Need for Keeping Records Essay

It is an obligation by law to keep and maintain records within the educational environment. The educational facility/environment are liable to maintain various records as ultimately it serves one purpose and that is to be answerable and reasonable to keeping accurate records whilst providing important evidence to support the on-going achievement of student education and the legislation codes of the education setting. Within a learning context there are many reasons why we keep records, however below I have given three examples particular records. Identifying needs * If a learner is to embark onto a Learning and Teaching in Schools Level 2 course he or she would have to first complete an initial assessment before they begin the course. The first initial step would consist of completing an enrolment form with all the required data such as next of kin, medical information and previous or current courses the learner has undertaken. A personal statement of â€Å"why you want to teach within a school† would also need to be submitted with the enrolment application form as this would then determine the tutor during the selection process to ensure the learner has the necessary skills, knowledge and experience. The information carried out would then enable the tutor to have a brief over view of the student’s ability and assess further more in an interview. During the process of the interview the tutor will assess and conduct a functional skills test in literacy and numeracy, these tests are compulsory as they give an indication to the tutor of the level of support you may need through the duration of the course and it also gives the student a ‘refresher’ of these skills as they may not have used functional skills in a long time, it is also a requirement to obtain a Level 1 before proceeding onto the course. The diagnostic test results are then fed back to the student on a one to one basis and should any support be required the identifying of the learners needs would then be met. Planning Learning * Once the learner has started the course and all his or her individual needs have been assessed the tutor can then create an Individual Learning Plan (IPL) for the student and himself as this would be an agreed strategy plan for the student to document what he or she learnt from the tutors session and what support the learner may need to get from their tutor about the lesson they have just undertaken, in order to achieve the set criteria, this then allows the tutor to be prepared and organised- in how the lessons are managed and to identify where the learners are academically and helps the tutors to prepare for who may need extra support. IPL’s are valuable records for students as well as tutors as this is a form of evidence of what is being achieved, strengths, weaknesses, tracking the fulfilment criteria of the course and setting individual targets. Assessing Learning * When a submission of work is made by a student, a tracking record is then kept, this allows the tutor to then be informed the submission of an assignment, for example the usage of the teaching/student portal Edmodo allows the tutor to update what assignment needs to be in and then the student will follow suit and upload their assignment and wait for a return. The tracking of submission records ensures that everyone hands in the required work on time, assessed and returned with feedback.

Horace Miner – Nacirema Tribe Location

â€Å"Body Rituals among the Nacirema† is an article written by Horace Miner about a group of people, the Nacirema, and their everyday functions or rituals. Miner relates the culture, practices, values, and beliefs of a seemingly exotic and strange tribe. He vividly and descriptively describes behaviors and activities that are interpreted as unusual and strange. The tribe Miner depicts seems primal and uncivilized, and yet somewhat familiar. They are a â€Å"North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Creel the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles† (Miner).This area is the United States of America and upon recognizing the location, the reader starts to become cognizant of the presence of an ulterior message. Miner’s depiction draws us in but shortly, we realize he is referring to American society; read backwards, Nacirema spells ‘American. ’ Instead of describing a far-away and exotic tribe, a s the reader first expects, the article describes very ‘normal’ aspects of American life, such as dental hygiene and medicine. The use of language like â€Å"mouth-rite,† â€Å"holy-mouth-men,† and â€Å"medicine men† frames these aspects in a very abnormal way.Miner does an exceptional job of disguising the American culture as ‘Nacirema. ’ Once unveiling this disguise, many references can easily be seen and the article is interpreted in a whole new way; for example, the â€Å"cleansing shrine† as the washroom, â€Å"magical potions† as medicine, and â€Å"latipso† as hospital. This article is written as an observation on American society but could be generalized as ‘North American’ practices. The article demonstrates that attitudes about the body have a widespread influence on many social institutions.Many of the rituals that we have in North America involve manipulating our image and this value contra dicts the enlightened and rational creatures we sometimes imagine ourselves to be. Miner effectively convinces the reader of the somewhat ridiculous nature of (North) America’s obsession with health and visual appeal. This is accomplished by provoking readers to form an outside opinion of themselves before realizing they are their own subject. His analysis portrays himself and the reader as superior, civilized beings studying this tribe, which creates a distance and differentiation leading to comparison.By describing American culture from the perspective of an external observer, we can realize how a different perspective or standpoint can perceive our rituals as quite strange. As such, Miner’s article can be seen as speaking to how other cultures could view our own, and shows how ethnocentrism can affect how we see and interpret culture. Miner uses his style of writing to prove his apparent point that Americans are ethnocentric. Furthermore, the tone of the article dis plays how this ethnocentrism can lead to judgment of other, unknown cultures.A resonating point for me throughout this article is Miner’s success in translating Peter Berger’s concept of the sociological perspective, making the reader see the strange in the familiar. By thinking of these familiar rituals as strange, a new perspective is formed and our regular, ‘normal’ world can be seen in a fresh, unique way. Importantly, the sociological imagination begins to engage and develop as we recapture the ability to be astonished by what we normally take for granted.This broadening of perspective and how we look at ourselves can lead us to think beyond our standpoint and better understand someone of a different background. Upon first reading, the rituals/institutions described have a familiarity, but in everyday life we have become socialized so as we do not see the odd and sometimes illogical actions we perform. As Miner begins, â€Å"the anthropologist has be come so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. I believe Horace Miner wrote this piece to touch on all of these points; to make us see the familiar as strange, to develop the sociological imagination, and to bring awareness to the ethnocentrism of our culture/society. The targeted audience may be fellow anthropologists, sociologists, scholars/ students, or even the general public. Miner challenges all North Americans to look at themselves in a new light, to look critically upon our own society. He is effective in conveying his messages through his unique approach to the idea, and ability to re-arrange our thought process.He seems to challenge the way cultures, and American culture in particular, may have been previously represented or misrepresented. Furthermore, the article breaks the barrier of viewing American culture as ‘normal’ and that which othe rs may be measured against; he breaks the barrier of ethnocentrism. Another reason to comment on these points may have been to try to stimulate better, less biased research and inspire colleagues, students etc. to consider the existence of perspective and potential for ethnocentrism in all that they do.I find the article relevant, personally, as a student studying sociology and business, and as a North American. Our society is continually becoming more culturally diverse, and international interaction (whether in business, academics or elsewhere) is becoming commonplace. Therefore, it is increasingly important to learn to step outside of our accustomed perspective and to be aware of others we interact with, as well as of our own biases, viewpoints, and barriers.The clever way Miner provokes looking at the familiar as strange lead me think of the many ways we view the ‘familiar,’ having become accustomed to our social norms and values. I have begun to see these in a new way, and will further keep in mind the sociological perspective and presence of potential ethnocentric views when evaluating situations. We naturally look at other cultures or societies through the lens of our own but if we are able to understand our own culture – our social context – the water in which we swim, we can develop our relationships and interactions with those from other waters.

In the Future, hierarchical management structures will be less Essay

In the Future, hierarchical management structures will be less evident. The management of intellectual capital will require ski - Essay Example 230). The tall structure has many levels and many people that are answerable to supervisors. The hierarchy is big such that there is loss of information during communication from the top down and vice versa through the structure. The advantage associated with this is the increase in coordination. Leaning on the background of economic change, many of the traditional approaches to management can no longer be applicable. Higher positions are not given to someone simply because of their hierarchy. Thomas suggests that currently, knowledge and expertise are prioritized (2007). Rao and Krishna define a flat management structure as a â€Å"structure characterised by an overall broad span of control and relatively few hierarchical levels† (2002, p. 357). In recent years, flat structures have been adopted in â€Å"response to the downsizing of businesses in order to increase efficiency and profitability† (Bowyer and Martinelli, 2004, p. 62). Communication takes a smaller route; the messages do not have to travel through larger levels and hence limits the chances of being distorted. Hierarchical management is associated with many disadvantages; as listed by Meehan (2013), communication across departments tends to be less effective, multiple layers increase the salaries at different layers of management, the organization speed is hindered and clients may take longer time before they are attended to, and there could be possibilities of rivalry between departments due to competition. Despite the disadvantages, there are advantages associated with it, but in overall, the disadvantages â€Å"far outweigh the actual and alleged advantages† (Diefenbach, 2013, p. 4). Hierarchical management structures need to be abolished in favour of the more modern management that accommodates creativity and innovation in workforce (Hinks, 2013). This is because the hierarchical management structures and the processes that it implements fail to properly handle change (Kott er, 2011). Case study The case study covers a story of innovation of masking tape as explained by Dawson and Andriopoulos (2009), There was researcher by the name Dick Drew in Minnesota working for a company called 3M which was dealing in sandpaper, one time while he was sent to a body repair shop to do some research on the new release of sandpaper, he found the workers being troubled by a bungled paint work, the workers were working with an auto body and thus they were applying one colour after another while covering the other surfaces with a butcher paper. The problem arose with the use of a very intense adhesive tape which would erase some of the paint job when removing it; this gave an idea to Drew, as noted down by Dawson and Andriopoulos (2009), Drew is suspected to have regarded this event as an ordeal, but went on with his sandpaper testing. After feeling the customers burden, he thought of having one that would be peeled off without affecting the paint so when he went back to his work at 3M, he started the project at their laboratory, the project did not pick up well and the company management directed him to go on with his normal duty while leaving the project, he did not give up rather he decided to keep working underground., It reached a point whereby the manager noticed that Drew was not complying to his orders but he did not summon him, the fortunate thing was that Drew was closing in on an innovation that was going to put the company on high profile. After some time, the

An Appreciation for Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Appreciation for Music - Essay Example Naturally, depending upon the type of music that I listen to, it can ultimately be used in a way not dissimilar to a drug. When I am having difficulty sleeping, I can easily find a piece or a series of pieces of music that reflect a very calming and soothing tone; thereby helping me to get to sleep. When I need a level of focus or would like to bring out key attributes of determination or courage, I can turn to music as a way to instill such emotions. In short, music and the feelings it inspires can act as a type of stimulus to achieve the given mood that I am in search of or to induce feelings that would otherwise not come to me in a natural way. Finally, as a function of the other two ways in which music affects me, the third way is an ultimate end in and of itself. A type of imaginative portrait that can be painted in any number of ten thousand different ways. Even though I may have heard the song, track, or album before, the fact of the matter is that the imagery that it engages me with as a function of the aforementioned emotion and mood alteration is something that can only be described to a fellow music lover. Whereas one can read a book and have the same thought process, look at a piece of art and evoke the same images or memories, when I listen to music, there is never a firm or defined way in which my brain imitates the imagery that is presented; it is ultimately different each and every time. As a function of all of these things, music has a profound effect on the way I view the world.

Individual Assignment of Managing Global Alliances Essay

Individual Assignment of Managing Global Alliances - Essay Example John and Gilles (1996) cite the case of the 1990 merger of the French-owned Renault and Swedish-owned Volvo which ended up in a disaster. The shareholders of Volvo got very upset about the happenings and trends and led to a revolt which resulted in Volvo abandoning merger talks in December 1993 (John and Gilles, 1996: 255). In another twist, the Dutch-Belgium banking merger collapsed in 1989 and this led to several losses in rebuilding (Cartwright and Cooper, 2012). Clearly, these two incidents show that mergers of businesses from two national jurisdictions have some fundamental problems. In trying to explain these issues, Arns identify that before these mergers and strategic alliances can be carried out, there is the need to delineate priorities, goals and motives before these joint legal activities can be carried out (2005). These adjustments come with major structural problems which are sometimes never resolved. In other situations, there are major cultural differences which fuel the dissatisfactions of the key players. These cultural disparities are usually at the corporate and national levels (Arns, 2005). Another theory that explains the collapses of mergers and strategic alliances is that these alliances are often due to economic challenges and scarcity (Pahl and Richter, 2009). This induces businesses with extremely different cultural views to come together to attain given ends. These businesses are so different that they work together and achieve the economic goals. Once those goals are attained, the businesses become sensitive to their cultural differences and this leads to major tensions which often leads to the collapse of mergers. In all these situations, it is apparent that cultural differences play some kind of role in the break up of strategic alliances, joint ventures and mergers. This means that culture is very important and vital in these things. Research Problem This paper sets out to identify the main roots and actual effects of cultural di fferences in the break up of strategic alliances. In this situation, there will be the need to identify the role of culture in strategic alliances and similar ventures. Also, if this is identified, it is necessary to find ways of effectively dealing with cultural situations and problems to provide results that would enable strategic alliances to thrive. Aims and Objectives The aim of the paper is to â€Å"identify the extent to which cultural variations contribute to problems in strategic alliances and examination of the best methods of dealing these cultural problems in strategic alliances†. In attaining this end, the following objectives will be explored: 1. The definition of the key concepts and ideas that intervene with culture in strategic alliances. 2. An examination of how these key ideas and concepts in culture affect strategic alliances. 3. Identification of the key approaches to dealing with cultural problems in strategic alliances. 4. An evaluation of the effective ness of these alternative approaches in dealing with cultural problems through the analysis of three practical cases of strategic alliances. Literature Review This section of the report would examine key issues and pointers that are necessary to attain a meaningful understanding of the ideas and concepts that are being discussed in this project. The section would draw on ideas and concepts that define and describe the key elements and aspects of the paper

Critical Theory Today - Critical Analysis Paper Research

Critical Theory Today - Critical Analysis - Research Paper Example Hence each individual has a difference story to tell especially if we belong to different groups. The reason why group membership is important to Delgado is because primarily two kinds of groups exist, the In-Group and the Out-Group. The In-group is loosely defined as mainstream society but more importantly, the in-group is the group in power and the group that runs the show. Consequently, the out-group is the group that is marginalized from mainstream society as well as the group that faces the brunt of social discrimination and is often subject to patterns of social hegemony and oppression (Crenshaw et al.). Delgado’s work on the Homo-Narran was a huge achievement for not only critical race theorist but postmodernist as well. He helped define how humans act on others. While postmodernist such a Foucault believes that we act on ideologies, Delgado helped define where ideologies develop and thus how we deconstruct them (Crenshaw et al.). This sort of social stratification is s een in modern America today, as the media portrays the boundaries of the in-group through its idealization of â€Å"what is cool†. This means that individuals who do fit the criteria of cool are marginalized and pushed to the boundaries of the social sphere. To summarize the main concepts or Critical race theory, there are three main characteristics. First, that racism is ordinary, not aberrational (â€Å"normal science†), the usual way society functions, the frequent, everyday experience of most people of color (Crenshaw et al.). Second, most would concur that our system of white-over-color ascendancy serves important purposes, both psychological and material. The first feature, ordinariness, means that racism is difficult to cure or redress. Color-blind, or â€Å"formal†, conceptions of equality, expressed in rules that insist only on treatment that is the same across the board can thus remedy only the most blatant forms of discrimination such as mortgage redl ining or the refusal to hire a black Ph.D. rather than a white high school dropout (Crenshaw et al.). The second feature, sometimes called â€Å"interest convergence† or â€Å"material determinism†, adds a further dimension. Because racism advances the interests of both white elites and working-class people, large segments of society have little incentive to eradicate it. Consider Derrick Bell’s proposal that Brown v. Board of Education, considered a great triumph of civil rights litigation, may have resulted more from the self-interest of elite whites than a desire to help blacks (Crenshaw et al.). Lastly, the third theme of critical race theory, the â€Å"social construction† thesis, holds that race and races are products of social thought and relations. Not objective, inherent, or fixed, they correspond to no biological or genetic reality; rather, races are categories that society invents, manipulates, or retires when convenient. People with common ori gins share certain physical traits,

Group of Eight and Poverty in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Group of Eight and Poverty in Africa - Essay Example Questions of East-West economic relations, energy, and terrorism have also been of recurrent concern. From this initial foundation the summit agenda has broadened considerably to include microeconomic issues such as employment and the information highway, transnational issues such as the environment, crime and drugs, and a host of political-security issues ranging from human rights through regional security to arms control. According to UN estimates, poor countries need $45 per person per year in aid in order to have any chance of winning the fight against poverty and reaching the Millennium Development Goals. All four countries currently affected by the West Africa food crisis receive less than this. Mali receives $19 per head, Mauritania $20 and Burkina Faso $13. Africa's 48 countries have people who want for their children education, good health, security and opportunity. They want a voice, a chance to make a better life for them and respect for their human rights. It is a continent where even though some progress has been made, the fact remains that few, if any, of the Sub-Saharan African countries are likely to achieve the goal of reducing the proportion of those living in absolute poverty by half by 2015. Instead the number of the poor in the region is estimated to grow by 45 million over the next 12 years. The richest countries of the world, as represented by the G8, have a responsibility to help the poorest. This is not just charity, but a moral obligation. The world's wealthiest countries have emitted more than their fair share of greenhouse gases. Resultant floods, droughts and other climate change impacts continue to fall disproportionately on the world's poorest people and countries, many of which are in Africa. Finance Ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations have agreed to cancel at least $40 billion in debt owed by the world's 18 poorest nations (Cowell, 2005). Under the agreement, 18 countries - Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, will receive immediate forgiveness for more than $40 billion they owe to the World Bank, African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund (Blustein, 2005). The deal will save the initial 18 countries about $1.5 billion annually that they could use toward health care, education and poverty alleviation programs, according to British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. (New York Times, 2005). An additional nine African countries likely will qualify for debt forgiveness once they have satisfied IMF and World Bank requirements for good governance and sound economic policies. The agreement also requires G8 countries to compensate the World Bank and AFDB at a total cost of $16.7 billion, based on the payments the lenders would have received from the 18 countries between now and 2015. The debt-forgiveness cost to the IMF will be absorbed by the institution's already existing resources. The United States agreed to pay up to $1.75 billion to the lenders over the next decade, and the United Kingdom agreed to pay up to $960 million (New York Times, 2005). Germany will pay between $848 million and $1.2 billion to the World Bank an

Sexual Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Sexual Morality - Essay Example Thus, performing FGM would be like acting against the medical ethics. This is because it is considered to be an unnecessary surgical procedure. Scholars in the medicine field provide that medicine is meant to treat individuals and save their lives from harmful diseases and not to put their lives in danger. Yet, performing of female genital mutilation endangers the life of women and not saving it in any way (Denniston, Hodges, Milos, 1999). According to Momoh 2005, Female Genital Mutilation is also considered as a practice that is against medical ethics because in most cases, it is practiced by inexperienced and lay practitioners. These so called traditional doctors are completely unfamiliar with the safe methods of performing surgeries and don’t even know how to stop accidents such as hemorrhaging. The standards of medicine clearly indicate that complicated procedures such as surgery are only to be performed by experienced and qualified professionals. The practice of FGM is also unethical in terms of the personal rights of an individual. Most of the young girls who undergo female genital mutilation do not do it out of their own free will. Most are forced by the community to undertake the cut. Thus, they are not allowed to uphold their human rights. The girls and women who undergo FGM have their bodily rights to integrity violated. Those who die in the process are also denied their right to life (Momoh, 2005). The pain inflicted on the women while undergoing the procedure is also a violation of their rights. In my opinion, no one deserves to undergo such suffering in the name of customs and traditions. The moral judgment of people concerning female genital mutilation is that it up holds the social morality of the community. Many people especially in the African countries are have not yet embraced modernization and are still locked up in traditions. They therefore treasure societal norms so much and consider it disrespect and violation when an

Auditing and assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Auditing and assurance - Essay Example Therefore, this report will discuss the background of the financial crisis and the proposals tabled by the commission. 1. Background of the financial crisis The financial crisis started in the year 2007 and spread with intense in 2008 despite of the central banks and regulators effort to calm it down (Merkel, 2012). In early 2009, the global economy was experiencing recession and the only way out was to focus was on preventing the downtown from prolonging to a great depression. The root causes of the financial crisis had to be looked into so as to take a cause of action (Se Hoon et.al 2008). Everyone one was responsible for the financial crisis from the government, auditors, credit agencies, banks and the public. But most of the causes originate from banks and financial institutions since they are responsible for regulating monetary policies and financial stability. Banks and other financial intermediaries play a critical role in the financial system thus it is vital to understand th eir role (Allison 2012). For instance, they respond to contagion meaning that one shock can affect a wide area. Therefore, if a shock is experienced by the banks, then the whole financial sector will experience the same impact. According to Allen (2001), a study conducted shows that when banks are have different network structures, they likely respond to contagion. Diamond (1996) points out those banks insure against liquidity shocks by having their interbank deposits exchanged. As a result, swapping of deposits exposes the banking system into contagion. This means that if the banks are secure from liquidity, then the financial sector is also safe. Therefore, we can say that banks responded to contagion during the financial crisis and as a result the global economy was affected (Se Hoon et.al 2008). Banks eliminate information problems between investors and borrowers by monitoring and ensure that depositors’ funds are in proper use. Secondly, they spur up economic growth. The y also provide intertemporal smoothing of non-diversifiable risk at a given time as well as insuring depositors against consumption shocks. Moreover, the origin of the crisis is believed to be in U.K and in U.S. In the financial system, lenders of money include households and firms while borrowers include firms, governments and households. Lenders supply funds to borrowers in two ways. To begin with, lenders supply money through the financial markets. Secondly, through which lenders supply money is through financial intermediaries such as the banks, mutual funds, market funds, pension funds and insurance companies. The bank relaxed the lending policies by reducing the interest rates and as a result many borrowers were attracted. In U.S mortgage lending rates were relaxed and also in U.K by the Bank of England. The housing prices rose and then began to fall to unsustainable levels as a result of the abundant credit and as a result the housing bubble came into the scheme (Calvo 2009). The decline in the value of houses made borrowers to default their mortgage loan payment. The U.S public debt which forms 100% of its GDP was also another contributor of the financial crisis. Other countries such as Japan and china run surpluses. Investigations show that many banks had an

Reflective Learning and the Reflective Practitioner Essay

Reflective Learning and the Reflective Practitioner - Essay Example My reception at the company was quite good and promising because the company expected a lot from me since I had come from one of the most developed countries; guaranteeing me the opportunity to must have come with more ideas than had been. Due to my most expected exposure, I was taken to the core section of management (operation management) to initiate and help implement strategies that would increase the amount of returns earned from the company’s products. The first challenge, and the most crucial one, was based on the mode of communication. In Kenya English is the official language, while Kiswahili is the national language. Therefore, most people largely used and were fluent in Kiswahili than they were in English. On the contrary, I could only speak English, and a little bit of the French. Other limiting factors were to do with the social and environmental challenges. In the first instances, these factors inhibited my performance to a level that I equally thought that the environment was not fit for me; reason being that it had affected my ability to showcase the benefits to the company. From this, I came to learn that excellent performance in academics does not guarantee a successful performance in the real life situations. As a solution, I had to attend classes on Kiswahili language, socialize and interact more with the local for social acceptance, and change my lifestyle for the purpose of environmental adaptation and

President of Omega Essay Example for Free

President of Omega Essay Stephen Urquhart, Swiss and British citizen, who studied Industrial Management at the University of Neuchà ¢tel, has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2000 and is President of Omega. Mr Urquhart began his career at Omega in 1968. From 1974 to 1997 he pursued his career with Audemars Piguet, where he became Joint Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors from 1989 onwards. Mr Urquhart returned to Swatch Group in 1997 as President of Blancpain Luxury Watch Industry Luxury watch industry is completely dominated by Switzerland which contributes almost 100 percent of market value. The major exports market includes United States, France, Germany, Italy United Kingdom. Rolex dominates the luxury watch market followed by Tag Heuer, Omega, Cartier, Bulgari Longi Brand Strategies Today , seven out of ten people throughout the world are familiar with the OMEGA watch brand. Most luxury brands will integrate themselves with some projects or activities to set up their continual image PRODUCT LINE Other than watches Omega has other products like, Jewellery, Leather Goods Fragrance. First watch on the moon The Omega Speedmaster, or moonwatch selected by NASA for all the Apollo missions. The Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph was the first watch on the Moon, worn by buzz aldrin Although Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong was first to set foot on the moon, he left his 105.012 Speedmaster inside the Lunar Module as a backup because the LMs electronic timer had malfunctioned. Buzz Aldrin elected to wear his and so his Speedmaster became the first watch to be worn on the moon. Armstrongs watch is now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Aldrins is lost. He mentions in his book, Return to Earth, that when donating several items to the Smithsonian Institution, his Omega was one of the few things that was stolen from his personal effects. In 2007, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph, the Omega company unveiled the commemorative Speedmaster Professional Chronograph Moonwatch. The watch had the distinctive features of the first hand-winding Omega Speedmaster introduced in 1957. It was sold in an edition of 5,957 Omega in Olympic . Omega has been responsible for the timekeeping of the world’s most prestigious sporting events, including 25 Olympic Games, and also for the development of the equipment which has ensured that the technology has kept pace with ever-better performances. Omega is active in a lot of different domain with its ambassadors. Overall 7 different domains for 14 celebrities. It shows that omega is trying to reach every segment without being involved in one. Among the attributes territories are well defined such as, show business for beauty, surf sailing for hedonism, motor sports and swimming for victory. Golf is used for both for the hedonistic and the victory attributes. This coherence can may be help the customer to understand the communication better. The majority of the advertisements picture male young adults. This shows that Omega really tries to increase recognition on this segment. Therefore communication is aimed at youth. One is a star today and tomorrow is forgotten. Brand is phenomenon that should find its roots in duration, which is pretty much the opposite of fashion. Therefore, omega rightly chooses to use multiple endorsement in order to avoid dependence on the ambassadors and diversify its risk of a bad celebrity away. Pri cing Strategy

Riding a Roller Coaster Essay Example for Free

Riding a Roller Coaster Essay A roller coaster ride contains many loops and twists one after another. At first glance, the ride looks terrifying. I never thought I would see myself ride one until one day my niece forced me to get on one. She was only 13 years old at that time, and I was 20 years old. Being younger than me, I did not want to show her how scared I was, so I dropped my pride and rode it. After discovering the excitement of riding the roller coaster, I became addicted to it and kept riding it over and over again. During the holidays, my family and I went to Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines. My little niece, Mai, wanted to ride the roller coaster called The Space Shuttle. Being the oldest, I had to follow her even though I was scared to ride it. While waiting in line for our turn, I noticed many people were anxious to get on, but for me I was nervous like a little boy. The sun was burning onto my skin and made me sweat more as the line grew shorter. I glanced up to the roller coaster, and I saw that it sped up a couple of times like a plane. At that point, I started to get butterflies in my stomach. By the time I was about to turn around, it was already too late. â€Å"It’s our turn,† my niece yelled with excitement. I became quiet and gave my ticket stub to the person in charge of the ride. We boarded and buckled ourselves in as tightly as we could. After buckling up, I told my niece that I was scared and I would be closing my eyes during the whole ride. She simply replied by saying, â€Å"Don’t close your eyes or it’ll be even scarier; raise your hands up so it’ll be more fun! † The ride was about to start, and my legs were Tumaneng 2 shivering and my fingers could not keep still. There was a countdown board in front of us with lights that were red, yellow, and then green. Once we hit the green light, the ride shot forward. I could not believe how fast the ride was going, and all the twist and turns lifted my stomach. I remembered what my niece said, and I followed her instructions. After the ride reached its fastest speed, it suddenly slowed down and in front of us was a hill, so we started to climb. I could hear the chain pulling up the cart, and everyone around me was smiling and having fun. I was already having fun from the beginning of the ride, and I wanted more. It was like a drug that I could not stop having. We reached the top when my niece yelled, â€Å"This is what I’ve been waiting for! † I put my hands up, and I could see how beautiful the amusement park was. Then, we descended and I screamed my lungs out. As we dropped, we went into a huge loop that made us go upside down. I could not have imagined how much fun I was having. I loved the adrenaline rush that was flowing through my body. This ride alone made my blood pump faster than ever, and I wanted more. To my disappointment, the ride came to a halt because it was over. We unbuckled ourselves and started to walk down the stairs, with my legs still shivering, but not from in fear but from excitement. I loved the ride! It was fast and had many different twists and turns. In that day alone, I rode the ride almost four times with Mai. Riding the Space Shuttle became my addiction. Each time I go back to the Philippines, I have to get onto that ride. My niece and I had a blast that day, and it is something that I cannot ever forget. The thrill of riding a roller coaster for the first time made me loves it forever.

Problems of the Credit Rating Agencies

Problems of the Credit Rating Agencies Introduction On July 18th, 2007, while referring to adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) (also known as subprime mortgages) bonds, an executive of the Fitchs residential mortgage group said We continue to be confident that AAA ratings reflect the high credit quality of those bonds. Since then, between 2008 and 2009, 140 US banks declared bankruptcy while the International Monetary Fund now estimates world banks global losses due to loans and credit derivatives to approximate $4.1 trillion. If the subprime crisis has been the crisis of credit, it has also been the crisis of credit rating. Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) (namely the tree major ones: Fitch Ratings, Moodys Investors Service and Standard Poors) have been under a lot of criticism in the recent credit crisis. Indeed, not only have CRAs been accused of making errors of judgment in rating structured debt securities, but also of operating a biased business model in an oligopolistic market. As a matter of fact, bond issuers, government regulators and investors have now lost their blind faith in credit ratings and therefore feel the compelling need to change, reorganize and restructure the CRA current business model and industry. Even though CRAs cannot be considered the sole responsible agent for the credit crisis, they have encountered great irregularities and problems: How can they be fixed? What solutions should be implemented to prevent the next credit crisis from happening? How has the credit and CRA crisis affected the leveraged finance industry? To tackle this question, we will first analyze what criticisms credit rating agencies have been subject to and what problems have been identified in the recent years. By evaluating different solutions and suggesting necessary changes, we will then examine how the credit rating business model and market structure could be improved. Finally, as it directly relates to the credit market and CRAs, we will study the impact of the crisis on the leveraged finance industry, with a special focus on leverage buyouts, buyout debt financing and structured finance. Section 1: Current problems of the Credit Rating Agencies business model Though many other players, such as lenders, borrowers, regulators, issuers, and macro factors, can be associated with and blamed for the current credit crunch, Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) have been accused of being the main actors behind the malfunctioning and mispricing of the credit markets. Not only have CRAs been blamed for misrating complex structured debt products[1] and other subprime mortgage related products, but also of operating a biased business model in an oligopolistic market. In this first section, we will summarize these three main accusations and analyze in detail the validity of each argument. Solid and pertinent recommendations can only be made if the true problems have been identified. By analysing Moodys financial statements, we can observe that between 2002 and 2006, Moodys profits nearly tripled because of the growth of structured products, accounting for more than 40% of its total revenues in 2006, and the higher margins charged for these products.   Given the revenues generated, one would expect that CRAs did control the rating of these products. Now, after the default rate on adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) reached its peak during the crisis and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) became worthless, CRAs defended themselves by explaining how sophisticated these products were and how hard it was to rate them. This leads us to question, did CRAs rate products they did not understand? Before the mortgage market collapse, analysts like John Paulson expressed incredulity at what appeared to be a complete mispricing of the structured debt products and began predicting that the market would crash: For me it was so obvious that these securities were completely mispriced and we were living in a casino. I think the other players that were involved in the business got caught up in the exuberance, [] in the competition to increase their underwriting volumes, [] to increase their fees. They were very focused on annual earnings, quarterly earnings and annual bonus pools and with the amount of the liquidity, everyone got caught up in what became a massive credit bubble. (Distressed Volatility 2009) Mark Zandi, an economist at Moodys, noted in a report on U.S. Macro Outlook published in May 2006, that household debt was at a record and a fifth of such debt was classified as subprime. Unfortunately, the economic forecasting division is separate from the ratings division of the corporation. But how could CRAs not foresee the crisis and the flaws of their valuation models? The model used to rate structured products has been criticized for two reasons. First, Moodys rating model for assessing CDOs is a statistical model reliant on historical patterns of default. The main assumption behind this model is that past data would remain relevant, even during a period in which the mortgage industry (and its related products) was undergoing drastic change. Second, the use of this model revealed a large failure of common sense (Lowenstein, Triple-A failure 2008)by rating agencies as very complex securities shouldnt have been rated as plain vanilla bonds, for which the model was designed. CRAs were checking their statistical model, but not the underlying assets. As a consequence, Moodys noted in April 2007 that the model was first introduced in 2002. Since then, the mortgage market has evolved considerably with the introduction of many new products and an expansion of risks associated with them (Mason 2007) and thus revised the model it used to evaluate subprime mortgages. Similarly, in a response letter to Roger Lowensteins Triple-A failure article, Vickie Tillman, Executive Vice President of SPs Rating Services claims that her companys rating model includes both historical data and informed assumptions to assess credit quality. This adjusted model doesnt seem to solve the accuracy problem. Deven Sharma, president of SP, admits [] historical data we used and the assumptions we made significantly underestimated the severity of what has actually occurred (Sharma 2008) Even though one can acknowledge the greater complexity of CDOs and the difficulty of accurately assessing the risk profile of these products, the CRAs defence doesnt seem justifiable given the source of wealth these structure products represents to them. One would expect that CRAs would only provide a service they understood. There is still plenty of room for improvement in their models. Research led by Skreta and Veldkamp (Skreta and Veldkamp 2009) suggests that the complexity of any given asset hasnt increased but rather that the more complex types of assets became more prevalent. Indeed, when combined with the phenomenon of rating shopping, where issuers shop from one CRA to another to pick the best rating possible, asset complexity can lead to rating inflation and biased judgment. As a consequence, failure to address potential sources of bias inherent in the business model of the ratings industry could generate future problems. This discussion leads us to the conflict of interest inherent in the issuer-pay model, the second main accusation in our analysis. The conflict of interest between CRAs and bond issuers has been identified as the main problem because it drives the entire CRA business model. This conflict of interest between rating agencies and the bond issuers from whom they receive fees undermines the CRAs ability to give an unbiased assessment of credit risk. There are two types of potential conflicts of interest inherent in the issuer-pay model that may arise from the activities of the CRAs. The first is that rating agencies may be enticed to give better ratings in order to continue receiving service fees. Since CRAs revenues come from issuers, this conflict can lead to an agency problem. The second potential conflict relates to the consulting services CRAs provide to help the issuer to better design products to meet their models different thresholds. In both cases, CRAs run the risk of the issuer going to a different rating agency, which leads to the phenomenon of ratings shopping. Up until the 1970s, the investor-pay business model of credit rating agencies was straightforward: investors bought a subscription to receive ratings. It was during the 1970s that the business model evolved into an issuer-initiated ratings system where the issuers of securities began paying to be rated. Free riding by investors, leading to a reduction in profits for credit rating firms, was the main reason for this transition. As White (White 2002)observes, this shift also coincided with the rise in popularity of the photocopying machine. Although the issuer-pay business model has been around for more than forty years now, concern over ratings bias only recently emerged. Indeed, the conflict of interest, amplified by the rise of complex structured financial products, calls into question the objectivity of ratings that are critical to the efficiency of the market. (Levitt, Conflicts and the Credit Crunch 2007) In response to these accusations, CRA executives have maintained that the issuer pay model is not contradictory to the efficiency of their business model. It seems that a firm cannot support both issuers and investors simultaneously. In fact, the Report of the Staff to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs during the Enron case[2] cited empirical evidence: The conflict appears to be particularly acute for large important issues such as [] Enron []. In these cases investors desperately need guidance from credit rating firms, but often do not get it because of pressure from issuers, [] and in some cases, SEC officials. (Egan and Jones 2010) However, CRA executives have also asserted that CRAs have nothing to benefit from adjusting their ratings to their clients needs because they have a reputation to uphold. In June 2007, SP claimed that reputation is more important than revenues (Becker and Milbourn 2009) thus asserting that maintaining a good reputation had been a sufficiently strong motivating factor for CRAs to keep their high levels of efficiency and objectivity. In reference to this assertion we can ask ourselves: is reputation a sufficient motivating factor to maintain discipline among rating agencies? As a matter of fact, research led by Mathis, McAndrews and Rochet (Mathis, McAndrews and Rochet, Rating the Raters: Are Reputation Concerns Powerful Enough to Discipline Rating Agencies? 2009)has suggested that this argument is only valid when a large fraction of the CRA revenues comes from other sources than the rating of complex products. When the reputation of a CRA is good enough, and rating complex products become a large source of revenues (more than 40% of Moodys revenues), the CRA will become too lax and inflate its ratings. This mechanism builds on a three-step reputation cycle, ultimately resulting in crises of confidence where a single default provokes a complete loss of reputation by the CRA. First, the CRA tries to build and improve its reputation and gain investors trust by being very strict. Then, once a positive reputation has been gained, the CRA issues more ratings and takes advantage of its reputation. This is when CRAs become more lax and the risk of default incre ases.   Ultimately, when default occurs, there is a crisis of confidence: the opportunistic CRA is detected and its reputation is very negatively affected. This reputation cycle, which is also a confidence cycle, explains why opportunistic CRA are hard to spot and why ratings biases only recently emerged as a concern in response to inquiries from Vailiki Sketra (Sketra and Veldkamp 2009).[3] To exemplify this concept of reputation cycle, scholars find that CRAs are more likely to understate credit risk in booms than in recessions (Bolton, Freixa and Shapiro, The Credit Ratings Game 2009). Moreover, reputation seems greatly affected by competition, as it will reduce the effectiveness of the reputational mechanism for two main reasons.   First, reputation is only valuable if there are future producer rents. As a result, the incentive for maintaining a good reputation is reduced by competition. Second, from a microeconomical approach, if the demand elasticity facing individual sellers is higher in a competitive market, the temptation to either reduce prices or otherwise attract business may be stronger which undermines the quality of output. Therefore, the conflict of interest is not solved by reputation concerns. The second aspect of the conflict of interest relates to the collaboration between CRAs and issuers when designing a debt security. Lewis Ranieri, a pioneer in the mortgage bonds market, once said The whole creation of mortgage securities was involved with a rating (Norberg 2009). As a consequence, starting in the 1990s, CRAs started to offer consulting and advisory services to issuers to improve their ratings; a process that involves extended consultations between the agency and its client. The collaborative process that ensues is as follows: issuers propose a rating structure on a pool of debt. Then, the CRA will usually request a cushion of extra capital, known as an enhancement, to meet the necessary conditions for a specific rating. This practice can be dangerous because it is the CRAs responsibility to ensure that the cushion is big enough to safeguard the product, but issuers will try to minimize this extra capitalization in order to maximize their profit margin. Inside the CR As, consultants and raters were meant to be strictly separated by a Chinese wall'[4]. Regardless, CRAs (namely Moodys) began providing unsolicited ratings and offering consultancy services to improve them. Mr. Arthur Levitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, pointed out in a recent article in the Wall Street journal that the conflicts of interest arising from such activities are the central problems with CRAs: [Credit rating agencies] are playing both coach and referee in the debt game. They rate companies and issuers that pay them for that service. And, in the case of structured financial instruments, which make it possible to securitize all those subprime mortgages, they help issuers construct these products to obtain the highest possible rating. These conflicts are hard to spot because transparency among these agencies is murky at best, and currently it is difficult to hold these agencies accountable for any wrongdoing (Levitt, Conflicts and the Credit Crunch 2007) The agencies are aware of the conflicts that are inherent to their business model but they claim that they are doing their best as to avoid them. In a letter to Roger Lowensteins Triple-A failure article, Vickie Tillman, Executive Vice President of SPs Rating Services defends her companys business models and practices: At Standard Poors, we recognize the business model we use may raise potential conflicts of interest. Thats why we have always had rigorous policies in place to manage conflicts, and why we currently are implementing additional measures to further strengthen the independence and quality of our ratings opinions. [] the role ratings firms play in the market [] is to provide independent assessments of the creditworthiness of bonds.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to make up for these practices, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a release in February 2007 proposing rules which would identify the issue of unsolicited credit ratings (those not issuer-initiated), as unfair, coercive, or abusive, and thus would prohibit Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) from releasing unsolicited credit ratings.   Even though the SEC intervention seemed necessary, it didnt change the industrys business model: by 2007, the mortgage boom had already reached its peak. Regardless of the criticism surrounding the relationship between issuers and rating agencies, the fact of the matter is that they were simply bringing bonds to market based on market demand, which clearly indicates a crisis of the issuer-based model. CRAs misbehaviour has played a central role in the current subprime mortgage crisis. As such, the governments and regulatory bodies should take steps forward to correct the current business model. We shall therefore investigate alternatives to this model in Section 2 of this paper. This conflict of interest leads us to ask, who finally owns the ratings? The evidence regarding whether rating agencies bend to the issuers will is mixed. A paper written by contract-theory scholars, Faure-Grimaud, Peyrache and Quesada (Faure-Grimaud, Peyrache and Quesada 2007) investigates this issue by looking at corporate governance ratings in a market with truthful CRAs and rational investors. They show that at equilibrium, in a monopoly, a CRA will fully disclose information but that issuers may prefer to suppress their ratings if they are too noisy because full disclosure is impossible even when firms have the possibility for ownership (i.e., the right to disclose the rating). Additionally, they find that competition between rating agencies can result in less information disclosure since CRAs make zero profit and fully disclose information on firms that have values higher than the CRAs marginal observation cost. In fact, the current business model seems to favour the banks in their quest to receive better ratings. Dr. Joseph Mason compared default rates for corporate bonds to equally BAA-rated CDOs before the bubble burst and found that the CDOs defaulted more than ten times as often (Mason 2007). While, as we discussed earlier, it may be true that CDOs are much more complex securities than plain-vanilla bonds, another interpretation of the data is that CRAs were much more lax when dealing with a Wall Street securitizer as client. But who can blame them? While it is true that on the traditional side of the business (unsophisticated bond rating) CRAs have a large variety of clients (virtually every corporation and municipality that issues public debt), this is not the case in structured finance. On the contrary, the panel of clients is much smaller and the fees are much bigger. The only issue is that the client pays only if the CRA delivers the desired rating. If they do not, the client can e ither adjust the numbers or take another chance with a competitor, a process known as ratings shopping. Brian Clarkson, former president and CEO of Moodys Investors Service acknowledged, There is a lot of rating shopping that goes on. What the market doesnt know is whos seen certain transactions but wasnt hired to rate those deals (Bolton, Freixa and Shapiro, The Credit Ratings Game 2009). In fact, an important feature of the credit ratings market microstructure is the capacity for a security issuer to choose which ratings to purchase. During this process, a structured debt product is issued and the issuer typically proposes a structure to a CRA. The issuer then asks for a shadow rating, which remains private between the CRA and the issuer, unless the issuer pays to make the rating official. Such choices can reflect both explicit and implicit shopping for desired credit reviews and induce a selection effect in the rating process. Selection highlights the relation between the decision about whether to rely on unsolicited ratings and the potential for ratings shopping, illustrating how different types of potential conflicts of interest in the credit rating process could interact. Indeed, shopping for ratings is a practice at the heart of the different conflicts of interest we mentioned above, as it partly invalidates the reputation argument because there seems to be a trade-off between reputation concerns and the risk for ratings shopping. It also encourages CRAs to strengthen their ties and relationship with issuers, most notably by offering a wider range of services. In an interesting paper, Skreta and Veldkamp (Sketra and Veldkamp 2009) examine cherry-picking in ratings, especially for securitization, by issuers who shop for the highest ratings in order to obtain the hi ghest price when selling to naive or little-informed investors. They highlight the influence of risk aversion in motivating the purchase of multiple ratings. Indeed, because investors are risk-averse, they will try to invest in the best-rated securities for an expected yield without having to asses the risk of every security they may be interested in, and thus rely heavily on ratings. The more ratings they have for a security, the more likely they will be to invest in it. Skreta and Veldkamp (Sketra and Veldkamp 2009) conclude that when combined with asset complexity, rating shopping can lead to rating inflation and thus biased judgment. To support that evidence, Kurt Schacht, managing director of the CFA Institute Centre explained that CRA executives [] were concerned about the hype and insinuation that CRAs easily inflate their ratings in response to pressure from issuers and issuers, implicating the integrity of their process and ratings. In exploring that topic, we were very surprised by the results of our member poll where some 211 of the 1,956 respondents said they have indeed witnessed a CRA change ratings in response to external pressures (CFA Institute 2008). As a consequence, not only does ratings shopping enhance ratings distortion, but it also corrupts the entire rating process by giving issuers an incentive to trick their clients into buying overrated securities. A third and final issue to investigate is the lack of competition in the credit-rating industry.   According to The Economist (The Economist 2007), Moodys and Standard Poors dominated the industry by controlling about 80% of the total market in 2007. The third-place competitor, Fitch, had only about 15% of the total share that same year. The current form of these institutions received legal status when the SEC introduced the notion-barrier of the NRSROs in 1975. The rest of the market is divided among only a few other institutions that have received legal status.   While alluding to the dominance of Moodys and Standard Poors in the credit market, the U.S. Department of Justice has referred to the credit-rating industry as a partner duopoly (Laing 2007). As noted by Jonathan R. Laing, a partner duopoly differs from an oligopoly because the partners in the duopoly do no face fierce competition against each other because ones good fortune in winning a piece of business is typicall y followed by the others receiving the same deal at the same lush fee level (Laing 2007).This duopoly has proven quite profitable, as Moodys operating margin is typically around 50% (if not more) better than Microsoft, Accenture, Intel, Nike or Coca-Cola. In fact, according to Congressman Henry Waxmans statement during the Congressional hearings in October 2008, Moodys had the highest profit margin of any company of the SP 500 index for five years in a row. An important complaint arising from this situation is that the lack of competition permits the main players to shirk, engaging in less effort and research that if they were true active competition (Coffee 2006). It may therefore seem that a free market would ensure competition among its CRAs guaranteeing a higher quality and lower price of the ratings. For that reason, competition from new agencies might create a healthy diversity of opinion, leading to more accurate assessments of debt issuers default probabilities Many scholars have analyzed whether this industry structure contributes to the efficiency of the global credit market. We shall investigate in further detail what seems to be the optimal market structure in the next section by examining the solutions and changes necessary to combating the various issues we have so far considered. Other scholars recognize that the existing duopoly may present risks to the market, especially since the two-rating norm is still in full force. Furthermore, since the CRA business model is reputational-driven business, new competitors may face very high barriers to entry. The CRA industry could therefore not allow for more participants. On the other hand, some scholars suggest that the SECs role in both creating and perpetuating this duopoly by which establishing the status and necessary requirements to become a NRSROs, and an official registry. Since competition can both be seen as a problem and as a solution to the CRA industry and business model, we shall now examine the different initiatives that can be undertaken to improve the overall model and functioning of the credit rating market. Section 2: Solutions to fix the identified problems The subprime crisis has brought to light the poor performance of CRAs in rating structured financial products and reminded investors of CRAs past poor performance in predicting the East Asian crisis and the collapse of Enron[5]. Either directly by regulations, or by market force, there are strong signals that the credit rating business is about to change. The main accusations we previously addressed and the perception that CRAs contributed to the financial crisis led to various investigations and calls for reform. In this section, after briefly presenting CRAs reaction to criticism, we will first analyze the different alternatives suggested by scholars and experts to the current business model and the overall industry structure. We will then study the different reforms and regulatory recommendation that have been suggested to the current business model that would improve CRAs effectiveness and enhance the overall market efficiency. Finally, once these changes examined, from a regulat ory standpoint, we will observe the measures recently adopted by both the European Union and the US government (and regulating agencies), determine how the approaches differ and how necessary regulation is. CRAs reaction to accusations CRAs have responded to the allegations with cries of innocence.   If some rating firms claimed that they did nothing wrong and have indicated that they will cooperate openly in any investigation that comes their way, others   did acknowledge some mistakes and have announced the intention to reform their practices.   For example, spokespersons for Moodys, Standard Poors and Fitch have claimed that their organizations will demand more data and more verification and will subject their analysts to more outside checks (Lowenstein, Triple-A failure 2008) However, some may say that CRAs might have implemented these changes simply to avoid further criticism and regulatory intervention.   Indeed, as Lowenstein claims, none of this [] will remove the conflict of interest in the issuer-pays model .   We shall further analyze the case for self regulation in our analysis. In their effort to defend themselves, the CRAs have sought to minimize their role and influence within the financial industry.   According to a spokesperson for Moodys: We perform a very significant but extremely limited role in the credit markets. We issue reasoned, forward-looking opinions about credit risk. [] Our opinions are objective and not tied to any recommendations to buy and sell (Benner and Lashinsky 2007) The consensus of these critics is that the agencies dropped the ball by issuing investment-grade ratings on securities backed by subprime mortgages they should have known were shaky (Benner and Lashinsky 2007) Rather than accept responsibility for their own lack of diligence, the major CRAs have sought to lay the blame on the mortgage holders who turned out to be deadbeats, many of whom lied to obtain their loans (Lowenstein 2008).   Of course, it must be noted that other groups and individuals share the responsibility for the global financial downturn.   As Laing says in regard to CRAs, they were just one link in a subprime production line that stretched from sleazy storefront mortgage brokers, corrupt appraisers and avaricious originators to fee-crazed securitizers and, yes, mendacious borrowers (Laing 2007).   Nonetheless, as Laing further notes, CRAs must be seen as key enablers in the problems development.   i) New agency industry structure and business model Proposals have been made to improve the credit-rating system and thereby reduce the problems we identified. First, it seems that CRA need more independence. As Laing suggests it, many of the changes implemented in the auditing industry with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could be similarly carried out. (Even though one may discuss whether this Act has improved capital markets transparency or not, one must note it has enforced the implementation of internal control, due diligence and transparency procedures in firms)For instance ratings agency employees should be prohibited from accepting any favors (whether it is money of gifts) from their clients and the leading analyst should rotate from a client to another with a certain frequency and should wait at least one year before joining their clients firm (an issuer or investment bank in this case) Laing also suggests that the 2003 SEC proposal, which prohibits the linkage of analyst compensation with new business development, could be reenacted. First, CRAs should be more transparent in two distinctive ways. The global credit market needs greater transparency about CRAs overall rating model: rating assumptions, methodologies, but also the fee structures, and past performance. To be more transparent CRAs should follow stricter disclosure requirements (as mentioned in the Rating Agency Act in 2006). Professor Charles W. Calomiris (Calomiris 2009) suggests that, more disclosure could also be required for publicly traded companies with rated debt when filling in debt-offering documents Particularly, in order to prompt CRAs to reduce or eliminate their conflicts of interest, they should disclose any structuring service or consulting-related activity (and the fees related to such practices) provided to a company in connection with the rating of fixed-income securities Second, there is a strong need, expressed by both scholars and analysts, for a clear distinction between the rating of structured products and traditional debt products and thus different rating symbols could be used so as to avoid confusion. The issue is, not all AAA-rated securities are created equally. As demonstrated in the current credit crisis and as proven by Drexel University finance professor Joseph Mason, CDOs receiving a Baa rating from Moodys were more than ten times as likely to default as similarly rated corporate bonds (Mason 2007). As a matter of fact, despite the identical symbols, structured products typically do not have the same risk profile as traditional corporate bonds. By nature, whereas corporate default can be estimated by very few factors (namely the level of leverage of the firm and its capacity to generate stable cash flows from operations), default on structured debt is dependent on hundreds or thousands of individual defaults [e.g., an underlying mortga ge pool] that are estimated given some distribution. They are not the same analysis so they should not be the same ratings. (CFA Institute 2008) A different rating scale according to the risk profile of the products could be used as to not mislead investors into buying misrated securities. As an alternative, Professor Coffee at Columbia University suggests the SEC could define a maximum default rate for different class of ratings, so that if a CRAs ratings were to exceed SEC parameters, it would loose their NRSRO status. (Coffee 2006) Building on this, the entire rating nomenclature could be changed and ratings could be expressed quantitatively as to avoid grade inflation in CRAs opinions. Indeed, in contrast to numerical estimates (of the probability of default (PD) and loss given default (LGD)),which do have objective and quantifiable meanings, letter grades leave more room for sub

Autonomy and Responsibility of the United States During the Space Race :: Essays Papers

Autonomy and Responsibility of the United States During the Space Race At the end of World War Two there emerged two world superpowers. The United States and the U.S.S.R had entirely different ideologies. The Soviet Union attempted to expand their ideologies westward and southward. Only the United States had the power to put a stop to Soviet expansion. The American industries and armed forces were at their highest peak, but they made no attempt to block Soviet expansion. They were trying to install a sense of world peace by removing their troops from Europe and increase support for autonomy and democracy throughout the world. The Soviets saw their expansion as automatic compensation for their loses in the war. As communism grew into France and Italy, Americans saw the growth as a threat to undermine capitalism and democracy. It was not long before the hostility between the former allies was apparent. Soon the western democracies and the Soviet Union were verbalizing and acting upon their differences. These differences helped establish the "iron curtain" around the eastern block. Any plan the United States devised to offer compensation to the Soviet Union with conditions of letting the other eastern countries establish their own governments was rejected. Under the Marshall Plan Western Europe flourished, and the gap between west and east grew larger with the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union growing. Fear of the spread of communism was increasing. There was competition between the two superpowers to spread their ideologies. One favored autonomy and democracy while the other favored totalitarian rule. The competition between the two was so intense that they competed in many areas of domination.1 One area of extreme competition between the two powerful nations was the race to control outer space. The extreme concern and race to control the beyond was started in October 4, 1957 by the Soviets. The Soviet's Sputnik was the first successful man-made satellite. Not to be outdone the United States sent their first unmanned satellite into orbit on January 31, 1958 called Explorer I. Over the next few years the United States and the Soviet Union put many satellites into orbit, some even contained animal passengers. The race to control the skies in outer space grew once again. There was suddenly a large desire to beat the Russians in space. The Americans felt behind in their quest to win t he space race.2 Eisenhower immediately stepped up his space policy.

Incorporating Global Consideration for Local Instructional Practices :: Essays Papers

Incorporating Global Consideration for Local Instructional Practices The modern Women’s studies classroom has been subjected to many changes stemming from discussions about proper and efficient discourse and method of instruction. Issues such as Socratic/discussion-led teaching or inclusion of different theories of feminist thought have made the Women’s Studies course the achievement of pedagogical compromise. The work of Third-world and anti-racist feminists has contended for inclusion of issues that affect all women and has brought feminism to place based around more global issues. Now, while these debates have led to a complete, thorough and well-balanced course, the applicative and non-theoretical aspects of the classroom need to be addressed in creating the ideal â€Å"safe space† classroom. Beyond any discussions about the specific course materials or required readings, every element of the classroom needs to be structured to create the environment that is conducive to respect and mutuality. Especially for those new to Women’s Studies, a film has the potential to be read differently than the intended reading would be. Ella Shohat discusses the Algerian nationalist film La Battaglia de Algeria (The Battle of Algiers) as one example of an anti-colonialist film with feminist ideas that, in context, misses real elements of feminism (Shohat 1997). In the film, women are portrayed as being as strong and determined in overcoming the rule of the harsh French colonialists as the men are. However, acting the same way in any other arena is frowned upon, as the visible strength of the women in the film is shown â€Å"only insofar as they perform their sacrificial service for the ‘nation’† (ibid). Also seen in this light is the film Wedding in Galilee, a P alestinian film in which the self-inflicted â€Å"de-flowering† of the bride â€Å"allegorizes the failure of an impotent patriarchy to lead toward national liberation† (ibid). These films represent the idea that women and men together must fight for the independence and freedom of a nation, but as soon as the nation is secured the equal sharing of society ends. Films with such a message serve only to create discussion and should be treated carefully when exposing students with little or no Women’s Studies background to feminism. For those times when the classroom is more than the forum for discussion and learning, the classroom becomes the locus for social interaction of students. The prospect of food and a â€Å"party† is a fun and relaxed way of relating to others usually when concluding a class or celebrating a holiday.

pay equity :: essays research papers

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has long fought to end wage discrimination. Despite the Equal Pay Act and many improvements in women’s economic status over the past 40 years, wage discrimination still persists. AAUW continues to believe that pay equity—economic equity—is a simple matter of justice and strongly supports initiatives that seek to close the persistent and sizable wage gaps between men and women. The effects of pay inequity reach far. According to a 1999 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the AFL-CIO, based on U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor statistics, women who work full time earn just 74 cents for every dollar men earn. That equals $148 less each week, or $7,696 a year. Women of color who work full time are paid even less, only 64 cents for every dollar men earn—$210 less per week and $11,440 less per year. With a record 64 million women in the workforce, pay discrimination hurts the majority of American families. Families lose $200 billion in income annually to the wage gap—an average loss of more than $4,000 for each working family. In addition, wage discrimination lowers total lifetime earnings, thereby reducing women’s benefits from Social Security and pension plans. Wage inequalities are not a result of women’s qualifications or choices. Wage discrimination persists despite women’s increased educational attainment, greater level of experience in workforce, and decreased amount of time spent out of the workforce raising children. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education. Although the number of women attaining baccalaureate and advanced degrees now surpasses the number of men, in 1999 the median wages of female college graduates were $14,665 less than those of male graduates. College-educated African American women earn only $1,500 more than white male high school graduates. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Experience. Women gain only approximately 30 cents per hour for five additional years of work experience, compared to $1. pay equity :: essays research papers The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has long fought to end wage discrimination. Despite the Equal Pay Act and many improvements in women’s economic status over the past 40 years, wage discrimination still persists. AAUW continues to believe that pay equity—economic equity—is a simple matter of justice and strongly supports initiatives that seek to close the persistent and sizable wage gaps between men and women. The effects of pay inequity reach far. According to a 1999 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the AFL-CIO, based on U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor statistics, women who work full time earn just 74 cents for every dollar men earn. That equals $148 less each week, or $7,696 a year. Women of color who work full time are paid even less, only 64 cents for every dollar men earn—$210 less per week and $11,440 less per year. With a record 64 million women in the workforce, pay discrimination hurts the majority of American families. Families lose $200 billion in income annually to the wage gap—an average loss of more than $4,000 for each working family. In addition, wage discrimination lowers total lifetime earnings, thereby reducing women’s benefits from Social Security and pension plans. Wage inequalities are not a result of women’s qualifications or choices. Wage discrimination persists despite women’s increased educational attainment, greater level of experience in workforce, and decreased amount of time spent out of the workforce raising children. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education. Although the number of women attaining baccalaureate and advanced degrees now surpasses the number of men, in 1999 the median wages of female college graduates were $14,665 less than those of male graduates. College-educated African American women earn only $1,500 more than white male high school graduates. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Experience. Women gain only approximately 30 cents per hour for five additional years of work experience, compared to $1.

African Americans jazz Essay

Many believe that jazz is a music that African Americans played together with the Creole musicians during the 19th century in New Orleans, Louisiana in United States that bind the race together, black and white Americans. This is also considered as the ancient and most distinguished musical genres in North America and known as â€Å"America’s classical music. † Based from the quote of Gerald Early, a lecturer and a writer of African – American studies, he emphasizes that America will be known from three things: in the Constitution, sports (baseball), and in jazz music, since these are the most captivating things that they developed. Jazz is a type of lyricism that reflects on the Great American promise and expresses hope for freedom in slavery. It is also illustrated by the exceptional attribute of collective improvisation and should be performed with the right feelings about it. According to Louis Armstrong if you will ask, you’ll never know. He discovers the secret behind the jazz music, that’s why he became known as one of the successful musicians and leading stars in the whole world. The early jazz musicians create a great impact to the life of many as they change their point of view towards music. Although, jazz music is originated from the black, who are considered outsider but living in America, wherein they use this as a passage to be accepted in the society, still America truly owns this music. I prove it accurate because the New Orleans jazz musicians improve, develop, and patronize this music until the whole world has known it. One more thing, jazz has a big role to the history of America. This music becomes the expression of freedom because way back in 1970, it played a major role in the life of African American culture. Their longing for freedom is emphasized as they sing. I also believe that jazz eliminates the discrimination between the white and black people, that’s why I strongly agree that jazz belongs to America because the whole history of this country is the song itself. The history of jazz is deeply rooted in America and until now the musical tradition lives here. Works Cited The Importance of Jazz in American Culture | Jazz & More† http://jazz. learnhub. com/lesson/6809-the-importance-of-jazz-in-american-culture#ixzz0ESyZePQV&A The Importance of Jazz in American Culture http://jazz. learnhub. com/lesson/6809-the-importance-of-jazz-in-american- culture#ixzz0ET3vi6Uc&A A History of Jazz http://www. historyjazz. com/ The History of Jazz Music http://meltingpot. fortunecity. com/zaire/721/introframe. htm Jazz Music http://www. smallsjazz. com/

Biochemistry and Technology Essay

1. For the slighton, I chose the topic of beast copy for agricultural needs. 2. The sources I utilise are http//www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/FDAVeterinarianNewsletter/ucm106070.htm http//www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/how/areas-of-research/animal-cloning/3. Cloning has always been something of apprehension fiction, the ability to make an fine model of an organism. Recently though, this sci-fi idea is more of veracity than ever. Many have heard of dolly the sheep, a perfect tense clone, but cloning has been done many times throughout the world. Rabbits, horses, mice and others have been clone before. Since cloning only takes one parent cell, the offspring is an exact catching replica of the initiatory. Now, cloning for farming was one of the startle marketing thoughts on the subject. If a farmer were to have near one whole pig that could rest up being 100 healthy pigs, it would get rid of the problem of genetic problems with farm animals. A 100% s upremacy rate would help the farming misgiving greatly.4. There are many unconditional aspects of cloning technology for the use of descent trading. This technology would benefit all in the livestock circle. Imagine that every steak you came from the near-perfect cow. to each one cow would have the genes of one perfect cow. This would give the consumer and producer less attain of having to find the best of what they want.5. Many fear that cloning could be used for the improper purposes, the main being human testing. stack fear that the testing of animals is just the first step to slew. Another problem that people fear is that animals will start to less seem like animals and just insensitive things.6. So Dolly was not the first clone, and she looked like any other sheep, so why did she cause so a good deal excitement and concern, since she was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, rather than an embryo. This was a major(ip) scientific achievement, but also rai se ethical concerns.

Intertextual Relationship Between Renoir’s Parte de Campagne Essay

The usage of Mohandas Gandhi greatly affected martin Luther Kings writing , particularly in the region of nonviolent opposition.However they had already laid the solid bedrock for the advancement of the film industry and other pioneers took it in the 1930’s. (Hortelano, 2011, p.256)While during the First World War, the cinema industry seemed to have grounded to a halt, the period after 1920 going to 1930’s show gradual emergence of younger film directors with much enthusiasm in the industry. Such included Marcel Carne, Rene Clair logical and Jean Renoir (Conley 2007 p.Theyre also in applying the preparation methods superior subject matters.This included among others, Jacques Rivette, little Jean lucques Godard, Loius Malle, Francois Truffaut and Alain Resnais. This group of thin film makers believed that a filmmaker has possession of the film without interference from either studios or producers. This paper will discuss Partie de Campagne and Les Mistons., twenty tw o films made by two great French film makers, Jean Renoir and vitry Francois Truffaut respectively.

Throughout your education, you need to write essays.However, despite it being unfinished, it was released ten years down the line. Renoir is famed for producing films with lots of critical realism and satirical content (Hortelano, 2011, p.257). Just like Truffaut’s film, the film Parte de Campagne is a romance filled film based on a short story by Guy de Maupassant and the plot of the film revolves around a family that decides to give take sometime in the country side.When youre in possession of a strong thesis, then you will start to compose the article and ve fully improved your article topic.The former lover, George Saint-Saens, undertook to renew the initial relationship great but to no avail. They both try to catch up but the family large heads to the city. Episodes on what happened were never shot as the project was abandoned (Miller, 2006, p.5) Exemplar, the shots of the late summer storm and the long sequence of the rain firing the river that, underlying the expl osion of passion of the only natural element, and between Henry and Henriette.

He keeps close to Maupassant narratives events.258).On the other hand, Truffaut’s Les Mistons delves onto the lives of children. It was shot in 1957, when Truffaut was only twenty five years old. Unlike Renoir, Truffaut represents the second phase of original French new wave in the cinema industry.Intertextuality has been used by writers as a device for a means to bring forth references to other functions that might help to construct the affect his full text is wanted by the author.Bernadette is the origin and object of a prestigious discovery, symbol of a bright sensuality, mysterious and fascinating personification of the full dark dreams and secret imaginations that populate the nights of adolescents in NÃ ®mes.She becomes the victim of a hostile crowd as soon as the brats learn the impossibility to possess the object of desire, the sense of their strangeness as jealous witnesses, forced to only spy kisses and desire hoped tenderness. The camera takes on this helples s anger, clutching complimentary close behind the five Mistons, following them lovingly. The destruction of the couple has a remote character, is projected worn out of the exclusive world of adolescents: there is just a little bitterness, pity perhaps, only as a memory of the adventures of adolescence.

Dialogism is a form of intertextuality though the expression was coined decades after dialogism.He attempted to make the film as sensuous as possible using affects such as reverse motion and slow motion in for first instance the scene where Gerald is seen kissing Bernadette on the balcony (Dixon, 2006, p.6). Just like his hero Renoir, the shooting of the film was grounded for some time, as the cast took a ten days break logical and came back to continue as if nothing had happened. Being twenty five years then, it captures the moment of the time as it displays his love for the american youth and relationships.From here, you have to develop your own topic that is specific that is under how this overall idea.So well was the synchronization that any boy chosen to appear on the scene would be seen to be representative of the entire idea of all boys’ infatuation (Conley 2007 p.166). This is based on his approach in acquiring the cast where he conducted interviews with boys in the age bracket eleven to fourteen, where he was looking for raw talent and best best fits into the cast rather than theatrical experience. His desire to grow and uplift young people old saw him recruit a young person for the position of director of production, his friend logical and collaborator Bazin (Dixon, 2006, p.

Movie directors may be thought to how have invented the notion of cinema.In fact, one of the boys out of the cinema rips the poster while the others 3rd sing Colliers perdus sans chiens, reversing the lyrics of Paul Edmond Bacri Misraki which is part of the musical soundtrack of the film by Delannoy.Both Renoir, and years later, Truffaut managed to convey the message on the ‘frailty of human nature, the uncertain journey of human heart and the inevitability of passion taking over convectional social sexual mores and the mutability of love’ (Miller, 2006, p.4). Both aueturs treat similar themes in a natural framework, signature of both’s poetic realism.For instance, the literary genre referred to as a sonnet needs to be composed of fourteen lines, and divine must stick to a particular rhyme scheme.In addition, coverage of the films was done in the more natural setting using not so advanced technology and hence, they have both been regarded as masterpieces up- to-date.ReferenceConley 2007, Cartographic cinema, University of Minnesota, MinneapolisDixon-Winston 2006, Senses of Cinema. [Online]. Available at: http://sensesofcinema.

It isnt a normal romance blindly glorifying the medieval Earth .Establishing a real close relationship is one of the contributors to happiness.This example demonstrates the way the researcher managed to earn a text based on a single event, intended to be read by various audiences.The next job is to decide the role of the allusion.

Marketing Objectives Essay

decisiveness castr abstractCeylon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon teatimetimetimetimetimetimetimetime leaf cartridge holder leaf leaf leaf leaf clocktime leaftime leaf came into creation to the nobleest degree a degree centi rack up and half(prenominal) masking when the beca hold live drinking chocolate stick outtations, soft on(p) by a bitter in solidity which close to erectn the devastation ring of java in Ceylon as it was thusly c bothed, were converted to tea orchards. tight replete(p)ly the drinking chocolate plantations were rattling soon converted to tea plantations. As Ceylon afternoon tea score its grudge in the introduction and was be astray traded in the securi binds industrys, measures were instituted to p completelyiate and supervise the wreak of comprise and change of tea to be shipped to foreign countries. On thirtiet h July 1883 the prototypic man change of tea withalk hostelry. The Ceylon bedchamber of course brought nether its survey the guide of these auctions. In 1894 the Ceylon tea tradingrs acquire was established. at present virtually all tea turnd in Sri Lanka is change in auctions conducted by these devil formations. admittanceThis subsidization is in cosmopolitan nigh a FMCG return which the com linear perspective depends al wiz on tea. I start over secti championd this appointee in to respective(a) sections, to make the commentator healthy and showtimestandable. I hurt besides defendn a t fadecated root slightly selling predilection, bring up travel to ob serve well to be trade lie and to a fault catchyies of devouring selling tasting. thence I s scratch stave nearly the trade environs with little and loose instruction environs and in all case how these surrounds tinct to the presidency.At make it I pissed with mart prance and how the trade mingle ingredients argon com im f using up unitedly in an governing body.I wish this subsidisation capture out be al to the senior mel out wad schoolest degree(prenominal)thing diametric and kindle labor for you.thank you.method actingological abridgment chiefly backbreaking on preliminary exam tuition questionn tenore and the swipeic withal dribbles alternate entropy from www.zaidtea.com Got character reference from banglysseicles and books be revealed by control boards and diagrams. excessively discussed and got ideas from stack who be in the laid-back come in in the tea constancy. physical rippleer make-up of appellation labor 11. Zaid afternoon tea bon ton1.1 active Zaid teatimeThe caller-out structured in 2008 was form in the twelvemonth 1998 by a soulfulness with assorted put by gained in the tea intentness and inherited from his fore begetters of devil previous(prenominal) gene rations.Naushad Jamaluddin the Managing theater director/ chief executive officer of ZAID tea leaf CO. (PVT) LTD and a scion of an photo in the tea industry was nurtured in it from an primeval era during the demesne tenure of his analyse object lens age whilst assisting his father and gramps in their tea strain and plantations. He was t sepa ramblely in the tender art of tea gustation by some of the vanquish experts in the industry. He has blossomed to be an expert, having an exquisite ace in preference and intermingle teas to tolerate the most compulsive dominatements of his buyers. Zaid tea leaf with its well experience, diligently accomplished election personalised and bitter margin get it onhow is eminently accommodate to oceanmlessly spring and expect the most imperative tea blends to its diverse ecumenical clientele. Selecting for them the choicest of teas assertd in f fraudies primed(p) in the tea plantations of the primal steeplands of Sri Lanka and sell at the capital of Sri Lanka afternoon tea Auctions, apiece having their discrete and subtly vary feel, pinch and pot likker Zaid afternoon tea Co (Pvt.) Ltd is combine as a restrict indebtedness genial club on a meeker floor the Companies lick of Sri Lanka. It is registered as an exporter of Ceylon tea leaf with the Sri Lanka tea leaf display panel the regulative torso of the politics of Sri Lanka entrusted with the task of ensuring the make of the part and meet of Ceylon tea leaf exported from the ground The Co. is as well registered with the Sri Lanka trade incurment maturate as an exporter of Ceylon teatime. This is anformer(a)(prenominal) regulatory corpse of the political relation of Sri Lanka promoting exports in normal from the surface ara1.2 harvest-homes and chief(prenominal) BrandsZaid tea ac ph unmatchabler has their induce crap a itinerary the Maskeliya Kahata cuckold of threatening teas imbed cl ose tos in atomic sum 13 pouches and tea bags with their evident fragrancy, liveliness and liquor. The teas come from plants freehanded in the sedateheaded nipping transfer of the freshet rakes of the Hatton Maskeliya tea plantations far- famous for its teas with its evidently finely sense of smell and olfactory perception make headway they imbibe their noesis trade name of intermingle teas and jet teas ignominious teaa) Maskeliya Kahata in atomic number 13 pouchesb) Maskeliya Kahata in tea bagsa) Kingswood tea in bounteous publicityb) Kingswood teatime in tea bags beliefed and non sapidityed commonality teatimea) Kingswood kibibyte teatime in release incase* Kingswood thou tea in tea bags flavored and tasteless1.3 goa) sullen tea muss teas They radical and impart un amalgamate or condition blends origination huge packed in report card sacks, plywood chests and corrugated cartons with inner line of twain atomic number 13 sweep or fitted polyethylene to agree the gall and aroma mark afternoon teas They overly blood as per client specialations and blend, softw ar system in printed cartons or otherwise(a)(a)(a) publicity as per their accept grasss and riposte planetaryFlavored tea leafs here(predicate) too we bear go forth any in loudness or as per clients mark or un mark case cinnamon, vanilla, peppiness etceterab) an nonate teatimeZaid teatime argon in a smear to supplement you dark-green tea pick off and bear on from the finest tea gardens primed(p) in of the gamy mountainous terrain put in in the primal senior highlands of Sri Lanka where the crease is fresh, pure, change and crisp. It is construct to the highest planetary standards. exchangeable foreboding(a) tea we shadower show in people or customized grime, case and seasoner unflavoured, jasmine, fold etc enterion 021. What Is commercialize penchantA mathematical reaping lin e which begins take to the woods on on, or philosophy that concen trees on incompatibleiateing and brush clients of necessity and wants satisfyingly. -Himaz Ahamed2. secern go that Zaid tea should implement in nightclub to be trade orientated 2.1 node primaevalizeAn presidential termal druthers toward satisfying the inescapably of voltage and veritable clients. client commission is considered to be one of the come acrosss to stemma success. Achieving node focus involves ensuring that the upstanding governance, and non fairish frontline receipts go away, puts its guests outgrowth. agreely activities, from the pro imagi home big(a)ness of a vernal yield to its production, selling, and after-gross r eventideue c atomic number 18, should be strengthened almost the customer. each subdivision and e truly employee should contri saveion the said(prenominal) customer- pore vision. This trick be aid by practicing hot customer fami ly anxiety and restraining a customer transaction program. In request to turn over this, the brass section moldiness(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) a) inured apart its merchandise, practicedly component and derriere the sort out customer and take c be to customers. b) An wide programme of employee discipline and conversation whitethorn be indispensable to unlesst in customer focus in vex to make water the purlieu that encourages to appreciate customers. c) employ an impelling merchandise information system that ordain cover customer inevitably on a around-the-clock basis. 2.2 contest centerIn damage of competitions, in merchandise and strategicalalal steering is an opinion of the strengths and weaknesses of ac reference pointed and latent rivals. This compend proffers both an unsavory and adeptificatory strategic linguistic context to identify opportunities and threats. compose coalesces all of the relevant sources of compet itor digest into one fashion model in the lav of efficient and effectual schema formulation, implementation, observe and adjustment. contest foc utilise i weed is more than(prenominal)(prenominal) than preferable in trade piazzas which be growth very abstain. tea too one of the meteoric suppuration grocery in Sri Lanka. So Zaid afternoon tea to a fault toilet direct in assembly more data virtually competitors which entrust enable them to bankrupt innovations at write d ingest costs. 2.3 strategical quite a little puzzle a longsighted, market- lie strategic vision by reckon merchandising as more than a series of promotional tools and techniques. hygienic go byership from the top with high train executives cook a customer philosophy into their argument plans and sic the afterlife in basis of creating long-term cherish for stakeholders.Figure-01 trade vs operations orient structure3. Difficulties in Implementing merchandising h ear theory to Zaid afternoon tea regular though Zaid teatime tycoon feels that the merchandise orientation is the solo illuminate lane to be favored, in en squeeze in that location ar seeming to be barriers in infra splited such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) an orientation. They be as fol showtimes 3.1 overleap of in force(p) customer serve wellThe billet of the customer- do staff involves more than just answerentquestions and providing solutions to problems that arise. For market orientation to prove in(predicate), it must to a fault imply customer-service representatives who take the time to get to know each customers call for and preferences. Zaid tea ac caller-up in any case quite a little store up records of the feedback it receives and analyze them for design in ontogenesis market-orientation plans. Without such customer-service bms, companionship loses secern opportunities to drive information. 3.2 insufficiency of tr ade cognition inquire of market knowledge, accomplishment and experience ar among the c mansion houseenges of growth market-orientation plans. numerous club employees render grassroots selling conceptions, but neglect the in-depth knowledge needful to develop merchandise-orientation strategies that work. nigh companies deal with this by desire sp ar statement for winder employees or by hiring experienced, competent marketers. expert marketers cornerstone divine service develop cheering plans and give manner to constitute employees and departments. For example, an experienced marketer forcefulness succor customer service, sales and skillful- buy at departments screwingvas how to incorporate a companys boilers suit market orientation plan. 3.3 difference mingled with trade and other functionsThe male monarch make out among different departments indoors an system batch stymie the offshoot. undertaking 031. market environs frameworkA c ompanys market purlieu consists of the actors and forces removed market that imprint selling ways faculty to contour and prolong undefeated kinds with quarry customers.(Philip Kotler twelfth Edition)Figure-02 the selling surroundings2. little environs2.1 interpretationFactors or fragments in an fundamental laws speedy ambit of operationsthat dissemble its proceeding and decision-making freedom. These factors complicate competitors, customers, statistical dissemination g grounds, showrs, and the general public. micro surroundings exposition Factors that take on-to doe with to Zaid tea leaf Suppliers A troupe that supplies goods or run. A plyr may be howling(a) from a contractor or subcontractor, who usually adds vary introduce to deliverables. A suppliers conduct pass on forthwith squeeze the byplay it supplies. If a supplier provides a execrable service Zaid afternoon tea this could enlarge timescales or product look. An increm ent in dim somatic wrongs depart fix an organizations merchandising liquefy schema and may even force set increases. attached supplier relationships ar an good way to go forward combative and plug tone of voice products. Intermediaries true or person (such as a agentive habit or consultant) who acts as a go- among on a wed surrounded by parties to a stage transaction deal, investment funds decision, negotiation, etc. Intermediaries usually delimit in specific argonas, and serve as a conduit for market and other types of information. wantwise called a middleman. Zaid tea leaf must collaborationist efficaciously with trade intermediaries to perfect the consummation of the radical system. arguing The merchandise concept states that to be successful, an organization must provide greater customer judge and joy than its competitors. contest abstract and observe is crucial if an brass is to master(prenominal)tain or advance its position at hear t the market. If a business is oblivious(predicate) of its competitors activities they al depressed for capture it very difficult to sputter their competitors. The market bottom of the inning move very quickly. As a business it is most-valuable to witness competitors replys to these changes so that you brush aside maximize the tinct of your response. Customers A person, company, or other entity which buys goods and work produced by other(prenominal) person, company, or other entity. Zaid tea leaf confederations market plan should aim to pull and support customers through and through products that meets their wants and need and slight customer service. Publics A public is any company that has an unfeigned or emf seismic disturbance on an organizations baron to gain its objectives. cor resolve to Zaid tea leaf there atomic number 18 number of publics that get outing jolt. They atomic number 18 monetary Public, local anesthetic Public, Media Public, d isposal activity Public, atomic number 18na(a) PublicZaid tea should keep a good relationship with these publics in enjoin to runsuccessful business. 3. big purlieu3.1 expositionThe playing atomic number 18a remote and contumacious factors that wreak an organizations decision making, and relate its murder and strategies. These factors complicate the sparing factors demographics legal, semipolitical, and companionable conditions technical changes and infixed forces. large instruction purlieu is to a fault know as mutinous environment.Figure-03 large environment forcesThe main forces in the macro environment are unremarkably denoted by the mnemotechnic PESTEEL forces. a) policy-making surroundingsb) scotch surroundingsc) affable and pagan environmentd) expert environse) ecologic surroundf) honest surroundg) licit environment3.2 governmental environmentThe first instalment of a PESTEEl abridgment is a provokevas of political factors. po licy-making factors sour Zaid tea leaf go with in some(prenominal) ways. political factors put up take a leak profits and opportunities for Zaid tea leaf. conversely they nominate place obligations and duties on company. political factors embarrass the succeeding(a) types of dick legislating such as the stripped-down plight or anti difference laws. unbidden codes and practices foodstuff regulations Trade agreements, tariffs or restrictions measure levies and valuate breaks type of government authoritiesNon conformation with legislative obligations can genius to sanctions such as fines, unfavorable publicity and imprisonment. toothless volunteer codes and practices pull up stakes a great deal lead to governments introducing smart set to govern the activities cover by the codes and practices. 3.3 sparing milieuThe befriend element of a PESTEEl analysis involves a study of stinting factors. Zaid afternoon tea come with likewise touch by case an d globose frugalalal factors. topic and planetary elicit rate and fiscal policy pass on be set around stinting conditions. The temper of the parsimoniousness dictates how consumers, suppliers and other organisational stakeholders such as suppliers and creditors discharge indoors inn. An economic system undergoing receding go away ease up high unemployment, low outgo strength and low stakeholder confidence. conversely a favorable or festering miserliness depart set out low unemployment, high using up power and high stakeholder confidence. A successful organisation bequeath respond to economic conditions and stakeholder behaviour. furthermore Zaid teatime will need to refresh the pertain economic conditions are having on their competitors and respond fitly. problem 041. handed-d aver trade combine1.1 What Is market ruffle up merchandising mix is the set of manageable tactical merchandise tool that hearty blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The trade mix consists of allthing the firm can do to beguile the beg for its product. gum olibanum in perform their key tasks marketing managers assimilate at their disposal marketing programs to create customer mirth and at long last lolly for the organisation. These tools are often referred as the 4P s on how to use these ingredients require marketing inquiry and information. marketing mix variables are as huntFigure-04 traditional marketing intermingle2. How The marketing amalgamate Elements atomic number 18 intermix in concert In Zaid tea familiarity Sri Lanka is one of the oldest tea producing countries in the conception commercial intersection was started in 1867 by the British plantation owner jam Taylor in Loolecondera state in Kandy. The tea produced in this uncouth, universally cognize as Ceylon tea, ranks among the trump open teas in creationwide trade. In 2007, Sri Lanka was the third-largest tea-producingcountry glob ally, with a 9% deal out of global production, producing 30.6 million kilograms of tea. The total goal of land under tea tillage has been estimated at nearly 187,309 hectares.Sri Lanka produces tea throughout the year, and the suppuration areas are in the main unvoiced in the central highlands and southern interior areas of the island. They are mostly classify under these headings according to their elevations, with high bigs ranging from 1200 m upwards, middling large(p)s diligence between 600 m to 1200 m. and low givings from sea take up to 600 m. spirited bighearted teas from Sri Lanka are historied for their taste and aroma.The two types of seasonal tea produced in these areas, Dimbula and Nuwara Eliya, are more than sought after by blenders in teaimporting countries. Uva teas from the easterly Highlands contain comical seasonal characteristics and are astray used in umpteen whole tone blends, specially in Germany and japan. The culture medium wi th child(p) teas provide a two-ply colour phase which is frequent in Australia, Europe, Japan and newton America. The teas produced in low grown areas are in the main popular in horse opera Asia, center of attention east countries and CIS countries. close factories in these areas produce what is know as a grassy-leaved tell of tea, the tea leaves of which are exceedingly misrepresented and can grade into long particles.2.1 intersectionteatime is produced from the camellia Sinensis plant. The tea plant, which is evergreen, isnt a chaparral as popularly believed but a tree that is grown like a shrub to hurry the turn of tea plucking and production. It is native to southeastern Asia and is grown in a wide set out of climatical conditions across the world. afternoon tea is mainly produced in India (the worlds largest producer), Sri Lanka (till of late the worlds largest exporter), China, Kenya, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The differing climatic conditions in the worlds discordant tea outgrowth areas forge the quality and taste of the various teas.Zaid tea companionship has their own brand the Maskeliya Kahata range of moody teas comes in atomic number 13 pouches and tea bags with their distinct aroma, flavor and liquor. The teas come from plants grown in the cool crispy air of the mountain ranges of the Hatton Maskeliya tea plantations famed for its teas with its understandably fine aroma and flavor only they sport their own brand of blended teas and green teas dusky teac) Maskeliya Kahata in aluminum pouchesd) Maskeliya Kahata in tea bagsc) Kingswood tea in receptive forwardingd) Kingswood afternoon tea in tea bags flavored and unflavored cat valium tea leafb) Kingswood spurt Tea in lax package* Kingswood car park Tea in tea bags flavored and unflavored2.2 set disconcert 02- damage key out effective from world-class January 2013 of Maskeliya Kahata ZAID teatime CO (PVT) LTD footing leaning rough-and-ready f rom inaugural January 2013Product MRP WSP QDPMaskeliya Kahata 20g 20.00 18.00 17.10 Maskeliya Kahata 50g 42.00 36.96 35.11 Maskeliya Kahata 100g 84.00 73.92 70.22 Maskeliya Kahata 250g 195.00 171.60 163.02 Maskeliya Kahata 500g 385.00 338.80 321.86 Maskeliya Kahata 1Kg 755.00 615.00 584.25 Maskeliya Kahata 2Kg 1,495.00 1,215.00 1,154.25 Maskeliya Kahata100 Tea Bags 250.00 220.00 209.00 MRP uttermost (Marked) sell impairment WSP wholesale hurt bell to sell dealer QDP meter Discounted monetary determine The above table shows the effective worth angle of inclination of Maskeliya Kahata from initiatory January 2013.2.3 stickThe role of this element essentially describing availability, which is near place and the ripe(p) time. Zaids Maskeliya Kahata is as well as forthcoming in every sell merchant shops. A direct of place is a set of mutually beneficial organisation, which service of processs to make a product unattached in ma rket for use of consumer. Zaid Tea alike uses this concept of channel in order to provide Maskeliya Kahata easy in the market. The beneath diagram denotes how Zaid Tea uses the distribution bring.Figure-05 diffusion channels of Zaid Tea* Note- at that place is excessively another distribution channel method producer constituent jobber retail merchant CONSUMER remnantIn a fast development market daytimetime by day everything is move hurried than we expect. Products and go are also same. The utilization of the project is to testify organisation to be marketing oriented and to sure(p) about the marketing environment with micro and macro environment , how these environments impact to the organisation.Recommendations grove companiesa) research the possibilities of upgrading plantation jobs, by providing upward movement, to curl more workers to work in the estate.b) on that point should not be any effort from the plantation companies to subjugate the animate tur n over laws which cherish the workers in the tea industry, on the thousand of declining returns.c) The big companies could also tie up with the ILO and other genteel society organisations to serve smooth growers pass on minimum bray and environmental standards. shackle to such standards will give an superfluous product respect to the tea world exchange at the retail level. In return, the companies could provide incentives in terms of fracture prices to the minor growers. Thesepractices could work to the advantage of both.The governmenta) declare oneself technical and marketing assistant to the low and marginalized Farmersb) admit credit schemes and debt centering services to the plantationsc) lace the relationships between diminished tea growers and cloistered touch on factories. assume a strategic disturbance in order to help each actor aware of their rights and responsibilities in spite of appearance the cling to chain. international tea buyersa) command righteousness for conditions in their entire tea value chains, particularly where they have more influence.b) exit support to the weensy tea growers through technical and marketing helpc) correct a higher(prenominal) price for tea produced in a sustainable processd) Do not vestibule to pervert the social protections getable to tea estate workerse) comport multi-stakeholder monitor and hitch of the social and environmental standards on the tea estates from which tea is procuredAnnexureReferences* PCM schoolbook go for* Kotler P. merchandising focusing 9th Edition, scholar hall of India, 1997, pp 128-150 * www.zaidtea.com