psyc371FA17_XCredit_MITBlackJackTeam Essays -

Psyc3 71 F A 1 7 X -C redit [ 50 points] DUE: 12/ 0 7 /201 7 11:59 PM in D2L drop-box Breaking Vegas' The MIT Blackjack Team [video is available on YouTube] WRITTEN QUESTIONS *At least 200 words per answer; 600 or more total words minimum In your own words tell me the following: [a] Why do you think that gambling is so addictive? From a statistics' perspective, what have you learned in the course thus far that makes BlackJack an unattractive' way to make money? [b] Why would people continue to gamble despite good insight into how the odds favor the casino? [c] How would you as an educated' person be able to help someone who has a problem with gamblingwould you be able to? Would you be able to convince them using what you've learned about statistics and probability thus far.if so, how?if not, why? NOTE: Please do not include a recap of the documentaryI've seen it.

Corporate communication; work

Corporate communication; work A work-related communication problem in corporate communication An examination of how an organization can motivate it employees by promoting effective communication based on the Expectancy value theory and Uncertainty reduction theory.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate communication; work-related communication problem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More General Summary of the Problems of This Type The main purpose of human relations is to promote a highly productive workforce that will contribute towards the realization of organizational goals. However, it is a challenging task to persuade employees to conform to organization’s culture and goals. In order for persuasion process to be successful, the listener must be in a position to accept the arguments presented by the speaker (Gupta, 2011). In case the listener does not accept the arguments presented by the speaker, the persuasion cannot be successful. Expectancy Value Theory The expectancy value theory of motivation is a theory that mainly seeks to predict and explain individuals’ attitudes towards certain things or issues. This theory involves the calculations that individuals make in developing attitudes towards certain things. It was founded by Martin Fishbein. Every individual has their own goals that they intend to achieve. Our attitudes have a significant effect on our behavior, intent, and goals (Anja et al., 2010). In communication, it involves the social influence especially attitude and the attitude change. This theory has played a significant role especially in humans relations. It has been used by several organizations in their human relations strategies. Based on this theory, behavior can be viewed as a function of expectancy that one has as well as the goal to which one is determined to realize (Anja et al., 2010). This idea is usually applied in many circumstances by individuals when faced by different behav ior possibilities. For instance, one will tend to choose the combination of behavior that will yield the largest combination of expected success.Advertising Looking for essay on business communication? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The value expectancy theory posits that all people are goal oriented beings. In day to day activities, individuals are involved in behaviors that tend to optimize their needs. That is, maximization of the benefits and minimization of the risks. Therefore, the behavior people perform in accordance to their beliefs and values are determined by their ends (Anja et al., 2010). Before taking any particular course of action, individuals are involved in a number of calculations in order to come up with appropriate courses of actions that will tend to maximize their benefits. Evaluation involves the degree of affect either positive or negative that affects an individual. Uncertainty Reduction Th eory Uncertainty reduction theory was initially posed as axioms whose main target was explanation of describing the relationship between uncertainty and various communication factors. This theory was mainly developed in an effort to describe the relationship between several factors in dyadic exchange (Jennifer Haunani, 2008). These include verbal communication, information seeking behavior, reciprocity, non-verbal expressiveness, liking, similarity and intimacy (Jennifer Haunani, 2008). This theory is attributed to the work of Berger and Calabrese. In every situation, uncertainty is not desired and therefore need for motivation. In day to day encounters, people do communicate in order to reduce uncertainty. The process of reducing uncertainty can be viewed to follow a pattern which involves several stages. These stages include entry, personal, and exit. In the entry stage, various aspects like sex, age, economy and other demographic information is accessed (Jennifer Haunani, 2008 ). In this stage, interactions are basically determined by the norms and rules of communication.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate communication; work-related communication problem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The personal stage commences when individuals begins to share values, beliefs, and other personal data. At this stage, individuals decide to feature their interaction plans (Jennifer Haunani, 2008). At this point, the communicators may liaise in making decisions on how to maintain a good relationship among them. According to Berger, there are three main ways though which people seeks information about other people. These include the passive strategies, active strategies, and interactive strategies. People are always determined to improve their capability to predict their own and other peoples’ behavior. The degree of similarity also plays a significant role in reducing the degree of uncerta inty in a communication. The more people are close in terms of attitudes, appearance, and backgrounds; the low is the level of uncertainty in their operations. Expectancy value theory; Discussion, Strength and Weaknesses Over the past, the Expectancy theory has been used by a number of people. The value expectancy theory has been used in explanation of expectation value theories. These include the behavioral decision theory, Rotter’s social learning theory, and Fishbein’s theory of reasoned action. This theory therefore plays a major role by laying a foundation for better understanding of the human behavior. Through the application of the expectancy theory, an organization is able to clearly understand the importance of employee motivation. Consequently, employees will perform better and become more loyal to the community. Despite of these strengths, the value expectancy theory suffers from the fact that it is difficult to quantify the value of rewards and performance. This may undermine the accuracy or application of this method in certain issues. Also, rewards may not be necessarily connected to the effort and the performance. For instance, rewards in a certain organization may be determined by various factors like education levels, job skills or may be contractual.Advertising Looking for essay on business communication? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This theory makes very critical assumptions that all the necessities are in place. However, this is not always the case. An organization needs to have the necessary resources in order to be in a position to perform certain functions. Uncertainty reduction theory; Strengths and Weaknesses The main advantage of the uncertainty reduction theory is that it enables an organization to understand the importance of facilitating communication within the organization in order to improve on performance. By facilitating communication, an organization is able to minimize the level of uncertainty (Cornelissen 2004). The main weakness of this method is that it assumes that all information passed is constructive. In some cases, destructive information may be passed across an organization, the fact that may lead to negative results. Theory Application In Understand the Problem and Ways of Improving Communication According to value theory, when expectancy, instrumentality and valence are met, an indi vidual will become motivated (Gupta, 2011). The higher the internal force exerted on an individual, the more an individual will be motivated towards the realization of organizational goals. This aspect is very important in motivating employees in an organization. There are several measures that an organization can apply in order to motivate its employees. For instance, an organization must be able to recognize the efforts of its employees. This can be done through promotions, financial motivation or any other kind of rewards. By so doing, an organization will be able to exert motivational pressure on its employees (Melcher and Beller1967). Through continued rewarding process for employees’, performance, motivational pressure is developed among the employees. Consequently, employees will improve their performance significantly. According to expectancy value theory, individuals’ behavior is significantly determined by their expectations or goals. When presented with a se t of behaviors, an individual will be more inclined towards the behavior that tends to maximize their expectations. This can be very important to an organization in effort to maximize the performance of its work force. Employees will always be tempted to engage themselves in behaviors that tend to maximize their benefits (Argenti 2007). They will be more encouraged to engage in those practices which will help them meet their personal goals. For instance, in case there is a certain reward proposed by an organization for meeting certain targets, employees will be more determined to meet the targets set in order to get the reward. In this case, employees will be working harder in order to achieve the reward to meet their needs. On the other hand, the uncertainty reduction theory emphasizes on the importance of communication in reducing uncertainties. This theory recognizes three stages in communication. These include entry, personal, and exit. This aspect can be applied in an organizat ion. In the beginning of communication process, individuals are in tension but this tension is neutralized in the final stage (Goodman 1994). This indicates the need for an organization to promote continued communication across the organization. According to this theory, the less the differences among individuals, the lower will be the level of uncertainty. People will be able to communicate more freely when they share values. Therefore, an organization can promote communication among employees by promoting common culture. Conclusion In conclusion, this discussion has clearly revealed that the expectancy value theory and the uncertainty reduction theory can play a significant role in motivating employees in an organization. By applying these theories, an organization is able to realize the importance of motivating individuals. This plays a significant role in promoting the overall performance of employees within an organization. When the productivity of employees increases, an organ ization is able to realize its goals effectively. The expectancy value theories allow the employees to understand the factors that motivate employees within an organization. This understanding enables an organization to adopt the most appropriate measures that will maximize employees’ level of satisfaction. References List Anja, V. et al. (2010). Unemployed Individuals Work Values and Job Flexibility: An Explanation from Expectancy-Value Theory and Self-Determination Theory. Applied Psychology: an International Review, Vol. 59 Issue 2, p296-317. 2010. Argenti, P.A. (2007). Strategic Corporate Communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Cornelissen, J. (2004). Corporate Communications: Theory And Practice. London: SAGE. Goodman, M. (1994). Corporate Communication: Theory And Practice. New York: SUNY Press. Gupta, S. (2011). Enhancing the Role of Corporate Communications: A Practice-based Approach. Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 14 Issue 2, p114-132. Jennifer, T. a nd Haunani, S. (2008). Parsing the Mechanisms that Increase Relational Intimacy: The Effects of Uncertainty Amount, Open Communication About Uncertainty, and the Reduction of Uncertainty. Human Communication Research, Vol. 34 Issue 4, p625-654. Melcher, A. J. and Beller, R. (1967). Toward a Theory of Organization Communication: Consideration in Channel Selection. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p39-52.

5 Porter's Five Forces on Amazon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

5 Porter's Five Forces on Amazon - Essay Example The most significant benefit is charging Amazon only when consumers make the actual purchase. This room for allowance reveals just how willing suppliers are to offer their commodities and services to Amazon. Amazon maintains a low of five items from small suppliers to lower overhead costs. Suppliers reasonably treat Amazon like a pivotal and prestigious partner, which is the source of their explicitly evident and necessary devotion (Cukier, Hodson, and Ryan, 2009, p. 5). Amazon is among the pioneers of the e-commerce sector. This advantage offers amazon a significant degree of presence in the online retail market. Amazon’s superior customer satisfaction guarantees Amazon’s market share in the end. At the same time, Amazon has numerous rivals who offer a nearly similar diverse array of products and services with almost the same low prices (Cukier, Hodson, and Ryan, 2009, p. 3). Examples of such rival companies are Barnes and Noble, eBay, and Alibaba. Amazon’s presence on the internet compelled the company to improve its search engine capabilities to rival with those of Google and Yahoo. The risk of the substitution of Amazon is significant. There are a great deal of options to amazon’s products and services for online shoppers. Currently, Amazon is unique for only its patented features such as the one-click ordering. Many stores with physical outlets have an online presence. This presence means nearly all of Amazon’s inventory are available on the internet on other websites such as the direct manufacturer’s site. Products on such sites often do not have the same low prices or offers (Cukier, Hodson, and Ryan, 2009, p. 2). However, when Amazon does not present a better offer, consumers who really want the product will always substitute Amazon with other online retailers. The internet is a platform for the prevalence of new ideas

Internal Auditing, 4 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internal Auditing, 4 questions - Essay Example The complex activities are to be controlled by managements of the organizations, and in the case of companies, naturally the first target is the Board of Directors of such organization made responsible to formulate proper policies, to control the various activities, the organization carries our in different countries, with cross cultures , different moral values, and different customer loyalties. One can see Nescafe, Cadbury product, Lux , Colgate ,cocoa cola, Pepsi, Philips, Sony, Motorola, Toyota and a host of consumer products available through out the world, where customers vary, their cultures vary, but they are bound by these products, which speaks of their qualityThese products made their own language.. For making such universal names, just like the saying that behind every successful man there is a successful woman, behind every successful organization, definitely there is a sound, solid, successful management structure with reliable management principles and policies, to operate their businesses across globe. These managements are successful, because of their management policies, which involve various control systems. Managements strength lies in the policies, they frame, and implementation of those policies, by establishing, various controls, at different levels of management. The first in the management hierarchy, na... Organisation structure --Controlenvironment basically includes the organization structure it self. Management's processes involve planning, organising, and directing the business activities, with the assistance of sound management structure. Different levels of management means-- Management by Board and its subcommittees, top management teams, middle and or functional management teams, operating or supervisory management teams. Boardand StrategicTop Management Middle or Functional Management Operating or Supervisory Management. The first in the management hierarchy, namely the board and top strategic management , formulate (i) the vision, (ii) mission, (iii) objectives of the organization,(iv) long term strategic plans ( ranging from 2 to 5 years period)and approve the plans and strategies prepared by other management structures. Functional management prepares strategiesandshort term plans ranging for six months to a two -year period. Operating management prepares operating plans and operating strategies that will range from one week to six months period. All these plans and strategies should be falling with in the top management plans and strategies. Once they are implemented in true spirit, the organization gives excellent results in all directions. But it is not so simple in the present day organisations. Organisation should have proper control systems in place, and internal audit activity exists to give reasonable assurance to the management that the control environment exists, andcontrol systems established by the management are efficient, effective and economical. Assignment of Authority and responsibility-- Managements function throughby fixing responsibilities on the individual mangers, and

Macro-Economic Convergence. Property sector growth in Prague Essay

Macro-Economic Convergence. Property sector growth in Prague - Essay Example 63). The substance of this study is based on the premise that real estate development as an aspect of economic growth depends significantly on the nature and direction of financial development. This study will seek to demonstrate that seasons of favourable financial developments have tended to correspond to with seasons of a rise in the values of residential properties in the country. The study will also seek to illustrate the fact that inflationary pressure and other financial forces on the market have a tremendous effect on the level of economic development as represented in the value of property prices in the country. The study will use illustration of the performance of property values in the country within the period of ten years. Basically, this study will be qualitative in approach. It will combine the methods of extended literature and case study approach to determine the insights of the study with particular reference on the impact of financial developments on economic growt h in the Czech Republic. Reliable and resourceful information on the financial trends in the Czech Republic will be matched to the nature of real estate development in order to establish the kind of associations between the two (Haber, North & Weingast, 2007). In order to enrich the authenticity of the study, it will be appropriate to use the most recent information for the study. Case analyses will be conducted to determine the manner in, which the financial trends in the Czech Republic impact on the aspect of economic growth (Liebscher, 2006). The trends of the values on the property markets suggest that macro-economic forces at play in the country have some significant impacts on the property development in the country. Furthermore, the study will incorporate the views of analysts in order to establish the nature of relationships that operate between the two realities. There is a sense in which the dynamics of economic growth and the trends in the interest rates affect the level of property development in the Czech Republic (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). Generally, the study will seek to demonstrate the fact that the nature of growth and the levels of stability of the markets determine economic processes. Past and recent case analyses, economic development studies, media reports and other multiple sources have shown compelling proof of a boom in the residential property sector in the space of time of a decade in Czech Republic (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). Various explanations from different sources have offered a range of explanations behind this development. In the opinion of analysts and industry experts, the phenomenal growth of the residential property sub-sector has impacted significantly on the property values in the country. The various sources are in concurrence with the fact that Prague remains the focal point of residential property development in the country. Few studies have attempted to determine the exact impact of the phenomenal growth in the resid ential property sub-sector on the value of properties in Prague (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). However, a review of select cases indicates a consistent growth in the value of residential property prices over the past five years. Analyses of various cases have shown up to 500 percent increase in the value of residential properties in a span of a few years (Florio, 2011, p. 78). Whereas some analysts predict a consistent pattern of value increment in Prague’s property sector, others remain pessimistic expressing fears and doubts over the sustainability of the current value growth rates. Those who project a decline in the value

The Concept Of Internal Audit Accounting Essay

The Concept Of Internal Audit Accounting Essay Internal auditing, it is not a new term for the world of organization. The concept of internal audit is old like 5000 years, at that time people of civilized communities which were economically and politically stable used this approach to check effectiveness of their taxes and businesses so they can check errors and safe the state property from dishonest taxpayers. In modern world especially in the United States this approach rise after the Second World War and steadily growing. Internal audit has much similarity with financial auditing and a number of theories are derived from management consulting and public accounting. Definition: Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organizations operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. Internal audit is a preventive action of a company and it is done by the professionals or experts of that company. These professionals called internal auditor and they evaluate internal control system of the company. This study or audit report is submitted to management and from this report they can take steps for improvements. In requirement part of ISO 9001:2000 it is found in the monitoring and measurement section which gives idea that it is an activity that measures implementation of quality management system. Scopes and objectives of internal auditing: Objectives: The main objective of an internal audit in the company is to improve quality and reduce risk by evaluating the effectiveness of process. Other than this internal audit is done for checking financial and operating informations reliability, to safe assets from loss, resource management, established process or program me is following its objective and compliance with policies, laws and regulations, identification which area needed improvement, verification of cGMP compliance. Scopes: Internal audits main scope is assuring quality in respected area which is under the audit procedure. Design, approval and evaluation of product should comply with GMP. Ensure quality in GMP implementation, performance of staff, feedbacks. Include documents, instruction and records and covering all parts of GMP. Principles and Requirements of internal audit: As per ISO 9000 standards require maintenance of document evidence for internal audit process. Document evidence must include: who is executing the internal audit, which department is under the audit, describing whole process, supervision after internal audit plan and where the results are documented. These are the some common principles that applied at the time of internal audit implementation. Internal audit is independent and evidence based approach. All activities of internal audit should be reviewed by independent party, have a sampling and tracking line and they are open and constructive. Insure all resources are available before starting audit. Auditor: Auditor is a employee of the company with sufficient experience and background who conduct the internal audit. Though he is an employee of the firm he has to audit his colleagues and their performance and for this he has some abilities that audit results are not affected by his personal relation. For this he has to be ethical, open minded, diplomatic, observer, versatile, persistence, decisive and independent. Patience is needed in auditing and so the auditor must be cool and need to see what the actual situation in the organization. Generally people dont like to be audited and for this he makes lot of effort psychologically to get the real answer and avoid the conflict. In the audit period he has main one objective put the real status of the organization to top management. Internal Audit process: For successful audit it is required effective communication between management and auditor. To obtain effectiveness and in time audit it is necessary that auditor do not go depth in every item and take a quick overview and focus on the parts which do not comply with the company policies. Every audit is unique; the audit process is containing these four stages which are commonly found in every audit: Planning of audit ( review and preliminary phase) Performing an audit ( field work phase) Audit report ( documentation phase) Change implementation ( follow-up phase) 1. Planning of an audit (review and preliminary phase) In the stating of an audit management do a meeting to plan about auditor that who will handle the audit, objectives and scopes of an audit, which area should be cover under the audit, which criteria should be considered, gather information about important processes, prepare paper work and distribution of audit plan. 2. Performing an audit (field work phase) After planning now it is time to implement audit procedure but there is no common way that auditor perform the audit. An auditor should looking what is requirement, which way the process can be improved, gathering and analyzing information and making best conclusion on his effort. Keep in mind that internal audit is not always done for the improvement or find out defects, it also recognize individuals who are putting their outstanding efforts. The following procedure is generally followed in each audit: In starting of audit process the auditor first make a meeting with the head of area which is going to be audited, explaining him scope and objective of this effort and making him relax for the audit. Auditor will study all processes carefully and their outcome, here auditor checking that processes is operating in conformance of companys quality management system. He gathers information by asking open-ended question about process and personal competence. Auditor make notes about data he got during the various point of audit process. Auditor analyzes all the data he found and ask himself that is process running in compliance with companys policy? Or process needs improvement. Before reaching the conclusion he take all the aspects of audit in consideration, is there any failure event appeared, any area needs to be considered improvement? Are there any individuals or departments displayed uncommon behavior? In the end of his fieldwork the auditor, hold the closing meeting with head of the area in presence of plant manager. Explain him positive and negative outcome of his study and corrective actions for that. He tries to resolve any disagreement on his conclusion in this meeting. 3. Audit report (documentation phase) It is most difficult part of the process. An auditor should write brief and clear summery of his finding, which includes both positive and negative outcomes of his study. These positive outcomes may help company for improvement. The data or findings must be truthful, scope and objective oriented, and written in manner that management can easily understand that and can take corrective action from that. Audit report is a official record that should contain: scope, criteria and objective of an audit, Auditors information, time and area where auditing done, outcomes of audit (positive and negative), a closing statement. 4. Change implementation (follow-up phase) During this phase the non compliance is submitted to quality committee. The quality committee studies the report submitted by an Auditor and checking all the non compliances are in fact differ from the companys quality management system. Upon agreement that process or item is none conforming, the quality committee takes action to correct it and gives responsibility for this correction to suitable person with time limit. During correction quality committee observe the process of correction and after change is implemented and process or item working in compliance with companys policy, committee ask the same person for follow up inspection. The Auditor check in same manner as he done before and check the difference in outcome, if it is compliance with quality management system of company than he give the satisfactory report to the management. The whole process is documented that it could be useful for future study. Audit activities Evaluation of an auditor Monitoring and reviewing Identifying correction Preventive action Opportunities for improvement Implementation Scheduling Evaluating Selecting auditor Monitoring audit Planning Scope Objectives Resources Guidelines Start the Audit programme PLAN Improvement actions Act DO CHECK Fig. 1. Process flow diagram of internal auditing Internal controls: Internal control is a major part of an internal auditing and evaluation of internal controls is one of the primaries objectives of internal auditing. In auditing internal controls can be defined as process affected by organizations structure, employee and management information system, authority and work flow, designed to fulfill organizations scope and objectives. These are common objectives for internal control: effective and efficient operations, reliable financial reports, compliance with laws and policies, protecting assets of organization. Internal controls are divided in main two categories preventive controls (designated to prevent errors and irregularities from occurring) and detective controls (designed to find out errors and irregularities after they have occurred). The examples of internal control activities are separation of duties, authorization, proper documentation, control over assets, variance analysis, monitoring operations. A question arise that who take the responsibility for internal controls, its not only a job of internal auditor. Every employee of the organization is responsible for maintenance of internal controls. Internal audit assist management to evaluate and promote internal control system. Risk management: Internal audit play an important role in risk assessment and evaluation of processes which have significant risks. Risk management is process that in which way organizations sets its objectives and then evaluates and analyzes the risks which can produce impact to realize its objective. In regular basis organization applied strategic, marketing or capital planning, budgeting, and hedging to evaluate the risk. Internal audit evaluate all this activities and processes applied by the management to report and monitor potential risk identified. These are some core roles of internal audit in risk management: assuring risk management process, assuring evaluation of risks and evaluation of risk management process, key risks evaluation and reviewing them to the management, assisting management in responding of risks, developing risk management framework and coordinating all activities. Internal audit vs. External audit: External audit: In External audit organization contact person (auditor) outside of the firm who audits organizations financial statement and submit a report to the management. External auditor differs from internal auditor mainly in two ways: (1) internal auditor mainly focuses on risk management and internal control framework, (2) internal auditor do not form an opinion on organizations financial statements. Some similarities also there between internal and external auditor: Both internal and external auditor examines and evaluates many transactions. Both report if the procedures are poor and ignorance in adhering them. They both deeply involved in information system and based on discipline and work with profession standards. Both are concerned for occurrence of errors and they are tied with internal control system of organization. Both give formal report of their activities. factor Internal audit External audit objective

Elections and democracy Essay

QUESTION 1; 1. Do you think elections can be a good measure of democracy? Discuss this statement in relation to elections recently held in African countries you are familiar with. INTRODUCTION The year 2011 experienced serious levels of political activities in Africa such as political upheavals, middle-east uprisings and elections in many countries. Most Islamic nations rose against their long-ruling leaders, hence saw the ousted of Egyptian Hosni Mubarak and the killing of Muamar Gaddafi after a six-month war between the Gaddafi loyalists and the anti-Gadhafi fighters assisted by NATO. However, while this was taking place, other countries like Zambia, Congo DR, Nigeria, Liberia were also exercising their obligation of having other leaders not by violence but by the ballot. The countries which fought hard to remove long-rule-leaders wanted to just as other countries have the freedom to choose their leaders in an election, a move considered to be a democratic activity of the citizen. Elections are being considered to the most important way of showing how democratic a nation is. However, in reality there is surely more to democracy than just holding an election, thus, this essay will analyse as to whether elections only are the sufficient measure of democracy. MAIN BODY Democracy’ is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘a form of government in which people have a voice in the exercise of power, typically through elected representatives’. Democracy is most obviously manifest through elections which enable people to choose representatives. However ‘democracy’ is not an absolute category, whereby if a country has an election it can be regarded as ‘democratic’. Instead, a state’s democratic credentials involve assessing many, if not all, aspects of governance and the political system. There is much debate over what constitutes democracy both in theory and in actuality. In one classic definition, by Robert Dahl, democracy requires ‘not only free, fair, and competitive elections, but also the freedoms that make them truly meaningful (such as freedom of  organization and freedom of expression), alternative sources of information, and institutions to ensure that government policies depend on the votes and preferences of citizens’ (Dahl 1971). Thus democracy is not just about majority rule, but requires political freedoms so there can be debate and independent decision making. Commonly recognized essential components of democracy include: multi-party electoral competition, freedom of association, freedom of movement, independent media, and the rule of law. Achieving such freedoms may be a staggered process in which there are different patterns of democracy. It is widely suggested that democracy enables people to fulfil a basic human interest and need to participate in civil and political life. The Inter-Parliamentary Union comment in their Declaration on Criteria for Free and fair Elections ‘Recognising the right of everyone to take part in the government of his or her country is a crucial factor in the effective enjoyment by all of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Democracy is argued to benefit the society as a whole, as dialogue enables relevant issues to be addressed and the best solutions to be found based on informed and considered choices, and those in governance are kept responsible and accountable and under a limited mandate.’ It is argued that democracy increases the chances of peace within a state and with other states. Democracy is also thought to reduce the likelihood of political repression and to increase the chances of stability and economic growth. Amartya Sen points out one dramatic example of this indivisibility of civil-political and socio-economic rights in identifying that ‘no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent democratic country with a relatively free press’ (Sen 1999). The American non-governmental organization, Freedom House, in its 2002 global survey concluded ‘the GDP of Free countries stood at $26.8 trillion, while the GDP of Not Free countries was $1.7 trillion’. DISCUSSION From the understanding of liberty and freedoms, the government must be erected by the participation of very free people not under coercion. It implies that the citizens must have a free will to choose leaders of their choice and be able to have freedom of expression within the given framework. Thus, elections become a very important voice for citizens to select their  leaders as that is how they participate in the process of making decisions .However, there is more to democracy than just holding elections and electioneering. There are many other factors to consider to complete democracy than just holding an election Elections today, which signify democracy, must be judged by the conformity to standard norms that constitute free and fair elections. A free election is based on the presumption that fundamental human rights and freedoms are respected. These would include freedom of assembly, association, expression, and information. In addition, freedom would include freedom from violence, intimidation and coercion, freedom to access the polling stations by both voters and monitors, and freedom to make choices without fear of repercussions.But in Zambia,prior to elections,there was a lot of intimidation by the ruling MMD by brutalising the opposition,corrupting the youths with beer to cause confusion in a way of campaigning.So there was coecion before election as opponents were not ready to frely make their own decisions over who to vote for. In another example,Congo DR November elections were marred with extreme violence prior to and during the election. The Joseph Kabila’s party had no respect for the peoples rights,hence brutality and willfull killing took place and spread to other places especially were the opposition members were concentrated. In Nigeria, during the 2011 elections there was a serious witnessing of electoral and ethnic violence where more than 1000 people died. This was attributed to the government’s inability to be transparent in election procedures so much that elections were postponed three times and this gave worse suspicion and more violence. So it’s clear that even though the elections are being held, but then they are far from showing any sort of democracy. African News and Current Affairs(2011) reports that other divisive elements of this year’s ballot include an initial delay to the polls; a result of the implementation of a new voter system. The polls were actually in progress in several states when Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair affirmed the postponement necessary to ‘maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process’.This move was met with protest and interpreted variously as; a ploy to rig results, a broad move to block such attempts, pure incompetence or a mixture of all three, theories which undermined the transparency of proceedings before they had properly begun. Additionally  election are fair when all the participant be it in ruling or opposition political parties have on a level footing in order to produce the legitimate results acceptable to all the characters. This means no intimidation, equality in accessing the campaign resources, media and other amenities However, the 2011 tripartite election showed how the Zambian government could control the â€Å"independent ECZ† by easily breaking the election rules . The then ruling MMD were actually distributing gifts to electorates when it was clear that it was against the law. Further, the ruling party had started campaigning far before the campaign period or election date was even announced.ECZ was well aware of such malpractices but could not control the â€Å"big guy â€Å"in the electoral game. In fact how can a body be independent if the Directors and others in ECZ are directly appointed by the president? The independence of the electoral institutions is undermined by a number of factors, resulting in multiplicity of controversies in virtually every aspect of the elections, such as voter registration, polling stations, duration of polls, demarcation of constituencies, verification and announcement of results and access to the media. In addition, during election campaign, the campaign ground wasn’t level as the ruling party had all the resources to propel a smooth and prosperous campaign which gave the ruling party a strong upper hand in the game. They could use any resources ranging from public vehicles, money and power to curtail other parties’ ability to campaign properly. The ruling party could easily buy anyone to fake defection and pay up the chiefs or headmen in order to belong to the their side, but at the same time demonising opposition parties and preventing them from accessing funds for campaigns. Conclusion Finally, much as elections is cardinal for the erection of democracy, but then it is surely not the sufficient measure for democracy. A country can hold the election but then if these elections are not free and fair, there is unequal distribution of resources, there is no transparency in all the dealings of the government, there is no respect for human rights and freedoms by the constitutional holders and no freedom of expression and no free media, democracy can’t prevail in the country. Bibliography Banda, F. (2003) Community Radio Broadcasting in Zambia: A Policy Perspective, Doctoral Dissertation, and University of South Africa (UNISA) Barnett, C & Murray, L (2004) Spaces of democracy: Geographical Perspectives on Citizenship, Participation and Representation. London: Sage Publications Barnett, C. (1999) The Limits of media democratization in South Africa: politics, privatization and regulation. London: Sage Publications Brown, Michael E. (ed.), Debating the Democratic Peace. Boston, MIT Press, 1996. Dahl, Robert, Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971). Sen, Amartya, ‘Democracy as a Universal Value’. Journal of Democracy, vol. 10, no, 3, July 1999.

Mba Finance Assignment

The group operates in a highly competitive market. New entrants join the market on regular basis and current competitors continue to improve their standards. The outdoor market had become more attractive to the large retailers that challenges the Group in pricing. Although the Group generated a revenue of ? 267,7 million during the year it has an operating loss of (? 2 million) and loss before tax of (? 14,4 million). Chief Executive Neil Gillis, says the primary objective of the Group is to reduce costs and debt. Over the year by managing supply chain more effectively, the Group reduced debt facility from ? 40 million to ? 35 million. David Bernstein, Chairman, admits that the Group experienced a difficult financial year. On the other hand an improvement in working capital through a ? 5. 9m reduction in the level of inventory was achieved and new processes have been put in place to meet and improve on the level of availability from this lower level of inventory.Cash management had a high level of focus through the year with improvements being made to supplier terms and a greater focus on collecting debts. Outdoor division maintain a sound performance in a tough retail market, reporting a small reduction in operating profit compared to the previous year. Accordingly, the Group strategy is to focus on this strength and to manage a structured exit from the Boardwear business. A great deal of change has occurred over the last year and this will continue with a program of upgrading stores and converting stores from Boardwear to Outdoor.Ratio Interpretations ROTA(Return on total assets): The ROTA ratio measures how effectively the company is utilizing its assets to generate profit before paying its interest and tax obligations. From the ROTA calculation it is observed that the company has made 6. 62% loss for each ? of assets on its financial statements in 2008. In 2009 the company performed even worse in terms of ROTA with – 12. 21% of loss for each ? pound of assets on its books. When we take a deeper look into the calculation we see that the denominator has decreased by 14% which has a positive impact on the ratio.However the numerator therefore the loss of the company has increased by 62% which impacted the ratio negatively. Considering the ROTA ratio and comparing the two years results It can be said that the company is facing problems with utilizing its assets and generating revenues. Profit Margin: Profit margin ratio measures how much profit the company generates before paying interest and tax. The company made a loss of 2. 52% for each ? of sales it made in 2008 and 4. 50 %for each pound of sales made in 2009.Looking at the financials of the company we see that the cost of sales and distribution costs has decreased in 2009 compared to 2008 which positively impact the profitability. However the revenues of the company have decreased in 2009 and this decrease was larger than the total decrease in cost of sales and distribution co sts. Consequently the company made a larger loss for each ? of sales made in 2009. Return on capital employed (ROCE): Return on capital employed measures the efficiency and profitability of a company's capital investments. for each pound invested the company made -7,27 pence's for 2008 and 13,93 pence's for 2009.The decrease in ROCE is majorly due to the decrease in profit before tax. There is only a slight decrease in assets and liabilities from 2008 to 2009 which can off-set each other. Current ratio: Current ratio is a measure of liquidity and is believed to be a good indicator of a company's ability to repay its outstanding loans. The company has ? 1,49 of current assets for each ? 1 of current liabilities in 2008 and ? 1,33 of current assets for each ? 1 of current liabilities in 2009. There is only a slight change between the two years but looking at the books we can say 2008 was more liquid for the company rather 2009. Quick ratio:Quick ratio measures a company's ability to m eet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. The quick ratio is more conservative than the current ratio because it excludes inventory from current assets. Inventory is  excluded  because  some companies have  difficulty turning their  inventory into cash. As we look at our company we see that the company was successful in 2009 in turning inventory in cash but since the assets also decreased from 2008 to 2009 it was better in 2008 than 2009. Stock turnover: Stock turnover ratio indicates the number of times a company's average inventory is sold during an accounting period.It can be said that the company turned its inventory over 2,43 and 2,44 times in 2008 and 2009 respectively. It means the company sells out its inventory in approximately 150 days, which is not very effective. This shows that the company ties money in stocks for a long time therefore it is not available to be used elsewhere. Fixed asset turnover ratio: Fixed asset turnover ratio measures a company's ability to generate net sales from fixed asset investments. A higher one shows the company has been more effective in using the investment in fixed assets to generate revenues.Changes in the ratio over time reflect whether or not the firm is becoming more efficient in the use of its fixed assets.. Even though 2009 ratio is slightly higher than 2008 it does not mean that the company become more efficient because looking at the financials we see that both revenues and fixed assets decreased from 2008 to 2009. Furthermore when we look at the details of fixed assets we saw the decrease is due to the accumulated depreciation. In other words there is not an actual decrease in fixed assets but in revenue there is. Debtors turnover ratio:Debtors turnover ratio measures the days receivables are outstanding from the debtors. Looking at our company we see that the debtors turnover ratio decrease in 2009 compared to 2008. Therefore we can say that the company is collecting its receiva bles in shorter time intervals in 2009. In the ideal case the shorter collection periods indicates the effectiveness of the company. However in our case the company is already making loss and the shorter collection period might be due to the liquidity problems of the company. The company might be applying shorter terms to collect its receivables and pay its debts Debt to equity ratio:Debt to equity ratio is used for researching the capital structure of a company. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. In other words it shows the proportion of the company financed by creditors in comparison to that financed by stockholders. From our computations we can conclude that 80% of the company was financed by investors in 2008 when 20% is financed by creditors. In 2009 only 6% of the company is financed by creditors when 94% is financed by investors. We can say that the firm is willing to fund its operations with its own equity rather than debt.Income gearing: Income gear ratio measures how much of its profits a company is spending on the payment of interest expense. Since the company in our case can’t make any profit it is not meaningful to analyse this ratio. However it can be said that the company can’t pay its with its earnings but with the assets it has in hands. Profit per employee: Profit per employee indicates the average profit generated per person employed. We can see that the company dismissed about four hundred employers during the year 2009 but this did not prevent profit per employee ratio to decline even more.In 2009 the company generated a loss of ? 5 million more than 2008 which could not be covered by the decrease in employees. Sales per employee: Sales per employee ratio compares the pound volume of sales against the total full time employee equivalent of people working in the business. It provides a broad indication of how expensive a company is to run. The sales per employee ratio is rather high for the company. Which means the company operates on lower overhead costs which translates into healthy profits. On the other hand looking at two years we can say that the company was more effective in 2008 than 2009.Even the company employed more people in 2008 than 2009 the revenues were also higher. Dividend per share (DPS): Dividend per share is the amount of the dividend that the shareholders will receive for each share they own. Dividends are a form of profit distribution to shareholder thus looking at the financials it can be said that it can be optimistic to expect a growth since the dividend per share is in a declining trend from 2008 to 2009. Earnings per share (EPS): Earnings per share mean the portion of profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. It serves as an indicator of profitability as well.In our case the EPS is in a negative trend. We see a large decrease from 2008 to 2009 about 20 pence's. This shows the company is not making money. In our case this is a going concern. The company should find ways to make money because money losing business will eventually go bankrupt. Dividend cover: Dividend cover measures the ability of a company to maintain the level of dividend paid out. Since the dividend cover is -3,6 and -34,8 for 2008 and 2009 respectively it means the company's loss attributable to shareholders is 3,6 times the amount of dividend paid out for 2008 and 34,8 times the amount of dividend paid out for 2009.The reason the dividend cover declining that much from 2008 to 2009 is due to the decrease in both dividends and earnings per share. Dividends have decreased 75% (from 4 to 1) while the earnings have decreased by more than 100% (from 14,4 to 34,8). Price Earnings ratio: Price earnings ratio shows how much investors in market is willing to pay for company's earnings. We can see that there is an increase in P/E ratio from -12,3 to-1,2 in 2009. Even though the earnings per share decreased so did the marke t price of the stocks. I believe we would not be wrong saying investors are more optimistic about the future of the stock in 2009 than 2008.Dividend yield: Dividend yield is the ratio that measures how much a company pays out in dividends relative to the market price of the share of the company. This ratio is important for the investors considering investing in the shares of the company. Observing the shares of the two companies with equal share price, an investor will invest in the company with the higher dividend yield. In our case dividend yield for Blacks Leisure Group increased in from 2. 22 % to 2. 38 % in 2009 which will have a positive impact on the investment considerations of investors.However the company has made losses in the last two financial years the increase is mainly due the decrease in market price of the shares of the company. This situation will possibly negatively affect the perceptions of the investors about the company. ROE: Return on equity measures the prof itability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. The company earned -7,2 pence's for each pound invested by the stockholders in 2008 and -21 pence's for each pound invested in 2009. Both the decrease in net income and equity resulted in a %14 decrease in return on equity.Conclusion As we look at our calculations, the company's financials and the auditor's report we can see that the Group ability to continue is a going concern. The Group and Lloyds Banking Group are engaged in discussions regarding provision of a financial structure which will enable the Group to accelerate both the exit of the loss-making Boardwear business and the development of the Outdoor store portfolio. However the Directors are well aware that the loan facility will not be extended beyond August 2009 and that there is a risk that the going concern may not be resolved satisfactorily.

midwifery essays

midwifery essays Support for the Midwifery Profession: Pros and Cons The tradition of midwifery virtually disappeared in Canada during the early part of this century. Several generations of women gave up childbirth at home to the medical profession. They did this in the name of safety and pain relief, or simply because the option of being cared for by a midwife no longer existed. Midwifery should be re-instated as a legal and honourable profession. With healthy pregnancies and under normal conditions, women should give birth at home with the professional assistance of a midwife. The most common argument against home births and midwifery are perpetuated by the medical establishment. As a profession, they openly oppose to lay midwifery, and as Dr. William Hall, president of the College of Physicians, said, he and the college oppose home births because they feel it is unsafe. (Ramondt, 1990) Undoubtedly, the medical profession is correct in protesting home births in certain cases. Some pregnancies are difficult and some births are problematic. It is not difficult to concede that there are times when sound medical intervention is a necessity and a blessing. To insist, though, that every birth requires a hospital setting and the attendance of a doctor with ten years training is, as many experts in the field agree, rather ludicrous. A study done by Dr. Lewis Mehl (cited in Barringtonm, 1985), matched a population of 421 women attended by physicians with 421 women attended by midwifes at home. The midwife sample fared far better with significantly less fetal distress, birth injuries, and infants needing resuscitation. The former head of the International Confederation of Gynecology Furthermore, the routine of use of medical procedures initially developed to protect high-risk mothers and b...

Essay about Narrative Physician and Dr. Gurd

Essay about Narrative Physician and Dr. Gurd Essay about Narrative: Physician and Dr. Gurd At the age of 12 I had been told that I have Scoliosis. It’s basically a deformity of the spine in which instead of it being straight it was curved in the shape of an â€Å"S.† It is also genetic, I had gotten it from my dad but his scoliosis fixed itself, mine wasn’t so easy. My mom had taken me to multiple doctors and then one had given me a brace to wear while I was asleep. I had to wear it every night and I could only sleep without it once a month. Then I was referred to a doctor named Dr. Gurd, he had looked at my x-rays and told my mom surgery would have been the best option. He had referred us to his son, and he did my spine surgery. It took some time to get it all planned with the extra things like MRI’s and blood work; but I finally was able to have my surgery in 2009. The nurses got me all prepared and then Dr. Gurd came in to talk to my mom and I. He made sure I knew the rules for after my surgery, I wasn’t able to twist or bend and I couldn’t lift anything heavier than 5 pounds. They put an I.V in my hand and then they brought me into the surgery room. When I fell asleep they told my mom she could leave now that I was asleep. She looked at me and notice that my eyes were open some. She told them that there was no way I was asleep if my eyes were still open. Well we can just say the nurses made the bad of pulling my eyelids down and then proceeding to say â€Å"See, if she wasn’t asleep we wouldn’t be able to do that.† My mom didn’t like that at all, she told me that she started to freak out and cry because she felt that if a doctor does that then the patient is dead. But after the surgery was over I woke up with a tube down my throat and I didn’t like that I didn’t have my robe on when I woke up so I tried to ask

Run the appropriate ANOVA, you must copy and paste the relevant tables Assignment

Run the appropriate ANOVA, you must copy and paste the relevant tables from the SPSS output file - Assignment Example Experience assigns participants to those with experience and those without experience. A participants cannot be in both groups. Piercing skills is the dependent variable. Dependent variable is that variable whose value is influenced by one or more other variables and piercing skill is expected to vary with experience and consumption of four bottles of tequila. Transform the variable ‘experience’ into a new variable ‘expgroups’ with low experience being a score of 40-69 and high experience being a score of 70-100. Give ‘expgroups’ the value labels ‘1 = low’ and ‘2 = high’. (4 points) The means for the high group are 22.08 before taking tequila and 31.25 after taking tequila and the standard deviations are 14.37 before taking the amount of tequila and 11.185 after taking the tequila. Room color is the independent variable. Independent variable is a variable whose value is fixed at particular point to dictate the value of another variable. In the study, room color meets the definition of an independent variable because its value is fixed at three different colors to determine participants’ moods. This is a repeated measures ANOVA and treatment of the participants demonstrate this. Repeated measures towards repeated measures ANOVA exists if all of the research participants are exposed to all conditions in a study and the exposure occurs in turns. This is the case as the participants are each exposed to the room colors before their mood is

Personal Statment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Personal Statment - Essay Example He always seemed to know how to help one of us feel better whenever we were sick and was so knowledgeable about how different medications we were each taking might interact with other medicines or herbal remedies my mother might be trying. I remember thinking how smart and intelligent he was. I could see that it probably took a great deal of creativity to understand the various medications on the market and how they might interact with each other. He had to constantly study to remain updated on the latest drugs coming out on the market, which indicated to me that his job was challenging and exciting. Yet it wasn’t until I actually had the opportunity to start working with my uncle that I truly began to appreciate the depths of the job. Beginning in the summer of 2006, I started working with my uncle at his pharmacy. More than simply being aware of the various forms of medications that were on the market, my uncle had to know about the main properties of the herbal remedies people will often take as a substitute to medicine, particularly when they can’t afford doctors. He also had to be able to answer a tremendous number of questions that the patients would ask about their medications, about possible side effects, about the other things they’d like to try and about things completely unrelated to the illness for which they were picking up medicine. It was my uncle’s pride and privilege to be able to help these people and become their friend. Through the relationship he built with them, my uncle was able to help many people avoid potentially dangerous mistakes and I was certain that this was the field for me. I can’t imagine anything more rewarding than being a pharmacist. Working toward this goal, I spent three summers working with my uncle in his pharmacy in order to help me gain real-world experience and knowledge regarding what it truly means to be a pharmacist.