nutrition content is also mentioned on the packages to help consumers adopt a healthy lifestyle (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Kraft Foods has also lowered salt content and fat content from some of its products (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Innovation has always been the hallmark of Kraft Foods. It uses technology to its advantage and has come with

The Bluetooth SIG and specifications Essay Example for Free

The Bluetooth SIG and specifications Essay If the success of Bluetooth is measured by its initial interest alone then its prominence has already been assured. Before products were on sale, hundreds of companies joined the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and the Bluetooth brand became recognized worldwide. Before investigating the technology further it is appropriate to comment about the role played by the SIG, the administrative structure of which is outlined in Figure 3. With membership of the SIG nearing 2500 members it is only right to look at how the SIG works to promote, shape and define the specification and position Bluetooth in the market place. Positioning of the technology is important when you consider other wireless technologies that share the same ISM band, e. g. IEEE802. 11b, HomeRF and DECT. Differentiation is key in avoiding confusion of potential users. Figure 3: Bluetooth SIG Administrative Structure In 1994, Ericsson Mobile Communications began to examine alternatives to cables linking accessories with their mobile phones. This study produced the initial specification for wireless technology, with the Bluetooth SIG founded in February 1998 by the core promoters: Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. Intel Corp. IBM Corp. Toshiba Corp. Nokia Mobile Phones. The core promoters announced the global SIG in May 1998 and invited other companies to join as Bluetooth adopters. In July 1999 the core promoters published version 1. 0 of the specification and further enlarged the core promoter group in December 1998 with the inclusion of: ? Microsoft ? Lucent (now Agere) ? 3Com. ? Motorola. The responsibility for the various Bluetooth specifications is in the hands of the individual technical working groups. Once a specification reaches a version level 0. 5 it is made visible to associate members. An associate members must be recommended by a promoter, and submit a fee. When a specification reaches version 1. 0 it gets a higher level of visibility. Now adopters have visibility and any company can become an adopter by joining the SIG, signing and submitting the membership agreement (see â€Å"Bluetooth†). The Bluetooth specifications are open specifications for wireless communications that are free to download and use; however to use it royalty free you do have to join the SIG. By joining the group you sign up to an adopter’s agreement sharing any patents essential for implementing Bluetooth. The specifications define minimum functionality allowing devices from different companies to communicate (see â€Å"Bluetooth†). . They provide the following: o Protocol definitions for interoperability o Host controller interface o Bearer services for higher layer protocols o Profiles o Qualification o Production test o Brand book The Bluetooth specifications define the concept of a Personal Area Network (PAN), what they do not provide helps to position it in the ISM band. It is not focussed on Wide Area Networking (WAN) as it has a limited range and currently there is no hand over mechanism, though there is a working group. They do not provide implementation instructions at the application programming interfaces, user interfaces or a definition of hardware and software split. Although it could be argued there is guidance in the profiles’ specification. The rest of this section breaks down the specifications encompassing the key aspects of Bluetooth in order to explain the features (see â€Å"Bluetooth†).

Cause And Effect Of Gender Discrimination Sociology Essay

Cause And Effect Of Gender Discrimination Sociology Essay Gender discrimination started since the days of our ancestors who had been suppressing womens rights and is perceived to be the norm of the male-dominance society. Men are always, until today, seen as the figure of leadership and success in many countries with no exceptions to some well-known countries where women are given as much rights as their counterpart (Dailymail, July 18, 2011). Although the idea of women belongs in the kitchen is fast fading or much despised by the society as discriminatory, women are underperforming comparing to their male counterpart. Women are facing these hard truths mainly because the fact that most traditional minded people thinks that women are underrepresented. After that, education is one of the main causes for gender discrimination. Lastly, religion is also the factor for this issue. Traditional lifestyle in some households causes unjust discrimination to women (Anderson, Moore, Faison, 1995). For instance, many Asian cultures groom young girls to becoming women, who later in life play the role of a homemaker responsible to prepare meals for the family and to do everyday house chores. On the other hand, they are deprived off some basic rights now considered to be essentially important such as their marriage. In their culture, they are required to seek for their parents blessing on their marriage, if it is unsuccessful, their relationship would fall apart. Daughters are matched for marriages with their parents discretion and rejection is a form of disobedience which is unacceptable in their society. Old folks especially Asians are concerned about the surnames and it is the duty for the younger generation to pass on. However, only the male members are able to inherit the surname while woman must adopt their husbands surname, abandoning their maiden name (WHO 2011). It is perceived to be important to uphold their familys name because family history is the pride of many people. Therefore, traditional lifestyle is the cause of gender discrimination. As mentioned by Moreau (2010, 159). Education opportunities are prioritized for the male family members. This is due to most of the people have a thought that men are more talented to studies. This will cause that men think that they have more knowledge compared to women and it is a cause of gender discrimination. Another cause for education opportunities are prioritized because men should be responsible for the family. They think that men must be educated in order to find a better work to give his family a better life. This is also the factor that cause gender discrimination due to men will think that they have to work hard to earn a living while women only prepare meals for the family and to do everyday house chores. Therefore, the equality of education opportunity is important to prevent gender discrimination. Religion in some ways contributes to gender discrimination. Women are suffering in countries where religion is law, such as many Muslim countries (MUNFW 2012). Some of the religion such as Muslim prohibits women to become leader. They think that men should take the responsibility while women are expected to be the followers of men. This fuels men with overwhelming self-confidence and underestimate womens ability without having to evaluate them. In-born egoism causes men to always think that they are right all the time and refuse to accept suggestion from women. This is also caused them to think that women do not have the ability to get things done. Therefore, some of the religion will cause gender discrimination in the society and will bring a lot of bad effect to the society. Most of the people think that gender discrimination doesnt really bring any negative effect to the community and society. They do not really comprehend the severity of gender discrimination to the community. The population of women is shrinking in China as the result of gender selection. Trafficking of women are becoming more common in European countries. Last but not least, gender discrimination leads to violence against women. Gender imbalance is one of the effects of gender discrimination in China. International average gender ratio is 104 boys for every 104-107 girls while Chinas gender ratio is 123 boys per 100 girls in 2005 (Hua 2006). The gender imbalance in China is due to abortion of female fetuses because Chinese parents desire sons over daughters due to surnames purpose and they believe girls will leave the family once they get married and no one is going to take care of them in old age (Hua 2010). Gender imbalance in China also caused twenty percent of men in China are single in twenty years time, that attitude itself reflects gender imbalance. Gender imbalance is one of the major effects of gender discrimination in China. Trafficking of women became more general in Europe since the collapse of Soviet Union for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Prostitution is a multi-billion dollar shadow market and it is estimated to generate seven to twelve billion annually. On top of that, this industry is relatively low risk compared to drugs or arms (Hughes, 2000, 4). They abduct women, because women are weaker and are able to contribute into the sex industry. The collapse of Soviet Union opens up a pool of millions of women from which trafficker recruited. It has become a major sending country for women trafficked into sex industry all over the world (Hughes, 2000, 14). Therefore, trafficking of women is caused from gender discrimination. Violence against women is also a miserable experience for women due to gender discrimination. Gender based violence reflects and reinforces inequality between both gender, it compress wide range of human rights violation, including abuse of children, violence of women, sexual assault, trafficking of women and girls and others (UNFPA 2012). Violence has profound effects on a womans reproductive health including unwanted pregnancies, restricted access to family planning information and contraceptive, unsafe abortion after an unwanted pregnancies, sexual transmitted infection including HIV and others. Other than that, gender based violence also serves to perpetuate male power and control. It is sustained by a culture of silence and serious health consequences due to long term abuse (WHO 2011). Lastly, sexual inequality is the main factor of violence against women. Gender discrimination is a very harmful activity to everyone in this world. In traditional, education and religious view, women are weaker compared to men and it is now a reason for gender discrimination as every person has human rights in this world. Other than that, gender discrimination brought us a lot of negative effect for us. Gender discrimination caused sex-imbalance in China and trafficking of women in European countries (The Problem 2012). Gender discrimination also caused womens life to be miserable because of the violence against women from gender discrimination. Lastly, men shall not discriminate women as this common saying stated Behind all successful man, there is a woman. This quotes stated clearly that everyone have their role including women in the way to success of a man.

The Prince and the Pauper :: Essays Papers

The Prince and the Pauper The three main ideas of this book are (1) two boys' wishes become true but later they don't enjoy it (2) Be careful what you wish for(3) Always think about what you're doing first. The two major characters were Tom Canty and Edward, the Prince of Wales. The conflict was between John Canty, Tom's father, and the prince. The other conflict was between Tom and the lords, servants, the King, and all the royal people in the castle. John Canty, the lords, the servants, the King, and all the royal people in the castle opposed Tom and Edward. Tom and Edward opposed them also. The characters deal with the situation that they find themselves in by telling the truth. They never stopped telling everyone one who they really were. They insisted saying that there were not who everyone really thought they were. Everyone thought Tom and Edward were both mad. The reason why no one believed them is because they both looked alike and they both had exchanged outfits. They exchanged outfits because Edward wanted to feel how it was to be a pauper and how to live like one and Tom wanted to feel how it was to be a prince, the son of the King, and how to live like one. First Tom was enjoying it because he didn't have to beg anymore, he ate good food, and he slept in a nice, cozy bed in the King's palace, but later he didn't enjoy it because he wanted to go back home to his original family and live the way he used to live. The Prince of Wales, son of the King, Edward was then living like a Pauper. He was treated badly and never ate anything at all. He was beaten by John Canty, Tom's father and was always forced to beg. Tom's mom tried to stop John but John and Tom’s sisters watched in just slapped her horror. Edward didn't even enjoy being a pauper at least once. Everyone just thought that Tom and Edward were both mad. They solved the confusion, though. After the King had died and Tom was about to be crowned King of England Edward ran in and said that he was the true King.

Essay --

"I believe you don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or rather get educated out of it." Once a year one thousand remarkable people gather in Monterey, California to exchange something of incalculable value, their ideas: Sir Ken Robinson is one of those remarkable people. During his talk Robinson takes the opportunity to â€Å"pin his audience to the wall† while talking about his views and ideas on education. Robinson is a talented author as well, in his latest book he talks about natural talent. There is a point in the book when he says, â€Å"The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels.† And during his speech he makes it clear that our education system is stunting our children’s creativity, therefore preventing them from achieving their very best. Ken Robinson speaks out of a true passion for education and his t houghts on the ideas that, though born with a true sense of creativity, as we age our education makes no room for our creative side to truly blossom and grow into something special. There are two main themes in Sir Robinson’s speech, the first being that everybody is born with a natural desire and ability to be creative and that our schools are in fact minimalizing those abilities. The second is that we need to instead of suppressing those talents we need to cultivate and mature them. We need to re-examine the way we educate and find new ways to involve creativity in our schools education system. In the duration of his conversation with the audience Robinson lays out the idea that our education system is mostly geared towards our left-brain thinking, and therefore is squashing out... ...human imagination, and we need to be wise with the way we use this gift. He says that as a society we have to â€Å"adopt a new conception of human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity.† It is our job to find ways to help mature and grow the creative capacity of our children, instead of â€Å"strip-mining† their minds for a single resource. He leaves his audience with the idea that the only way to avoid doin this is to start looking at ourselves and our children’s creativity in new light and finding the value in it. Our students face an unknown future, and the only way to help prepare them for it, which is our job, is to teach to their whole selves, â€Å"educate to their whole being, so they can face this future†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He challenges us to find new ways to help them do something worth their talents for the life ahead of them.

Personal Goal Essay

My purpose for seeking a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership is to expand my knowledge of theory and research methods as it pertains to education Being a seasoned professional in the field of education as a Master Teacher for fifteen years, and having been exposed to different challenges in teaching the learners and leading the school, I had this profound realization on the critical tasks of education in this age of globalization. The way schools are led and managed is changing. The types of school leaders and governing bodies that exist today are far more diverse than they once were; and they will continue to develop given the fast-paced movement of modern technology which affects how people and society evolve nowadays. Hence, this complexity calls for leaders with exemplary leadership style that are worth emulating for others so as to make a real distinction in the lives of many people, not only in a community, but for the country, as a whole. Educational leadership and management as a field of inquiry play a significant role in the improvement of schools; leveraging learning outcomes; and enhancing instructional competence of students. In schools, high performance rating and high literacy rates among their clienteles connotes success in one’s governance in education, thus, in making relevance to the system, educational leaders need to exercise certain leadership models that are truly manifesting merit in order to achieve its goals. And I think I already have what it takes to become a leader who can have the knowledge and skills to make these goals a reality.

Psychological and Ethical Egoism Essay

Egoism is the teleological theory within the proximities of ethics which is allied to setting greatest good, pleasure and benefit for a single person. It comes as a contrast of altruism whose strictness is not self-centered. However altruism incorporates the interest of others in deriving absolute pleasure for a group of people or the contemporary society. Egoism can of necessity be viewed under different contexts with prevalence to the implication of drive into pleasure. Psychological egoism: This is the term that is taken to apply the aspect of human motivations as centered in self-interest. According to this view, any action despite its scores of altruism is governed by the motivations of personal desire that come from the psychological overview of the specific agent. This could incorporate aspects of desire by the agent such as avoiding the notion of been guilty, creating motives of desire for rewards or developing motives towards personal happiness. However, psychological egoism is developed as a synchronization effect of claiming the thresholds that define the scores of human nature. Since this claim in support of human nature is of necessity universal, it follows that the persuasion towards acting to a certain episode is driven by motives of personal desires and motivations (David, Jennifer, 2003, p. 58). Generally, psychological egoism underscores the phenomenological ascertainment of actions as founded on models of pure altruism. However, every action accrues some specific benefits to the fundamentals of an individual person. For example, helping a friend would yield personal happiness in the long run. The theory argues that the help that people give to the others is still motivated by personal interest and not purely aimed at creating happiness and satisfaction to the others. The principles of this theory are based on non-normative theoretical background that explains on the subjective phenomena of how things should primarily be. The basic provisions of psychological egoism is that the ultimate motive that ignites an individual towards making his/her voluntary actions is the in held desire of attaining personal pleasure as well as avoiding any possible effects and possibilities of pain (David, Jennifer, 2003, p. 3). In its proponents, psychological egoism argues that all altruistic actins are by themselves centered on parameters and motives of self interest and selfishness. These acts are only instrumental in having the aspects of motives towards self interest. The ultimate goal of egoism is therefore to achieve good feelings on personal pleasure which could consequently help in reducing and avoiding any probable scores of pain. Ethical egoism: It is the doctrine with its foundations based on the motives of selfishness as an acute score in the plain of human virtues. The theory has its propositions on the aspect that a person’s actions should ideally be modeled by personal interest. The foundations of ethical egoism are restoring the normative valuation of social phenomenon. Comparatively therefore, the truth value of ethical egoism outscores that of psychological egoism in that if it holds true, then psychological egoism would subjectively be untrue. It is a deviation from the principles inclined in altruism which propose on the ideals of the good for the contemporary society or group of people. According to the theory, when the societal resources are focused more precisely towards satisfying the interest of a person, greater efficiency and functionality of the existing social structures would therefore be felt. Consequently, the end results of this process are greater happiness in the contemporary society in the long run after each individual acts to create proximities of personal interests and happiness (David, Jennifer, 2003, p. 71). The principle code of ethical egoism is providing the rationale for a persons action in his/he own interest. This is however acceptable despite any controversial prospects in leading to conflicts between the parameters of interest and values of the others within the society. The basic difference that exists between ethical egoism and psychological egoism is that ethical egoism argues that an individual should presumably act in accordance to one’s self-interest. However, psychological egoism has its value that individuals can primarily act within the scores of their motives held in self-interests. Primarily therefore, ethical egoism governs persons in acting according to the requirements of their personal interests. Accordingly, its advancement conflicts with the basics and principles of ethical altruism when the latter presupposes the role of an individual in helping and serving the other people within the societal context (David, Jennifer, 2003, p. 71) . Conceptually however, ethical egoism is not founded on the disregard of the basic well being of the other people by the specific moral agent. Either, it does not disregard the rejection of the agent in refraining from the causal behavior that creates moral deliberation for the others. The basic creations and models of ethical egoism have been formulated on the basics of three scopes of understandings which are the universal, personal and individual. An individual egoist would proclaim that individuals should basically do that which creates benefits to them. A personal egoist would argue that their actions should be based on motives of their self-interest. Additionally, universal egoist would claim that all the people should act according to the principles that are by there on creating the aspect of own interest (David, Jennifer, 2003, p. 76).

Creating the Decision Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Creating the Decision Environment - Essay Example Groupthink occurs when the group is highly cohesive and when they are pressured to make better decisions .this occurs when pressure from the unanimity seem to be more influential. Additionally, the group pressure leads to carelessness and irrational thought since the groups experiencing the considerable group thinking fails to take the alternative as they seek to maintain unanimity. Most decisions that are shaped by group thinking have a lower probability of achieving successful results. Group thinking has become a consequential phenomenon that occurs because of the desired groups being in a consensus and therefore overriding the people’s common sense. The desire to represent the alternative and assessing critically the position, at the same time expressing the unpopular view of the group. The desires of the group that come into a common cohesion cause a very effective drive upon a good decision making strategy and an appropriate style to solve any arising problems. When pressures for unanimity seem overwhelming, members are less motivated to reasonably consider the alternative courses of action available to them.  These group pressures lead to carelessness and irrational thinking since groups experiencing groupthink fail to consider all alternatives and seek to maintain unanimity. In fact, groupthink is not commonly recognized in that Groupthink is a behavior that is found in some situations or even across several types of groups in the team settings. It is therefore important to look out for the key symptoms as group thinking involves the following symptoms: After a number of successes the group starts feeling like any decision that they make is the best and the most right one because of the common disagreement from any other source. The brainstorming technique has helped in allowing the ideas to flow freely with no disapproval. Peer pressure expresses itself in and opposing opinion of the team members and questions that are rationale behind their