Banking Industry in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance

Journal of Business Research, vol. 3, 2001 This article is brought to you by www. bdresearch. org Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance Sharif Rayhan Siddique* A F M Mafizul Islam** Abstract: The paper attempted to highlight the prospects and opportunities of banking sector in Bangladesh. Like other economic sector in the country, Banking is one of major sectors which contribute to the national economy. The study tried to furnish the overview of the performances of banking sector and also find out the comparison among the various categories of banks with respect to the Profitability.Finally, the paper tried to establish the linear relationship among the various variables and net profit of the banking sector. 1. Introduction Banking sector of Bangladesh is one of the major sectors, which contributes significantly to the national economy. The sector comprises a number of banks in various categories. Considering ownership the sector can be classified in to four major categories – such as Nationalized Commercial Banks (NCBs), Specialized Banks (SPBs), Private Commercial Banks (PCBs), and Trans-National Banks (TNBs). The list of banks under different categories is furnished in the appendix – A.The study has been initiated to analyze the contribution of this sector and its profitability. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the contribution of the sector in national economy. The paper also analyzes the profitability of different categories of banks. Finally a regression analysis has been done to examine the relationship between the profitability and other variables. 2. Contribution of the Banking sector in National Economy Economic development – of the country is executed by the contribution of various economic sectors. Like agriculture, industries, power, transport, rade service, etc. , banking sector also has a contribution to the economic growth. In mid 80s Banking and Insurance contributed 1. 69% of GDP and g radually the figure was increasing. The maximum contribution was 2. 09% of GDP in the year 1993 and it was 2. 00% in 1996-971 Average growth rate of this contribution was 1. 51% of GDP, which shows a positive trend. Again, the sector makes a positive impact on the economic development by generating employment. In the year 1980 total number of employees in this sector was 59,235 but with in 15 years of time the figure shoot approximately double to 101,444. The average growth rate of employment generation was 3. 76% (1980-1995). Countries like Bangladesh have a burden of its unemployment, where as banking sector still keep certain impact on employment generation. __________________________ * Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. ** Associate Professor, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. 1 Calculated from the data collected from Economic Trend, December 1997. 2 Ibid. 2 Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and P erformance Branches of the banks were also growing significantly.Increasing branches indicate a wide service provider to the population of Bangladesh. Overall growth rate of the bank branches was 2. 11% (1980-1995). But before 1990 the rate was 3. 00% and after 1990 it was 0. 92%. In early 80s for the first time Government of Bangladesh (GOB) allowed private sector to operate commercial banks. At that time number of bank branches was growing rapidly. In the early 90s this growth rate was reduced, which may be because of the saturation stage. Individuals and business organizations used to deposit their savings in the bank and borrow money form it.More the bank branches more people can be covered to avail them in banking services. Average population per branch was 19,875 during the period from 1984 to 1995. Because of the higher population growth rate (2. 22%),3 in spite of increasing branches, the population per branch was also increasing. Commercial banks are one of the profit makin g organizations, they are also making money by investing their deposits to the profitable venture through lending to the entrepreneurs. Commercial banks earn money from interest for loan and commissions and service charges for the services and it incurred expenditure as well.Average profit per taka of expenditure was 0. 10. Before 1991 this figure was quite good, but after 1991 the ratio was negative up to 1993. Maximum figure was in the year 1982 that was 0. 23 and minimum was -0. 04 in the year 1991. Recently the ratio became 0. 07 in the year 1995. During 1991 to 1993 net profit was negative. i. e. commercial banks spent more than earning but again they improved the situation by reducing their expenditure compared to income. Banks' income generated by the positive efforts of their employees.Efficient employees can earn more which observed a positive impact to profit generation. Income per employee can be one of the indicators of commercial banks' performance. Average income per e mployee from 1980 to 1995 was Tk. 227,046, i. e. per employees' contribution to income was more than Tk. 2 lacs. The ratio was increasing significantly with the average growth rate of 12%, to Tk. 371,297 in the year 1995. A country leads itself to the economic development by investing and producing more in the local area. Investment can be ensured through increased savings rate.Monetization ratio indicates a positive impact to the economic growth. This ratio is Broad Money to GDP. Average monetization ratio was 28% of GDP, and it was growing significantly from 17% in the year 1981 to 35% in the year 1995. 4 Commercial banks, as a whole, performing well and contributing to the economic development of the country. The average profitability of all banks collectively was 0. 09% during 1980 to 1995, which means profit Tk. 0. 09 earned by utilizing assets of Tk. 100. In every aspect of profit, banking sector contributes to national economy as well as to the individual organization.Despite overall growth of the banking sector was positive, but the performances of different categories of banks were not equally attractive. Following section would compare analytically the performances of various categories of banks. _____________________________________________ 3 4 Calculated from the data collected from Statistical Yearbook, 1996. Ibid. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 3, 2001 3 3. Profitability of the Different Categories of Banks: A Comparative Analysis Main focus of this comparison on net profit earned by the banks.Profit ratio, profit per taka of expenditure, profit per employee, profit per branch, profit per advance account, profit per taka of investment, profit per taka of deposit (savings), and per capita profit earned by the banks will be the variables for this analysis. Various groups of banks have different performances in terms of profit. Average measures were calculated for different categories of banks over the period from 1980 to 1995. 3. 1 Profit Ratio In case of profitability, i. e. amount of profit per Tk. 100 of asset. The ratio indicates the effective utilization of assets.Performance of the organization can be expressed by this ratio. Average profitability ratios for the various categories of banks during 1980 to 1995 were exhibited in the table below: Table 1: Profit Ratio for Various Banks Banks Profit Ratio (%) NCBs 0. 08 SPBs -0. 32 PCBs 0. 13 TNBs 0. 71 Over all 0. 09 Source: Adopted from data in Appendix – B. The table indicated the performances in terms of utilization of assets in generating profit TNBs were the best. Specialized Banks had a very worst situation in utilizing of their assets, by showing negative average net profit.Though as of 1990 net profits were increasing positively, but from 1991 to 1995 these net profit were gradually decreased to negative because of their declining income. On the other hand TNBs performance was excellent as compared to overall banks performance. Average growth rate of net profit for TNBs was 39%, which was extremely good. 3. 2 Profit per Taka of Expenditure Banks earned profit by incurring expenditure for their operations. Effective usage of financial resources led to a commendable profit situation. â€Å"How much profit earned by spending one taka† is the measure of efficiency of an organization.Following table shows net profit per taka of expenditure for the different banks Table 2 : Profit per Taka of Expenditure for Various Banks Banks Profit per taka of expenditure (Tk. ) NCBs 0. 029 SPBs -0. 092 PCBs 0. 033 TNBs 0. 307 Overall 0. 10 Source: Adopted from data in Appendix – B. 4 Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance Over all average profit was Tk. 0. 1 by incurring expenditure of Tk. 1. i. e. average return on expenditure was 10%. But in case of individual performance SPBs had negative average return on expenditure (-9. %), on the other hand TNBs performance (30. 7%) was above the industry average. Other th an these two NCBs and PCBs both had vulnerable situation. 3. 3 Profit per Employee Effective utilization of human resources produces higher return. Earned more profit by few numbers of employee indicates commendable performance of the banks and human efficiency. Since the nature of the industry is service oriented, so human efficiency depends on intellectual abilities of the employees. Following table shows the comparison among various banks Table 3 : Profit per Employee for Various BanksBanks Profit per employee (Tk. ) NCBs 4,538 SPBs -34,216 PCBs 9,659 TNBs 285,659 Over all 12,88 Source: Adopted from data in Appendix – B. Over all profit per employee was Tk. 12,880, i. e. each employee's average contribution to the net profit was Tk. 12,880 in a year. TNBs as compared with overall, the figure was extremely good (Tk. 285,659). There are two indications for this picture, one is TNBs had highly efficient employees, and other is less number of employees. On the other hand excep t SPBs (which had negative figure), NCBs average profit per employee was Tk. ,538, which was far below from TNBs, even below from overall performance, which shows un-utilized human resources. 3. 4 Profit per Branch All categories of banks have numbers of branches covering wide range of the population of the country. To provide service to the wide range of people, banks have to establish multiple branches. Contribution to the total profit of different branches was varied, depending on the amount of deposits and advances. Table below expresses average profit contribution by the branches. Table 4 : Profit per Branch for Various Banks Banks Profit per branch (Tk. ) NCBs 6,205 SPBs -491,827 PCBs 181,548 TNBs 13,171,737 Over all 210,481 Source: Adopted from data in Appendix – B. 5 Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance Considering all commercial banks in Bangladesh, these were earned on an average Tk. 0. 064 from investing one taka. The average Return on Inv estment (ROI) was not inadequate (6. 4%) as compared to any business. In case of TNBs this rate was very attractive (12. 7%), but except SPBs, both NCBs and PCBs had 1. 2% and 2. 5% respectively. 3. 7 Per Capita Profit Commercial banks are operating countrywide by offering services.Accumulating funds and distributing them to entrepreneur was the main function of commercial banks. Wider area coverage makes the commercial bank more comfortable in terms of operation. Per capita profit earned by the commercial bank would indicate overall economic strength of banking system. Average profit gained per head can be expressed in the table below: Table 7 : Per Capita Profit for Various Banks Banks Per Capita Profit (Tk. ) NCBs 2. 53 SPBs -5. 25 PCBs 1. 46 TNBs 2. 51 Over all 10. 66 Source: Adopted from data in Appendix – B. Average profit per individual in the country for all banks was Tk. 0. 66, i. e. banking sector earns over Tk. 10 per head. But using same coverage for different cat egories of banks, the picture would be different. In case of NCBs operation they gained on an average Tk. 2. 53 per individual, where as TNBs earned Tk. 2. 51 per head. Apparently these two figures were same but considering the coverage in terms of number of branches, NCBs have 170 time more branches than TNBs. 3. 8 Overall Situation Considering all variables regarding profit, TNBs were doing extraordinarily good operation in this sector. Because of the policies and managements TNBs performance was better.Keeping TNBs aside, PCBs performance comparatively better. As far as the ownership was concerned both NCBs and SPBs were same. PCBs started their operations in 1982, before the Government of Bangladesh controlled that total financial sector. But after allowing private sectors to operate commercial banks, PCBs were gradually capturing the market share. Surprisingly SPBs had negative performances in every aspect because of their negative net profit. 4. Relationship of Profit With Oth er Variables In the above section comparison of profitability among various groups of banks has been discussed.But it was desired to know about the sensitivity of profit on various variables. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 3, 2001 6 Multiple regression analysis has been done to analyze the relationship between net profit as dependent variable and asset, expenditure, number of employees, number of branches, number of advance accounts, investment, time deposit are as independent variables. In this paper it was assumed that the relationship among the variables was linear, which is ? = A + B? + C? + D? + E? + F? + G? + H? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. i) where, ? is net profit ? is number of employees ? is amount of expenditure ? is number of branches ? is amount of investment ? is amount of asset ? is amount of time deposit ? is number of advance accounts A is constant The following section e xpressed the determination of coefficient of the independent variables, which indicate the degree of influences on net profit by corresponding variables. 4. 1 Regression Result Based on data provided in appendix – C, the values of coefficients and constant were calculated and also found the relationship among them.Multiple linear regression equation is expressed in equation (ii). ? = – 68459+0. 002 ? -0. 186 ? +0. 159? -0. 084? +0. 003? +0. 133 ? -1. 03Ãâ€"10-6?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. (ii) Above linear equation shows that some of the independent variables have positive relationship and others have negative. Amount of expenditure, amount of investment and number of advance accounts all have negative relationship with net profit. On the other hand amount of asset, number of employees, number of branches and amount of time deposit have positive relationship with net profit.Further, the strength of the relationship among the variables measured by the coefficient of determination (r2). The value was calculated as 0. 89, indicating very strong relationship. Therefore, the independent variables collectively may play important role on earning net profit in the banking sector as a whole. 4. 2 Scope to Improve of Profit In the equation (ii), it was evident that some of the independent variables have positive impact on net profit, though the degree of influences was very low. Net profit may increases by increasing values, which have positive relations.From equation (ii), it was 7 Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance clear that number of employee, number of branches, amount of asset and amount of time deposit have positive relations with net profit. From above relationship, it can be explained that if number of employee increased by one, the net profit will increase by Tk. 0. 002 crores, i. e. every 1,000 employees can contribute Tk. 2 crores to net profit. This indicated that there might be still opportunities to generate employment in th is sector and can contribute to the national economy.Again number of branches has also positive impact on net profit. Equation (ii) reflects that increase in one branch may increase net profit by the amount of Tk. 0. 159 crores, which also testifies that there was still scope to increase branches. In Bangladesh there were opportunities to establish branches in the rural areas where lots of business potentials were looking for the banking service. Another variable the amount of asset has positive relationship with net profit. Even it has very little influences on profit; every Tk. 1,000 crores of assets would increase net profit by the amount of Tk. 3 crores.Therefore, it was apparent that there was still room to increase the amount of asset to earn more profit. Finally, the amount of time deposit was other variable, which has positive influences on net profit. Coefficient of this variable in equation (ii) was 0. 133, this indicated that every Tk. 1,000 crores increase in time deposi t would increase profit by the amount of Tk. 133 crores. Analyzing above relationship, time deposit has stronger influences on net profit. Therefore, banking sector as a whole may increase their contribution to national economy if the amount of time deposit was increased.Analyzing the regression equation it was clear that some of the independent variables have positive control over the generation of net profit, and also might increase the contribution of the banking sector to national economy by increasing the values of those variables. 5. Conclusion The performance of the banking sector in terms of net profit varies in various groups of bank. The study revealed that in every aspect, TNBs had a commendable performance. But comparing among other groups of banks (NCBs, SPBs, and PCBs), PCBs had preferred achievement aiming profit. On the other hand Specialized Banks in Bangladesh had a very poor performance.This meager activity affected the overall banking sector's performance. The co mparison among various categories of banks has been done on the basis of the profit with respect to some other variables. The study also revealed the relationship among the dependent variable and independent variables. The equation (ii) shows the weights of the independent variables that influences net profit of the banking sector. Finally, the paper intended to identify the scopes and opportunities of the factors by which over all net profit might increase, and contribute to the national economy.Journal of Business Research, Vol. 3, 2001 8 References 1. Mohammad Moqbul Hossain Bhuiyan. (1995). Managerial Effectiveness of Private Commercial Banks : A Comparative Study. Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XVI, No-1, June. 2. Sujit Ranjan Saha. (1996). Ancillary Business and Profitability of Banks : Trends and Prospects. Bank Parikrama. Vol. XXI, Nos – 1 & 2, March & June. 3. Taufic Ahmad Choudhury and others. (1994). Comparative Characteristics of Profit Earning and Loss Incurri ng Rural Bank Branches in Bangladesh. Bank Parikrama. Vol. XIX, Nos – 3 & 4, September & December. 4.Abdul Ghafar Ismail. (1993). Deregulation and Bank Behaviour in Mixed markets. The Asian Economic Review. Vol. XXXV, No – 2, August. 5. Dipendra Sinha. (1996). Savings and Economic Growth in India. The Asian Economic Review. Vol. XXXVIII, No – 3, December. 6. Amar Chand Kaushik. (1996). Impact Study of Regional Rural Bank's Credit on Income Generation an d Poverty Alleviation in Rural Haryana. The Asian Economic Review. Vol. XXXVIII, No – 1, April. 7. David Lynch. (1996). Measuring Financial Sector Development : A Study of Selected Asia-Pacific Countries. The Developing Economics. Vol.XXXIV, No – 1, March. 8. Schiller, Bradley R. (1994). The Macro Economy Today. Sixth Edition. McGrawHill Inc. , New York, USA. 9. McConnell, Campbell R. and Brue, Stanley L. (1993). Macro Economics. Twelfth Edition. McGraw-Hill Inc. , New York, USA. 10. Fischer, Stanle y. , Dornbusch, Rudiger. And other. (1988). Introduction to Macroeconomics. 2nd Edition. McGraw Hill, New York, USA. 11. Department of Statistics. (1997). Monthly Economic Trends. Bangladesh Bank. December. 12. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. (1997). Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh 1996. Seventeenth Edition. November. 9Banking Sector in Bangladesh: Its Contribution and Performance Appendix – A List of Banks: [a] Nationalized Commercial Banks (NCBs) Agrani Bank Janata Bank Sonali Bank Rupali Bank Ltd. [b] Specialized Banks (SPBs) Bangladesh Krishi Bank Bangladesh Shilpa Bank Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank [c] Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) Arab Bangladesh Bank Ltd. Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. National Bank Ltd. The City Bank Ltd. IFIC Bank Ltd. United Commercial Bank Ltd. Pubali Bank Ltd. Uttara Bank Ltd. Al-Baraka Bank Bangladesh Ltd. BSIC Bangladesh Ltd. Eastern Bank Ltd. National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd.Prime Bank Ltd. Southeast Bank Ltd. Dhaka Bank Ltd. Al-Arafah I slami Bank Ltd. Social Investment Bank Ltd. Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. [d] TNBs Hanil Bank Hongkong Bank Society General Bank American Express Bank Ltd. ANZ Grindlays Bank Plc. S tandard Chartered Bank State Bank of India Habib Bank Ltd. Citi Bank N A Banque Indosuez National Bank of Pakistan Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd. J ournal of Business Research, Vol. 3, 2001 10 Appendix – B Various Data for PCBs Year 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Advance Assets Net Profit Expenditure Employees BranchesAccounts (cror (cror Tk. ) (cror Tk. ) (no. ) (no. ) (no. ) Tk. ) 82 2132 1877 8 173 11562 628 8429 5202 14 245 11813 653 283320 6381 16 281 12756 693 267393 7768 22 366 13552 715 178460 7208 25 438 14810 771 160220 9072 14 594 16107 824 160834 9514 2 682 16916 865 165290 11059 (11) 765 17486 902 169549 12445 (8) 886 18034 942 84913 15502 12 819 17826 943 90599 15783 16 865 18806 1000 102055 24190 72 907 19777 1047 117985 26794 Various Data for TNBs Net A dvance Expenditure Employees Branches Year Profit Accounts (cror Tk. ) (no. ) (no. ) (cror Tk. ) (no. ) 1980 3 20 912 21 1882 1981 8 25 984 21 542 1982 11 32 999 21 2910 1983 12 45 1061 20 2888 1984 15 62 1042 20 3098 1985 18 77 1051 20 3610 1986 14 98 1064 22 3929 1987 22 119 1114 22 4144 1988 21 146 1124 22 4887 1989 7 147 1123 22 3971 1990 18 154 1135 22 3890 1991 25 99 789 18 2355 1992 38 65 826 18 2463 1993 54 92 826 18 3969 1994 68 106 888 19 6329 1995 90 146 926 23 9215 Investment (cror Tk. ) 76 293 346 327 396 506 554 787 750 653 879 1266 1439 Assets Investment (cror Tk. ) (cror Tk. ) 757 1280 1526 1476 1848 2281 2887 3245 4330 4697 4694 5575 4297 4377 5832 7111 51 70 109 118 156 163 177 196 300 279 358 340 228 203 260 266 Related article: Padma Bridge

Factors Affecting Marketing Essay

INTRODUCTION A Business principally is the organized effort by individuals in an organization to produce goods and services and to sell these goods and services in a market place to earn a good profit margin. The operating environment for all organizations whether they are commercial, charitable, governmental, or in the public sector more generally, is never static and seldom entirely predictable, and can therefore profoundly affect a company’s course of action. An organization can influence the various environmental forces acting on it. COMPONENTS OF THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT The Internal Environment concerns the resources, processes and policies an organization manages in order to achieve its goals. These elements can be influenced directly by an organization. The External Environment consists of the Micro Environment and the Macro Environment. The Macro Environment consists of the political, social, economical, legal and technological influences, and organizations usually have very limited influence on each of these. The Micro Environment consists of competitors, suppliers and indirect service providers, who shape the way an organization achieves its objectives. In this environment, organizations have a much stronger level of influence. MICRO ENVIRONMENT Micro environment consists of those organizations that either directly or indirectly influence an organization’s operational performance. There are three main types: 1. Those companies that compete against the organisation in the pursuit of its objectives. 2. Those companies that supply raw materials, goods and services and those that add value as distributors, dealers, and retailers in the marketing channel. 3. Those companies that have the potential to indirectly influence the performance of the  organisation in the pursuit of its objectives. Analysis of the performance environment is undertaken so that organisations can adapt to better positions, relative to those of their stakeholders and competitors. An Industry consists of various firms that market similar products and services. According to Porter, a leading Professor on Competitive Strategy in the Harvard Business School in his work on â€Å"How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy†, we should review the ‘competitive’ environment within an industry to identify the major competitive forces, as this can help assess their impact on an organisation’s present and future competitive positions. Porter suggests that competition in an industry is a composite of five main competitive forces. These are the level of threat that new competitors will enter the market, the threat posed by substitute products, and the bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers. These, in turn, affect the fifth force, the intensity of current competitors. New Entrants When examining an industry, we should consider whether economies of scale are required to operate successfully within it. Economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to size, output, or scale of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output. New entrants may be restricted through government and regulatory policy, or they may well be frozen out of an industry because of the capital requirements necessary to set up business. For example, in the oil and gas industry because of the capital required for the extraction and refining operations. Companies may be out of a market because companies within that market are operating using proprietary products or services or technologies for example, the pharmaceutical industry where patents protect companies’ investments in new medicines. Substitutes Consumers consider the switching costs associated with such a decision, which in turn, affects their propensity to substitute the product or service for another offering for example customers consider the switching costs from mobile call rate packages to internet packages and consider their flexibility in transferring messages. They also consider the relative price  performance of one offering over another for example as the telecommunications markets continue to move with the development of broadband internet services, there are a variety of different companies such as Airtel, Aircel, Reliance etc operating in the same competitive marketspace. Buyers Companies should consider their sales to one individual company. The reason is, if one buying company purchases a large volume of products from the supplying company, it is likely to be able to demand price concessions when there are lots of competing suppliers in the marketplace relative to the proportion of buyers. Buyers may also increase their bargaining power through backward integration. A Company is said to have backward integrated when it moves into manufacturing the products and services it previously brought from its suppliers. Another important factor is price sensitivity. Depending on their trading circumstances, some companies might be more sensitive to price than other buyers. If such companies are more prices sensitive and yet there are lots of competing suppliers for their businesses, they are likely to display less loyalty to their suppliers. Most companies enhance other factors associated with an offering for example customization and after sale services to try to reduce a client company’s price sensitivity for example Kitchen equipments are provided with free demo sessions on home delivery. Buyers include Consumers, individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption; Businesses, that buy goods and services for further processing or for use in their production process; Resellers, who buy goods and services in order to resell them at a profit; Government agencies that buy goods and services in order to produce public services or transfer them to those that need them; International markets, buyers of all types in foreign countries. Suppliers An organisation should determine how suppliers operate and the extent of their bargaining power. If a small number of suppliers operate within an industry with a large number of competitors, the suppliers have the stronger bargaining advantage. On the other hand, in an industry where there is a large number of suppliers with few competing companies, the buying companies have the bargaining advantage. The suppliers need to be evaluated on the  uniqueness and the quality of materials provided that enhance their bargaining situation. An increase in raw material prices will affect an organisation’s Marketing Mix strategy and may even force price increases. Close supplier relationships are an effective way to remain competitive and secure quality products. In some Industries, suppliers increase their market dominance by forward integrating. It is a business strategy that involves a form of vertical integration whereby activities are expanded to include control of the direct distribution of its products for example tea manufacturing company selling based on auctions bringing in sales outlets at their factories to increase local community sales. It allows a Company to control its own supply chains better, but also allows it to sell at lower prices, thereby increasing sales and profit. Competitors Every company faces a wide range of competitors. A company must secure a strategic advantage over competitors by positioning their offerings to be successful in the marketplace. No single competitive strategy is best for all companies. Competitor analysis and monitoring is crucial if an organisation is to maintain or improve its position within the market for example an analysis of the Diary Industry helps to know the market segmentation, share and the major players and their contribution and competitive opportunities. We should consider each company’s structure, current and future developments and its latest financial results. We should also consider the different types of goods and services that competitors’ offer in different market sectors. Measuring and quantifying market responses to any new strategy developments that the company initiates are also important factors. OTHER MICRO ENVIRONMENT FACTORS Shareholders As organizations require investment to grow, they may decide to raise money by entering the stock market. They move from private to public ownership. The introduction of public shareholders brings new pressures as public shareholders want a return from the money they have invested in the company. Maintaining Shareholders’ interest will substantiate huge profits. Media Organizations need to manage their media activities so that it can help promote the positive things about the organisation and reduce the impact of a negative event on their reputation. Some organisations will even employ Public Relations (PR) consultants to help them manage a particular event or incident. Television programmes with a wide and more direct audience can also have a very powerful impact on the success of an organization. Marketing Intermediaries Marketing Intermediaries are firms that help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers. They are the distribution channel firms that help the company find customers or make sales to them. These include wholesalers and retailers who buy and resell merchandise. They perform important functions more cheaply than the company can perform itself. MACRO-ENVIRONMENT The company and all of the other actors operate in a large macro environment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company is known as macro environment. Six largely uncountable external forces influence an organization’s marketing activities and shape opportunities is known as macro environment.Major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization’s decision making,and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic, demographics,legal, political, and social conditions, technological changes, and natural forces is known as macro environment. Demographic Environment Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, destiny, location, age, gender,race, occupation and other statistics. The demographic environment is of major interest to marketers because it involves people Age Structure of the Total Population and Its Changes The number of different ages of people such as the number of children, teenage, youth, old person should be kept in mind at the time of doing marketing strategy. Because a product cannot be certified for every ages of  customer. Moreover, at the time of increasing of population the growth of demand of product rises should be noticed otherwise marketing process won’t be effective at all. On the contrary at the time of the decrease of population the demand falls. This is the reason at the time of doing marketing strategy the matter of population must be analyzed. For example PONDS ANTI ageing cream is specially focused on a particular customer group of women above 30 years. Changed Family Life Now a day’s one can easily identify the changes of family life style such as- the growth of working class women, income capability of women, adult marriage of women and the right of divorce of women etc. also important for doing marketing strategy. For this reason people are eager to do a less physical labored task. And prepared food, half cooked food, bread, washing machines etc. are used more. So, now we use packet masala, pressure cooker, rice cooker, washing machine, go to restaurants for food for saveour time but those things created market for the product and the marketers getting benefit from their work and growing rapidly. Geographical Shift in Population Geographically living of population and the shift of geographical living of population create impact on marketing. For a lot of reason people tend to go to big cities. For this reason peoples’ life style and their demand style are changing. Moreover, producing product for tourist, job seeking people, businessmen is also profitable business. Besides, people are going abroad and coming back to the country and making a change in their demand style which has to be kept in mind to keep pace with the global growing market This leads to less production in farming products and industry concentrate more on construction tools as majority of farmers move towards cities and mostly involved in construction work as helpers. Economic Environment Marketers require buying power as well as people. The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumers’ purchasing power and spending  power/ patterns. Marketers must pay close attention to major trends and consumers’ spending patterns Changing Income Though our per capita income grows but customers’ real purchasing power falls for 3 decades. Increase rate of inflation, increase rate of unemployment, taxes, economic uncertainty also responsible for the downward shift of economic condition of customer. For trade and foreign support some peoples’ purchasing power are increasing but limited earned peoples’ condition getting worse day by day. Changing Consumer Spending Patterns The spending patterns are different basis on earning patterns so their buying patterns also different. Food, housing and transportation use up the most house hold income. As family income rises, the percentage expense on food declines, spent on housing remains constant, and both the percentage spent on most other categories and that devoted to saving categories. At the time of increasing of income the eating habit gets changed. Again the storage of product or the shortage of product may cause the change of demand. Natural Environment The natural environment involves the natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or they are affected by marketing activities. Environmental concerns have grown steadily during the past three decades. Marketers should be aware of several trends in the natural environment. Shortage of Raw Material Assets can be divided as limitless but not increasable and limited but increasable. As example- air and water is unlimited but for some industrial reason these resources gets polluted. For this reason mass consciousness is raised or some countries enforced law. Forest and food is limited but it is possible to increase its’ production. To make run the forest or wood related businesses we should start taking tree plantation measures. On the other hand oil, gas, coal etc. natural resources are also problematic. Though these resources are enough in some cases available but the expense to use  these resources are increased a lot. So the alternative resources are looked for or experimenting is going on to lessen the expenses Increase of Pollution Some industrial activities are undoubtedly harming the nature. The filth of factories consisting of poison is polluting both soil and water. As a result taking food seems threatening. Technological Environment The technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic forces now shopping own destiny. Technological environment involves forces that create new technologist creating new product and marketing opportunities. Faster Pace of Technological Change Technology is changing day by day. A company must have to fix their step accordance with the technological changes. Otherwise, it is impossible to survive in the market competition. At the present day all types of communication are done by modern technology. To marketing goods in BD one has to stay connect with modern technology. High Research & Development Budget For better production one company may require a group of people for research the market & requite a group of expertise for proper budget in production which will help to take part in competition with others. Sometimes it seems that the authority of the marketing department spends a huge amount of money for research & development budget whereas they forget about the product. Along with research one should take his/her eye on the product. Political Environment Marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political environment. Political environment consists of laws, government agencies, government itself and pressure groups that influence or limits various organizations and individuals in a given society. For instance Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with tobacco advertising, it is one of the  most highly regulated forms of marketing. All forms of alcohol advertising is banned India. Though the manufacturers try to promote their product by using the similar name for the products that can be advertised and promoted in media it still has an impact. Cultural Environment The cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors. There are few cultural values which affect marketing decision making. These are, persistence of cultural value, shifts in secondary cultural value, people views of organization/ others, etc. Persistence of Cultural Values People in a given society hold many beliefs and views. Their core belief and values have a high degree of persistence. For example, Bangladeshi people are peace loving, getting married for once, strongly hold their religion and being honest. These beliefs shape more specific attitudes and behaviors found in everyday life. Core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to children and are reinforced by schools, colleges, universities, and business and so on. Sub-cultures Every culture has some sub-cultures. People of sub-culture’s belief, ethics, attitude etc. are like to be core culture but they have secondary beliefs. Like rich people. They have different thinking from the other people and they have different life style. They like to present them as different from others and it affects marketing to a certain extent. References 1.Marketing, ASIAN EDITION, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS By Paul Baines, Chris Fill, Kelly Page, Adapted by Piyush K. Sinha 2. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing by Porter, M.E 3.Market Audit and Analysis – Nicole Lorat 4.Principles of marketing- Young,Et AL Online References www.wikipedia.com images.google.co.in

An Analysis of Dark Nights Harvey Dent

The Two Faces of Harvey Dent Just like the proverbial adage of love and hate, superheroes and villains have a very thin line that separates the two. The I Ch’ing offers the Yin and Yang arguing that good cannot exist without evil. The question arises to try to determine what exactly makes someone a villain or a superhero. There is often a personal or emotional connection that the authors and film directors tries to convey so the audience can identify with the characters. Sometimes, fictional characters are made to seem obviously one-sided. Shakespeare wrote, â€Å"Villains that were plainly evil without any explanation which then made it clear who the protagonists were. † This kind of character does not satisfy human curiosity and reasoning. The question still remains at the end which continues to gnaw at our intellect. In the film, Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan, the writer tries to answer this question with the character of Harvey Dent, otherwise known as the villain Two-Face. Harvey Dent comes out in the second film of a grittier and darker version of the legendary comic superhero Batman series. Much of the audience is well-versed in the Batman villains so the character Harvey Dent comes out as the morally incorruptible, by-the-book District Attorney of Gotham city; the revelation of his duplicitous nature is inevitable because of how principled he is when it comes to fighting crime. Usually, those people who are so polarized on one side tend to fall the hardest to the other side. Nolan uses the character of Rachel, Dent’s love interest, a sort of love triangle with Bruce Wayne (Batman’s alter ego) to explain his true emotions. Using the different personality theories, the question can be answered with more satisfaction. Myers-Briggs has a dichotomous scheme of how people are configured while Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs sets up stages of a person’s life. Ultimately, Freud’s Superego, ego, and Id identify the level of maturity that a person demonstrates. These theories expose the character of Harvey Dent and how a hero can become a villain because of his inherent traits, life experiences, and bad choices. The inherent traits that lead Harvey Dent into a spiral of shame can be explained by Myers-Briggs dichotomous chart of personality types. Harvey Dent starts out in the film in the spotlight, brand new leader of Gotham City as the prosecutor. He is a role model of principles and law. He is unflinching and unwavering in his ambition and fight against crime. Dent tends be extraverted in his personality. He likes being in the spotlight. He likes things to be black and white because he is a very principled man. Dent does not like to make deals with criminals and he makes it very clear to everyone that he will not be bribed in any way. He will not bargain which seems like a characteristic that he was born with. He is very straight forward with people. If he does not like someone, he will make it known to that person right away. On the other side, his affections for Rachel, the deputy district attorney, are apparent as well as the audience sees them out together besides their professional relationship. (Dark Knight) The audience can tell that Dent is very meticulous and logical sometimes appearing cold but his internal passion for what he believes drive him to do the things he does. The law is his guide and he does not let emotion get the best of him until the Rachel dies because of the choices of others. Dent is an easy target because of these traits. He is very predictable. â€Å"Live to see yourself become the villain, or die a hero,† says Dent after he lives. Dark Knight) Only he lives by principle while others live on emotion. He makes it very clear after Rachel that he will no longer be controlled by his principles. This inherent disillusionment alters his outlook on life and he becomes the other extreme. By the time, he dies in the movie; he abandons all reason and goes with his emotions of apa thy and revenge. Harvey Dent’s struggle with dealing with Rachel’s death can be further explained by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. He begins as the highest level with self-actualization where he can truly serve the will of the people and the law. But, the experience ultimately is too much for him to deal with. Above all, he has fought for the safety of himself and the people, but since he could not protect the one he loved, he cannot face losing anyone else thus his revenge leads to blood. The ideals he stood for go out the window and he punishes the wrong people. He is blind to morality after this tragedy. He has no distinction between right and wrong, a good person and an evil person. In this sense, Nolan wanted to show the audience how certain experiences affect people and no one can control every situation or circumstance. It all becomes luck and fortune which somebody like Harvey Dent cannot accept. Thus, because of these experiences of pain and regret, he cannot move on in his life and make the proper decisions of his rank and person. He falls and ultimately pays his own price by his flip of the coin. Freud’s theory of subconscious levels seems to depict the choices that Harvey Dent makes that lead him to become a villain rather than stay a hero. After the death of Rachel, Dent could have mourned and moved on in his life, but his selfish desires of revenge compel him to make bad choices that harm innocent people like the Gordon’s family. In a sense, his altruistic nature at first seemed all too clean and perfect. The audience all knows no one can be that perfect and be a human being. His true selfish nature comes out that it was really all for his egotistical gratification and when he was hurt, then everyone should also suffer. Nolan tries to reach the audience with Dent’s emotional pain. Most people are not sure whether to like and support Dent or hate him for being so weak and selfish. He is actually dishonoring the memory of Rachel by being a villain. In the end, he could have done the right things but he chose to take the darker path. This then shows how the line is not a very wide line between good and evil. It is all the choices that people make that make them good or evil. Harvey Dent is a character that is a facade of good and evil. Everyone has a choice to be good or evil throughout their lives. All human beings go through difficult times; it is how we deal with it that makes us who we are. Nolan tries to capture that theme with Harvey Dent. The different personality theories help explain the fictional character to better understand ourselves.

Personal Response, explanatory and critical reactions on the book by Essay

Personal Response, explanatory and critical reactions on the book by Sebastien Japrisot 'A Very Long Engagement' - Essay Example Throughout Mathilde’s search, the reader is provided with reminders about the theme of enduring love. A Very Long Engagement starts with a chapter entitled â€Å"Saturday evening.† In this chapter, the readers are introduced to the setting, which is a French trench during World War I. The author is introduced to five men that have committed self mutilation in order to be sent home, but these men have been convicted of this as a crime. Four of the five men admit what they have done, but Eskimo insists that his injury was accidental. Each of the men’s personalities and backgrounds are provided in order to present the reader with the necessary character information. The reader is also introduced to Mathilde, the finacee of the most youthful of the men, Manech. The reader is presented to her with the sense that she will become a very important character in the book; in fact, her relationship is where the title of the book derives. The next chapter in the book entitled â€Å"Bingo Crepuscule Analysis† moves the story forward about two and a half years. The focus of the story shifts to Mathilde. Manech is now dead and Mathilde is still trying to learn about what really happened to him prior to his passing. She therefore travels to a veteran’s hospital in order to find a man who had spoken to Manech the day before he died. Mathilde’s search introduces one of the prominent themes of the novel; that of enduring love and hope. This man is Daniel Esperanza, who is dying. He informs Mathilde that Manech did not perish in combat as the death announcement had stated. What in fact did happen was that Manech planned to have his hand intentionally shot because he was so depressed by the war, and this did occur. He was then convicted of self-mutilation and sentenced to death along with the other men. These men, though, were not shot by the firing squad; instead, the men they fought with were told to th row them over the top of

Law and Human Trafficking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law and Human Trafficking - Essay Example The immigration laws that should prevent trafficking are not stringent thereby, creating the conducive environment that encourages human trafficking (Theresa 275). This has increased the cases of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). Human trafficking has also been on the rise because some of the officers working at the immigration offices and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) are also involved in the evil act of human trafficking because of the huge profits that accrue to them from the sale of the children and the adults. This as noted by the US house Judiciary chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, makes over 90% of the UACs cases not being presented to the courts for justice to be sought for the victims (Theresa 275). It is, therefore, important to note that human trafficking has become a crisis because of the laxity in the enforcement of the trafficking laws, not in the absence of the laws.United Nations Definition of Human Trafficking  Human trafficking is considered a serious crime and gross violation of human rights, therefore United Nations have been in the forefront in trying to assist the United States and the affected countries in preventing human trafficking through the implementation of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. This aims at preventing, suppressing and punishers the traffickers (Shelley 115). According to the United Nations definition of Human Trafficking, Article 3, of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol provides the definition of Human Trafficking as â€Å"recruitment, transportation.

Conflict Resolution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conflict Resolution - Research Paper Example This paper attempts to explore some of these ideas pertaining to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution is ‘any marked reduction in social conflict as a result of conscious settlement of issues in dispute’ (Schellenberg 1996). This definition makes use of two terms: conflict and dispute. This implies that conflicts need to be resolved to the extent of resolving dispute-causing factors because dispute, which is disruptive and detrimental to an environment, is a product of conflict. Dispute is also tougher to handle and can lead to long-term ill-effects. Therefore, resolving conflict is necessary. Uncontrolled conflicts have a number of repercussions. In the workplace, these can lead to higher costs, wasted time and resources (Dana 2001), negative energy in the environment, lower morale and productivity. Apart from this, this causes frustration among employees who will feel compelled to take some rash action to dispel this frustration. Conflict needs to be managed through communication. Aggression, which is traditionally thought to aggravate conflicts, can be a great bargaining tool for conflict resolution (Aurelli & Waal 2000). For example, when two parties are arguing over a matter and a conflict has occurred, the threat of aggression ‘in the form of punishment’, say the writers, can precipitate resolution. Different cultures and different relationships have their own characteristic styles of conflict resolution. For example, in families or personal relationships, it is common that the group relies on a single person, who acts as an ‘expert’ (Ladd 2007), to make the decision for everyone based on his knowledge, age, experiences or position. In colleges and schools, informal conflicts are resolved by the girl or boy who has the strongest personality and takes the role of the expert over others; formal conflicts are resolved by the administration. In workplaces, conflicts are resolved based

Are ETF are threat to the asset management industry Essay

Are ETF are threat to the asset management industry - Essay Example The idea is that the stocks are repeatedly sold while the capital funds of the company continuously increase. Basically, the process is simple and managing the financial resource of the organization is not that hard to accomplish. No matter, the emergence of ETF or the exchange traded fund has increased the chances of doubting the capability of financial managing personnel to handle the competition in selling and re-establishing stocks in comparison with that of the marketability of the ETFs that are introduced in the world of business at present. 1 In this regard, this study shall further investigate the truths behind the intuitive sense of dealing with monetary issues and management among business operations today and how ETFs affect this particular process of financial control procedures. Through seeing how ETFs actually proceeded to affect business funding and marketing, it is expected that this study would be able to see the direct threat or non-threat that ETFs may have on business fund management procedures used today by proprietors of modern commerce. Cash flow in the business industry is a very important matter to consider. This especially involves huge organizations that are funded through financial investments from their primary stock holders. With profit getting higher, the level of benefit that the administrative party and the investors party receive form the business operations increase as well. It could not be denied then that effectively managing business monetary fund among business organizations is one of today's most important matters of consideration when the talk about business and finance is being tackled. TO be able to manage monetary fund effectively, many financial experts today continue to develop different approaches to the said procedure. Being able to provide the parties involved [the stakeholders] with the monetary values that they deserve to receive as part of the business organization is what is most cared for. Selling stocks is one of the effective approaches used by business finance managers of different business operations at present. Stocks are noted as particular monetary assets owned by investors to which the foundation of any particular business is based on. With the increased amount of stock fund invested in a particular business entity, the capital of the entire organization increases as well. This is how stock is that important to well established organizations at present. They particularly see stock ownership as a huge security blanket for their businesses in case any particular financial problems arise in the future. Dealing with these issues of monetary control has practically given birth to the existence of monetary management industry. This industry basically aims to continue giving secure assurance for the assets of business organizations present in the industry at present2. Through this, the owners of businesses are assured that they are protected by securities and other organizations that are providing such assured options of being protected from bankruptcy. Considerably, the birth of the different options of financial security programs offered to primary business stock holders have grown especially during these financial trying times that is currently

Women in Islam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Women in Islam - Assignment Example The hijab has become common in the Muslim world and frequently worn conceitedly by the university and college girls as a sign of Islamic identity, liberating them symbolically from western cultural domination and imperialism (Kusha, 2011). Â  In addition, the traditional Muslim culture of male occupational dominance has also changed, and currently, Muslim women hold various positions in the workplaces. The culture of men as the breadwinners does no longer exist, and women raise their children and feed the household just as men. Another important change in the Muslim culture to satisfy the needs of modern women is in marriage. Traditionally, all Muslim marriages were arranged, and women had no say, but in the modern one, women are cherished and treated well. In fact, the mistreatment and beating of women are something of the past in the Muslim marriage. Â  In summary, the Muslim culture has transformed to include the needs of women in the modern society, but there is need to address the miss-emphasis and misrepresentation in Islam. The Muslim leaders should continue to address the problem of gender relations within the Muslim communities and outside to correct the gender imbalances.

Finance Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Finance - Case Study Example GE’s first criterion of loan application is that the company applying for loan should have minimum three years’ operational working. The CCL has more than three years’ existence starting from 1987 until the year ending December 31, 2002. Thus, CCL clearly passes the first criterion. Second criterion laid down by GE is of paramount importance as it ascertains whether the applicant would have enough cash generation in his or her business to repay the loan. It is necessary to do a complete analysis related to this aspect. Rendl wants to know about the cash generated from the operations so as to be assured of the loan repayment by CCL. This can be given by net earnings after tax plus depreciation charged ($72,795+$79,132 = $151,927). Depreciation is not a cash outgo and remains with the company and hence counted in the cash generated. CCL’s previous loans have been disbursed for the repayment period of 48 months. Assuming same repayment period of 48 months for the loan of 270,000, CCL will have monthly installment of 270,000/48 = $5,625/month. Thus, in a year CCL would need to pay 5625Ãâ€"12 = $67,500 toward its new loan; however, for its two old loans CCL has been already paying 7000+800 = $7800 per month. Thus, the outgo per annum for these two old loans would be $93,600. Added a new loan repayment, total repayment comes out to be $161,100 per year. Cash likely to be generated in the year ended 2003 (as calculated above) at $151,927 is marginally short of this repayment requirements. While Rendl reviewing CCL application for $270,000 on April 15 2003 for likely new loan disbursement from May 1 2003, the CCL would have reduced debt in the first four months by 7800Ãâ€"4= $31,200 and net long term liability at the time of new loan disbursement would be 225,000(from balance sheet year ended 2002) – 31200 + 227000(new debt) = $420,800.

Labs H, P, & S Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labs H, P, & S - Lab Report Example Straight pins were then placed along line IB as shown in the diagram below. After which the glass plate was returned, and the rest of the experimental arrangement moved near the edge of the table. The pins were then sighted through the glass plate, and ruler aligned along the sightline and a straight line drawn along the rule and labeled B’R. The glass plate was again removed, and line BB’ drawn. The Normals at B and B’ were drawn, and angles of incidence and refraction compared. SKETCH: I N B B’ RESULTS: Trial I-B-N (Angle of incidence) R-B’-N (Angle of refraction) 1 60 34 ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION From the above table it can be seen that the angle of incidence is greater than the angle of refraction. Therefore, this experiment demonstrated the following concepts of refraction: 1. Angle of incidence is greater than the angle of refraction (Shipman). Law of refraction (Snell’s La): Where: n1 refractive index of air =1 n 2 refractive index of gl ass. Theoretical refractive index of glass= 1.52 Therefore: Moments of Force (Experiment H) PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate the concepts of equilibrium and moments of force. ... The second weight was moved along the meter until it balanced. The weights and distances at which the meter balanced were recorded. The experiment was repeated using different weights and distances from the fulcrum, and their distances and weights recorded as shown in the result table below. SKETCH C Distance 1 Distance 2 Weight on the left Weight on the right Counterclockwise moments Fulcrum Clockwise moments RESULTS AND ANALSIS Moments= Force X Distance Principles of moments: counterclockwise moments= clockwise moments (Shipman). Therefore, Counterclockwise moments in the first case= (10 X 4) + (10 X10) = 140ozcm Clockwise moments in the first case = (15 X 30) + (x X 39) = 450+39x X = -7.9487oz Can Goods Can Goods Can Goods Miscellaneous objects Left Side Weight (1) Left Side Distance (1) Left Side Weight (2) Left Side Distance (2) Total Left side Moment Right Side Weight (1) Right Side Distance (1) Right Side Distance (2) Right Side Weight (2) Total Right side Moment 1 10 oz 4 cm 10 oz 10 cm 140 15 oz 30 cm 39 cm -7.9487oz 140 2 15 oz 22 cm 15 oz 9 cm 465 4.5 oz 45 cm 32 cm 8.2031oz 465 3 4.5 oz 6 cm 4.5 oz 5 cm 24.5 16 oz 35 cm 50 cm -10.71oz 24.5 4 24 oz 23 cm 24 oz 8 cm 744 9.5 oz 49 cm 44 cm 6.3295oz 744 5 16 oz 5 cm 16 oz 9 cm 224 24 oz 28 cm 28 cm -16oz 224 6 9.5 oz 3 cm 9.5 oz 5 cm 76 10 oz 9 cm 47 cm -0.2979oz 76 Electrical consumption (Experiment S) PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the cost of electrical consumption of various home electrical devices. PROCEDURE: The following equipment and machinery were used: 12 home electrical appliances (Smart TV, Toshiba Laptop and refrigerator among others), and a copy of the recent electricity bill. The home appliances to be used in

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Essay Example for Free

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Essay The enterprise resource planning system attempts to integrate or integrates all the data and also processes of an organization into a system that is unified. A typical system of the enterprise resource planning uses the multiple components of the computer hardware and software so as to achieve the integration. The key ingredient of most of the systems in enterprise resource planning is the usage of a unified database in storing the data for various system modules. Comparison between customer relationship management and supply chain management Similarities Both customer relationship management and the supply chain management are examples of modules in the enterprise resource planning system which formally would have been stand alone applications. (Monk and Wagner2006) Differences The data that is contained in the supply chain management software includes; inventory, commission circulation, order entry, claim processing, purchasing, inspection of goods, product configurator, supplies scheduling and the supply chain planning. On the other hand the data that is contained in the customer relationship management software includes; sales and marketing, call center support, customer contact service as well as commissions. On the other hand the supply chain management is a process of planning, implementing and controlling all the operations of the supply chain with a lot of efficiency. While the customer relationship management covers the concepts which are used by various companies in managing their relationships with the customers and they also include capturing, storing, analyzing the customers, vending, partnering and also information on the internal processes. The operational functions of the customer relationship management involve providing support to the front office business processes which include service and sales and marketing. The operational functions of the supply chain management includes activities such as; the daily production and distribution planning, sourcing planning, inbound operations, production operations and also order promising. (Monk and Wagner2006) The supply chain addresses problems on the distribution network configuration, the distribution strategies, information, inventory management as well as the cash flow. On the other hand the customer relationship management addresses the issues marketing sales and service. The customer relationship management has the capability of executing all the three sub modules through the multiple communication channels and the data that is gathered by the CRM considers the privacy of the customer as well as the security of the data. On the other hand the supply chain management components are the third elements of the four square circulation frameworks. Differences between financial accounting and managerial accounting Type of information and confidentiality Financial accounting mainly concentrates on the production of the financial reports which includes profitability, the basic reporting requirements, stability, solvency and liquidity. The reports of this nature can easily be accessible by the external and the internal users. On the other hand management accounting is a branch of accounting which deals with primarily very confidential financial reports for the restricted use of the organizations top management. (Monk and Wagner2006) Whereas the financial accountants follow the GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) that have been set by professional bodies in each country, the managerial accountants make use of the processes and also procedures that are not regulated by the standard setting bodies. On the other hand the multinational companies prefer employing the managerial accountants who have passed the certification in CMA. The certified management accountant (CMA) is an examination that is given by the institute of management accountant which is a professional organization for the accounting professionals. (Monk and Wagner2006)However the certification is very different and also unique from the chartered accountant certificate or CPA. Time period The managerial accounting provides the top management with reports which are future based while on the other hand the financial accounting provides reports that are based on the historical information. However even though the management accountants base their reports on the historical values they also employ the statistical methods so as to arrive at the future values. In both the financial and managerial accounting the enterprise resource planning systems benefits the workers in various ways. (Monk and Wagner2006) Information on the payroll of the sales people This information will be very useful in the management o the sales team in the Snackers sales department. This is because the manager will be able to know the consistency of each sales persons pay in relation to their performance. On the other hand such information will help the manager to pay the sales people according to the defined contract which could be inform of incentives, commission or a basic salary. (Monk and Wagner2006) Information on training of the sales people This information will be helpful in the management of the sales people since it will help in identifying the extent to which the sales people have been trained and also how far hey have been able to go with their training. This information is also useful since it helps in showing what the sales people have not been trained in and the consistency in their training. Such information will also be useful in the identification of the refresher courses on the sales people since such training is very important to the company sales and marketing strategies. (Monk and Wagner, 2006) Information on time and attendance of the sales people This information will help the management identify the employee’s trends in reporting and attending to their official duties. It will also help in identifying the employees who are consistent in their attendance and those who are not. Such information would be very useful especially when promoting the employees , increasing their   responsibilities, giving them incentives, taking any disciplinary actions and also in retrenchments and transfers. Information on the benefits of the sales people This information would be helpful to the management since it will give the basis of the benefits of the employees. Such information would help the company’s management to award the sales people with their correct benefits and incentives which they are entitled to during or after their term of service.

Medical Billing and Coding Process Essay Example for Free

Medical Billing and Coding Process Essay Step One: Preregister patients-Patients who call in order to schedule an appointment have to provide basic information. General information usually includes the person’s first, middle, and last names along with their address, the reason for the encounter, their basic insurance information, and the most convenient date and time of the appointment. During the encounter: Step Two: Establish financial responsibility-The person behind the window will inform the patient on whether or not they are eligible for that specific health plan, check the factors that are covered under that health plan, determine the first payer if there are more than one health plan that actually covers that patient, and meet the payer’s conditions for the payment. Step Three: Check in patients-Returning patients are required to sign in at the front desk of the facility. They usually are asked to review previous information to make sure that it is accurate and up-to-date. Their financial records are also checked to make sure that previous balances were paid at the time of the previous visits. If a new patient arrives, they are required to fill out a form that includes their personal information and show proof of their identification as well as proof of their insurance. This helps to eliminate fraud or malpractice in the facility. The patient’s personal information and insurance information will then be copied and returned to the patient. This information is entered into the facility’s database for future reference. The front and back of the insurance cards and other identification cards are scanned and copied in order to be storied in the database. Copayments are always collected at the time of the service, some are collected before the encou nter and some are collected after the encounter. Some facilities  require other forms to be completed by the patients, these forms are included as part of the process of recording administrative and clinical facts about patients. Step Four: Review Coding Compliance-In order for billing options to be carried out to the patient, medical codes must assign the medical procedures and diagnoses. The physician does specific codes for specific treatments and procedures. The treatment that the patient receives from the physician is entered into the database. The treatment and procedures that the patient receives have to be completed and signed by the physician. At the end of the patient’s visit, the physician gives the form (with the checked-off treatments and procedures) to the individual at the front desk. That person then in turn gives the form to the billing function of the facility. After this is done, they set up a patient’s next appointment. Step Five: Review Billing Compliance-After the facility transfers the patient’s diagnoses and procedures to billing, the file is then checked by billing in order to determine if the specific billing options are correct or not, and to make sure that reimbursements are returned to the patient in a timely fashion. Every fee or charge has its own specific procedure code. Usually, the physician’s charges are applied to the medical practice’s fee schedule.

How to Identify Different Types of Learners

How to Identify Different Types of Learners How does a teacher identify the different types of learners in a language classroom and how best plan for this afterwards? ‘†¦plan, teach / act, observe and reflect†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Sue Davidoff and Owen van den Berg, 1990) The Observation My observation was undertaken at the British Council in Kuwait/Gulf Region[ej1]. The observation class was of mixed nationality Arabic Language speakers at Intermediate level. There were twenty students in total, 80% males to 20% females. The class comprises of 30% students, 60% working or professional people 10% homemakers others. The age range is between 20 to 55 years. The class is halfway through a 6 months language course. I observed and was involved in a 90 minute lesson focusing on vocabulary, reading and speaking. At the end the teacher answered my prepared questionnaire (see Appendix)[ej2]. The following essay consists of a brief theoretical, analytical and practical examination of learning styles and typologies in a language classroom and how best to plan for them. It includes an analysis of specific elements from the observed lesson (see Appendix for a transcript[ej3]) put in the context of theory and intended future practise. To support the lesson, the teacher used the white board, an overhead projector with one transparency and three handouts. Whole class work focused on provision of vocabulary and contextualisation of the material. The material was real and relevant to contemporary interests and cultures. The teacher used discussion starters to motivate and encourage student interest and involvement (as Allwright and Bailey advise, 1991) Responses were elicited from the class and supported through teacher modelling of pronunciation and writing on the white board. Individual work was limited. The teacher had established small groups (three to four students) aimed at balancing ethnic background and gender. Research shows the importance of understanding and catering for different learning styles and cognitive strategies. When a learning style is not catered for, the student can easily become ‘bored and inattentive, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about the course, and may conclude that they are not good at the subjects’ (Zhenhui, 2001). Various parameters have been constructed for defining student’s preferred way of learning, such as Knowles (1982) concrete, analytical, communicative and authority-orientated learning styles (cited in Richards, 1994). Another defines the groups as auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learning styles (Krause et al, 2003, pp154-155) whilst figure 1 gives a representation of student and teacher inter-reactions dependent on learning styles. Some researchers such as Richards (1994, pp.59-77) consider an individuals culture as vital to understanding learning styles. Ladson-Billings (1995) advocates a method of Culturally Responsive Teachin g which integrates cultural points of reference through out the learning process. Others disagree (Kubes, 1998, cited in Krause) and cite more universal forms of learning. This class was both interested and engaged in its learning. However, during the interview, the teacher expressed a wish that there was more time for individual tailoring. The teacher acknowledged that this would better cater for the range of learning styles. More concrete resources (actual materials eg fruit, etc) and increased use of visual aids (magazines, more transparencies, laminated pictures) may also help to convey understanding and increase retention. Two ‘tests’ were used during the class one was a linking exercise and one a reading exercise. The teacher finished the lesson with each student expressing an opinion on an article using the lessons language. Whilst these were not formal tests, they involved assessment strategies. As Nunan points out (1990, p62) assessment contributes part of the information for student evaluation. As this infers, the tools for student assessment, be they observational, formative or summative, need to balance with an understanding of the ‘bigger picture’. For example, the goal may be to allow students to understand, practise and develop their own language and learning strategies (see Hismanoglu’s exploration of Language Learning Strategies, 2000) – be they direct or indirect strategies (Oxford, 1990, p9). Most students require clear and precise scaffolding (Vygotsky, in Krause, 2003, pp60-65) to develop their metacognitive practises for making meaning. Assessme nt can act as a benchmark to the success of the learning process and show the teacher areas that need to be covered again or in a different way. There is no space here to do full justice to the impact of the learning environment upon students yet it needs inclusion for a balanced understanding of students learning styles. Suffice it to say that, as Nunan and Lamb say (1996), the teacher needs to aim for a safe, positive and progressive environment that encourages student participation, thinking and risk-taking. Much as assessment is an end result of reflection upon what one wants to define, the learning environment should be based upon a thorough understanding of theoretical aspects. For example, traditional teaching methods tended towards a unitary approach to intelligence. Contemporary theories, such as Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences (cited in Krause et al, 2003) allow for the inclusion of variable factors that define a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Many agree with Wilson’s (1998) assertion that Gardner’s MI theory helps teachers createâ€Å"†¦more personalized and diversifi ed instructional experiences† and develops â€Å"empowered learners† (http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/wilson1.htm) Figure 2. Adapted from Huitt, 2004, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html This holistic approach agrees with an understanding of other influences upon learning, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for example (see Figure 2), or Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory. These ‘ecological’ factors encourage more integrated forms of assessment and are particularly useful in understanding various forms of ‘washback’ (see Cushing Weigle, 2002) that may result. Other more structured tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indications Survey, (Myers McCaulley, 1985) may also have their place. The teacher used gender and ethnic background to balance the groups. The groups worked well together in a pro-social manner. However, Woods encourages conscious examination of an educators own attitudes, especially when the may cause subconscious actions and opinions to form (Woods, 1996). Should the two parameters of gender and ethnicity become constraints, then they are not valid means of group construction. Sometimes is appeared that not all group members contribute in their cooperative learning. However, research has shown that even those who do not appear to be so communicative do benefit to a degree from the listening and processing that this format provides. It may be that they are better at working individually and as such should have the opportunity to do so. The teacher used elements of the 3 P’s approach presentation, practise, production. However, as the lesson transcript shows, the language was expanded in what became more of a Harmer-style engage – study – activate method. I would like to list the implications for my own teaching under the following points: Use a wide range of teaching strategies and styles to ensure comprehension eg support spoken material with writing on the white board, leave the transparency up on the overhead projector, bring in concrete materials, provide visual clues, model your required responses, â€Å"set short, realistic goals and review and recycle often.† (Antonaros, 2005 ), role play, use song. Use methods according to the area you wish to cover, the materials you have prepared and present concisely and precisely. If the area is suited best to direct instruction then use it, if student-centred instruction or co-operative groups then vary accordingly. Motivation and interest are paramount, but sound understanding is the goal. Prepare your materials so that they are interesting, real, relevant, encourage thinking whilst supporting language development. Take an action research approach to (for example Wright’s, 1987, 2005) to develop a thorough understanding of my students learning and cognitive styles and my own attitudes. Use active listening to understand, modelling to improve and discussion to encourage communication Use teacher modelling strategies to develop the student’s autonomous language learning skills as exemplified by Lowes and Target (1998) in Helping Students to Learn. Providing a positive learning environment where mistakes are not derided Assign homework that re-caps and therefore re-enforces the issues covered in the lesson. Ensure equity in communication – make sure everyone has a chance to speak. â€Å"Every teacher who has taught a group of grown-ups knows that some individuals may be reluctant to speak, especially when they realize or assume that other students are more fluent.† (Turula, 2002) References Allwright, D. Bailey, K. (1991). Focus on the Language Classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Antonaros, S. (no date) Looking Inside and Out for the Answer to Motivating Our Learners http://www.tesolgreece.com/nl/75/7505.html) Accessed 7th February 2006 Davidoff, S., Van Den Berg, O. (1990) Changing Your Teaching. The challenge of the classroom. Pietermaritzburg: Centaur Publications Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books, Harmer, J (1998) How to Teach English. Harlow, UK: Longman Hismanoglu, M. (2000) ‘Language Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching’, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 8, August 2000 Knowles, L (1982) Teaching and Reading. London, UK: National Council on Industrial Language Training. Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. (2003) Educational Psychology for learning and teaching. Southbank, Victoria: Thomson. Kubes, M (1998) Adaptors and innovators in Slovakia: Cognitive style and social culture. European Journal of Personality, 12(3), pp.187-198 Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But thats just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into Practice, 34(3), 159-165. Lowes, R. Target, F. (1998). Helping Students to Learn. London: Richmond. Malamah-Thomas, A. (987). Classroom Interaction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Nunan, D., Lamb, C. (1996). The Self-Directed Teacher. Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press. Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. New York, USA: Newbury House Publishers. Richards, J.C., Lockhart, C.L. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J.C. Nunan, D. (eds.). Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Turula, A (2002) Language Anxiety and Classroom Dynamics: A Study of Adult Learners. Forum English Teaching Online, US Dept of State, Vol. 40 (2). http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol40/no2/p28.htm#top Wilson, L (1998). Whats the big attraction? Why teachers are drawn to using Multiple Intelligence Theory in their classrooms? http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/wilson1.htm Accessed 7 February 2006 Woods, D. (1996) Teacher Cognition in Language Education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Wright, T. (1987). Classroom Management in Language Education. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan Wright, T. (1987). Roles of Teachers and Learners. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Zhenhui, R. (2001) ‘Matching Teaching Styles with Learning Styles in East Asian Contexts’, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VII, No. 7, July 2001 Websites Matching teaching styles: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Zhenhui-TeachingStyles.html accessed 3 February 2006. Language Learning Strategies: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Hismanoglu-Strategies.html accessed 3 February 2006 Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs, Huitt, 2004, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html. Accessed 7 February 2006 Language Teaching http://www.ittmfl.org.uk/modules/effective/6a/paper6a4.pdf accessed 5 February 2006 [ej1]Where exactly, or does this remain hypothetical? [ej2]Need to verify and add number [ej3]Need to verify and add number

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander Essay -- Time Cat Lloyd Alexander Outline

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander Type of story: Fictional Setting: 1.Time: Historical period: the story jumps from different times. While traveling though they go from 2700b.c. to 55b.c. to 998b.c. to 411b.c. to 998a.d. to 1468 to 1555 to 1588 to 1600 to 1775. 2. Place: Geographical location: This story as well as switching from time to time it also switches from place to place. While traveling they go the places of Egypt, Rome and Britain, Ireland, Japan, Italy, Peru, The Isle of Man, and finally to America. Scenes: The story starts out in Jason’s room and from there it goes to Egypt where Gareth and Jason go down the Nile river and to a the pharaoh’s palace. From there they Rome and Britain where the spend there time out in forest along seas, in king’s castles, in tribal areas. Main Characters: 1.Name: Jason Physical Features: Jason is tall and skinny; he has short brown hair and deep blue eyes. 2. Personality description: In the beginning of the story Jason is laying in bed and crying because of what a bad day he has been having so that probably shows that he is a sensitive boy. He has a large imagination, this he shows because he does believe his cat (Gareth would talk to him if he wanted to. He is rough and is easily bugged but other than that Jason is sweet and cares dearly for the ones he loves. How does this character change through out the story?: Jason has no change to him, he stills believes in what he believed in before, his attitude is the same; he doesn’t grow kinder but also not meaner. Jason is the same boy he was in the beginning. Character #2 Name: Gareth Physical Description: Gareth is a black cat with orange eyes, Sometimes, when he hunched his shoulders and put down his ears, he looked like an owl. When he stretched, he looked like a trickle of oil or a pair of black silk pajamas. When he sat on a window ledge, his eyes half-shut and his tail curled around him, he looked like a secret. Personality Description: Gareth is a smart, loving cat. He seems to be a problem solver or conflict solver. He has a sly personality to him or like, if you were to just meet him then you’d be very cautious around him because of the way he seems to be. The Problem of the Story: There are a few conflicts to this story, every time Jason and Gareth go to a new place ... ...lly the conflict of this story is the people believe Gareth is a witches slave. Mistress Ursulina’s problem: Miss Ursulina’s problem was that the people of the village believed that she was a witch and right when she was caught she should burned to death. 9.America in the year of 1775: NO CONFLICT. The Plot: 1. Jason is sitting in his bed frustrated because of the horrible day he has and then out of nowhere his cat, Gareth, begins to talk to him. 2. Jason and Gareth travel to Egypt where the meet the pharaoh, Neter-Khet, who they give a valuable lesson to. 3. Jason and Gareth travel to Ireland where they meet the beautiful Diahan who introduces them to Sucat (the herdsman), the magician, and her father, the king. 4. Jason tries proving to the king that his cat is much more useful than the magician in keeping the mice away and does not have to use magic and will not have to be paid. 5. Jason and Gareth have to go home and they have to say good-bye because Gareth tells Jason that he will never be able to speak to him again. 6. Jason wakes to realize that all had happened with Gareth and traveling was a dream. THE END!!!

A Critique of Compulsory Schooling :: Education

â€Å"The knowledge of the world is to only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.† Thus said Lord Chesterfield, who understood the fact that locking children away is not the best way to teach them. It is a painful reality that students are not being educated, but rather simply being schooled, and most people who understand street slang know that â€Å"to be schooled† is to be beaten down. This terminology is not a coincidence. Compulsory schooling is eliminating society of its most vibrant sources of variety, and teaching children that no work is worth finishing, and that they must depend on someone else’s word in order to survive. John Taylor Gatto, NY State Teacher of the Year in 1991, describes how society is slowly becoming sterile due to a lack of variety – when children are locked away in their classroom prison cells, and senior citizens are locked away in retirement homes, there is no one from which to find an alternating viewpoint. Schools tear children away from their families when they could be using the time to learn something from their parents, or their grandparents. There is a reason why mythological wise characters are always aged, and children are tragically missing prime opportunities to spend time with these experienced individuals. God forbid they should actually learn something that might be applicable to them later in life, as opposed to the standardized material that will be forgotten as soon as the next test is turned in. Schools tear at the very source of variety – the family. If all children are herded up into a single institution, they are less likely to think critically enough to recognize oppression or hypocrisy from the higher-ups (the ones making money). For example, drivers constantly relay stories about how traffic cops have tried to take advantage of them by making up laws and assuming that the offender is not critical enough to question his authority. Tickets are given and fines are paid over false premises, and no one wonders why. People like traffic cops feed off of the ignorance that is pumped out of these schools – indeed, it is often their best source of monetary gain. The victims in these situations always feel absolutely betrayed. However, schools often play out similar scenes, and yet it is rare to find a student who understands this betrayal. They are placed under the supervision of strange adults – many of whom simply go through the motions in order to earn their paychecks – and are expected to place unbending faith in the words that these adults utter.

Lady Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Discuss whether or not you feel sympathy for Lady Macbeth There are certain aspects of Lady Macbeth’s character that suggests she is good and therefore her downfall increases my sympathy for her by the end of act 5. But I would also argue that she entailed evil to fuel her sleeping ambition that would make her nemesis, her mental collapse, fully justified. Lady Macbeth’s role as a supporting wife at the start of the play exceeds the duties of a ‘normal’ wife. She is the ‘Eve’ to Macbeth’s ‘Adam’ and is tempted. Although Macbeth hints at the idea of taking the crown in his letter home, it is Lady Macbeth’s ruthless determination to make him king that persuaded him to murder Duncan. Did she do this in the interests of Macbeth or was it to fulfil her own ambition? I would argue that it was to fulfil her own ambition because she decided straight away that murder was the best option to take without any regard to guilt, in this view I have no sympathy for Lady Macbeth because it is a sign of her inner evilness. To commit the murder of King Duncan Lady Macbeth calls upon â€Å"†¦the spirits that tend on mortal thoughts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . She evokes evil to commit the deed and loses her identity; I would then argue that if she has lost her identity then she has lost her soul and that, in my opinion, makes her a monster. This is illustrated by her willingness to â€Å"†¦dash the brains out†¦Ã¢â‚¬  of her baby, if she had one. The loss of her feminine qualities exemplifies her knowledge of the consequences of kill...

Income Security for Women Essay

The Employment Insurance (EI) is a leading insurance program that revamped the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program introduced in 1940. The EI reduces dependency on the state for income support. After being introduced in 1996, minor changes were done to the EI frequently. Earlier under UI, women’s jobs and unemployment risks were not covered or less covered. The EI focused mainly on women’s entitlement to increased maternity/parental benefits. The new Compassionate Care Benefit (CCB) benefits woman to provide end-of-life care to family members. Introduction of EI and Canadian Health and Social Transfer (CHST) are interpreted as a measure to consolidate a neo-liberal welfare state. It is a kind of market approach to social issues. Earlier, the liberal welfare state was built around the male bread winner model. During that time, adult women benefited only through male earners in the family. The adult worker model expected caretakers to work more to meet the care needs. Women suffered the consequences because of this approach and it resulted in falling birth rates and stress-related productivity problems. The EI addressed most of the issues concerning caretakers but then the 1996 EI reform hurt women more than men. Because, women were expected to meet the male norm to qualify for benefits and also the entrant/re-entrant (NERE) rules were tough on women. The motivation behind was to make people take any or all available work. Part-time workers and seasonal workers found it difficult to qualify for benefits. The self-employed – many women – were out of the system. The intention was to promote labor force attachment. Women workers in precarious jobs could not meet the NERE rules. Employees with irregular jobs could not meet the average insurable earnings based on the last twenty-six weeks of work. This rule was later relaxed in high-unemployment regions. Employees with dependants in the family qualified for family supplement (FM). Women were expected to work for a minimum of 35 hours a week (to meet 700 hours in 20 weeks) to qualify for maternity/parental benefits. Many women failed to qualify. The requirements were later decreased to 600 hours and the NERE rules were adjusted. The maximum parental benefits were received by 93% of women recipients though it is gender neutral. On the whole maternity/parental benefits are a positive measure liked by many. Compassionate Care Benefits (CCB) allows employees to take care of the gravely ill or dying child without putting their jobs or income at risk. 600 hours of insurable employment are needed to qualify for up to six weeks of compassionate Care Benefits. Here again, self-employed, part-time and non-standard work employees find it difficult to qualify. The state is more focused on resolving care giving issues. This created gender inequalities in insurance benefits. Though changes are done to fine tune regular benefits and to give impetus to special benefits, women are benefited only if they are mothers. Since labor force attachment is vital to access parental benefits, some women are restricted from access to benefits due to inequalities in work pattern such as part time employment. Suggestions according to the author on areas where EI can be improved: 1) Women’s income security needs to serve by better progress 2) Implicit use of a male work norm in setting EI parameters to be addressed. 3) Care related work has to be free from NERE eligibility rules. 4) Part time worker should be made available for benefits based on their hours of work. 5) Minimum devisor should be dropped. Benefit formula should use the best X number of weeks for a longer time frame. 6) Self employed workers should be considered for both regular and special benefits. 1) What did you learn from this piece? The Canadian government initiated Unemployment Insurance (UI) in 1940. This was gender biased and did not cover women’s jobs and their unemployment risks. As a result women suffered the consequences for long. A major reformation on UI came in the form of Employment Insurance (EI) Act in 1996. The EI was proposed to reduce the dependency of employees on the state for income. The gender biases and better access for women to the EI were addressed in the subsequent reforms of EI. Whenever there was a reformation of the EI, a particular group of employees were either not benefited or less benefited from the EI. For example, under UI, the EI maternity/parental benefits expected 700 hrs of work from an employee for 20 weeks. This criteria disqualified many women workers who worked less than 35 hours a week. Women who worked part time and women with children found it difficult to qualify. The new entrant/re-entrant (NERE) requirements were stringent for women who had already taken maternity leave. Later, in the reform process, the government reduced the 700 hours to 600 and readjusted NERE rules. At regular intervals the government improvised on EI and UI policies thereby consolidating the neo-liberal welfare state. The crux of the matter is that the women employees who benefit from the changes are largely mothers. There are many women in precarious jobs, self employed and live in high unemployment areas without access to the benefits of EI. The new programs of the state should try and bridge these gaps. 2) Is there anything in this writing that made you think differently? Explain. According to McKeen and Portar, the EI reforms are heading towards consolidating a neo-liberal welfare state. Well, this means that the state’s emphasis is on the primacy of market. It rewards ‘Good’ workers and punish ‘Bad’ workers. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ alone do not determine the social well being. The prime concern is ‘Will the state insulate its economy from the globalization process? Will it prevent people facing higher levels of unemployment and job insecurity? ’ If yes, the next step is to bring more EI reforms by securing women’s employment without getting mired in the globalization process. Yielding to the international competitiveness of the market will have repercussions on the society. 3) What is the most significant contribution of this writing? The author Martha MacDonald has clearly pictured how women employees were caught unawares in the midst of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) that was built on the male bread winner model. The consequences led to falling birth rates and stress related productivity problems. Even the 1996 reforms of regular UI benefits hurt women more than men. Women had difficulty qualifying for new entrants/re-entrant (NERE) rules. The end of the 20th century has seen some good results in EI reforms by allowing women to have better access to EI benefits, however, the women who benefited are mothers than those in precarious jobs, self employed, part-time or seasonal workers and residing in high unemployment areas. 4) What is your ‘critique’ of this piece? â€Å"Procrastination is the thief of time† – Edward King The state waited all these years hesitating to bring quick reforms to allow women to have better access to EI benefits. As the author rightly says â€Å"The result was that the states broader social and economic feedback effects are now being manifested in falling birth rates and productivity problems. † Besides explaining women’s poor access to EI, the author explains the gradual developments in the EI chronologically with reference citations to reputed authors. As a scholarly piece of writing, â€Å"Income Security for Women: What about Employment Insurance? † has all the influence to promote her suggestions on how women’s income security could be better served through new programs. This short piece is a wealth of information for anyone who wants to know the real scenario on Employment Insurance with regard to women employers and their income security. In other words, it is a pool of data, a healthy interpretation of EI developments, a logical conclusion through scholarly effort and fruitful ideas for a prospective EI reforms. 5) Questions for class discussions: i) Do you think the neo-liberal welfare state and the EI reforms can go hand in hand benefiting each other? Explain. ii) What will be your stance on the latest EI reforms? iii) Imagine that you have talents and resources to get self employed. Will you hesitate to become self employed because of the poor access to EI benefits? iv) Is there any woman in your family who faced difficulties due to poor access to UI? Share your experience.