Raising The Minimum Wage For America - 760 Words

Raising the minimum wage for America Millions of American employees are working countless hour every week to earn inadequate wage that result in many families living in poverty or to depend on paychecks to paychecks. Bernie Sander has the right approach when he quotes â€Å"the current federal minimum wage is a starvation wage† It’s time for a change the Americans population need better wages, increase the minimum wages will benefit every American including business and economy, the greater the paycheck the ability to buy goods and services will increase Millions of working class American citizens are earning low wages which case a strong feeling of anxiety to support a growing family it time to make a change. For example, it is unacceptable and foolish to have a working American class citizen who work countless hour every week should have to come home and decide on how and what to divide the amount of meals their should eat as a family every night after a long day of work, nor what meals to skip the next day. It break me down to see how my family struggle with the budge around the house. For example on what need to be repaired around the house or when to pay the medical bills that never stop coming due to lack of income there are making. Furthermore millions of American are being slave to work overtime every week in which equal to no overtime pay which also causes stress for family to work more jobs and to depend on paychecks to paychecks not to live in poverty. which take awayShow MoreRelatedBusiness Inequality in America: Raising The Minimum Wage 1250 Words   |  5 PagesWASHINGTON D.C. President Barack Obama has yelled on Congress to raise the joined minimum wage, the centerpiece proposition at the State of the Coalition address that pondered on business inequality in America. Pointing out that the present minimum of $7.25 is nearly 20% lower in real paying manipulation than it was 25 years ago, he impelled legislators to prop a bill that ought to grasp the nationwide rate to $10.10. We additionally have to do supplementary to safeguard our economy distinctionsRead MoreMinimum Wage Laws For The United States Essay1742 Words   |  7 PagesThe minimum wage is the mandated price floor paid on hourly or daily basis for the employees regulated by the government or the union. In â€Å"Federal Minimum Wage†, New Zealand and Australia enacted the first minimum wage law during the late 19th century to prevent employers’ exploitation of workers. In 1912, Massachusetts passed the first minimum wage legislation in the US that was enforced for women and children, and fifteen more states followed in the next eleven years. However, the Supreme CourtRead MoreShould Minimum Wage Be Raised?1337 Words   |  6 Pagesnot to raise the minimum wage in America has been a widely discussed topic for years. Minimum wage refers to the smallest amount of money a worker can legally be paid in the U.S. It was first signed into law in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt in order to keep workers out of poverty and as it stands, the current federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25 per hour. (United States Department of Labor). Today, while some are even questioning the significance of having a minimum wage at all, othersRead MoreEffect Of Raising Minimum Wage1215 Words   |  5 PagesEffects of Raising Minimum Wage The minimum wage in this country has been a controversial issue. Many people believe it will help reduce poverty and boost the economy. However, they are not looking at the downfalls this will bring to our country. This could make the unemployment population rise, it will raise prices of other things, and would have little effect on reducing poverty. Raising the minimum wage would have a negative influence on our country. This movement throughout our countryRead MoreThe Minimum Wage During The Great Depression1229 Words   |  5 Pages Since the beginning of minimum wage during the Great Depression, the discussion of the how much minimum wage should be has always been occurring. Currently there is a strong push for the minimum wage to be raised, especially as Americans compare the current American rate to other countries’ rates. The New York Times recently reported that unionized Danish fast-food workers are paid more than twice as much as the average fast-food worker in America, and the Danish workers also receive benefitsRead MoreMinimum Wage : The United States Alone Essay1161 Words   |  5 PagesZachary Papadatos Mrs. Stockton English IV 6 November 2015 Minimum Wage In the United States alone, the amount of people in poverty is 14.5%. That equates to 45.3 million people in 2013. In a country like America, one of the world’s superpowers, it’s embarrassing to admit. But the main issue is to fix issues like these with the minimum wage and welfare. The minimum wage applies to workers who got a job whether because they were in school or because they had not gone to college and had noRead MoreEffect Of Raising Minimum Wage1215 Words   |  5 PagesEffects of Raising Minimum Wage The minimum wage in this country has been a controversial issue. Many people believe it will help reduce poverty and boost the economy. However, they are not looking at the downfalls this will bring to our country. This could make the unemployment population rise, it will raise prices of other things, and would have little effect on reducing poverty. Raising the minimum wage would have a negative influence on our country. This movement throughout our country is beingRead MoreThe Benefits of Raising the Federal Minimum Wage1334 Words   |  6 PagesPicture this: You are a single parent of two, you work 40 hours a week plus occasional overtime at a minimum wage paying job, you struggle to put food on the table to feed your family, and then you receive a call from the bank saying that your home is being foreclosed. This is the situation faced by thousands of Americans every year due to low income and wealth inequality. The federal minimum wage (FMW) as of April 2014 is $7.25, which is not enough to keep a family of two above the poverty line.Read More America Must Create Jobs Essay1475 Words   |  6 PagesThose living in the United States of America are experiencing some economically dark times. Unemployment is becoming increasingly worse. Social programs are failing. Prices everywhere are on the rise as wages are declining drastically. Class division has never been more distinct. Of those lucky enou gh to have secured the multiple jobs needed in order to maintain their subsistent existences, most make only a minimum wage, established by their state’s laws, which is then harshly taxed upon. Life isRead MoreBenefits Of Raising The Minimum Wage908 Words   |  4 PagesIn our modern society one of the seemingly least controversial topics is the minimum wage. The popular opinion wants to raise the minimum wage, but is the popular opinion always right? Throughout recent years, politicians have made promises to raise the minimum wage to help low-income earners live a better life. Contrary to popular belief, raising the minimum wage actually hurts low-income earners and low-skilled workers. We must first define a low-skilled worker. A low-skilled worker does not mean

The Tolkien s The Hobbit - 1294 Words

A Fire-breathing dragon is tracing the edges of the mountain with flames spitting from his mouth, shouting â€Å"I am fire. I am death!†Ã¢â‚¬ Bilbo is pacing himself to escape these angry flames as echoes of roars surround him. How did Bilbo Baggins get to such a place?In this novel The Hobbit,written by J.R.R Tolkien, a hobbit named Bilbo is enjoying a pipe on his front porch when he is confronted by an elder man that Bilbo recognizes as a wizard named Gandalf, though his suspicion continues to grow.Gandalf asks Bilbo to join him on a mission and Bilbo quickly declines this offer due to his lack of interest in adventure and invites Gandalf for some tea sometime, only to not seem rude. The next day Bilbo is shocked to hear a ring at his doorbell and is even more surprised to be bombarded with a trail of dwarfs crowding his comfortable little hobbit hole, Bilbo begins to grow confused and annoyed. The dwarfs eat nearly every piece of food in Bilbo s pantry before they finally decide to settle down and talk business with Baggins. The company provides Bilbo with a greater and deeper understanding of this mission, after a lot of persuasion Baggin’s agrees to join the company of dwarfs on a mission to regain the treasures that Thorin’s grandfather mined and found at the mountain guarded by Smaug the dragon that they end up having to defeat and regain their stolen treasure.This changing Bilbo Baggin’s life forever. In The Hobbit Tolkien presents us with a strong theme of Bilbo’sShow MoreRelatedThe Tolkien s The Hobbit930 Words   |  4 PagesJ. R. R. Tolkien s novel The Hobbit is one of a kind. The novel revolves around the protagonist Bilbo Baggins and his journey not only of recovering the treasure from Smaug, but his journey becoming a hero. Through the main character Bilbo Baggins Tolkien changed my perspective on what a mythic hero is suppose to be. When the term â€Å"mythic hero† is brought up I visualize someone tha t is a stouthearted a warrior namely Achilles or Odysseus to be exact not a hobbit. A little friendly, good-naturedRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit1143 Words   |  5 Pagescollective fantasies that story our relationship to each other, the world and the universe. To tell a myth is to tell a culture s dream about its inner workings and truths. A myth tells its tale through symbol, image and metaphor. The Hobbit is a mythic image in our modern day society. It is written by J.R.R. Tolkien. This story is more myth than anything. The Hobbit acts as the sister myth to Sigurd and Volsung. There are many mythic images in both of these stories that represent more than meetsRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit1580 Words   |  7 PagesR.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit is arguably one of the most popular children s books of all time. The novel, because it includes characters such as trolls, elves, giants, goblins, and others is the reason that this story is a fairytale. This fairytale centers on a little hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins. It tracks the expedition of a group of dwarves, and a wizard, Gandalf, and their burglar, Bilbo as they travel to retrieve treasure that had been stolen from them long ago. The hobbit journeyed far, startingRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit862 Words   |  4 Pagesto tell a culture s dream about its inner workings and truths. Myth does not convey these truths literally, however. A myth tells its tale through symbol, image and metaphor. They don t explain so much as offer an enchanting, elevating or disturbing experience, sometimes warning us about where we should or should not go. Myths continually come back to life all around us. No one leaves them behind because we always face the recurring problems of life they address. The Hobbit is a mythic image inRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit1573 Words   |  7 PagesThe definition of a hero is an individual, man or woman, in which he or she exhibits immense courage, fortitude, and being humble. In today s culture, one might think of Batman or Wolverine as heroes, however, in J.R.R Tolkien s The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins redefines the entirety of the definition of a hero and deemed like no other. Throughout his adventure across middle-earth with the dwarves, Bilbo exemplifies several of these qualities. In contrast to both Norse and Anglo conceptions of heroismRead MoreThe Story Of The Tolkien s The Hobbit 2741 Words   |  11 Pagesthe classic trope of the quest, the journey serves as a metaphor for the personal growth of the questing character, for whom the quest is often the fulfillment of a personal destiny. The story of The Hobbit is very much one of these tales. This classic novel follows the story of a comfort-loving hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who is sudde nly thrust into a world of adventure and danger by a group of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield and the somewhat mysterious wizard Gandalf. Their quest is to take back whatRead MoreWilliam Tolkien s The Hobbit 1315 Words   |  6 Pages What would it be like to embark on a journey or do something unlike anything else one has ever done before? Some may seek thrill and adventure, but living in the same world as a hobbit, one might think twice about venturing out. The Hobbit is an allegorical novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story follows the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins as he sets out to undertake a long journey with a wizard named Gandalf and thirteen dwarves. In the beginning of the novel Bilbo doesn’t feel the need to set out on a journeyRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit918 Words   |  4 Pagesthat they will fail. In the beginning of J.R.R. Tolkien’s the Hobbit several of the dwarves question Gandalf’s decision to bring Bilbo Baggins along, â€Å"Will he do, do you think? It is all very well for Gandalf to talk about this Hobbit being fierce, but one shriek like that in a moment of excitement would be enough to wake the dragon and all his relatives† (22). Of course one would question why Gandalf decided to bring a hobbit along. Hobbits are half the height of humans but they probably consume moreRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit1509 Words   |  7 Pages The inspiring novel, The Hobbit, written by J. R. R. Tolkien, definitely deserves the right to be considered a timeless classic. Tolkien uses the main character, Bilbo Baggins, a well respected hobbit, to explain how fast one’s life can change. Mr. Baggins doesn’t believe he will go on an adventure through Middle-Earth the day Gandalf comes to Bag End to tell him so. Nor does he think the many races he only heard of in stories, will face him in the mountain pass. As the expedition takes the readerRead MoreThe Tolkien s The Hobbit1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe events associated with J.R.R Tolkien’s book The Hobbit resembles a hero’s quest journey, step by step until the final stage. Bilbo Baggins is the main character in this book and his life sonorously fits into in a typical hero quest journey. The three primary components of Bilbo’s quest are, the call to adventure, tests, allies and enemies, and the reward. In the book The Hobbit, Bilbo’s life is very plain and simple until he embarks on a marvelous journey with thirteen dwarfs and the wizard Gandalf

Knowledge Management and Ecommerce †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Knowledge Management and Ecommerce. Answer: Introduction: Knowledge management and ecommerce play crucial roles in enhancement of the business practices and improve its contextual factors like internal environment and organisational factors. Knowledge management refers to acquiring, preserving, using and sharing business data to conduct business with the help of modern technology like cloud computing. Ecommerce refers to use of digital platform to advertise and sell products which allows companies to offer goods to a global consumer base and earn huge profit. New entrepreneurial ventures like small hotels come under the influence of various factors like political and economical while operating in the market. They face threats from strong competitors like established hotel chains and new local hotel chains of the same size. These risks to budding hotel businesses have made it important for them to use knowledge management system(KMS) and ecommerce to conduct business on regular basis. They help budding business organisations like the hotel a nd catering business in Sydney to gain and maintain loyal consumer base. This loyal consumer base generates repeated business for these hotels and encourages them to expand further. The new hotel and catering business in Sydney would knowledge management system to manage its huge amount of data and use it efficiently to operate the business. The new hotel organisation will be impacted by a number of external factors like political, economical and legal(Knif, Kolari Pynnnen, 2014). These factors will affect its business operations deeply but the hotel will have no control over these factors. The new business organisation in order to thrive the competitive hotel industry will have to incorporate these macroeconomic factors in its business strategies. Knowledge management would help the business organisation to acquire, store and utilise the vast body of knowledge and gain access to it easily while making strategies(Sein-Echaluce veta l., 2013). For example, the organisation using KMS can keep a track on the new laws levied on the hotel organisations. This would allow it to incorporate these new laws and avoid penal actions from the various government departments. Thus knowledge mangemnt can help the new business organisation acquire vast knowledge about the external environment and apply the data by incorporating it in its strategies. Thus, KMS can help new business organisations to adapt to their environment faster. This adaptability with the external environment help the business organisations to enforce stronger organisational culture within their business contexts(Krajewski, Ritzman Malhotra, 2013). Knowledge management can be instrumental in helping the new hotel business acquire and retain a vast data about customers which help the business generate repeat business. The new hotel business in Sydney should aim at attracting huge numbers of customer right from its budding stage. It should offer fooding and lodging services to its guests at affordable rates to counteract the threats from the established hotel chains. KMS would allow the new hotel chain to acquire and save a vast amount of data about these customers like their lifestyle, occupation, lifestyle and preferences(Shaw, 2016). The hotel organisation can use this crucial data while forming future marketing plan. For example, the hotel management may use the data regarding room designer preferences of customers during restructuring the layout of the hotel or during making a new hotel. This structuring of facilities keeping the customers preferences into consideration will help the hotel chain attract more customers. Moreo ver it can give special offers and discounts to its old customers. This treatment of the customers will enhance customer satisfaction and yield the hotel chain loyal customer base who would give it repeat business. This generation of revenue both from existing and new customers which would generate huge revenue(Rahimi Kozak, 2017). Thus knowledge management can help the new hotel business to maintain data about customers and provide them customised offers to enhance their satisfaction and obtain their loyalty. Knowledge management will help the new hotel and catering business in Sydney to acquire, manage and use business data more effectively. Hotel organisations irrespective of their sizes need to work with a large numbers of suppliers who supply them with raw materials. These organisations need to maintain large data on financial transactions, sources of financial capital and other relevant data for the internal usage while operating and decision making. Maintaining this vast amount of crucial data in physical formats would be very expensive and add to their cost of operations. It would erode their financial resources and occupy a lot of storage space. Knowledge Management makes acquisition and usage of enormous amount of business data possible virtually anytime and anywhere(Liebowitz Frank, 2016). This enhanced availability of scientifically managed data has made decision making more appropriate and business environment or context. Ecommerce like knowledge management has added value to the newly established hotel in Sydney and its business development. The hotel industry in Australia is extremely competitive with strong presence of both Australian indigenous hotels and international chains of hotels. This intense competition has made it very risky and challenging to sustain in the market. The hotel industry can use ecommerce websites to promote its catering and lodging services. It can partner with ecommerce hotel booking websites to advertise its rooms, their rates and facilities to a global base of consumers(Asadi, Abrifam Mohamadzadeh, 2014). This collaboration helps the hotel organisation in Sydney earn new customers who may attracted by the facilities and the rates. Thus, ecommerce allows the hotel organisations partner with travelling organisations to advertise their rooms to attract a global base of consumer. Ecommerce enables the new organisations to achieve product differentiation which is very important to gain high position in the market. The hotel market of Australia is extremely competitive and profitable. This has attracted a large number of hotel groups and home grown hotels. Today in order to exist in the competitive markets hotels are required to attain product differentiation to make their hotel services distinct from their competitors and attract more customers. The hotel chain can advertise the salient features of its products like rooms, facilities, layout and rates to attract consumers. The revenue earned due to differentiation can be used to bring about restructuring of organisation to elevate contextual factors like organisational culture and organisational goals (Wang, Cavusoglu Deng, 2016). Thus, ecommerce can help companies to gain product differentiation and earn huge revenue by providing customer service which teh customers perceive as unique. Ecommerce will help the business hotel organisations earn high profits by advertising before a global base of customers. The small hotel in Sydney would be able to advertise its facilities like room and tasty food on ecommerce websites. This would attract a large number of consumers and help the hotel to earn high revenue(Lu, Gursoy Lu, 2016). Ecommerce will not only help the hotels especially the new ones to earn more revenue but also to manage their business risks. The advertisement of the hotel and catering facilities on ecommerce platform would allow the new hotel in Sydney to showcase its facilities before a global base of customers. This would earn the hotel new customers and enormous revenue. This revenue can provide platform to the new hotel organisation to diversify its business risks(Chiu et al., 2014). Moreover, the organisations in order to sustain in the stiff competition have to bear huge initial investment in areas of knowledge management and advertising its products on the ecommerce websites. The huge body of profits earned by the new hotel company in Sydney provides a substratum where the business can diversify its business risk and uncertainty. Ecommerce helps the newly formed business find new markets to sell their products. When organisations advertise their products before a global consumer base, it opens ways for business expansion. The hotel chain using the ratings on ecommerce website are able to assess their market image. Strong image available on the websites show growing demands of the hotel amnong new customer base. This growing demand encourage the hotel organisation encourage it to expand overseas. Thus, ecommerce helps hotel organisations to find new markets and expand overseas. Moreover, the new hotel businesses can use to ecommerce platforms to find suppliers of raw materials(Ahmad et al., 2015). It can be concluded that knowledge management and ecommerce are very useful to new hotel businesses in Sydney. Knowledge management help these organisations to acquire, maintain and use a large volume of data to allow appropriate decision making. Ecommerce helps the hotels to advertise their facilities before a global base of consumers to attract a large number of visitors. Thus, combining ecommerce and knowledge management new business can explore the market opportunities like new consumer bases to earn high profits. References: Ahmad, S. Z., Abu Bakar, A. R., Faziharudean, T. M., Mohamad Zaki, K. A. (2015). An empirical study of factors affecting e-commerce adoption among small-and medium-sized enterprises in a developing country: Evidence from Malaysia.Information Technology for Development,21(4), 555-572. Asadi, N., Abrifam, A., Mohamadzadeh, M. (2014). Consumer behavior in the new methods of e-business. Chiu, C. M., Wang, E. T., Fang, Y. H., Huang, H. Y. (2014). Understanding customers' repeat purchase intentions in B2C e?commerce: the roles of utilitarian value, hedonic value and perceived risk.Information Systems Journal,24(1), 85-114. Clarqvist, B., Andersson, L., Zwart, J. J. (2017). Benefits of using offline online methods in the internationalization process: A study of e-commerce companies in Sweden. Knif, J., Kolari, J., Pynnnen, S. (2014). Market conditions and time varying conditional correlations.Applied Finance Letters,3(1), 22-27. Krajewski, L. J., Ritzman, L. P., Malhotra, M. K. (2013).Operations management: processes and supply chains(Vol. 1). New York, NY: Pearson. Liebowitz, J., Frank, M. (Eds.). (2016).Knowledge management and e-learning. CRC press. Lu, A. C. C., Gursoy, D., Lu, C. Y. R. (2016). Antecedents and outcomes of consumers confusion in the online tourism domain.Annals of Tourism Research,57, 76-93. Rahimi, R., Kozak, M. (2017). Impact of customer relationship management on customer satisfaction: The case of a budget hotel chain.Journal of Travel Tourism Marketing,34(1), 40-51. Sein-Echaluce, M., Lers, D., Blanco, . F., Garca-Pealvo, F. J. (2013, November). Knowledge management system for applying educational innovative experiences. InProceedings of the First International Conference on Technological Ecosystem for Enhancing Multiculturality(pp. 405-410). ACM. Shaw, S. (2016).Airline marketing and management. Routledge. Wang, S., Cavusoglu, H., Deng, Z. (2016). Early mover advantage in e-commerce platforms with low entry barriers: The role of customer relationship management capabilities.Information Management,53(2), 197-206.

Computere Networking Net Neutrality Essay Example For Students

Computere Networking: Net Neutrality Essay * *Net Neutrality* is the concept that internet traffic, at the ISP level, is all treated equally. This means that, regardless of what Im doing, one can expect that their ISP is not actively effecting the speed at which that data is being sent to them. The ISP has no baring on the usage of one site for one purpose or another. In a non-neutral environment, ISPs can decide to speed up traffic at websites and throttle speeds at others e.g. if Sasktel, a popular ISP in Regina, had deals with video service *DailyMotion*, then its very likely that traffic with popular competitor *YouTube* would suddenly be slower. Network Neutrality is an ethical issue, because the internet is an important conduit for information and communication, and with online video, speed is more important than it has ever been. ISPs are strongly against Net Neutrality, as there are strong financial benefits for them if they dont uphold it. The ability for ISPs, whom generally have limited competition in most of the locations they serve, are able to control traffic by limiting speed, then theres no reason that ability wouldnt not be mishandled by ISPs. not just at the expense of the users convenience, but politically as well. In a non-neutral environment, its likely that politicians would want to start using this to their advantage. If an ISP want to affect law in its favor, then it would be prudent for the ISP to talk to make deals with the politicians in power. Since they would then become invested in that politician continuing to hold power, they would be actively invested in their campaign, and against their opponent. It would be in their best interests to throttle traffic for the opposition and speed up traffic for the politician they made a deal with.. .nt to be from its inception. An open, rapidly evolving marketplace of ideas and services with strong societal benefit. Cable companies have a strong desire to be able to control this space to their benefit, destroying the strongly competitive abilities of the internet, and opening it up to even greater political manipulation than is currently able. Thus, the problem of Net Neutrality is an ethical one, and there are strong ethical, political, and economic problems to not maintaining it. Citations1 *Shaw streaming* www.shaw.ca/television/shaw-go/2 *CTV go, Owned by Bell* www. ctv.ca/ctvgo 3 *rogers on demand streaming* www.rogersondemand.com4 GROSS, GRANT *Net neutrality ruling complicates U.S. transition to IP networks* http://www. pcworld.com/article/2144660/net-neutrality-ruling-complicates-us-transition-to-ip-networks.html

Justice for Animals in Captivity Essays - Animal Rights,

Justice for Animals in Captivity Introduction Can animals in captivity be justifiable? If so when are cases when animals in captivity are justifiable? At what point can we justify animals in captivity and at what point does captivity become a moral dilemma? The Dolphin and Whale hunt The Cove (Dolphin Hunt) The process of capturing dolphins. They either end up in an aquarium in captivity or slaughtered for their meat. Whales in captivity The documentary blackfish shows whales in captivity and effects captivity has on a whale. Frameworks Aristotle /Telos/ Nussbaum /Species membership/ Dilemmas of Captivity Zoos Liberty- We think that we are doing what is best for these animals. However, we are denying them of their liberty. Autonomy- Conceptions of the good life, Self-rule. Wild dignity How "Wild dignity" differs from other accounts of dignity. Such as Kantian dignity, political dignity and Nussbaum animal dignity. Compare the different accounts of dignity and how they relate to Wild dignity. Companion Animals Can we violate the dignity of domesticated animals? Examples of cases were domestic animals are being violated of their dignity. Such as dressing them up in clothes or grooming competitions. Animal protection and approaches to Animals in Captivity Sanctuaries We see sanctuaries as helpful when they are used properly for rehabilitation. However, sometimes sanctuaries are the final stop for most animals. How to fight speciesism? We think we are the superior species and that animals are just animals. What is Pragmatism and what is abolition? Conclusion Can animals in captivity be justified? We have a long way to go with species membership and seeing animals as our equals. Animals in captivity is still a moral dilemma because we have yet to meet the needs of nonhuman animals.

Training Evaluation Designs

Training Evaluation Designs Abstract This paper involves the use of training evaluation designs. Various training evaluation designs are used in evaluating learners in a given training. The paper is discussing the posttest design, the pretest-posttest design, time series design, and the four Solomon designs. In the introduction, the term evaluation is defined. What is looked at during choosing an evaluation design is also listed.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Training Evaluation Designs specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is further elaborated by discussing how one can construct an evaluation form. Four types of training evaluation designs are discussed in this paper. These are posttest only design, pretest-posttest design, time series design, and Solomon four- group design. The characteristics of these designs are also stated. The advantages and disadvantages of these designs are also discussed where applicable. The posttest only design is the simplest one. Also, we have realized that the pretest –posttest design was developed from the posttest only design. The Solomon four- group was an improvement of both the posttest only design and the pretest- posttest design. These four designs are also discussed from the cheapest to the most expensive. This has enabled the understanding of the posttest only design as the cheapest design. The four group design is highly expensive. The reason why the Solomon four-group design is the most expensive is that it is complex and requires a lot of resources. It is evident that the pretest –posttest design is widely discussed than the other three training evaluation designs. This design is discussed in two perspectives. They are the pretest-post with comparison and the pretest-posttest with the control group. This design is widely discussed since it is used widely in organizations. Introduction Evaluation is the organized recognition of the advantages and importan ce of education. This is achieved through using a certain criteria against given standards. Evaluation process, in training, has the principal aim of ensuring that the learning process meets the stated objectives. Normally evaluation is conducted in four phases. These include; Analysis, Design, Development, and Implementation. Issues to consider when selecting an evaluation design There are several issues that can be thought of when selecting an evaluation design. These include evaluation that is complicated are expensive. Thus, they portray a strong sense of confidence. Secondly, evaluation designs that are complex require people who are specialized in research methods. This is because they are hard to implement. Interventions work differently in all settings and types of friends.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More How to design training evaluation forms To design training evaluation forms, one has to use open- ended questions. Moreover, one must use closed-ended questions. Closed ended questions have multiple questions. On the other hand, open- ended questions help assist the learners give a detailed answer, in spaces, provided. The evaluation forms should have the name of the evaluation instructor and the course before it is given to the learners. There are two key factors that guide a trainer in making the choice of the design to use. These include cost and certainty. If the trainer is highly certain on the results of the program, it will be highly expensive (Wisher, 1999). Types of evaluation designs There are many designs that are used in evaluations. The training evaluation designs discussed are; post-test only design, pre-test and post-test design, pre-test and post test with comparison group design and pretest and post test with the control group design, time series design and the Solomon four group design. Posttest only design In this design, a post- test is given to the trainee after the intervention has been administered. This post-test could be a survey or even a questionnaire. This posttest only design has several characteristics. Participants and non participants of the program are not compared. This design is extremely easy and straightforward. Pretest and Posttest design This design was advanced from the posttest only design. The pretest and posttest design has a lot of information. This is because it gives the changes in the behavior and attitudes of the trainees in the program. This design also provides evidence that the alterations were produced after the interventions. This design is not able to illustrate this. The reason is that the changes may have occurred due to the participants’ exposure to other interventions. The pretest and posttest design is associated with two major problems. One it does improve the external validity. This means that it is difficult to judge the results broug ht about by the pre-test. This is because the two groups used are treated using different measures.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Training Evaluation Designs specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pretest and posttest with comparison design In training evaluations, using this design, the pretest and posttest are administered differently. They are given to two different groups. A group that participated in the program and another one that did not take place in the learning of the given the tests. This assists in determining whether the changes in behavior are brought about by the interventions. Similarities detected in the two groups show that the changes detected are brought about by the interventions. These results are well defined if the two groups are of the same socioeconomic status, race, and education. In addition, this design has the following characteristics. It is more expensive and complex. The design opens a chance for other explanations. This helps in identifying the differences between the intervention group and the control group (Preskill, 2005). Pretest and Posttest with the control group design In this design, individuals are assigned randomly to the intervention or the control group. Thus, all members have the same opportunity of becoming a member of the two groups. This design is the most expensive of the three. In this design, it is also certain that the changes noticed in the evaluation were brought by the interventions. Time series design Time series design is presented in four variations. These are; interrupted time series with follow-up, replicated time series, step-wise time series, and time series with reversal patterns. This design involves the use of interrupted time series experiments used in community research. In this design, two communities are assessed repeatedly. The interventions are administered to each community at their own time. In this design, the co mmunity interventions and policies are normally refined after the study. Solomon four group design This design has two extra control groups. This makes the researcher know if the pretest contains an influence on the subjects. This design is hard to set up and analyze.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The statistics involved is also very complex. This design solves the problem of internal validity associated with the pretest-posttest design. The Solomon four designs are an improvement of the pretest- posttest two group designs and the post test only design (Okey, 1972). Conclusion The Solomon four group designs help in solving all the problems of internal and external validity experienced in other designs. A trainer using this design should have the requirements and the time to include the four control groups. The statistics used is very complex. Therefore, if, the researcher is aware of the issues of external validity the Solomon four groups are not required. Also, most experiments are simple and could be solved using the pretest-posttest research designs. References Okey, J. R., Ciesla, J. L. (1972). Designs for the evaluation of teacher training materials. Bloomington: National Center for the Development of Training Materials in Teacher Education, School of Education, Indiana University. Preskill, H. S., Eft, D. F. (2005). Building evaluation capacity: 72 activities for teaching and training. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Wisher, R. A. (1999). Training through distance learning: an assessment of research findings. Alexandria, Va.: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Company's interest regarding private equity buyouts Dissertation

Company's interest regarding private equity buyouts - Dissertation Example In just one generation the private equity industry has grew to become a dynamo for growth, innovation and enterprise (Kolade. W, 2008). Britain is a world leader in this sector with one of the largest private equity markets globally, second only to the US. There are over 450 active UK firms, which provide several billion pounds each year to unquoted companies. Despite private equity now being a recognised asset class, the rapid growth in market has provoked debate about private equity and its intensions. Private equity firms have been taking over some of the UK's most notorious names, many making phenomenal improvements to these companies, but there has still been criticism of their vilifying greed and heartless nature to others. Some have characterised these private equity firms as the ‘Gluttons at Gate’. Supporters of private equity, including the government, praise its ability to create jobs quickly and contribute to the economy (BBC, 2007). Private equity groups claim they are improving the performance of UK companies by giving them stronger management and market discipline. They also claim that private equity investors generate superior returns for their shareholders; that private equity is clean and simple, not cluttered by all the governance bureaucracy of the publicly quoted sector (superior doc). Conversely others would disagree, most notably employees at companies which have been bought by private equity groups only to see hundreds of job cuts being made. ... It’s questioned whether the private equity boom will provide good long-term investment results or whether we are seeing the inflation of yet another financial bubble, with the destruction of viable companies as a damaging by-product (Demaria, 2010). But perhaps the most controversial argument may be taxation implications. PE companies have been accused of using loopholes to pay too little tax, with the rate sometimes as low as 10% (BBC, 2007). Private equity executives pay taxes on their basic pay and bonuses, but a large part of their income comes from carried interest - the carry - which is the 20% slice of profits they can claim once they have paid back their investors. This money is classed as a capital gain and thanks to taper relief, it is only subject to a tax level of 10%. Critics say it should be charged at a normal tax rate. It is an emotive subject, with one private equity boss saying that some of the richest men in Britain were paying tax at a lower level than the cleaners who tidied their offices (BBC, 2007). Perhaps if the UK changes its tax regime, private equity investors will just move overseas. Ethical issues During this research, my main focus will be pay attention to the ethical issues. No data collected through any means will be used in any undesirable or negative way. Any information collected will be used only for the purpose at hand. Talking about the financial buy outs, ethical considerations must be given their due importance in that case too. Financial statements of any and every company should be made public as per the law and the information offered must be authentic. Blackstone Group is the former owner of Southern Cross as it bought the company in 2004 and left it 2006. Initially, Southern

Financial Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Financial Planning - Essay Example There may be some additional cost attached with the purchasing of house is that cost of furniture fixture, electricity cost, maintenance cost and cost of decorating the house. The use of credit card incurs some cost as interest rate. As the interest rate in the credit card is very high like interest rate on the credit card of Shawn is 18% and Mary is 15%. The use of other means of payment like cash payment reduces such costs involved. Thus, they need to reduce the usage of credit cards in borrowing goods and services because the high rate of interest leads to increase in their expenses in the income expenditure statement. For this reason, if they reduce the usage of credit cards then they will be able to save the amount of interest. Shawn wants to sell off his truck any buy something new. From the primary consideration of buying vehicles, it can be said that buying new vehicles is always good though it costs high but the quality of the vehicle is brand new and Shawn can easily repair or maintain the car from the company service center if it’s new. However, if he wants to buy a used vehicle then the cost will be low as after one-year usage of any vehicle, its cost decreases. However, here he needs to consider two things- one is that the age of the vehicle. He should not purchase too old vehicle, which is having low cost because it might not be in a good condition. Second is that only age of the vehicle cannot be the measurement factor for the condition of the vehicle depends on the Km. it has run and depending on the miles or Km it can be decided that whether the vehicle is in good condition or not. Some other consideration in the purchase of a used truck is the property transfer cost and the service it w ould incur to make the used truck running and in a good condition. If the costs involved are much larger or near to the cost of a new truck, he would purchase the new one. Nevertheless, buying an old truck

Foundations of Public Health and Health Promotion Essay

Foundations of Public Health and Health Promotion - Essay Example The shortcomings of these models are addressed by the Red Lotus health promotion model which advocates for a value and principle system to guide actions in all aspects of health promotion process. Hawe, Degeling, and Hall Needs Assessment and Planning model conducts an assessment to obtain a comprehensive picture of the health issues and problems facing the community. Through this assessment, practitioners can guide their actions towards health intervention initiatives aimed at improving health conditions. The assessment process is divided into two stages. First, identifying health problem priorities. During this stage, data is collected and analysed to determine what health problems are critical so that priority to health problems is set (Hawe, Degeling & Hall, 1990). The magnitude of a specific health problem determines its priority in terms of needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Second, analysing the health problem. The aim of this stage is to gather more data about the factors that lead to the identified health problems. Once enough data is collected and analysed, priorities are set on how to address the health problems identified. Values and principles of health p romotion such as community empowerment and participation are then used to describe how to solve the health problems. The shortcoming of this model is that it takes a technical orientation approach to solving health problems. For example, it describes how health promotion problems should be addressed without putting emphasis on values and principles to guide actions and yield positive results. The Program Management Guidelines from New South Wales Health gives a guideline of steps to follow to guide actions. The guidelines given reflect actions that may occur simultaneous. It gives guideline on how to organize and plan the health promotion programs to

Management Law Tenants

Management Law Tenants Property management as defined in wikipedia is the operation of commercial and/or residential real estate. The duties of property management includes accepting rent, responding to and addressing maintenance issues, advertising vacancies for landlords, and doing credit and background checks on tenants. One important role of property management is that of liaison between the landlord and tenant. There are several definition of property management, one is that property management might mean keeping their own property safe, secure and pleasant to the eye. For others, property management could mean paying someone else to make sure your property is in tip top shape. Some types of properties that may need property management are; houses, condos, duplexes, town homes, apartments, shopping centers, malls, offices buildings, airports and public transportation buildings, hospitals and many more. Property management is very similar to the role of management in any business. In this coursework the writer will analyze the complaints and problems presented to the property manager of Megadosh Management by their client. To be able to do so we need to define important terms such as landlord, tenant and rent. The writer also presented the roles and rights of each person involve in the business. Property management agreement depends on the service needed by the client. The payment of their service is also mentioned. Upon understanding the role of property management the writer will now present the responses on the letter sent to the property manager. Discussion of each letter and identifying the problem is needed to response on their inquiry accurately. In the conclusion the paper will include his point of view and some important facts. Definition of Terms Landlord as defined in www.lectlaw.com, is an owner of real property who leases (rents) that property to a tenant under a lease agreement. He is bound to perform certain duties and is entitled to certain rights. His obligations are: (www.lectlaw.com) To ensure that he abide on the covenant that they both agree. To secure to the tenant the quiet enjoyment of the premises leased; but a tenant for years has no remedy against his landlord, if he be ousted by one who has no title, in that case the law leaves him to his remedy against the wrong doer. But the implied covenant for quiet enjoyment may be qualified and enlarged or narrowed according to the particular agreement of the parties and a general covenant for quiet enjoyment does not extend to wrongful evictions or disturbances by a stranger The landlord is bound by his express covenant to repair the premises, but unless he binds himself by express covenant the tenant cannot compel him to repair. His rights are: (www.lectlaw.com) To receive the rent agreed upon and to enforce all the express covenants into which the tenant may have entered To require the lessee to treat the premises demised in such manner that no injury be done to the inheritance and prevent waste To have the possession of the premises after the expiration of the lease. Tenant as defined in Thesaurus as the one who pays the rent to use or occupy land, a building, or other property owned by another. In law, the one who holds or possesses lands, tenements, or sometimes personal property by any kind of title. (www.landlordzone.co.uk). Tenants Legal Right and Obligations Commercial Obligation It is the obligation of the tenant to pay the exact amount for rent. It is the obligation of the tenant to pay the rent on time. Commercial Right It is the right of the tenant to have a comfortable property. Residential Right Know the terms of the tenancy. Know the name and address of the landlord (normally included in the agreement) Accommodation which is in a good tenantable state of repair free from defects. Reasonably quick and effective repairs if you report defects. Safe accommodation, all electrical, gas and other systems and appliances meeting modern safety standards and are subject to regular checks. A CORGI Gas Inspection Certificate annually and on entry to the accommodation  Ã‚   Operating instructions, safety warnings and emergency procedures where appliances and systems may be unfamiliar. Peaceable and quiet enjoyment of the accommodation, free from demands for access without notice and/or interference with utilities or other supplies to the property. A rent book if the rent is payable weekly. A reasonable (statutory) period of notice if the landlord wants you to leave. The return of the security deposit within a reasonable period Residential Obligation Give honest and truthful statements during the tenancy application process.   Pay a reasonable (market) rent. Pay the rent as and when it is due. Respect and care for the landlords property, furniture and fittings. Pay the landlord for any damage (beyond normal wear and tear) at the end of, or during a tenancy. Pay the landlord for any exceptional cleaning and rubbish removal at the end of a tenancy. Report defects to the landlord immediately they become apparent. Not use the premises for any purpose other than residential accommodation. Not keep pets, unless approved by the landlord and the tenancy agreement. Not do anything in or around the premises which would cause nuisance, damage or annoyance to the landlord or the neighbours. Not bring into occupation other residents without informing the landlord. (Such additional   adult occupant/s will be required to sign a tenancy agreement) Not leave the accommodation unoccupied for more that 14 days without informing the landlord or his agent. Give notice to quit in writing, which must be at least 4 weeks, where the rent is paid monthly. Not to use the security deposit in lieu of rent. Observe all the terms of the tenancy agreement Property Management Operation of property as a business, including rental, rent collection, maintenance, and so on. Role of Property Management One important role of the property management is to negotiate between the landlord and tenant. The property management should be aware of the laws and rights of both the landlord and the tenant. Problems and conflicts usually arise when the project managers are not aware of the covenants agreed upon by the landlord and the tenant. Property Management is being performed by the project managers. In exchange of the service they provide, property management companies charge landlords a percentage of the gross rent collected each month, in addition to lease commissions. Property managers may manage construction, development, repair and maintenance on a property. A property manager relation with tenants gives a face to the landlord and provides them the necessary buffer servicing their desire to profit and distance themselves from their tenant constituency. The property manager or the property management company has a primary responsibility to the landlord and a secondary responsibility to the tenant. Relationships the property manager or property management team have with the landlord and with the tenant are crucial in forming the expectations of both parties to the lease since both parties will seek and expect certain rights and benefits out of it. Owners expectations from the property manager/ property management team are to carry out the owners instructions, control costs and maximize revenue to maintain a stabilized cash flow as a return on capital invested, exercise control over the building to safeguard the capital invested, provide a duty of care through proper maintenance of the building, to be professional and well informed, enhance the value of the property by making improvements that will increase its market value, retain and enhance pride of ownership Problems in Property Management Property Management is the one responsible for the covenant that the landlord and tenant agreed on. Any problems or violation of the said agreement would lead to problems and misunderstanding of both parties. This is where the role of the property management enters. They are the one who mediate and solve the agreement. When problems happens property management usually work hand in hand with the trained attorneys. During this situation the focus will be given on landlord/tenant law and most commonly evictions, non-payment, harassment, reduction of pre-arranged services, and public nuisance. Therefore, it is a necessity that a property manager be current with applicable municipal, county and state laws and practices. The Megadosh Management In the last few days Megadosh received four letters from their client stating several points regarding their request for maintenance, end of lease and extension of property. Megaosh need to reply on the four letters, to be able to do so we must need to analyze the problems and the covenant between the landlord and the tenant. In the first letter, Mr. Smalls request to renew their lease for another term of 21 years. The landlord has the right to terminate or to not allow the renewal of contract. The request of Mr. Smalls would depend on the decision of the owner as to renew it or terminate the agreement. The contract ends on March 24, 2008, if the owner does not want them to renew the contract the tenant has the right to request for a 3 months extension to have them the time to relocate. The extension for lease may not be given authority of the owner since he is planning to renovate the whole area and putting up building as residential. If given extension on the contract Mr. Smalls still has no right to do the construction without the consent of the owner. In Commercial Tenancies Act R.S.O. 1990, c. L.7, the Lease until Breach (3)  Ã‚  For the purposes of this section, a lease limited to continue only as long as the lessee abstains from committing a breach of covenant is and takes effect as a lease to co ntinue for any longer term for which it could subsist, but determinable by a proviso for re-entry on such a breach. R.S.O. 1990, c.  L.7, s.  20  (3). In this Act of Tenancies it shows that landlord has the right to refuse continuation of lease as well as expanding the property. The Letter forwarded by Ms.K. Holmes of Unit 22 Desolation Row Shopping Centre on February 28th, 2008. Includes suggestion and request for the repair of the part of the structural roof of the Shopping Centre, which directly covers her unit. The tenant asks for the repair to be on summer. She also refuses to replace the lights because she cannot afford it. The question would be who will replace the lights? Whose obligation is it? Specimen Lease of Business Premises includes the following rights of the tenant: the Lessee may occupy and use any portion of the Leased Premises, subject to payment as daily rental for each and every day of the period up to the date of commencement of the Term of the Lease during which any portion of the Leased Premises is so occupied and used by the Lessee, at the end of such period, of the aggregate of the amount determined by multiplying. Internally you said you wanted me to change all the lighting to low energy bulbs, and to renew some damaged plasterwor k on one of the walls. Another question would be who is the legally assigned person to handle the replacement of the light bulb? In the specimen lease covenant it was stated that lessor will be the one who will handle the repair and replacement of the light bulbs. To support the claim of the writer we will present the part of the Generic Lease/ Specimen Lease of Business Premises. Below is part of the Agreement to help Megadosh decide on this matter. Services and Equipment The Lessor shall, at all times during the Term, at the Lessors own expense and to the satisfaction of the Lessee provide for and to the Leased Premises, maintain, and as appropriate, install and keep in good repair and operating condition, all in accordance with the Schedules entitled Standards for Leased Accommodation and Cleaning Specifications appended hereto: a constant supply of hot and cold water to all washbasins and sinks; a drinking fountain on each and every floor of the Building in which the Leased Premises are located; all heat, ventilation, air conditioning, air circulation and humidity control required in and for the Leased Premises; lighting and all electrical power required on the Leased Premises except as herein specifically otherwise provided, and, as lamps, bulbs, ballasts and fuses wear out, replacement thereof; a fire alarm system for use in emergency situations; an auxiliary supply of electricity and power for emergency services and systems throughout the Building, whenever a failure in the normal supply of electricity and power occurs; a constant supply of all dispensary items and deodorant blocks and all maintenance and repairs from time to time required to keep lavatory and toilet room equipment and accessories in good operating condition; removal of ice and snow from all outside parking areas and the roadways, walks, steps and fire escapes leading to and from the Building, all such parking spaces, roadways, walks, steps and fire escapes to be kept, at all times, free and clear of snow and ice; all maintenance and repairs required to keep the common areas at all times clean, tidy, free and clear of any refuse, garbage, waste products and, obstructing materials whatsoever, and in good condition and repair; where available, removal of garbage and recyclable materials from the Leased Premises whenever and so often as may be necessary and, in any event, not less often than once daily, to keep the Leased Premises at all times neat, tidy and free and clear of any refuse, garbage, waste products and obstructing materials whatsoever; all labour and materials for the cleaning of the Leased Premises, the Lessees Improvements and the furnishings therein, the windows of the Leased Premises and the common areas and the Lessor shall, at all times during the Term, clean the said Leased Premises, Lessees Improvements and furnishings, windows and common areas and keep the same clean and free of dust and dirt and maintain the grounds forming part of the Lands in the manner and not less often than as specified in the Schedule entitled Cleaning Specifications; all elevator service required with one or more elevators in operation and available for use at all times, throughout each and every hour of each and every day of the term and the remainder of which shall be in operation daily at all times throughout the period from 6:30 to 18:30  hours in each and every day, except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays observed by the Lessee and on which the Leased Premises are closed to the public generally; window and floor coverings and replacement thereof whenever required by reason of wear and tear; safe and convenient access for persons with disabilities to and from the Lands, the Building and the Leased Premises and the facilities for the use of persons with disabilities situated in and out of the Leased Premises; if so requested by the Lessee, a mutually acceptable location for bicycle racks, provided by the Lessee and in the care of the Lessor, having a capacity of at least bicycles; provide all labour and equipment necessary for the collection, storage and removal of recyclable material in order to comply with the Multi-material and Paper recycling program of the Lessee, to the extent that a recycling infrastructure is operational in the community in which the Building is located, with the understanding that the Lessor will make available to the Lessee any records the Lessor has at his disposal on the total weight of recycled material removed from the Building; Clause # 4 supports the claim of the lessee not to shoulder the expenses for the changing of the lighting and the repair of the plasterwork on the wall. Megadosh can work this out with the owner. It is better to review the agreement carefully to avoid further problem and conflict. Another letter from Mr and Mrs Hiolternionen was forwarded with the subject for early termination of lease. Upon reviewing their agreement it was stated that: ‘If the Tenant wishes to determine this lease on the 25th March 2008 or on any date thereafter and of such wish gives to the Landlord not less than six months written notice and up to the date of expiry of such notice pays all rents due under this Lease and materially performs all the other obligations of the Tenant under this Lease then on the expiry of such notice this Lease shall forthwith determine. A six month rent deposit is still on the hand of the owner. The said amount will be returned when the Lease is at end. In this case the tenant should have given the landlord or forwarded a letter to Megadosh 6 months before they decided to move out. It was clearly stated in the agreement that they should have informed the landlord thru written notice not less than six months. Under the Leases (C0mmercial and Retail) Act 20 01 Sect 119 the lessor may contest termination    (1)       The lessor may, within 14 days after being served with a termination notice, contest the termination by application to the Magistrates Court.    (2)       The only ground for contesting a termination under this section is that— (a)       the lessor acted honestly and reasonably and ought reasonably to be excused for doing the thing that constituted the ground for termination under section 117 (Right to terminate—no disclosure statement etc) or section 118 (Failure to notify material change in disclosure statement); and (b)       the tenant is substantially in as good a position as the tenant would have been in had the lessor not done the thing. The tenant should stay on the location for 6 months until they will be able to get the 6 months deposit they have given the property management. This will be the respond of Megadosh on their letter. If question arises they can read the copy of the agreement signed by them. Until all of their obligations are paid in full the refund for the deposit will be given to them at once. The last letter comes from Mr. Pants he is requesting to let Harry Trash to use the rear part of the yard for repairs. Upon reviewing the lease of Mr. Pants Megadosh found the only restriction on assignment, it contains tenants covenant. The tenants covenant are as follow ‘not without the prior written consent of the Landlord, such consent not unreasonably to be withheld, to assign this Lease; the user clause in the Lease states: ‘The Tenant covenants (a) not to use the building comprised within the premises otherwise than for the retail sale of gentlemens clothing or for such other specific retail purpose as the Landlord may from time to time approve in writing, such approval not unreasonably to be withheld, and (b) not to use the rear yard otherwise than for parking and loading of vehicles and/or for temporary storage of goods in connection with the authorised use of the building.

The Behaviorist, Psychodynamic and Humanistic Contributions to Psycholo

This essay will in turn look at the behaviorist, Psychodynamic, and Humanistic approaches to Psychology. It will evaluate the assumptions and contributions for each approach. Behaviorists emphasize the relationship between the environment surrounding a person and how it affects a person’s behavior. They are primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. This is a criticism of the behaviorist approach; it is seen as mechanistic and oversimplified, because it ignores mental processes or reinterprets them as just types of behavior. John Watson saw emotions as the secretion of glands and thinking as the movement of our vocal chords without actual speech. However studies have been carried out and it has been found that people can still think even when their vocal chords are paralyzed. Behaviorists make the assumption that in humans; virtually all behaviors are caused by learned relationships between a stimulus that excites the sense organs and a response which is the reaction to the stimulus. John Watson was strongly influenced by the work of Pavlov on classical conditioning. Pavlov trained dogs to salivate whenever he rang a bell. An unconditioned Stimulus (the bell) leads to an unconditioned Response (salivation). When the unconditioned stimulus is paired with another Stimulus (food), this stimulus will eventually produce the response on its own and is then called the conditioned stimulus which produces a Conditioned response. Behaviorists propose that phobias come about in a similar way, for example, somebody who is spider-phobic, might have learned to be scar... ... This essay has evaluated the assumptions and contributions of the behaviourist, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches to psychology. The behaviourist approach focuses on the behaviour of people and seeks to explain behaviour as being learnt. The psychodynamic and humanist approaches are more concerned with the emotional aspects of people’s lives rather than their behaviour. The psychodynamic approach places importance on childhood experience. The humanist approach places more emphasis on the importance of our self image. Bibliography Basic Psychology by Henry Gleitman (First Edition) Psychology, third edition by Cardwell, Clark and Meldrum Psychology – A New Introduction by Richard Gross, Rob McIlveen, Hugh Coolicun, Alan Clamp and Julia Russell (Twelfth Edition) Class lectures and handouts

Katie And Joe Play

Is she the reason your grades are so low? Katie: NO it isn't about her. [Joey's phone beeps. ] Joe: Did you go to Dry. Phil yesterday by any chance? [Joe walks over to the other side of the room picks up a charger and walks towards the small round table where there was an outlet and plugs in the charger and puts his phone on the table. ] Katie: Yeah.. ; [Pause] Joe: What did you guys talk about? Katie: Doesn't matter. [Joe frowns] Joe: You know you can tell me anything, right? Katie: That's Beethoven me and Dry. Phil. [Long pause] We just talked about mom, again.Joe: Oh, I see. [Joe walks over and sits beside Katie] Katie: Mom is coming back, right? Joe: Sweetie, Janice†¦ I mean your mother, she's gone†¦ She's not coming back. [Katie starts tearing] Joe: Katie [Long Pause] are you- Katie: I'm fine! [Joe walks to the stand across the room that held napkins and walks back with the napkin at hand] Joe: Oh my god, Kate! [Katie is sobbing and takes the cushion from the sofa and buries her face in it. Joe runs to the sofa and sits down] Joe: It's going to be okay, you don't have to cry anymore. Katie cries harder.Joe lets Katie cry for a while and let it all out] Joe: It's going to be alright sweetie. Here wipe your face with this. [Joe held his hand out with the napkin still at his hand] Katie: Just leave me alone! [Katie pushes his hand out the way, the napkin flies across the room] Joe: Katie! [Katie gets up, the cushion falls. Katie tries to run out the room, Katie trips over the cushion and tries to get up, Joe tries to help. ] Katie: I said, leave me alone! [Small pause] I said I'm fine. [Joe stands back and watches Katie limp UT the room.Joe walks over to the other side of the room where his cellophane lied on the table. Joe takes out the plug and picks his phone up and dials a number. The phone rings, no one picks up. Joe walks to the bookshelf still holding onto his phone and picks up a photo album and sits down on the sofa. Joe flips through pages , slowly feeling depressed. Joe receives a phone call, he picks it up. ] Joe: Hello. Mike: Hey, you called earlier? Joe: Yeah, you busy? Mike: No why? Joe: Can you come over? Really need to talk to you.

buy custom Micro Factors essay

buy custom Micro Factors essay Low staff morale is one of the risks associated with foreign investment in tourism in Cuba. This comes about due to inadequate motivation by foreign companies to their staff. This is a risk because it could reduce efficiency and slow the companies operations. Secondly, worker strikes are another risk encountered. Foreign investors have been known to exploit their workers especially the locals. This could lead to could lead to destruction of the companys property hence jeopardizing its operations (Cunliffe, 2). Secondly according to Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (1), there are so many health risks brought about by foreigners in the country. Environmental degradation within the region, for example dirty beaches lead a backlash in operations. Negative modifications in the aesthetics of various destinations, regular storms, and carbon emissions are some of other micro risks linked to foreign investment in tourism. Other risks are related to occupation health, drug abuse and alcoholism, prostitution which leads to infectious diseases and also chronic diseases. Mitigation measures Boosting staff morale through good pay, staff holidays and other rewards. Awareness creation; educating both workers and tourists on the need to protect themselves against infectious diseases. Initiative to curb drug and substance abuse. Practicing sustainable /green tourism. Protecting workers against occupation hazards. Buy custom Micro Factors essay

Socialization Paper

Socialization Paper Socialization Paper Socialization Paper Sarri Lajas PSY/211 June 23, 2015 Dr. Petteway Socialization Paper Attitudes can be shapes by culture, experience, situations, and even pressure from others or the need to be consistent (Carter & Seifert, 2013). It involves our emotions, our actions, and our thoughts. These are also called the ABC’s: Affects, Behaviors, and Cognitions. When these three aspects are in harmony, then it is easy to determine a person’s motivation. A conflict arises, however, when there is an inconsistency in any of these areas. This is why people will work diligently to try and make their actions and attitudes match. Social pressures will create some of the tension that must be mitigated to successfully fit in the various social settings we find ourselves in. Prejudice, aggression, and attraction help us posture ourselves properly among our peers and allow us to function within the social structures in which we interact. Because of the social nature of human beings, we have a high need to be accepted. That need for acceptance often serves as motivation for our behavior in group settings. Conformity and obedience are two phenomenon that have produced some disturbing results in various social experiments that have been conducted over the years. Some experiments have shown how people will often change their responses, even when they believe they are correct, simply because the majority of people in the experiment gave a different answer. Whether it was out of fear of being ridiculed if they were indeed incorrect, or because they preferred being non-confrontational, the scenario still resulted in the subjects often conforming to those around him or her. Other experiments showed how people who perceived to be instructed by person’s of authority in certain settings would move ahead with mmorally questionable actions despite their own discomfort in order

Having single sex schools in the United States and the benefits of it Essay

Having single sex schools in the United States and the benefits of it - Essay Example The stakeholders involved in the production of more single-sex educational environments include parents of these young children who are responsible for promoting learning and advancing motivation for achievement related to knowledge and personal development. Additionally, teachers and the administrative environment in these schools are stakeholders as they are the driving force behind curriculum development and work consistently to create a more unified classroom environment. The students, obviously, represent another group of stakeholders who would be affected, the primary stakeholder faction, as single sex classrooms would seem to limit diversity related to gender socialization. All of these stakeholders are affected by the decision to segregate genders in the classroom and it would, ultimately, impact the quality of education and learning. Having identified the key stakeholders affected, it is important to recognize the many positive advantages of single sex classrooms. Research o n these types of educational environments indicates that single sex schools have constructive benefits, especially for young girls. Girls in single sex classrooms are more prone to speak freely, have a higher tendency to major in science and mathematics, and are more motivated to attend college or graduate school (Sadker & Zittleman, 9). Thus, there is evidence that socialization is improved and motivation to learn beyond the public school environment is enhanced in this type of environment. Another case study identified that children in single sex classrooms developed a stronger sense of community and exhibited a much stronger respect for the educator (www2.ed.gov, x). This same case study research further reinforced the quality of a single sex educational environment by uncovering that a more optimistic student role modeling occurred when compared to coed schools (www2.ed.gov). The reasoning behind whey these social factors were improved in single sex schools is unclear, however i t may be a byproduct of a closer camaraderie between students or the provision of an educator that is intensely familiar with one specific gender and can therefore provide more than just knowledge, but focus on gender-specific psychological factors as part of their curriculum program. One notable public figure, Hillary Clinton, also supports the existence of single sex environments, being quoted as remarking, â€Å"Certainly, there should not be any obstacle to providing single sex choice within the public school system. We could use more schools such as this† (brighterchoice.org, 1). Clinton is referring to the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in New York City as the reference for her opinion on single sex schools, citing the positive achievements gleaned from a case study single sex school environment. Her rationale for this assessment is unclear, however it reinforces that even top level public figures believe that coed schools should not be the only option availabl e in today’s society since they have been proven to achieve encouraging results in educational provision and life-long learning. Women’s rights groups, however, are the largest opponent of single sex schools as they believe it suppresses women’s rights. One adversary of single sex education cited the Bush administration’s alleged attempt to remove gender equality from schools as a rationale for opposing gender-segregated classrooms. â€Å"

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Tourism and economic developement policy - Essay Example ensive and extensive research article essentially and fundamentally delves deep into the advantages and challenges of the bottom up approach to tourism development in influencing and strengthening the economic growth of the region. The historical and geographic context of tourism development is also traversed in this study, consequently with in depth research into the socioeconomic and governmental involvement and significance and the overall efficacy and benefit of sustainable tourism. In this context the study is concentrated on one of the most promising emerging economies – India specifically its state of West Bengal. Dating back to the Roman Empire, the rich and the prosperous community only could afford to visit places to enrich experiences, to splurge in luxury and leisure, Baiae being one such seashore vacation place. â€Å"Tourism† was coined in 1811 and â€Å"tourist† by 1840. Whereas in 1936 the â€Å"tourists† were elaborately demarcated by the then ‘League of Nations’ as one journeying outside of country for a minimum of twenty-four hours – which was modified by the United Nations at the end of World War II in 1945 and conceived tourism as which expanded for the time period of maximum six months. The concept of eco-tourism was initiated in 1989. In the present scenario tourism is deemed to be the most rapidly evolving and vastly expanding global business with an approximate growth rate of 4 percent to 5 per cent per annum which is responsible for 10% of global gross domestic product (WTO). The advanced as well as emerging nations have attracted an enormous influx of foreign tourists with an estimate of 760 million in 2004 and another 1.6 billion anticipated by the World Tourism Organization (WTO 2005a) by the year 2020. With globalization and open-door policies being implemented world wide, more and more emerging and advancing nations are becoming the hot tourists’ hot attractions since 1950 at which time there was a record influx of 25 million

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Personal Letter to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford - Essay Example First we need to understand the meaning of climate change. â€Å"Climate change is the warming of the earth’s atmosphere caused by human-generated emissions of greenhouse gases, the largest contributors being carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane† (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives report, 1995; as cited in Berman, 1997). There is a gradual increase in temperatures, patterns of rainfall and snow are shifting, and other severe climatic events are occurring such as increased droughts and storms. These events have negatively affected the ecosystem, weather, snow, oceans, and society. Although, natural events contribute to climate change, they are not the primary cause. Studies conducted by scientists ascertain that these drastic changes in the climate are associated with the rise of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere. These gases in the atmosphere are due to human activities such as burning of fossil fuels. The systems human use each day like cooling and heating systems, electricity generators, industrial processes and motor vehicles all contribute significantly to emission of the greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases trap heat, and prevent it from escaping out of the atmosphere thus, raise the global temperatures. Climate change seems to be a continuous process, and will be there in the future. As humans continue emitting more greenhouse gases, the future will certainly experience more climatic changes. Climate change will negatively affect the entire world by negatively changing the economy, the environment and the health of people. The world has an obligation to strategize well, in anticipating some of the climate change impacts. This will benefit the entire human race (EPA, 2014). Solar energy and ocean currents variations affect the climate. Nevertheless, they do not sufficiently explain the rise of

Challenges Faced by Companies Entering Foriegn Markets Essay Example for Free

Challenges Faced by Companies Entering Foriegn Markets Essay 1. INTRODUCTION Companies move into foreign markets for various reasons. In certain cases, it is towards achieving a required sales volume. In other instances, it might be a bid to increase brand awareness. Other companies go into foreign markets to re-invigorate sales after their products have gone through their life cycle from inception to decline in home markets. Regardless of reason, moving into a foreign market tends to portend great opportunities for companies, particularly if it entails serving products in an emerging economy that has recently become wealthy enough to afford such products; or selling a new but needed product or service to a developed and wealthy market. However, in foreign markets, challenges are as numerous as opportunities. Some sources of challenges are discussed below. a) Socio-Cultural Differences Companies tend to adopt practices that were successful in home markets without adapting these models to fit the cultural inclinations of markets entered. When large cultural differences exist between the home country and that entered, such practices may result in ineffective business development and partnerships. An example is the now well known Chinese practice of longer meetings in the bid to become acquainted with potential partners, compared to the Anglo-American practice of brief to-the-point meetings. Adopting either approach in a market more inclined to the other, will no doubt hinder business development. Language differences are other examples of socio-cultural differences that posit challenges to companies entering a foreign market. Language differences make effective and efficient communication difficult between companies and local stakeholders. A light example is the Chevrolet Nova which was selling far below expectation in Latin America. Executives of General Motors could not understand why this was so until it was brought to their attention that, in Spanish â€Å"no va† means â€Å"it doesn’t go†. b) Differences in Levels of Bureaucracy – Efficiency of Procedures and Processes Company registration, the opening of a bank account, getting import permits, obtaining required licenses, etc, all reflect the ease of doing business in a country as well as the levels of bureaucracy that exist in that country. For companies used to relatively low levels of bureaucracy, entering a market with significantly higher levels of bureaucracy may result in unrealistic project plans translated into unachieved implementation. c) Differences in Availability of Skilled Human Resources Availability of a particular skill in a company’s home market may result in presumptions about the availability of the same skill in the market entered. 4This occurred in Nigeria in 2001 when the first set of GSM licenses were given to foreign companies MTN and Econet (both from South Africa). At the time, neither entrant foresaw a dearth of local skilled manpower. This ended up costing both companies an unprecedented increase in salaries and other expenses associated with bringing in expatriate workers. The challenge of sourcing skilled labour in foreign markets is further exacerbated when quotas exist on the number expatriates allowed into the country entered despite the dearth of local skill. d) Differences in Infrastructure Prevailing infrastructure affects how companies operate. Prevailing transportation infrastructure affect how companies move goods and personnel for service delivery; market infrastructure affect how players on a given value chain relate with one another; and the level of basic infrastructure such as power and water affect cost allocations and management. For companies entering a foreign market, failure to take into account the infrastructural base of the market entered may result in ineffective and or inefficient operating plans and processes. e) Legislation Favouring Local Companies Unsupportive legislation is another major source of challenges to companies entering foreign markets. Countries tend to enact laws intended to protect or enable local industries. These legislations take many forms. They could be outright levies on foreign businesses; or banning of the activities or management structure of foreign companies; or may be through more indirect means such as required licenses or permits to operate; cumbersome registration processes or permit procedures. 4 David Ogah, â€Å"Expatriates, some semi-skilled, take over even menial jobs from Nigerians†, The Guardian Newspaper Nigeria, December 21 2011, http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=71436:expatriates-some-semi-skilled-take-over-even-menial-jobs-from-nigerians-catid=72:focusItemid=598, accessed August 2012. 3. NIGERIAN E-COMMERCE E-commerce is the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. E-commerce uses the World Wide Web at one point in the transactions life-cycle, although it may include a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones. - The major customers of e-commerce businesses are individuals living in major urban centres in Nigeria, notably Lagos, the commercial capital; Abuja, the political capital; and Port Harcourt, an oil rich city in Southern Nigeria; as these cities tend to house the highest number of internet users in Nigeria. 5Nigeria has over 47 million internet users, with a majority of them living in the urban cities. In the mid 2000s, a couple of e-commerce companies were launched in Nigeria. They barely survived. The reason for their demise, or in other cases, stagnant growth, was the difficulty of getting customers to embrace the e-payment options available in Nigeria at that time. This difficulty was due to known cases of fraud that occurred over the insecurity of Interswitch, the only e-payment platform available in Nigeria at that time. However, with the entrance of major card payment solutions like Master card and Visa card in 2006, coupled with the improved security features of Interswitch, the industry experienced an increase in the number of Nigerians executing online payments.6(online transactions grew by 25% in 2011) Prior to the end of the first quarter of 2012, the Nigerian e-commerce scene had been somewhat lukewarm as the only vibrant players were Dealdey.com and Wakanow.com. At the beginning of the second quarter, the sector experienced an increase in the number of e-commerce company in Nigeria, amongst which were Rocket Internet’s Sabunta.com and Kasuwa.com. The long-term outlook for the e-commerce industry in Nigeria is positive, with analysts predicting a significant increase in new entrants. The implementation of the use of mobile money in Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria is expected to accelerate the development of the e-commerce industry in Nigeria, as mobile money allows a greater number of individuals engage in electronic transactions. Currently, the Nigerian e-commerce industry has slightly over 70 companies, though the industry is yet to have an estimated dollar value. Companies in the sector are categorized into: a. Fashion Retailers These are online fashion shops that primarily sell shoes, clothes and other fashion accessories. Major players in this category are Sabunta.com, Kamdora.com, Taafoo.com and 3stitches.com. The clear leader among them is Sabunta, despite the fact that the platform was launched less than 3 months ago while most other players have been in the scene for significantly longer. Sabunta offers a wider range of international brands and possesses a more integrated logistic supply chain. This makes them more capable of serving customers all around Nigeria than competitors. b. Travel and Tourism These are primarily online companies that sell travel and tour packages. The clear market leader is Wakanow.com with a current turnover of thirty-five million naira (N35 million) per month. Other players in this sector belong to private airline operators e.g. www.fly.arikair.com, www.myairnigeria.com, etc c. Electronic Gadgets and Books These are companies that sell electronic gadgets and books online. The major players in this category are Kasuwa.com and Konga.com. It is however difficult to tell who the bigger player is. Both players are less than 3 months old. Apart from electronics, Konga.com also retails baby and female make-up products. d. Broad Product Retailers Players in this category include group-buying deal sites such as Dealdey.com, Buynownow.com and Buyright.biz. The major player with the largest market share is Dealdey.com. It was launched in 2011 and possesses the most robust group-buying deal site in Nigeria. 2. SABUNTA.COM Sabunta.com is a fashion online retailer that offers a wide range of International and Nigerian fashion brands for sale in Nigeria. Sabunta.com is an e-commerce company owned by Jolali Global Resources Limited, a privately held company in Nigeria, set up and owned by the German Company, Rocket Internet. Rocket’s headquarters is the vibrant centre of Berlin, Europes Silicon Valley, home to a network of 25 international Rocket offices that cover the operations of the company’s subsidiaries in developed and emerging markets. Rocket Internet is the largest, fastest and the most successful international online venture builder. It currently has over 50 online ventures in 7 continents where they are all playing in the top segments of the market. The primary focus of Rocket is building proven, transaction-based business models in the online and mobile space. The company has been executing this model since 2007 and have created over 100 market leading companies in over forty (40) countries, dozens of which have been exited successfully. The Rocket Internet Company is best known for cloning successful online business in the US in other countries where they play at the top of the market. In Europe, Rocket’s Zalando is currently the largest online fashion retailer. Other well known companies owned and operated by Rocket include; Wimdu in France, Zidora in Azerbaijan, Dafiti in Brazil, Mizado in Egypt, Locondo in Japan, The Iconic in Australia and Zando in South Africa. Sabunta.com and Kasuwa.com are Rocket’s operations in Nigeria. Both operate from their headquarters in Lagos, Nigerian’s commercial capital, home to over 10% of the country’s $413 billion GDP. Sabunta.com and Kasuwa.com serve customers around using warehouses in major urban cities. However, Kasuwa.com sells electronic gadgets and books, while Sabunta.com sells fashion items. Sabunta.com provides customers with flexible online platforms to shop for fashion items from the convenience of their homes, and delivers these items at the doorsteps of shoppers. The company provides flexible payment options including bank deposits, online payment, and its innovative payment-on-delivery option, actually first introduced in Nigeria by Sabunta.com. Sabunta.com is young. The company started operations on the 8th of June, 2012 and is currently only three (3) months. Yet it has already become the largest and the fastest growing online fashion retailer in Nigeria, with over a 100 orders per day, The company aims to maintain its positions as the largest and fastest growing in Nigeria, as is being achieved in other countries by other Rocket Internet ventures worldwide. Sabunta.com currently has 71 staff, 24% of whom are foreign nationals. The workforce at Sabunta.com consists of graduates from Ivy league universities in the US and Europe, as well as top talent from Nigeria. Its management team consists of two foreign nationals and a Nigerian. 4. SABUNTA.COM TARGET MARKET The target market for Sabunta.com is Nigeria’s upper and emerging middle-class living in major urban cities in Nigeria. The age bracket of the typical Sabunta.com customer is between 18 and 65. This age range constitutes individuals who are capable of buying or making purchasing decisions with regards to fashion items. The company’s targeted customers are however less than 10% of the mentioned age range, as the company targets individuals with an annual income of not less than N2million ($12,500). Sabunta’s target market constitutes of individuals who live and work in major urban cities of Nigeria such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, Aba, Warri and Benin. These individuals frequently utilize the internet and various social media platforms to interact with friends, family and colleagues. They are fashion conscious, trendy looking and want to express their personalities with the kind of outfits they wear. They also recognize and wear popular international brands and shop for these brands whenever they or friends and family travel abroad. 5. SABUNTA.COM STRATEGY Having carefully studied the Nigerian e-commerce scene, Sabunta.com concluded that the major problem hindering take-off of e-commerce in Nigeria is the sceptical nature of Nigerians towards online payments. The company responded by introducing the cash-payment-on-delivery option for its customers. Though the company offers regular credit card and online payment options for those who want to do so, the cash-payment-on-delivery option was an ice-breaker: it made sceptical Nigerians participate in online shopping. This enlarged the market of online shoppers, with Sabunta.com being the only company to enjoy the patronage of this new surge in online fashion shoppers. Good performance on the part of Sabunta.com further helped to enforce their dominance. On time delivery, even without having received payment, helped to instil confidence in its target market. To reduce problems associated with deceit and theft, usually by hoodlums posing as customers, Sabunta outsourced its delivery to Red Star Express, a leading Nigerian Franchisee of US global courier brand FEDEX a major courier company that has been in operations in Nigeria since 1992, known for its quality of service, Sabunta.com also introduced various practices that, though standard in mature e-commerce markets, were novel and innovative in the growing Nigerian e-commerce market. These innovations include: a. Free Delivery and Return Policy Prior to Sabunta.com entry, no e-commerce company in Nigeria offered free delivery or allowed customers to return purchased goods. Sabunta.com entered the e-commerce scene offering a nationwide free delivery plan as well as a return policy which allowed customers return goods bought within the first 14 days if they were not satisfied with the condition in which it was delivered. To return goods, customers are allowed to drop the purchased items at any of the 158 Red Star Express offices situated in all the states in Nigeria at their convenience. This reduces the cost which customers incur during the return process. The ability to purchase goods at no extra cost of delivery and to return these goods if dissatisfied at minimal costs make Sabunta.com a provider of high quality at low costs – attributes that appeal to the price sensitive and yet quality sensitive Nigerian market. b. International Product Offering Sabunta.com recognizes that its target market constitutes those familiar with and who wear International fashion brands. Consequently, the company partners with sister fashion companies around the world, owned by the parent, Rocket Internet, to offer a large range of international brands over 150 different brands to the Nigerian market. Sabunta.com enhances the display of international products on its site, both those it has in stock as well as those in the stock of its sister companies around the world. This allows the company serve the diverse international tastes of the Nigerian market, and to respond to trends regardless of its current stock. 6. SUCCESS For a company that has been in existence for less than three months in a foreign market, Sabunta.com has been able to achieve a lot of success and has been able to overcome a significant number of envisaged challenges. Sabunta.com successes include: a. Exceeding Projected Revenue Prior to entering the Nigerian market, the management of Sabunta projected revenue of â‚ ¬15,000 from about 150 orders in the first quarter of business. This projection was exceeded after the company’s first month of operations. The company found itself operating in a large market with a greater potential for online products than it had envisaged or planned for. The result was a restructuring of its operations to meet the demand. b. Obtaining Local Supplies Being an online fashion store, the ability to get local suppliers goes a long way in determining the amount of profit made. Local supply eliminates the various cost associated with getting supplies from outside the country – [The average mark-up for goods sold on Sabunta.com is 50%]. The Sabunta.com team was concerned about getting high quality local supplies for their business as the number and industry size of local fashion suppliers were not obtainable from official records or research archives. However, the company was pleasantly surprised at the large number of local fashion suppliers resident in Nigeria. The result has been high mark-ups on locally produced and sold products. This has lead to profitability in less time than projected.[Sabunta.com currently makes an average gross profit of 40% while their operating and net profits are still in the negative]. c. Finding Adequate Logistic Providers To ensure timely and accurate nationwide delivery, Sabunta.com required services from delivery firms who possess best practices as well as offer cost-effectiveness as a value proposition. The firm understood that a weak or inconsistent logistics arm (for example due to different qualities of delivery by several logistic partners) will result in negative customer perception. This challenge was overcome through a partnership with Red Star Express – a Franchisee of the US international courier and logistics service provider, FEDEX, that has been operating in Nigeria since 1992. Red Star Express knowledge of the country’s transportation infrastructure aids in its optimal logistics service delivery. Moreover, Red Star Express provides support with more than just delivery and return of goods. It also collects cash from customers who chose to pay in cash upon delivery, and remits these funds to Sabunta. This saves the company costs associated with cash management. d. Recruitment of Required Personnel Another envisaged challenge was availability of skilled local labor. Given the poor state of Nigeria’s I.T. infrastructure and sophistication, the company was unsure of the availability of I.T related skill sets to carry out Rocket’s model as practiced in various other markets. The company was however relieved to find competent local talent. Sabunta.com operates with a 100% local I.T team, capable of carrying out functions required by the Rocket model. 7. CHALLENGES Despite Sabunta.com successes, the company faces a myriad of challenges, most of which result from differences between Rocket’s countries of operation and the Nigerian market. Some of these challenges include: a. Challenges Resulting from Socio-Cultural and Socio-Economic Differences Unlike successes gained in recruiting and maintaining local personnel, Sabunta.com has not been able to maintain its international staff. Over seventy percent (70%) of Sabunta’s international staff who started out with the company left within two (2) months. The reason? Inability to acclimatize to the Nigerian environment with particular regards to the type of readily available food as well as the lack of or the high costs of, basic amenities such as food, water, regular electricity supply, health services, cooking gas, transportation, internet connectivity, etc. Other reasons for the departure of international staff included health concerns. As at August 2012, over 90 percent of international staff who resumed operations with the company (in June 2012) were diagnosed with malaria, a tropical disease most had never experienced. Unanticipated costs and time associated with replacing and training international staff continues to plague Sabunta.com. b. Challenges Resulting from Unavailability of Infrastructure. Being an e-commerce company, Sabunta.com core operations involve the use of the internet. Consequently, the company requires reliable and (preferably) cheap internet connectivity and power. Yet, neither internet connectivity nor power supply exists cheaply or reliably in Nigeria. Nigeria generates and distributes less than 4,000Megawatts barely enough to serve the nation’s power needs and resulting in frequent power outages. Sabunta.com spends over N640,000 (â‚ ¬3,200) per month on diesel to fuel their stand-by generators, and is constantly plagued with this high cost of power. The company also has high internet connectivity expenses N450,000 (â‚ ¬2,250) per month for a bandwidth size of 4/4Mbps. Even with such huge sums spent on internet connection, Sabunta.com continues to experience less than optimal services from Nigerian internet service providers. c. Challenges Resulting from Legislation A key component of Sabunta’s strategy is offering a wide range of international brands in Nigeria, using stock held by sister companies around the world. Research and studies of Nigerian importation laws suggested that importation of fashion stock into Nigeria would be relatively easy. This left the company vulnerable to the shock it received when the first set of drop-shipment was seized at the airport by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS). The NCS claimed that the goods contained items that were contraband in Nigeria. Sabunta responded by removing such items from their offerings fragrance and perfumes.. Notwithstanding its response, Sabunta continues to face ever present threats associated with bans on importation of fashion related items including textile, leather, clothing, and shoes. Nigerian history reveals frequent policy changes and inconsistencies with regard importation of goods into the country, long identified as a major cause of failure of businesses in Nigeria. Another challenge faced by Sabunta from the Nigerian legislation is the restriction placed by the CBN on the sale of Foreign Exchange to companies and individual except for special purposes like the importation and exportation of goods and services and also the payment of services abroad. This meant that Sabunta had to buy foreign exchange at a higher price in the black market to settle all its international staff’s salary and other payments which were denominated in US dollars.(Official rate is 1$=159Naira as against the black market rate of 1$=163Naira). d. Challenges Resulting from Corrupt Practices. Despite the absence of contraband, Sabunta’s management continue to experience delays in the release of their consignment by Nigerian Customs officials. Further inquiry revealed that the logistic company they employed (FEDEX) to handle importation of their goods did not have a good relationship with the Customs officials due to the company’s implemented policy of not offering bribes as is the order of the day. Sabunta’s management continue to experience and consequently to remain alert to the constant threat of fraudulent and corrupt practices that plaque business in Nigeria. The company continues to face the challenge of local business partners who try to cut corners and deliver less. Prior to partnering with FEDEX, a Nigerian courier company was chosen and partnered with for local delivery. Similar to FEDEX’s collection and remission of cash, the courier company collected payment from customers on delivery. However, the company frequently fell short of its obligations in terms of timing and amount of cash remitted. The courier company also failed to report accurate figures collected from customers, and till date, owe Sabunta over 40% of payments collected. Sabunta was quick to recognize this problem and swiftly partnered with FEDEX for its logistics services. Nevertheless, other sources of corrupt practices persist especially from small independent service providers. This is particularly so with artisan related services such as plumbing, equipment repairs and office maintenance, and are frequent sources of lost funds or delayed services to Sabunta. 8. SABUNTA’S FUTURE: THE MERGER Plans are currently being made for a merger with Kasuwa, Rocket Internet’s other company in Nigeria, also launched in June 2012, to form Jumia. The merger is expected to result in the biggest e-commerce retailer in Nigeria a one-stop shop for all products related to fashion and electronic items. The new website, Jumia.com, will offer a wider variety of international brands, using strategies currently employed by Sabunta. Jumia is intended to provide benefits associated with scale such as discounts and bargaining power (in relation to suppliers), while addressing current challenges faced by both companies. They include: a. Staffing: The merger is expected to reduce the number of required staff. This will result in the reduction of salary expenses and will result in the need for fewer international staff. In other words, international staff who have acclimatized to Nigeria from both companies may continue to provide required services to Jumia without the need to recruit and retain new staff. b. Office Space: The merger is expected to result in shared office space at a cost smaller than the combined cost of Sabunta and Kasuwa’s current office cost. c. Fueling and Power: Similar to the effect on office space, the merger is expected to result in fueling and power costs that will be smaller than the combined current cost of both companies current fueling and power needs. d. Internet Connectivity: More than just reduction in costs, the merger is expected to result in Jumia’s ability to purchase larger bandwith sizes directly from internet providers in South Africa, Europe, and North America. This will address the unreliability of internet connectivity currently faced by Sabunta and Kasuwa. e. Repair and Maintenance: It is expected that the larger Jumia will be able to partner with large and reliable providers of office and equipment repairs thus eliminating small service providers who have corrupt or unreliable practices. 9. RECOMMENDATIONS 11Doing a proper market research and analysis When entering a foreign market, it is recommended that a firm carry out proper market research and analysis on that market prior to entry. Top on the list is an environmental analysis that needs to be taken also. There are uncontrollable forces which are external forces upon which the management has no direct control, and it can exert an influence. There are also Internal forces which are controllable forces upon which the management to adapt to. 12Form Strategic Alliances When entering a foreign market, it is recommended that a firm forge strategic alliance to enable them get the following * Great synergy with the partnering local company. * Opportunity to access assets that are not readily available in the market. * Access to larger market and technology for small companies. 11 Jusuf Zekiri and Biljana Angelova, Factors that Influence Entry Mode Choice in Foreign Markets, European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 22, Number 4 (2011), http://www.eurojournals.com/EJSS_22_4_12.pdf, accesses August 2012. 12 Mihaela Belu, Strategies of Entering New Markets, The Romanian Economic Journal, http://www.rejournal.eu/Portals/0/Arhiva/JE%2027/JE%2027%20-%20Belu%20Caragin.pdf, accessed August 2012. Appendix 1 Mobile Money In NigeriaMobile money as the name implies is the transfer of monetary value from one person’s mobile phone to another. It has been made waves and affected commerce greatly in certain parts of eastern Africa where it was launched in 2009. In Nigeria, the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria), granted license to 11 mobile money operators in 2011. The CBN rolled out the Mobile money campaign in Lagos State, Nigeria commercial nerve center in January 2012, and planned launching it around the federation by 2013.The CBN also put in place some incentives for using the Mobile money services, by placing charges for Bank cash transactions above 500,000 for individuals and 1million naira for companies.| Appendix 2 Economics of Lagos StateLagos State is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Located in the western part of Nigeria, it is home to over 18million people and has over 2,000 industries. 65% of the countrys commercial activities are carried out in the state. Two of the nations largest seaports -Apapa and Tin-Can Ports are located in Lagos State.| Appendix 3 Income Distribution of the Nigeria Population in 2010 Nigeria Population in 2010-156,051,000 (Source: International Monetary Fund 2011 World Economic Outlook) This report shows the distribution for seven groups within the Nigerian Population in 2010. Percentage of population in income bracket of 0-500 PPP Dollars –55.68% Percentage of population in income bracket of 500-1000 PPP Dollars-28.22% Percentage of population in income bracket of 1000-2500 PPP Dollars- 14.61% Percentage of population in income bracket of 2500-5000 PPP Dollars- 1.17% Percentage of population in income bracket of 5000-10000 PPP Dollars- 0.17% Percentage of population in income bracket of 10000-20000 PPP Dollars- 0.05% Percentage of population in income bracket of 20000+ PPP Dollars- 0.1% Source-Marketline analysis based on information from National Statistical Organization