Inclusive teaching and learning approaches Essay

The aim of this assignment is to gain an understanding into inclusive teaching and learning approaches as well be able to use them in my teaching. It will also explore how I can create a learning environment that engages and motivates students and my planning, delivery and evaluation of my teaching. The Warnock Report 1978 introduced the idea of Special Educational Needs and encouraged the thought process of statements and an inclusive education by suggesting that common educational goals were set regardless of the learner’s abilities or disabilities (Education and Skills Committee 2006). This is is further supported by Hodkinson and Vickerman (2009) who state that educational need should be considered the priority and not an individual learning disability. Therefore, inclusive teaching is about allowing any student the ability to achieve their full potential through education and training, by treating students equally and without discrimination this will make for a conducive learning environment. As an inclusive teacher this will necessitate the teacher to ensure that all students’ are treated differently in order to maximise the individuals learning potential and identify any students learning needs or indeed barriers that may arise to progressing their learning. By undertaking these steps to ensure early identification on learning needs and barriers, strategies can be put in place to minimise negative impacts of these barriers and ensure an equal and inclusive learning environment. Within my role, over the last 15 years, as a coastguard rescue officer part of my inherited role is to support, train, assess and feedback to managers on newer team members competency as well as support senior officers with delivering training packages to team members throughout Cornwall. This is a new development and is a big strength to the development of teams and competencies levels. These training packages have been developed from a foundation through to the higher technician competencies and have proven a great success. Upon completion of the foundation training coastguard officers will then undertake a number of further competency courses which include the rope rescue operator course. This has both inherent strength and weaknesses to the course, one of which is that the learners on the course  are from a multitude of teams from across Cornwall and this can prove challenging at times, however, the strength of doing this in this manner is that we can also share knowledge and ‘best practise’ across the county. The limitation of just having one level of competency attending the course does not allow for ‘real’ opportunity for learning due to policies created that only technicians are able to go over a cliff. This in turn limits the real life ability to put it in to practise. The course has been developed and this policy overcome by the opportunity to allow technicians to attend and again share knowledge, experience and best practise. Within any education and training, environment is key in ensuring that the opportunity for learners to develop and reaffirm their knowledge of key functional skills in English, Mathematics and ICT as well as wider skills is possible. These skills can be developed naturally through your subject matter and will often create a positive learning environment the more naturally they occur. When undertaking these skills in your learning environment the tasks need to be relevant and engaging with real time/life situations to ensure maximum opportunity for learning. Within my learning environment there are many opportunities for these skills to be developed and affirmed. When undertaking training with the coastguard and teaching and sharing knowledge there are many opportunities for the use of technologies in the form of technical equipment used for the lowering and hauling of team members and causalities, as well as a need for clear communication skills between team members from the person over the cliff to the cliff top and officer in charge, who all require a clear, concise and informed briefing and ongoing updates throughout the training evolution. Further to this is the need to understand the breaking strains and tensions on the equipment and ability to calculate the potential stretch in a rope over a distance are just some examples of embedded functional skills within my teaching and learning environment. An inclusive teaching and learning environment needs to allow learners’ to feel comfortable, relaxed and feel safe to allow them to maximise the opportunity to learn and achieve their full learning potential. When undertaking education and training the approach, resources and assessment methods used as a teacher are key to ensure that the learner is enjoying the learning environment. Ensure you are able to connect to the individual learner using their name, speak directly to them and not about  them, ensure their voice is heard when undertaking feedback or tutorials and that any individual’s needs are catered for. This is particularly important in ensuring and understanding the needs of learners with dyslexia. Garner (2008) states that where a child is referred to as having dyslexia, they may experience considerable difficulty in reading, writing and spelling but this is not necessarily a reflection on their intellectual capabilities. Therefore it is important to ensure that their needs are catered for adequately to allow them full access to the learning. For example, ensuring handouts are available on coloured paper can help to allow one of the barriers of dyslexia to be overcom e. Ensure resources for the training are current and relevant, if you are undertaking worksheets or workbooks ensure that there is opportunity to allow staged tasks for different levels of learning or learners’ who may suffer from autism. Clear goal setting and ensuring that goals are achievable before the need to move to another task, where practical, reduces the impact on the learner and allows the opportunity for ‘extension’ activities. When undertaking any education or training opportunity motivation and keenness to engage with the training is of vital importance as the more the engagement and student led learning the less work as a teacher you may have to do. Ensure a knowledge of what motivates your learners’ and if they are attending the training because ‘they have too’ or to develop themselves will give you an insight into an individual’s motivation. There are many ways to motivate individuals’ to engage in the training from ensuring an overarching positive learning environment to interesting creative tasks ensuring a variety of learning styles and strategies are employed. When undertaken training of a new cohort of learners’ the way in which the ground rules of the session, course or environment are set are fundamental to the success of ensuring maximum engagement and potential achievement, as well as to ensure a safe working environment. There are many ways to establish ground rules from a teacher led process where they dictate rules to the group and is very much a â€Å"You must not†¦.† And â€Å"Don’t do†¦.†, for a more constructive and joined up approach a negotiation style approach could be considered to ensure investment from learners’ and signed agreement could allow for a greater commitment from them. There will more often than not be imposed rules either as part of health and safety responsibility or due to policies and procedures that are  able to be avoided but these can be discussed and ensure a clear consistent understanding of these and reasoning could aid in the collaborative approach to the learning environment. References: Education and Skills Committee (2006) Special Educational Needs Third Report of session 2005-2006. [Online] HC 478-II. London, the Stationary Office. Available from: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmeduski/478/478ii.pdf [Accessed 20th April 2015]. Garner, P. (2008) Special Educational Needs: The Key Concepts. London, Routledge. Hodkinson, A. and Vickerman, P. (2009) Key Issues in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion. London, SAGE Publications Ltd.

Effective Communication in the Business Meetings

Effective Communication in Business Meetings The great management guru Peter Drucker once said, â€Å"Business communication is all about understanding what has not been said. † Especially today business communication is one of important factors to be successful in the changeling business environment because during opened working environment one can meet lots of others for discussing but how to make an effective communication in business meetings? There are some of factors to impact deeply on result of an effective communication in the business meetings as clear goal or objective, careful planning, use materials, communication skills and conflict management. People may ignore to be involved in meetings, if they know their time will not be useful or non-productivity. Meetings should be completely carried out periodically or prepare urgently (if required) during work running of any organization. There are ways to spend the time more effectively. First factor considers here is goal or objective of business meeting. The goal or objective is built basing on actual situation of works what need to solve or make a decision, even just making a relationship. A business meeting without goal or objective considers as one walks around without home port, especially today’s challenging business environment is more focused in result. Imaginably there is no specifically stated desired outcome of the meeting so that is no point in availability the meeting. The goal or objective impacts people on gathering includes, but not limited to: communicating information, problem solving, team building, and making decision. Scheduling or preparation, communication, conflict management and follow-up are some of key factors to make sure that meetings are productive and efficient and that is being more essential in the today’s complicated working environment. The key for achieving the goal is an advance planning by everyone involved in the meeting. Detailed planning is a guideline to build an effective business meeting. Planning for meeting will support attendees to have a visualizing in advance how the meeting will be organized, where meeting attendees will sit, who will present in the meeting and how long the presentations will last. The meeting time and location should be confirmed one day before meeting to support attendees having a proper arrangement. Besides the meeting location should be able to accommodate all guests, convenient location, technological capabilities, and a comfortable condition. When the ocation has been determined, next important step is to start researching the information needed for the presentation, creating an agenda. The agenda should start with a quick objective or goal reminder, followed by the time frame allotted to each presentation. Research and investigation are perhaps the most important piece of planning an effective business meeting, which will help discover, summarize and organize the topic of the meeting. By making a convincing argument on the topic, the part icipants will be able to provide facts, instances, and definitions to support the subject. There are five main sources that can provide information for presentations. First of all is personal experience. Personal experience reflects the flow of thoughts and meanings persons bring to their immediate situations. The second resource is internet, especially in the 21st centuries which is considering as era of information technology. The goal is to improve the ability of people from all walks of life and interests to access, search, and use the information distributed in Internet resources. According to Usunier, & Roulin (2010, Apr), â€Å"there is no geographic limitation to Internet access and suppliers in any country can create Web sites containing information and dialogue content† (p. 189-227). Using a search engine is becoming more common in finding research. Instead of using search engines, online libraries are also available to support for finding research. Third resource is written and visual resources in different channels as magazines, journals, newspapers, books, broadcasts, and documentaries which can be consulted for information, arguments, and evidence for presentation in the meeting. The fourth resource is research methodology. Appropriate methodology is taking short time to find out the needed information. Pullin (2010, Oct) states â€Å"the research methodology was qualitative in nature and, to ensure scientific rigor, a multi-method approach was taken in collecting and analyzing the data† (p. 460). The fifth source is other people. In order to accurately use other people as a source is also a shortest way to help presenter receiving needed information for meeting, but presenter should clarify the provided information as doing an informational interview with the person. Research can make the presenter feel more confident in communicating the presentation, and as a result, the presentation will be more powerful. â€Å"The vital elements of the communication process are the source, encoding, the message, the medium, decoding, the receiver, and feedback. An understanding of those components can help you design effective conversation communication programs† (Jacobson, 2009, p. 12). Those components will be handled easily by effective communication skills, which are essential in conducting a successful business meeting. Communication is an art which is not mastered by all so an effective communicator should be taken clearly when sending or receiving the messages. â€Å"Effective communication is one where you are able to send and receive messages in a clear, coherent manner overcoming all the barriers† (Bardia, 2010, p. 29). People listen to what is being said and engage in dialogue. Communication skills include: influencing, negotiation, making an impact, dealing with conflict and dealing difficult people. Business research has identified communication apprehension as a problem for improving communication skills. Aly (2005) states â€Å"communication apprehension as an individual level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons† (p. 98). When a speaker gives a speech in front of a large group of people, seemingly anxiety and fidgeting produce interfering, off-task thoughts and its result is apparent of word jumping or increased rhythm of heart that inhibit skill development. Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but this is hard to do. Once there is determination as how to overcome the fear? overcoming the fear can be done by making sure the topic is known, analyzing the audience competently, knowing the speech content well, recognizing value and uniqueness, and focusing on communicating with the audience instead of on the fear. Some other strategies that can ensure the meeting is effective are clarifying, confirming and summarizing. Making sure that the purpose of the meeting is clarified will reduce any chances of the audience misunderstanding the content. By asking the audience questions, or answering their questions, we can confirm that everyone understands. This is true when summarizing is used. By summarizing all the information at the end of the presentation, the presenter is, once again, making sure the information was understood. An effective communication in meetings is not only solely responsible for speaker but also share the burden those who attend the meeting. An active listening communication strategy will help ensure a successful meeting. Urquhart (2004) states â€Å"these four steps to become a more active listener: Hearing, feedback and interpretation, evaluation and response† (p. 3). â€Å"Hearing involves paying attention to what the speaker is saying and being sure it is heard† (Urquhart, 2004). The message will be encoded and understood by showing out the feedback and interpretation. On the way, the feedback will support speaker find out and correct any misunderstanding. The listener may be able to ask the question until the listener is sure that message is encoded and understood accurately. Finally, listener will decide what to do with the information given by the speaker. During a meeting, there is a good chance that two or more members of the group will disagree. That is also to let us to see the matter as others aspects. The disagreement may result in conflict. An effective communicator should know how to deal with conflict. There are five steps to help organizations deal with conflict in a constructive way as follows: 1. Recognizing that the conflict exists. 2. Finding common ground by putting the conflict in the context of the larger goal of the team and the organization. 3. Understanding all the perspectives of the issue, this means that everyone is not required to agree with the opposing views. 4. Attacking the issue and not the members of the team. 5. Developing an action plan that describes how each member of the team will solve the problem or issue. By following above mentioned steps during a meeting, the conflicts will be able to deal with in a opened-mind, cooperative manner. To require an understanding the goal of a meeting or presentation the speaker should be able to understand of what the final outcome and what is trying to reach. By the way to make a successful meeting, presenter should have a worst result of what meeting will be as misunderstanding or responded disagreement. In order to establish that the goals of the meeting have been met, the audience is not only taking an active part but also the presenter must make the audience interested in the topic along with meeting significance of the topic. There are two important questions to support presenter clarifying the goal or objective. First, what do I want my audience to know or do as a result of my speech? Second, how will I know if I am successful? Being clear those questions is the audience’s feedback. Feedback is recognized by immediate behavior change from the audience and asking question to audience also on the way to get feedback. The follow up actions to the presentation or meeting consist of any actions that are to be determined at a later time. Minute and any decisions made at the meeting must be noted and distributed to all parties involved. Delegations of assignments are to be noted and follow up must be carried out. Besides, additional meetings might be necessary if the final outcome is not clear or decisions are not probably made. In conclusion, an effective meeting is determined to conduct by several strategies. Meetings are productive and efficient when we incorporate all of above-mentioned ideal. Careful planning and clear goal or objectives are the key factor as well as choosing the suitable time and right location for the meeting. Being prepared presentation for the meeting is also very important, there is irresponsible if anyone going to a meeting and not being prepared, it may send the wrong message to the others in the meeting. The meeting is unsuccessful if any key factor is missing. Visualizing how the meeting will unfold if the meeting is held in the noise location. Besides, an active listening communication strategy as giving feedback and asking question will help ensure a successful meeting. Getting the audience involved in the meeting will create a more productive meeting. Also, by asking the audience to evaluate and respond to the information provided will allow them to participate in the discussion and make suggestions on ways to find a solution. On the way, focusing goals and working on solutions during the meeting can influence others being interested in the meeting and being more involved. We all know that the anxiety will appear by various points of view when speaking in front of a large group or even a small group and it will reduce when we make confidence by ourselves experiences, communication skills and also well prepared. Communication skills and experience are only cumulative by taking more serious. If you appear nervous or unsure; the audience may lose interest in the topic. The speaker should always be prepared, analyze the audience, and focus on the subject matter. Other strategies that can ensure for an effective meeting are clarifying the topic, confirming that the audience understands the information given, and summarize all the information at the end of the meeting. We have also learned that conflict is part of business meeting to help attendees have a several looking for one matter and by the way supporting to make decisions. Keep in mind, not everyone will agree with what you are saying, therefore; we should try to have an open mind and try to find common ground. Do not attack the other members of the team, because they may not agree with you, simply attack the issue at hand. Conflict isn’t actually good or bad, the way is how we deal with it. Developing an action plan as a team may allow the other members to feel that the problem can be worked out in a respectful, professional manner. Conducting effective business meetings will definitely help to improve productivity at the workplace. Almost meeting will be stressful, but by the way to make everyone involved interestingly that the meetings are well planned, organized, and allow the attendees to discuss possible solutions to solve the problems what they arise. Productive meetings are not only making a unity between groups but also teaching us essential communication skills, cumulate costly experience and how to manage conflict. Finally, during these meetings we practice problem solving, idea sharing and incorporate creativity that will eventually lead to a successful business environment.

Management And Leadership Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Management And Leadership Development - Essay Example Motivation is a crucial concern in modern organisation because it influences other fundamental issues such as the performance, creativity and problem solving (Salaman, Storey & Billsberry, 2005). Drive theory is an understanding of needs and motivation created by unfulfilled needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory that suggests that the needs and motivation of people differ according to their needs. McClelland theory also classified needs into the need for achievement, affiliation and power. The company conducts opinion surveys to find how their staff feels about their job (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006). Job satisfaction is measured using questionnaires or interviews administered to the staff in the organization. In BAT, leaders have maximized the opportunity to satisfy the needs of the workers. Managers share the concerns of researchers in order to create satisfaction of the employees in their daily tasks. Therefore, employee satisfaction in BAT is high t hereby contributing to the low employee turnover and the exceptional reputation of the organization. For this reason, lack of job satisfaction results in employees looking for jobs in other companies where there the salaries are better (Dychtwald & Morison 2006). BAT attempts to reduce staff turnover by offering their employees chances to develop and grow their careers by training. Employees are offered challenging and interesting position where they consider they are best apt to work in thus, employees are motivated. Transactional theories can also be applied to focus on the employee’s rewards and punishments in accordance to performance (Durai 2010). Management by objectives is practiced where performance of the employees is measures against the... This essay stresses that managers and leaders are required to create an environment in the workplace where employee’s satisfaction is achieved. Staff turnover is one issue which is directly related to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the extent to which employees enjoy their jobs and lack of it has been described as negatively affecting their job performance. Herzberg two factor theories suggest that motivation at work is affected by factors related to the job. This paper makes a conclusion that globalization and technology advances have a great influence in management and leadership development of any organization. Organization such as BAT implemented the new SAP HR system which has benefited it in many ways that includes the effective usability and empowerment of employees. The system allows future upgrades and additions. The main aim of the system was to harmonize the human resource process globally by automation of the Hr administrative process. It is true that managers’ positions are highly competitive due to a looming shortage predicted in the next few years. In BAT, training of future leaders is enhanced by the initiative program that involves graduates for two year. This is a strategy of developing leadership and managing the supply of future leaders in order to ensure that the right people in the organization who can deliver a change performance are available. BAT is a multinational organization and it is important for it to be able to have a vibrant human resource and a competent management team.

Is China a military threat to the U.S. or its Southeast Asian allies Research Paper

Is China a military threat to the U.S. or its Southeast Asian allies - Research Paper Example ly influence continues to manifest hostility towards China, with provocative stands by the Philippines and Japan with regard to ownership of Islands in the contested regions belittling China’s growing stature in global politics. The traditional differences in foreign ideologies between the two nations does not seem to be resolved soon, since national interests of the two nations fall on opposing sides. With the competition for the global arena as the next stage to exercise global politics, China and the US continually find it difficult to resolve the hardline stand due to heightened globalization setting. From the experiences of the past encounters with global politics, China will focus on chanting a different course and justify current success from acting differently. In terms of recent astronomical economic performance in China, funding military exploration and ambitious intelligence systems raises concerns against such moves. In a world experiencing a spell of minimal aggression among nations, military expansion at the scale such as that witnessed in China recently triggers memories of the infamous Arms Race. Interesting timing of these developments in China at a time when global economic performance falls below China’s rate of economic growth translates to some form of opportunistic provocationi. Estimation of China doubling military spending by 2015 is a blatant insult to efforts of US peace building around the world. As such, the US can justify the move to assist and empower the allies in the southeast Asia regionii. The account of China’s performance in terms of human rights protection in a rapidly democratized world is not only taken as an insult to the US but also to the international community. The isolation of Chinese internal affairs from the rest of the world calls for participation of the US in the global campaigns of a democratic global society further fuels the tension of a military provocation. Despite the participation of China in

How Children Learn the Sounds of Their Language Essay

How Children Learn the Sounds of Their Language - Essay Example It is evident from the paper that phonological development in children has got various steps, which are equally important. Though the capacity to acquire a language is innate, an assistance and scaffolding are necessary for the children. The discussion highlights the point that as the children are not born talking, they should learn the language. This is actually cannot be called learning, but acquisition of language; learning is artificial and conscious, but acquisition is natural and it is a biologically triggered behaviour. This behaviour is being modified every minute. This modification is done naturally with the exposure they get around them to acquire language. The discussion on the delayed speech and factors influencing phonological development sounds very significant. As communication is the pedestal of life such a study of phonological development is very constructive and ever relevant. The discussion on phonological development cannot be paused anywhere as it has a lot of interrogative dimensions. The theories mentioned in this paper indicate the role of phonological development in the cognitive expansion of the children. Verbal communication, which is the possession of human beings only, has a pivotal role in the overall development of them. It is communication that unfastens the ties which deny entrance to the world of knowledge and all that is obligatory in human life.

The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making Essay - 1

The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making decisions in business - Essay Example The success of organisations heavily relies on the decision making processes undertaken by managers. Organisations are complex, and thus present complex problems or contexts in which the manager makes decisions. Monahan argues that sound decision making brings positive results while poor decision making can prove deleterious to an organisation. The author also states that although management involves a variety of functions, decision making is a central managerial function as all others entail its use. A good decision making process will result in good decisions and thus success in business, while a flawed process underlying conception of decisions will have the opposite effect.The use of these decision making approaches together will be analysed in terms of how managers apply them in an integrated manner. Managerial Decision Making, Problem Solving and the Structured Analytical Approach According to Yates, a decision refers to the act of making a commitment to undertake an action that will yield satisfactory results to the beneficiaries of that action. From this definition, it is clear that a decision has three fundamental aspects. First is the resolution to execute an action, deliberateness/intention-where the manager purposefully decides so as to achieve specific objectives, and lastly, the satisfaction of those affected by the decision-the beneficiaries. Decision making, thus, implies the process used to arrive at a decision which translates to the different approaches adopted by different business managers. Russell-Jones argues for the importance of the underlying decision making process, stating that a robust, consistent and analytical approach leverages the elements of complexity, uncertainty, objectives, trade-offs., consensus and flexibility among others. This results in the making of sound decisions that can consistently bring about business success. On a c losely related note, managers increasingly find themselves having to undertake problem solving. Hicks (2004, p. 8) details the concept of problem solving, explaining that it entails the manager seeking ways to move from a present situation to a more desirable one. A problem arises when a there is a disparity between what is and what should be. It also represents a situation in which the decision making individual- manager- has alternative courses of action, all with significantly different effects and thus accompanied by doubt about the best choice (9). A number of approaches can be adopted to make managerial decisions and/or solve problems. Monahan (2001, pp. 2-3) explains the dynamics that affect decision making processes; including availability of information, scarcity of resources, and psychological factors. The author also discusses uncertainty in the process of decision making. Deterministic models of managerial decision making activities are used in the absence of uncertainty , while probabilistic models are for cases where business decisions have to be made under uncertainty. One of the most highlighted approaches to effective decision making is the structured analytical approach. Saaty and Vargas (2006, p. 258) explain that structuring the process through analogies and attribute association helps establish a new perspective to a problem and create an environment in which controllable and distinct alternatives can be generated. Gustafson (2006, p. 12) states that an analytical approach to decision making deconstructs a problem into logical, sequential and distinctive elements which can be assessed separately before recombining the components to arrive at

Analysis of Breastfeeding Baby Advertisement Essay - 15

Analysis of Breastfeeding Baby Advertisement - Essay Example This research is being carried out to evaluate and present the advertisement in which the image composed of a baby being nursed by his or her mother.   The image was originally used to advertise Oreo cookies but the attention was instead drawn to the baby and the mother’s breast.     Due to the powerful image showed during the awards gathering event, the ad was leaked to the public albeit it was never intended to be shown to the public’s eyes.   The ad which was originally intended to sell Oreo cookies also became an advocacy material for breastfeeding mothers.   This evidences the powerful emotional appeal of the ad that it transcended from a mere commercial device to an advocacy material. The image of a baby sucking his or her mother’s breast is so compelling and raw that we cannot help but be drawn to it because it touches the humanity in us. Especially when the baby seemed to be looking at us making the image to appear interactive. The emotional app eal of the image is so powerful that the cookie is ignored by the audience. There may be a lot of people who may find the image disturbing or even obscene and improper but one cannot readily dismiss it because it is made by advertising professionals. At the onset, one may be revolted or find the image inappropriate but when one looks closely and notice that the image is created by a reputable advertising agency, the audience tends to look for its meaning. They will inadvertently assure themselves that the professionals who made this did not only use the image to stir a controversy but they must have a message to tell. The credibility of the creators as professionals shielded the ad from dismissal and even undue judgment and instead take it in a positive light. Had this been created by an unknown person, the picture may have been dismissed as disrespectful to the breastfeeding mothers. But since it is created by an advertising agency, it was taken seriously to the point of being used as an advocacy material. People may disagree with the image but the creator used logical approach or logos to convey a straightforward message that this how babies should be fed. People may not like it but one cannot deny it. It cannot be dismissed as inappropriate because there is no other way to feed a baby. The image only showed how babies are fed which is logical.

Explain the different reasons why an individual might be tempted to Essay

Explain the different reasons why an individual might be tempted to join a roscas - Essay Example The idea behind making everyone contribute is to make sure that the amount of money in the pool remains constant. Once every member has contributed a certain sum of money, then the pot which is generated out of this contribution is given to one of the members of the community as his savings for a definite period. Average membership among adults ranges between 50 and 95 percent in the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gambia, and villages of Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Nigeria. Although roscas do exist in areas where they are formal financial institutions, there is no denying that they still are the most important form of savings and credit institutions in the rural areas. It is a cycle which repeats itself after every round of distribution of money. So when one member gets the pot, he then has to wait for all the other members to get their share of the pot before his turn comes. This allows for stability and continuity for the community and has a uniform system of savings for the poor people. It is the most common form of informal financial institution in the world. ... â€Å"Rosca members are mostly poor individuals who have little access to formal savings and credit markets because of high transaction costs and incomplete markets. In the literature, roscas are usually regarded as a means for poor people to save money to make an indivisible expense.†(Anderson) Let us now go further into the essay and understand why people are taking up to roscas as a primary means to save money. There are three reasons which shall be looked at the paper, which are as follows: 1. Lack of Self Control 2. Lack of Alternate Commitment Saving Strategies 3. Women’s Role in the Family The first reason talks about the lack of self-control within the community for the rural people. The second reason talks about the lack of other alternatives in such villages which are either too expensive or out of reach for people to have their own savings, and therefore the people indulge in an informal means of savings within their established community. The third reason lo oks at the role of the woman in the family and explains that since they are running the house it is important for them to have a means to save, as their husbands have been notorious with their expenditure and therefore it is required that women save up to generate income in the family. (Roscas as a source of housing finance for the urban poor) Lack of Self Control: â€Å"in the absence of alternative commitment savings strategies, sophisticated people experiencing self-control problems turn to roscas since they would inde?nitely renegotiate with themselves if attempting to save money on their own† Gugerty (2007) One of the most primary reasons regarding the involvement of roscas for the people in the village community is the lack

Pick the topic by your own Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pick the topic by your own - Essay Example Most of the time in the writing classes, students encounter various forms of essay genres, and most of them follow under expository, narratives, descriptive, and argumentative approaches. Before pointing out and discussing these elements, it is important to understand first of all what an essay is. The origin of the word essay can be traced back to the French influence on Middle English. In Latin, the word is a form of a verb known as exigent, and it literally meaning is to drive out, while other meanings are to test and examine. Thus, from these meanings, students are able to understand the importance of writing academic essays, which enables them to examine and test their own ideas about a particular topic. Essay writing requires a student to learn various skills that are significant in writing excellent essays. Some of these skills are like persuasion, analysis, close reading, exposition, contrast and comparison, and also clarity. By nature, essays should be written in a way that depicts clarity in direction and purpose, should be interesting, and also should be deliberate. When students understand various essay genres, they are able to familiarize themselves with the process of writing essays, and as a result, they become confident in writing any form of an essay. Essay writing also involves some essential elements that dominate in all kinds of academic writing assignment. Failure to use one or any important element might make the essay inadequate. Some elements are weighed more heavily than others depending on either the assignment, specific course or the academic discipline one is pursuing. These elements include; This part forms the point of the paper, and it gives the purpose of the essay. It gives the main focus of the paper, its significance, originality, and gives a clue of the expected academic audience. The thesis

Gender and Educational Achievement Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Gender and Educational Achievement - Case Study Example The discussion here will bring out the sociological reasons to show why girls in recent years have performed better than boys in typical school curriculum. Many studies and surveys on school performance have showed a correlation between gender and achievement. A study by Hubbard (2005) has been based on a survey involving 30 successful African American high school students. The gender based experiences and results defy traditional patterns of educational underachievement associated with a minority group and challenge the notion that minority students show a resistance to schooling. However the study indicated gender based variations in strategies and college aspirations as well as methods of gaining success suggesting variations on the basis of ethnicity and gender especially in the context of diverse American population. Peer interactions, school practices and community experiences are crucial in shaping educational outcomes of individuals although gender forms the central factor in determining achievement. Hubbard (2005) suggests that intertwining of school, family and community cultures construct attitudes dependent on gender and beliefs. Despite the sharing of common racial or class identity, gender variations ca mediate and change pe rceptions and behavior and this is reflected in social situation inside and outside school. In a related study Demie (2001) suggested that raising levels of achievement among students would be vital element of any school improvement focus. The extent and reasons of underachievement have been examined here and the statistical trends and patterns of performance are also analyzed to show whether gender ad ethnic factors play a role in academic achievement. The differences in attainment according to Demie are largely related to gender and ethnicity and could have implications for school improvement and general level of performance of students as well. However as Demie argues, there could be no simple explanation for ethnic or gender differences in educational achievement as ethnic heritage would not presuppose any kind of underachievement or higher achievements in any field. Studies have indicated that certain ethnic minority groups like the Asians, Indians and Chinese have levels of achievement above the white population whereas the Caribbean, Portuguese and Africans would be underachievers and achievement is considered as largely dependent on language skills, levels of English and gender differences as well. Better English speakers or people with advanced levels of knowledge in English would naturally perform better and Demie's study (2001) indicated that no matter what the origin of pupils is, girls always tend to perform better and at higher levels than boys in key stages and programs. However apart from gender there may be other factors that seem to have an influence on performance and could be understood by focusing on contextual analysis and analysis of factors that affect educational achievement. The teachers' perceptions on how gender identity seems to impact achievement have been studied by several researchers and Jones and Myhill (2004) carried out a similar study to understand the impact of gender on achievement. They

Fpi Assignment Essay Example for Free

Fpi Assignment Essay Summary The report is regarding to the knowledge of analyzing the accounting data of a listed company, using the various accounting information that provided to identify and examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company. Besides, in order to examine the reliability of the data provided, analysis of the balance sheet and income statement is required. The financial information can be obtained from the annual reports of Harbour-Link Group Berhad. In addition, the report is required to include the top-down approach which consists of Economic analysis, Industry analysis and Fundamental analysis to analyze the listed company in the point of view for investors. Table of Content 1. Introduction 1. Objectives 2. Analysis of the statement of financial position, the statement of financial performance and cash flow statement. 1. Financial Analysis ratio: Asset efficiency ratio Capital Structure ratio Liquidity Ratio Profitability Ratio Share Price 3. Economic Analysis 4. Industry Analysis . Conclusion 6. Findings 7. References Introduction In this report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is chosen among the listed companies. Harbour-Link Group Berhad is an investment holding company which provides shipping, forwarding and transportation, plant and machinery hiring, and engineering contract services primarily in Malaysia and Singapore. Harbour-Link Group Berhad was founded in the year of 1975 and it is based in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. It was officially listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in the year of 2004. Today, Harbour-Link Group’s success lies in its strong foundation of expertise in the industry and its ability to established the company as a reputable brand-name within the shipping, sea freight forwarding and transportation industries. Objectives 1. To identify the sources of funds, Balance Sheet and profit or loss of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad. 2. To analyze accounting data of Harbour-Link Group Berhad to examine its financial performance using Financial Performance Indicators (ratio analysis) 3. To analyze the economy status, competitors within the same industries and evaluate the operating efficiencies of the listed company. 4. To examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company by using the various accounting information provided. Financial Analysis Financial analysis ratios are used to examine the financial performance of a company in which it will be reflected in the ratios calculated. (Giles et al, 1994, p. 371) Asset efficiency Ratios Asset turnover ratio From the data calculated, the asset turnover ratio for the financial year of 2008, 2009 and 2010 are 109. 9%, 92. 12% and 79. 65%. This indicates that the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is not doing well in the sales of the products or services because the asset turnover ratio is decreasing from year to year. Debtor turnover (in days) Debtor turnover is the debtor collection period of a company. Harbour-Link Group Berhad had a debtor turnover of 73 days in the year of 2008. In the year of 2009, the debtor t urnover is 77 days. However, its debtor turnover is decreased to 71 days. This reflects that the possibility of default risk for the debtors is decreasing. In fact, this is a good thing in a company. Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover measures how many times the company can sell through its inventory for each year. In the year of 2008, Harbour-Link Group has an inventory turnover of 163 times. The turnover increased to 212 times in the financial year of 2009 but the inventory turnover decreased to 127 times in the year of 2010. This reflects that the company can sell better in the year of 2009 but it dropped tremendously in the year of 2010. Capital structure Ratio Debt to equity ratio The debt to equity ratio of Harbour-link Group Berhad is decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010 by 2%. This is caused by the reducing of total liabilities and the increasing of the total equity. Time interest earned The times-interest-earned ratio allows a lender to evaluate the company’s ability to meet its debt obligation. It is a ratio of the earning before interest and tax over the interest expenses. The time interest earned has a slightly increased from the year of 2008 to year 2009 but it has a greater decrease in ratio amount from the year of 2009 to year 2010. This means that in the year of 2010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad have lesser earnings are available to meet the interest payments and this makes the company to be more vulnerable to the increases in the interest rates. Liquidity Ratios Liquidity ratio is the ratio that is used to examine the liquidity of a company. It includes: Current Ratio Current ratio is the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. Harbour-link Group Berhad has it current ratio decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010. Its current ratios are 1. 90, 1. 76 and 1. 57 respectively. The ratio is decreased by 14% and 19%. The data is calculated as shown in the findings. Liquid Ratio Liquid ratio is the ratio of (current assets-inventory) to (current liabilities-bank overdraft). Harbour-Link Group Berhad has borrowings so there is bank overdraft existed and that’s why it is classifies as a debt financing organization. The company has a higher liquid ratio of 2. 34 in the year of 2010 compared to the year of 2008 and 2009 which is 1. 88 and 1. 75 respectively. The liquid ratio of the 3 financial years exceeded 1 and this indicates that the current assets are greater than the current liabilities. Higher liquid ratio reflects better performance of the company. Net working Capital Net working capital is the difference between current assets and the current liabilities. In the three financial years, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the highest net working capital of RM 51. 4 million in the year of 2008. The figure of net working capital for Harbour-link Group Berhad decreased in the year of 2009 and 2010 by 0. 43% and 12. 32% respectively. This shows that there is a drastic drop in the net working capital of year 2010. Profitability Ratios EBIT to total funds ratio EBIT to total funds ratio of Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing in the range of 22% from the financial year of 2008 to 2009 and 21. 4% from the financial year of 2009 to 2010. The total funds consist of shareholders’ funds and borrowings. According to the annual report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is practicing debt-financing to raise funds because there is borrowing existed. Return on Equity (ROE) Harbour-link Group shows a decrease in net income from year 2008 to 2010. This situation leads to the decrease in the return on equity (ROE) of 5%. In the financial year of 2010, it has the ROE of 0. 08 which indicates that for every RM1 of the capital that the shareholder invested into, they will get 8% of return. Return on Assets The return on assets measures the productivity of assets in terms of the level of profits each dollar of assets generates. (Karen D. H, 2004, p. 131) The return on assets of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing from the financial year of 2008 to 2010. It decreased from 8% of year 2008 to 7% in the year of 2009 and then 5% in the year of 2010. This implies that the productivity of the company’s assets is not doing well in terms of profits that the assets generated. Net Profit Margin The net profit margin is the ratio of net profit after tax to the total revenues. In the financial year of 2008 and 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the net profit margin figure of 8%. It indicates that the company has a net income of RM0. 08 for each RM1 of sales. However, the net profit margin for the year of 2010 decreased by 2% which is only 6% in the financial year. This shows that for every RM1 of sales made by the company in year 2010, the net income is only RM0. 6 which is RM0. 02 lower than the previous year. Share Price Price to Earnings Ratio (P/E) Price to Earning ratio is calculated by using the share price of the year 2010 over the earnings per share. The market price of Harbour-Link Group Berhad was amounted to RM 0. 72 in the year of 2010. From the annual report of the financial year of 2010, the earning per share is R M 0. 11. By using the formulae, the price to earning per share of 2010 is calculated as shown in the table with a figure of RM 6. 825. Current Economic Analysis Roots of Global financial crisis Global financial crisis are usually caused by bad regulation of the banking sectors, failure of fiscal and monetary policy implemented and so forth. In the year of 2008, Financial crisis began with the declared of bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. which is the fourth largest investment bank in United States. It was a severe ongoing world financial problem that began in U. S in the year of 2008. This recession has entirely hitting on the fragile global economy with the tremendous devastation in countries all around the world. The U. S government was trying to point the finger of the financial crisis to the rating agencies, who knew about the great risk that was coming but kept giving high reliability ratings to companies that did not deserve them and thus investors invested in the wrong companies. The cause of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was the accumulation of debt and the increasing of loan defaults. Why it evolved into a world crisis The news on bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Company led to the drastic fall in the share price all over the world. The company had billions of dollars losses incurred in the mortgage market of United States. (BBC NEWS, 16th Sept 2008) In Lehman Brothers’ case and the other investment banks, the problem was provoked by 2 major factors which are the very high level of leverage ratio and the dependence on short-term debt financing. Commercial banks cannot leverage their equity more than 15 to 1 as they are regulated but for Lehman Brothers Company, it had a leverage ratio of more than 30 to 1. According to the table 1, Lehman Brothers had only $3. 30 of equity for every $100 of loans. With this ratio, it makes the company to be insolvent. Conversely, the instability arose from the leverage problem was aggravated by the strong reliance on the short term debt. Based on table 1(Lehman Brothers Liabilities and shareholder’s equity), at the beginning of the crisis, the company financed greater than 50% of the assets. Reliance on short term debt financing is profitable indeed when it comes to a low interest rate market environment. However, when the company faced rumors of the insolvency problem, the short term lenders will start to have doubt on the company’s performance and therefore, they will start to withdraw their funds from the company for self interest protection. This scenario will lead to a shortage of liquidity for the borrower and thus the company tends to default. After the crisis began, Lehman Brothers did try to decrease its leverage and reduce its dependence on the short term borrowing but it was too late for them to amend the situation and therefore, bankruptcy occurred. The bankruptcy of Lehman’s brother forced the reassessment of risk in the market by looking at the price of the credit default trades. Impact on Malaysia and world economies The crisis started in the year of 2008 had a great hit on Malaysia and world economies. It causes the gas price had a drastic drop, decreasing of the value of real estates, the increasing of unemployment rate, Federal debt crisis and inflation. There is a global explosion in commodities price. The price of crude oil was remaining at high levels for few years till the end of 2008, the crude oil price dropped from the peak in July 2008 of US$145 to US$30. 28 per barrel in December 2008. (Forbes, 2008) According to the findings in table 2, the unemployment rate of Malaysia increased by 3. 13% from the year of 2008 to 2009 and 12. 12% from the year of 2009 to 2010. Malaysian future economic At first, Malaysia was aiming to have 9% of average annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) until 2020. Suddenly, according to the Economic Planning Unit, the government noted that the number is absurd then they changed and told that Malaysia was capable to achieve 5. 4% of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) annually over the next 10 years to achieve the objective of becoming a high income economy by 2020, which is the vision 2020 (East Asia Forum, 2009). These seem that Malaysia’s economic future is uncertainty. It keeps changing. Besides, Malaysia’s government has a close relationship with its private businesses. Because of the relationship with some business groups have ostensibly led to the emergence of political cronies with unlimited access to public resources. Not only the relationship that mention above but also the experience of neighbouring Indonesia shows that it is a dangerous trend that could negatively affect economic development in the future. In this matter, changes in political leadership led to unstable political environment. Although it does not directly effect on Malaysia, it threatens he influx of refugees caused damage regional stability and social stability. Malaysias maritime economy can be defined as the production and manner of use of the range of goods and services that are linked to the maritime sector (Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997). It covers the activities that are resource based, including fisheries, oil and gas, marine biotechnology and those that are service based such a s shipping ports, shipbuilding and repair and the myriad range of ancillary maritime services (Maritime Institute of Malaysia,2005). Malaysias main concern is the future of marine economy of the future of Malaysian trade, because the countrys foreign and domestic trade, or even almost totally dependent on sea transport facilities. From this we can know that it will have a very bright prospect in maritime economy. If Malaysia is to achieve the goals of industrialization, productivity-driven growth and enhancing competitiveness will depend on how the maritime sector is managed. The maritime sector has a main role to play in enhancing productivity-driven growth. An important element that will affect efforts to sustain international competitiveness is productivity. But, for longer term, Malaysia will need to maintain its international competitiveness, since there is rising competition from other emerging markets for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and for the transfer of modern technologies. Environmental issues are also important for Malaysia in the longer term as deforestation and global climate change may destabilize the countrys agriculture, which still plays an important role in the national economy. What is the most important is the political will effect a change to system-centred thinking in planning the future of the economy. So, a stable political environment is very important to Malaysia. If the political environment of Malaysia is good, it will have a bright future of economy. Solutions to the Global Financial Crisis or crises in general. Banks and financial institutions can cause a downswing of an economy because of their ignorance of the business cycle. Besides, bankers are greedy with the fat bonuses that they will gain if they get the highest market shares results. When the economy is doing well, they expect that there will be no recession problem is going to occur and therefore they will give loans to their customers without considering their customers’ affordability to repay the loans. Once their customers cannot afford to repay the loans, recession will occurs. To overcome these crisis problems, several steps can be used. Government and bankers often intervene to smooth the peaks and valleys of the economic cycle. There are two objectives that the government and bankers can do to prevent serious downswing of an economy. 1) Speedy intervention to prevent a self-perpetuating downward spiral, which means protecting depositors at minimal long term cost to the taxpayer. For example, the Federal reserve may restrict the money supply in good times to slow the expansion phase of the economic cycle, or deficit spend and cut interest rates to ease the recessionary phase of an economic cycle. 2) Ensure so far as possible that future booms are less exaggerated. This has implications for the form of any rescue package, and for the system of financial oversight that is put in place. The growth of consumer credits will increase the consumption of the consumer. The increase in the consumption will increase the aggregate demand of the country whereby AD equals to C + I + G + (X-M). Mc Taggart et al, 2007 p. 766). When the AD is increasing, it means that GDP is also increasing. This shows that the consumer credits provided will also be increased and therefore people will keep on borrowing money from the banks for consumption. This situation actually can amplify the business cycle and extend the upswing of the economy. Industry analysis The domestic and the world economy were in a downturn in the year of 2009. All the industry was affected and they are making an effort to maintain their previous performance and growth momentum. In the year of 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered revenue declined by 5. 9% to RM 327. 6 million. The revenue decreased again by 5. 76% to RM 308. 7 million compare to the previous year due to lower selling prices and softer consumer demand. One of the Company competitors, Swee Joo Berhad was also suffered by achieved a turnover of RM 346. 7 million which is 9. 9% lower than the previous financial period. The lower turnover was also impacted by the recovery state for the economy. Swee Joo Berhad has a reduce in current ratio from 0. 648 to 0. 278 which seems to be lower than that of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad and therefore Harbour-link seems to have a better current ratio. Swee Joo Berhad has a negative figure for its Earnings before interest and tax of -11. 32 million and -176. 82 million in the year of 2009 and 2010. This is a huge loss for the company. It shows that Harbour-Link has a better performance than its major competitor, Swee Joo Berhad. Although the economy showed signs of recovery, but most of the economists hold that the sustained global recovery is still vague. This situation greatly influenced the consumers spending behavior. According to the Edge, Harbour-Link Unit obtained the secured contracts of RM75. 2 to supply gantry cranes for the Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd. The contracts were expected to be done in the year of 2012 and it’s also expected to escalate the future revenue and earnings positively for Harbour-Link Group Berhad. (The Edge, 11 April 2011) There are several ways for the companies to perform better during this hard period. However, the suppliers are also important causes which will affect the company performance. Although Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered lower revenue during the year, however, it obtained quite a number of big projects with a favorable amount of contracts worth which is believed to boost the revenues for the future of the company itself. This scenario will assist Harbour-Link Group Berhad to create a stronger visibility and allow it to be well positioned for the economic recovery. Findings [pic] Table 1 shows Lehman Brothers Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity Source: Lehman Annual Reports |Year |Unemployment Rate |Percentage Change | |2006 |3. 60 | | |2007 |3. 50 |-2. 78% | |2008 |3. 20 |-8. 7% | |2009 |3. 30 |3. 13% | |2010 |3. 50 |12. 12% | Table 2 shows the unemployment rate in Malaysia Source: CIA World Factbook Conclusion In conclusion, although the Harbour-Link Group Berhad has a downturn in its overall performances in the financial year of 2009 and 2010 as the results shown in the findings, but it has a better performance than its main competitor, Swee Joo Berhad in the shipping industries. The Harbour-Link Group Berhad is overall well organized in its financial statements as shown in the annual reports and it can be categorized as a profitable and successful listed company in Malaysia. On the perspective of investors, Harbour-link is counted as a good investment company and therefore investors are advised to consider Harbour-link Group Berhad as one of their investment company because the company has a good expectation to have a huge increase in its future economic benefits. The future economy of Malaysia is expected to have a good return and therefore this ensure that Harbour-Link Group Berhad is a wise investment for the future benefits. References Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997, The Maritime Economy of Malaysia, Pelanduk Publication BBC News, 16 September 2008, http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/business/7615931. stm Bursa Malaysia 2010- Equities, Bursa Malaysia Berhad, viewed on 26 April 2011 http://www. bursamalaysia. com/website/bm/market_information/prices/ East Asia Forum, Malaysia’s Economic Future, view on 1 May 2011, http://www. eastasiaforum. org/2009/11/24/malaysias-economic-future/ Encyclopedia of the Nations, Malaysia- Future Trends, viewed on 2 May 2011, http://www. nationsencyclopedia. com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Malaysia-FUTURE-TRENDS. html Forbes 2008- Crude Oil Prices 1861 – 2009, Forbes. com 2010, viewed on28 April 2011, http://www. forbes. com/2008/05/13/oil-prices-1861-today-real-vs-nominal_flash2. html Giles, R Capel, J 1994, Finance and accounting, 3rd Edition, MacMillan, London Harbour-Link Group Berhad 2011, harbour. com. my; Total Logistics EPCC Provider N. V 20092010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad, viewed on 22 April 2011, http://www. harbour. om. my/ Karen D. Halpern, 2004, Understanding Finance: Money, Capital and investments, Pearson, New Jersey. Maritime Institute of Malaysia, Malaysia and Port Competitiveness, 2005 Mc Taggart et al, 2007, Macroeconomics, 5th Edition, Pearson, Australia The Edge Financial Daily, 11 April 2011 viewed on 24 April 2011. http://www. theedgemalaysia. com/ The Star Online 2011- Market watch, Star Publica tions (M) Berhad, viewed on 24 April 2011, http://biz. thestar. com. my/marketwatch/charts/l. asp? code=2062~HARBOURp1=0. 99p2=0. 985p3=0. 99p4=0. 985p5=0. 99p6=0p7=0. 00p8=915p9=0. 532

Policy Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Policy Recommendation Essay The difficulty with any definition of poverty involves the meaning of minimum needs and the amount of money required to satisfy these needs. (Ansel M. Sharp, 2010) Those in poverty sometimes face an additional obstacle to earning an adequate income. Discrimination as we use it means that equals are treated unequally or that the ‘unequal’s are treated equally. Discrimination exists in the labor market when people with equal productivity are paid different wages or people with differences in productivity are paid equal wages. Discrimination can also exist in the product market when consumers pay different prices for the same product. (Ansel M. Sharp, Evidence of Discrimination in Our Economy, 2010) Discuss the major impact to society of the problem. In 2001, some six-point-eight million families, or nine-point-two percent of all families, lived in poverty. This translates into more than thirty-two-point-nine million individuals, a staggering number to many Americans who have never been personally touched by poverty. Indeed, some have characterized those who live in poverty as the hidden poor. Studies have shown that there is a significant turnover in the poverty population: Families and single individuals move into and out of poverty several times throughout the years in response to significant life events. Although no reliable estimate exists for the number of hardcore poverty cases, the incidence of poverty can be easily seen to vary dramatically across a number of demographic characteristics. (Ansel M. Sharp, What is Poverty? , 2010) Just imagine searching through heaping piles of refuse at landfills, looking for anything that could seem partly edible, to satisfy an unending hunger. Many people around the world face this situation every day of their lives. What could have caused a situation like this to occur? The education and skill level, health or handicap status, and discrimination play a vital role in poverty. A major factor determining whether someone will end up living in poverty, education or skill level can make or break an income. Education plays a vital role in acquiring jobs, learning new skills, and bringing home necessities and comforts of life. A person who doesn’t receive an education has a very small chance of making much money and acquiring skills that would bring home a desirable income. Many who do not have an education bring their family into a cycle of poverty, where their posterity doesn’t necessarily have the income to go to college or even don’t have a desire to acquire a high school diploma. Poverty rates are higher among families with only one parent or head of household present. Poverty is also related to age, those very young and those very old have higher rates of poverty than those in their prime and middle-age years. The economic cause of poverty is family incomes depend on the quantities of resources that families can place in employment and the prices received for those resources. To understand poverty, then, it is important to understand what determines the prices paid for human and capital resources and what determines the quantities that can be employed. Under competitive market conditions, the basic principle of wage rate determination is that units of any kind of labor tend to be paid a price equal to any one worker’s contribution to an employer’s total receipts. In other words, workers are paid about what they are worth to employers. What a worker is worth to an employer is referred to by economists as the marginal revenue product of labor. (Ansel M. Sharp, The Economic Causes of Poverty, 2010) Market discrimination may be traced to two primary sources. These are the power to discriminate in the market and the desire to discriminate. In our complex market economy, the wages of workers vary widely. Even workers hired by the same employer to perform similar jobs are often paid different wage rates. The meaning of wage discrimination is clear enough: unequal pay for equal contributions. But proving discrimination depends on being able to distinguish among individuals on the basis of individual efforts and productivity. Generally, humans are paid pproximately what they are worth in a competitive economy. (Ansel M. Sharp, Evidence of Discrimination in Our Economy, 2010) Employment discrimination means that some people are not hired because of non-economic characteristics such as race or gender. Two individuals with the same training, education, and experience apply for a job, however one is black and one is white. If both do not have the same chance of getting the job, discrimination has entered into the decision-making process. There is a growing belief that discriminatory differences in pay, especially gender differences in pay, occur largely because of occupational segregation. In general, men work in occupations that employ very few women, and women work in occupations that employ very few men. The economic results of occupational segregation for women are low wages. Women are often relegated to occupations where productivity and experience have little to do with their status and where opportunities for overtime and premium pay are limited. Price discrimination occurs when people of different races or genders are forced to pay different prices for the same good or service, provided the differences are not due to differences in cost of serving the consumer. (Ansel M.

The possible solution

The possible solution CHAPTER VII One reason for dissatisfaction with the IWT is that, as presently constructed, it offers very thin support to the integrated or joint development of the Indus River Basin. After all the treatys success, in the face of huge distrust and animosity between the two signatory, had largely to do with its abandonment of customary international norms governing internationally shared rivers. In particular, it discarded the norms protecting the downstream countrys traditional uses of rivers wtare, in place of which it offered geo-physical partition of the river system itself. This formula was conceivable only in the unique geographic and political circumstances of the Indus Basin[1] As has been brought out in the previous chapter the complete abrogation of the IWT is not possible therefore there is a need to generate various options that can be exercised to resolve the conflict of interest between Pakistan and Kashmir over water resources. Pakistans answer to the problem lies in complete contr ol over the state of Jammu Kashmir which would place the watershed areas in its control and solve its problem of being a lower riparian state. This is not a practical solution. Indias solution to the problems envisages gradual erosion of the provision of the treaty by constructions of dams in Jammu and Kashmir which would enable it to exploit the resources of the three Northern rivers while remain on the fringes of the treaty. These different approaches by both the countries may not provide us with a solution which would be acceptable to the masses of India, Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Let us examine some of the solutions that have been offered by various personalities as also see the feasibility of implementing them. Chenab Formula [2] Pakistan has directly or indirectly emphasised the Chenab Formula as the most preferred option. This division would be based on the flow of the Chenab, but it would to some extent coincide with religious demography.Why is then Pakistan interested in the Chenab formula that includes parts of Jammu? With a small twist to this proposal, consider the hypothetical situation, as suggested by many experts, of only Kashmir being a part of Pakistan, and entire Jammu province and Ladakh under India. One evident outcome of such an arrangement would be the dissolving of the Indus Waters Treaty, as the political status of Kashmir would change. The distribution of water resources would be altered. Pakistan would then have complete control over only the Indus, Jhelum, and some of their tributaries. The Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers would fall under Indias jurisdiction. This arrangement would be detrimental to Pakistan, as it would lose a major water source the Chenab. The incumbent major water resources for Pakistan Indus and Jhelum have already been exploited to the maximum in Pakistani Punjab itself where over half their water flows is diverted for irrigation. The Chenab also is a major source of water to Punjab. Moreover, the Chenab-Jhelum combine is the only tributary of the Indus that enhances the latters flow downstream Punjab. Losing Chenab to India would mean drastic reduction in water supplies to Sindh, which is already on the brink of a water crisis. It is imperative to note here that the location where the eastern tributaries merge to join the Indus River is at a point just prior to entering Sindh. Moreover, Sindh receives water only from the Indus River. Losing Chenab would also warrant a major rearrangement of the irrigation network in Punjab. This clearly explains Pakistans insistence on making Chenab the basis of the international bo rder and including parts of Jammu and not merely the Kashmir valley, under its jurisdiction. Moreover, it provides strategic depth for the Mangla Dam. Thus, the Chenab Formula would be the preferred solution for Pakistan but will have grave consequences for India. Apart from losing out on the state of Jammu and Kashmir which will lead many other complications, this formula will also see India losing out on its water resources emanating from Jammu and Kashmir. Whatever flexibility that India has due its limited rights over three Northern Rivers will be forsaken for no apparent advantage. Therefore, if hostility reach a degree where Pakistan formally proposes the Chenab Formula, and not merely as a suggestion in track-two diplomacy, Indias response should be in the negative and belligerent. Valley Formula[3] Since Chenab Formula and the resultant division of Jammu portends war, consider an alternate solution, put forward by some experts, of handing over the Valley of Kashmir to Pakistan. Pakistans ISI acts on the belief that it can conquer the Valley of Kashmir by low intensity insurgency. If we were to consider a future scenario in which Pakistan with the aid of terrorist groups have managed to capture to the Valley of Kashmir which has always been its intention than the consequences of such an action for Pakistan would indeed be grave. Apart from other military and economic action which India would be bound to carry out the natural lay of the Indus water system will place Pakistan in great discomfort. Indias response would be to block the flow of the Chenab River into Pakistan thereby depriving Pakistan of major tributary for the Indus. Technically it is possible to divert the water of the Chenab River and join it with the Ravi, thus retaining Chenab for Indias sole use. Under such circumstances, Pakistan would head for disaster, foremost because the water flows in the Indus River would drastically reduce, as the Jhelum would be the only main tributary. The Indus River could dry up even before reaching the Arabian Sea. This would have serious repercussions on Pakistans economy. The extreme consequence of the scenario of losing Chenab to India, and the Valley of Kashmir becoming the base for redrawing the map, would be the entire reworking of the canal and irrigation system in Pakistan. It is therefore very clear that even capturing the Kashmir valley will not solve Pakistans problem. In fact such an action will only increase Pakistan vulnerability due to water scarcity. The preceding paragraphs have also brought out the immense importance of the corridor through which Chenab flows into Pakistan and same can also be examined in light of repeated Pakistanis attempts to capture this area in the past. The other point that stands out is that India is at an advantage vis -a-vis Pakistan due the geographical location of the Indus water Rivers. How does India take advantage of this? One area of immediate concern for India will be to meet its water requirement for the future. The water potential of the Beas, Satluj and Ravi has already been exploited by India. Therefore this means that the only option left is the exploitation of the Northern Rivers. What are the repercussions of such an action? As long as India uses these Northern Rivers within the provision of the IWT there would be no major objections from Pakistan but a breach of the treaty will surely invite conflagration of hostilities from our neighbours. Moreover if India wants to project itself as a responsible country willing to shoulder greater responsibility in line with its growing economic status than such an action will have detrimental results. An unstable neighbourhood as it is will deny India of any advantage that it a ccrues fro abrogation of the treaty. The above arguments elucidates that India does not have many options. As is the case with Pakistan belligerence over water is not going to solve any problem in fact it will create more. The resource available is meant for use of both the countries and has been done throughout history and therefore there is no reasons why both the countries cannot strive for a integrated development approach of the Indus basin and division of water resources is done not based on geographical partition of rivers but based on actual needs and appropriate sharing. Integrated Development Approach A sustainable solution is possible only if it is based on a win-win formula. Currently, the root of the problem lies in the lack of harmony between the interests of Pakistan and India and Jammu Kashmir. Pakistan needs Jammu Kashmir to build dams to divert water flows to Punjab and Sindh wheras India is frustrated at seeing precious resource flowing unabated into Pakistan.. On the other hand, Jammu Kashmir needs to come out of the Indus Waters Treaty to improve its own irrigation, hydro-electricity and employment prospects. The irony is that deeper the conflict grows between Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan, the greater would be the desperation of Pakistans military to annex Kashmir, resulting in increase in terrorism in Jammu Kashmir and all over India. More the tensions mount, greater are pressures on New Delhi to take a hard line against Pakistan. It is imperative for both India and Pakistan to envisage comprehensive development and planning in the River Basin. A holistic approach to water resources recognizing the interaction and economic linkages between water, land, the users, the environment and infrastructure is necessary to evade the impending water crisis in the subcontinent. The development of such a plan would require vast amount of financial and technical resources. It should be possible to mobilise such resources from around the world, perhaps with the World Bank agencies playing the lead role. The integrated development approach is Utopian. It is only possible with a paradigm shift in mindset and complete end to hostilities, both physical and psychological. The prerequisite of such an approach would be the following[4]:- Complete end to terrorism. Change in mindset in Pakistan about using Kashmiri youth as a tool to ensure Punjabs prosperity and consolidate control over an increasingly alienated Sindh. Acceptance by both, India and Pakistan, to treat Kashmir for the good of the Kashmiri people, and increase efficiency in domestic water management. Restoration of mutual trust and confidence between both countries. Benefit sharing is widely touted as the solution to water conflicts around the world, although operationalizing the concept is tricky. Benefit sharing is appealing because it shifts away from a volume driven approach to a more ecological approach that specifies and shares the benefit derived from the water source. For countries to participate in a cooperative framework, benefit sharing must offer rewards greater than those of unilateral action[5] . Many would argue that given the level of animosity between the two countries such an approach is impractical. One must wonder if it is, in fact, a viable alternative. Should it not prove to be an acceptable alternative than the future seems bleak for India Pakistan relations? A careful approach to the problem will divulge that this approach is the only practical way of solving future water problems. For an equitable and sustainable management of shared water resources, flexible, holistic approach of integrated water resource management is required, which can cater to hydrological variations in time and space and changes in socio-economic needs along with the societal values[6] . Given the commonality of water resources, the commonality of their utilization, and the commonality of the emergent issues, there is clearly a strong case for meaningful interaction between the scientific institutions and water management agencies across the region[7].This would include information sharing, collaborative studies, capacity building, and technology exchange. Rather than expending huge amount of money in building up offensive potential integration of interest will go a long way in building peace and harmony in the region. There is a need to establish a suitable regulatory framework that aims at integrated water management rather that just geographical division of water resources. With an ap propriate regulatory structure, cross border transactions in volving water services could be a significant source of employment, economic growth and livelihood security[8]. Spotlight on Indus River Diplomacy,Robert G Wirsing and Christopher Jasparro, APCSS Waslekar, The Final Settlement, pp. 47-53, 73-78. ibid, pp. 47-53, 73-78. Ibid , pp 53. Climate Change and Water: Examining the Interlinkages, Jayashree Vivekanandan and Sreeja Nair, Troubled Waters by David Michel and Amit Pandya. Water Resources of India, Rakesh Kumar, RD Singh and KD Singh, Current Science, Vol 89, No 5 , Sep 2005 ,pp804. South Asian Perspective on Climate Change and water policy, Ashok Jaitly, Troubled Waters by David Michel and Amit Pandya. The Management of Inter State Rivers as Demand Grows and Supplies Tighten Ben Crow and Nirvikar Singh, MPRA accessed on line at mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de

Symbols, Symbolism, and Allusions in The Stranger (The Outsider) :: Camus Stranger Essays

Symbolism and Allusions in The Stranger " That's all for today, Monsieur Antichrist." " Specking very quickly and passionately, he told me that he believed in God, that it was his conviction that no man was so guilty that God would not forgive him, but in order for that to happened a man must repent and in so doing become like a child whose heart is open and ready to embrace all". A. The people in this short quote is Monsieur as the judge is talking to him. The judge don't think Monsieur believe in Jesus because Monsieur is always talking about how he does not care about anything and he rather just be in jail where he belongs. B. The quote that I think the author is trying to carry out through the story is the second quote I wrote down, because the author is saying that you need to repent and ask for forgiveness to God. Monsieur lawyer keeps telling him about Jesus and telling Monsieur that he needs to forget about the wrong things that he did in life and repent to God, but Monsieur being big headed is not going to listen because he think what he did is wrong and he should pay the price for what he did. C. The allusion that Albert Camus is trying to get at, is that people believed in antichrist and Albert is trying to say that if you do something wrong in life you can always repent and ask God for forgiveness. V. Representative Passage on Tone and Author's Philosophy " After a short time silence, he stood up and told me that he wanted to help me, that I interested him, and that, with God's help, he would do something for me." A. I think this passage tell us about the author prospective because he is telling us that if you ask for help and if you want the help it will happened. So what I am trying to say is that I if you are not a Christian and you have a friend that believe in Jesus and if you don't believe in Jesus you have to listen to your friend to understand what is going on so you can accept Jesus.

Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything b

Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Freakonomics brings together many combinations of thoughts that one wouldn’t find relevant in companionship. The two authors discuss comparisons that are so off the wall, that you almost question reading the book; however, that is the reason many read the book in the first place. The authors Levitt and Dubner compare in one chapter of Freakonomics the reason why drug dealers live with their moms. Throughout this chapter, the authors discuss questions about why intelligent people sometimes do not ask questions that people really care about, advertising and surveys, and why, in general, do drug dealers still live with their moms. The use of testimonial evidence is prudent in the chapter because its proof builds the case for the qualitative evidence used during the drug dealing section of the chapter. I will discuss these three topics in detail and analyze the author’s contributions to the arguments they present, by evaluating how the argument was portrayed based on the ev idence given in the book. â€Å"But if you can question something that people really care about and find an answer that may surprise them—that is, if you can overturn the conventional wisdom—then you may have some luck† (Levitt and Dubner 87). What Levitt and Dubner meant by this passage, is that if you divulge yourself into questions, ridiculous or not, you might find something you are looking for. If there are unanswered questions, and no one is asking them, they are â€Å"bound to yield uninteresting answers† (Levitt and Dubner 87). Meaning, people are not usually asking questions in which they are not interested in the answers. From a personal no... ...ves otherwise. A foot soldier makes, according to the financial evidence given, $3.30 an hour. Actually, many foot soldiers held other jobs to supplement the low wages they were issued dealing drugs. The evidence given in this section of the chapter was useful to the reader to understand and visually absorb the material. As a whole, the evidence given in this chapter was sufficient in building a cohesive thought. However, the advertising and survey section of the chapter through me for a loop and almost made me stop reading the chapter all together. The use of testimonial, measurement, and analytical data discussed in the chapter allowed me to truly understand the point that the authors were trying to get across to the reader. The chapter, like the rest of the book, contains thoughts that are not conventional in nature and are interesting to think about.

muslim teachings Essay -- essays research papers

Islamic teachings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Islamic teachings about the care of the body have some similarities to our own culture. The guidelines of the care of the body are stricter in the Muslim life than in our culture. The care of the body is an important standard in the social behavior of their divine law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muslims believe that their body belongs to God and not to the person. That body needs to be very clean and washing the body is part of their religious rituals. Muslim has standards and guidelines for the type of clothes they wear; it has to be simple and not overly seductive or luxurious. They are allowed to dress according to the newest fashions as long as they keep it simple. Clothing is one of the big differences in our culture. First is not required by any law of God the way we dress. In our culture some people dresses with luxury and that is a sign of wealth. Overly seductive clothes is not seen well by society, but is just a sign of bad taste and not forbidden by any law of the church. We dress the way we feel more comfortable with as long as it is with taste and within the moral standards of our society. Another aspect of the Muslim care of the body is perfumes. The good aroma of perfumes reminds Muslims of paradise. The three joys mentioned by Muhammad were the company of women, prayers and the perfume. This is one of the physical joys that Muslims enjoy. The good smell of perfume, the right clothes and the cleanliness o...

Giligan Oakmont Country Club Case

Gilligan oOakmont Country Club 1 Thomas W. Gilligan University of Southern California I t is the summer of 1996 and management must decide whether or not to alter the process used to trade the club’s 450 memberships. The current fixed price system, in which management sets the transfer fee for club memberships, offers some degree of financial certainty for existing and prospective members as well as for the club’s financial planners. However, the fixed price system promotes chronic imbalances between the number of members wishing to leave the club and the number of eligible candidates wanting to enter the club.These imbalances create frustrations for eligible candidates, hardships for long-time club members, difficulties in developing suitable new members and problems for club planners. Management is considering several alternatives. THE CLUB Oakmont Country Club is a private golf and social club located along the Arroyo Verdugo in northern Glendale, California. Establi shed in 1922, Oakmont has long provided the kind of relaxed social life prized by many Southern California families. Oakmont’s mission statement reveals the club’s goals and orientation. . . to provide its members with a premium golf and country club experience that includes a well maintained, highly respected and competitive golf course; an attractively designed and efficiently operated clubhouse that meets the membership’s requirements for excellent service, top-quality food and beverages and ample meeting and banquet facilities; and the maintenance of the Club’s unique atmosphere of a strong and friendly family orientation. All contemporary management issues at Oakmont are evaluated through the lens of this mission statement.This case was prepared by Thomas W. Gilligan, University of Southern California, as a basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.Oakmont’s challenging 18-hole, 6,736-yard golf course is a tough test for golfers of any ability. The course was designed by Max Behr, architect of many local courses including the one at Lakeside Country Club, and modified by William Bell, Sr. , creator of courses at the Riviera and Bel Air Country Clubs. Oakmont’s course is currently the site of an annual Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament and over the years has hosted many important professional and amateur events. Among the notable winners of golf tournaments held at Oakmont are Ben Hogan and Al Geiberger.Oakmont’s clubhouse, which was renovated in 1995, is a 42,000 square foot, single-story structure characterized by an elegant reception area, formal dining room, private meeting and banquet rooms, a member’s grill, a casual dining room and a terrace grill for indoor and outdoor eating. In addition, there is a fully equipped state-of-the-art exercise room and men’s and women’s locker rooms. A competitive short course pool, with toddler swimming area, is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day each year. Oakmont’s assets are valued at nearly $13 million while its annual operating expenses are more than $3 million.Tables 1 and 2 are statements of the financial position and activities of Oakmont Country Club for fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Oakmont is organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the state of California. According to its bylaws, Oakmont’s membership is fixed at 450 regular members each with an equal proprietary interest in the club’s assets (Oakmont also has several non-equity membership categories). Regular members govern Oakmont through the election of a Board of Directors (the Board), the chief policy-making body of the club. The Board appoints members o standing and special committees and, together with the club’s General Manager and senior staff, supervise the daily operations of Oakmont. Regular members also vote on the adoption of new articles or amendments to Oakmont’s bylaws.THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESSMost of Oakmont’s regular members are professionals, entrepreneurs or corporate leaders who reside in Glendale and the neighboring communities of La Crescenta, La Canada-Flintridge and Pasadena. Some are executives or high-ranking managers in the entertainment industries that permeate the Los Angeles basin.Many current members are children of long-time Oakmont members. Surveys conducted by the club indicate that many members consider other clubs before joining Oakmont. Three nearby clubs – Annandale Country Club in Pasadena, San Gabriel Country Club in San Gabriel, and Lakeside Country Club in Burbank – compete directly with Oakmont for new members. Indeed, the need to provide competitive club characteristics and amenities was a major motivation for the recent renovation of Oakmont’s Clubhouse. Regular members wishing to leave Oakmont do so for a varie ty of reasons.Some have moved or are planning to move to locations that would limit or preclude their use of Oakmont. Others wish to give up their golfing privileges but continue their association with Oakmont as social members. Some find that due to changing life circumstances (e. g. , the death of a spouse), their club usage has declined and it is no longer sensible to continue to pay the monthly membership dues, which can approach $500 even with little or no use of the club. And some are no longer economically able to cover the cost of membership. Historically, roughly two members leave the club each month.The process of becoming a member at Oakmont is typical of private country and social clubs in Southern California. Prospective members are invited to join Oakmont by two current members (a â€Å"proposer† and â€Å"seconder†) and endorsed by five additional regular members. These prospects are then interviewed by the club’s Membership Committee and evaluate d by the Board.Eligible candidates become members of Oakmont by remitting an entrance fee to the club’s business office. Part of the entrance fee, the transfer fee, is used to defray the current expenses of the club. Table 2 illustrates that the transfer fee is an important revenue source, constituting roughly 14 and 19 percent of the club’s operating revenues in 1996 and 1995, respectively. The balance of the entrance fee, the member’s equity, is paid to the resigning member. Currently, the entrance fee, transfer fee and member’s equity are set by Oakmont’s Board.This so-called fixed price membership system is typical of social and country clubs like Oakmont and has several desirable features. The fixed price system allows the Board to reliably budget transfer fees. The fixed price system also appears to provide some certainty about the costs of joining Oakmont to prospective members and the value of member’s equity for members planning to resign. Since the fee structure adopted under the fixed price system is at the discretion of the Board, it permits some flexibility in adjusting to relevant changing circumstances.For example, the vicissitudes of the Southern California economy have a large bearing on the number of members wishing to resign from or join Oakmont. During the economic boom of the late 1980s and prior to the recession of the early 1990s, the Board increased the entrance fee by almost 50 percent (from $34,000 in May 1989 to $50,000 in March 1992). After the recession of the early 1990s, the Board reduced the entrance fee by nearly a quarter (from $50,000 in March 1992 to $39,000 in June 1993).Changes in the entrance fee also reflect the financial requirements of construction or acquisition of new assets. Also in June 1993, the Board increased the entrance fee by $6,700, an amount equal to the assessment levied on all current Oakmont members to cover the costs of the Clubhouse renovation (note that the ol d entrance fee plus assessment yields the new entrance fee of $45,700). Table 3 reports the entrance fee, transfer fee, and member’s equity for October of each year from 1989 to 1995, as well as for August of 1996.THE PROBLEMSThe fixed price membership system used at Oakmont is associated with at least one potentially undesirable feature; a chronic imbalance between the number of members wishing to resign and the number of eligible candidates wishing to join the club. The last column of Table 3 reports the number of people waiting to join (in parenthesis) or resign from Oakmont for several months during the 1989 to 1996 period. In October of 1991, there were 11 eligible candidates for membership to the club who, due to the paucity of members wishing to resign, remained eligible candidates for at least one month.Inspection of Table 3 indicates that the number of eligible candidates waiting to join Oakmont at the end of October of 1990 and 1989 was even greater; 42 and 27, resp ectively. Indeed, some members who paid Oakmont’s highest historical entrance fee late in 1991 or early in 1992 had waited over two years to join the club. A long waiting list of eligible candidates wishing to enter Oakmont had its good and bad points. Some members viewed a long queue of eligible candidates as indicative of the value and exclusivity of the club.After all, it is traditionally difficult to get into a desirable social club; why should Oakmont be any different? Others, however, were troubled by the impact of this lengthy wait on eligible candidates. All of the eligible candidates had been asked to join by current Oakmont members. Many of these members were embarrassed and frustrated by the lengthy wait that accompanied their invitations. In addition, some felt that the long waiting list to enter Oakmont generated â€Å"speculative† eligible members; individuals that declined to exercise their option to become a member when they reached the top of the list. While these two membership categories addressed some of the problems associated with the long waiting list to join Oakmont, they also created some new issues and abuses, as well. During 1992, the imbalance between the number of members wishing to resign or join Oakmont continued unabated.Paradoxically, the relationship that existed during the late 1980s and early 1990s reversed itself; there were now more members wishing to resign than to join. The factors behind this new trend were evident. The weakening national and, especially, Southern California economy shrank the number of individuals with the discretionary income necessary to belong to a country club. Changes in the tax law in the early 1990s that reduced allowable deductions for club dues and entertainment further limited the number of prospective members.Moreover, the average age of Oakmont members, a good predictor of the number of members wishing to resign, had increased from 55 years in 1971 to 62 years in 1996. As Table 3 reports, at the end of October of 1992 there were 10 members who wished to leave Oakmont but could not because there were no eligible candidates waiting to enter. By the end of August of 1996, this number was now 41 and the member at the top of the list to sell his membership had waited since June of 1994. Club management soon discovered that there is nothing good about a long list of members waiting to leave Oakmont.By the second half of 1994, those waiting to leave were quite bitter. These resigning members had endured the physical disruptions of the Clubhouse renovation, which still had a year to go and was at the time 50 percent over budget. The resigning members who had left the area thought it unfair that they be required to continue to pay monthly dues. Management tried to accommodate these individuals by establishing another membership category – inactive member – with reduced monthly fees in exchange for the surrender of club privileges.This plan placated f ew resigning members. And the general negativity of the current situation accelerated the number of members wishing to resign and diminished further still the number of prospective members wishing to enter Oakmont. Indeed, during several months in 1994 and 1995, few prospective members made inquiries and no eligible members were admitted to the club. Ironically, by the middle of 1996 the national and regional economy had recovered with a vengeance. Real estate prices, the stock market, and national and regional employment were all rising dramatically.The Clubhouse renovation had been completed and, by all accounts, greatly increased the utility and desirability of Oakmont. Yet, the number of members wishing to resign from Oakmont continued to accumulate. All of the long-term fundamentals for a strong and popular club were now in place. Where were the prospective members that a modern club and healthy economy and stock market should help create? Could the allure of country club livin g have declined in contemporary Southern California? Or might savvy prospective members have anticipated a better deal around the corner?THE ALTERNATIVESDuring 1996 the Board contemplated possible solutions to the membership problem. One possibility was to promote the club more effectively among prospective members. In the 1990s the Board had adopted a variety of plans to generate eligible candidates, such as offering existing members prizes for successful referrals (e. g. , vacations to Hawaii, free dues for three months). These plans had been judged to be only moderately successful and created a backlash among members who felt that such promotions were in poor taste and counter to the Club’s recruitment goals.Some current members felt that new members should be those who fit well within the club’s niche, not those simply financially able to be Oakmont members. The renovation of CaseNet ®  ©South-Western College Publishing Oakmont Country Club 5 the Clubhouse help ed generate new members, as well. Following its completion there was an initial surge of interest. Some Board members felt that an aggressive promotional plan coupled with some minor improvements in the Club’s physical plant (e. . , the pool) would go far towards alleviating the membership imbalance. Many of these same Board members believed that the strengthening economy would naturally solve the current problem. Another alternative the Board considered was to reduce the entrance fee, as was done in 1992. This simple solution, which was favored by some of the Board’s members, was consistent with the long-time practices of the club and would require few if any changes to the administrative procedures governing the membership process.Other Board members felt that it was unfair to members wishing to leave the club to force them to sell their memberships at a discounted fixed price. And even if the Board reduced the club’s entrance fee, what should the new fee be? Should the fee be set to generate a waiting list of eligible members, as had existed prior to 1991? If so, what was the right length waiting list? Some Board members felt that, under the current circumstances, any change in the entrance fee would have to be modified in the near future and, depending on the volatility of several factors, on a periodic basis.A third alternative considered by the Board was to abandon the fixed price membership system altogether and adopt the so-called float method to determine the entrance fee, transfer fee and member’s equity of Oakmont memberships. This method had been adopted at some neighboring clubs (e. g. , San Gabriel Country Club and Lakeside Country Club) with varying success. Generally, the float method permits the entrance fee to change monthly as a function of the number of members wishing to enter and leave the club and the value that these members place on membership in Oakmont.Board members who favored the float method felt it wou ld alleviate the imbalance between the number of individuals wishing to leave and enter Oakmont. They also felt that the float method would get club management out of the business of trying to guess the value of club memberships and addressing, on an ad hoc basis, the problems that might arise from lengthy waiting lists to enter or leave the club. Some Board members opposed the plan because they felt it would interject uncertainty in budgeting for transfer fee income.Others opposed the plan because they felt that membership in Oakmont was not like a piece of real estate to be transacted on the open market. These members felt memberships should be allocated by the Board, with consultation from the Membership Committee, to prospective members who would help further Oakmont’s values and mission.THE DECISIONIn late September of 1996, the Board abandoned the fixed price membership system and adopted a float method to determine the entrance fee, transfer fee, and member’s eq uity of Oakmont memberships.Under the float method, a resigning member offers to sell his membership at any price he wishes. At the end of each month the Board presents these offers, from lowest to highest, to eligible candidates. Priority is given to eligible candidates based on the submission date of their membership application. If an eligible candidate accepts the offer, the candidate remits a check in the amount of the offer to Oakmont’s business office. The transfer fee is half of the offer price or $15,000, whichever is greater, with the remainder constituting the resigning member’s equity.If an eligible candidate declines the offer, he assumes the lowest priority in the following month’s membership sale. A candidate can decline three offers before losing his eligibility. The highest selling price, the number of memberships transacted, and the number of remaining eligible candidates is reported each month to Oakmont members, eligible candidates and prospe ctive members.Smith and Mr. Jones, both long-time Oakmont members, submit offers to sell at $35,000 and $40,000, respectively. Currently, Mr. Brown, Mr. Black and Mr. White are the only eligible candidates. Based on the timing of their membership applications, an offer will be presented first to Mr. Brown, then to Mr. Black, and finally to Mr. White. The Board presents Mr. Smith’s $35,000 offer to Mr. Brown. Since Mr. Brown declines the offer, he is placed on the bottom of next month’s eligible candidate’s list and Mr. Black is presented with Mr.Smith’s offer. Mr. Black accepts, remitting a check for $35,000 to Oakmont, $17,500 of which goes to the operating budget of the club as transfer fee and $17,500 of which goes to Mr. Smith as member’s equity. Mr. Jones’ $40,000 offer is now presented to Mr. White, who declines and goes to the bottom of next month’s eligible candidate’s list behind Mr. Brown. Mr. Jones’ $40,000 of fer stands unless he advises the Board that he wishes to either withdraw or alter his offer. The Board would report that one membership changed hands at $35,000.If more than one membership had been traded, the Board would report the highest price only. Table 1 reports the monthly history of the float method at Oakmont Country Club from October of 1996 through January of 1999. This table catalogs the number of members waiting to sell their membership, the number making offers to sell, the number of offers accepted by eligible candidates, and the highest selling price. In Oakmont’s 1997 Annual Report, President Charles J. Gelhaar offered the following summary. The success of our â€Å"float† process continued in 1997.Our waiting-out list has [been] reduced from 43 to 0. We sold 34 regular [memberships]. The last membership sold for $57,750. Oakmont’s President in 1998, David A. Werbelow, provided the following assessment. [The] Membership Committee continued the p ositive turnaround which began in . . . October, 1996, with the introduction of the â€Å"float† system. This year, every offer to sell was accepted by a buying new member – the 1998 average selling price of just over $60,000 was $12,000 higher than the average of the prior year.The average age of incoming members is more than 20 years younger than retiring members, and Oakmont Country Club has firmly established a niche in Southern California as a family club. The History of Oakmont Country Club, published on the club’s 75 th Anniversary in 1997, provides a more theatrical description of the events surrounding the adoption of the float method. . . . it was now time to tackle another pressing problem: the membership. The recession that damaged Southern California had impacted Oakmont as well. The average age of golf members had climbed to 61, and there were some 40 members waiting to get out.Unfortunately, new members were coming in at a snail’s pace. At one point, only one new member applied in a three-month period. Spearheaded by 1996 Club President Olaf Falkenhagen, the idea of a floating membership fee was implemented in October, 1996. Other clubs in the area had tried it with varying success; and after considerable debate at the Board level, it was time for Oakmont to try it. It was an instant success. Five new members applied immediately. Thirty five members applied in six months.A high of $60,000 was reached in May, 1997, and a waiting list to join seems a real possibility for the first time in years. The float method developed at Oakmont, referred to as the Oakmont Float, is now used by a variety of equity-based golf and social clubs in the Southern California and Las Vegas areas.