Decision on the New System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decision on the New System - Essay Example Specifically, HRMS encompass payroll, work time, administration of benefits, HR management system which covers the course from the employees' application to retirement, recruiting, and training. In consideration of how this new system will be installed in the business organization, it is imperative that it consider the cost and benefits of developing in-house versus outsourcing. In order to do so, we will look at the processes that the company will need to undertake in each alternative. For a decision to outsource, the company will simply search for a reliable company in the market which can supply it with an already existing system. The demand for HRMS has already generated manufacturers which gained expertise in building this system. In recognition of the differing needs of companies, these manufacturers also offer customizable systems to suit the preferences of their clients. Thus, it is possible for the company to find a supplier which will make possible the design of an HRMS which is specifically tailored for its needs. Haag and Cummings outline the major processes of software development within a company which include: project planning; feasibility study, and initiation stage; recruitments gathering and systems analysis; systems design; building; testing; installation, implementation or deployment; and maintenance.

Canon Business Analysis Essay Example for Free

Canon Business Analysis Essay In 1925, a German camera maker named Oskar Barnack, developed a new, ground-breaking camera called the Leica. It was not until 1933 that a company responded to the success of Barnack’s creation and produced their own 35 millimeter version of his innovative design. Thus was born the Canon Company. By the 1950’s, Canon attained the title of leading producer of cameras in Japan. Since that time, Canon has made it a point to expand and diversify their company as much as possible. They are able to accomplish this primarily through a strong Research and Development program. Through this program, Canon has explored many different technologies such as home electronics and x-ray technology. One of the first product areas they explored was in the electronic calculator segment. Due to the complex nature of the technology, Canon’s engineers were forced to adapt and develop the intricate micro-electric processors that were being used. They were very successful in doing this. In late 1964, one year after their research started, Canon engineers presented top management with the finished product, the Canola 130. This product became the world’s first 10-key numeric pad calculator. However, Canon has not always succeeded in their endeavors. With every triumph comes a failure. One such instance was a printing device that utilized magnetic material that would coat the paper. They called this the Synchroreader. Although it was touted for its use of technology, the application, it was not patented. Another company took the design, improved it, and made it more affordable. Canon learned its lesson after that instance. Body In 1961, a new technology was developed by the Xerox Corporation. In the following years, with the success of their model 914 office copier, Xerox would enjoy a reported ninety three percent market share world wide. Xerox also had the advantage in that they held approximately five hundred patents. This tactic prevented other companies from intruding on their Plain Paper Copier (PPC) technology. Canon entered the market late in the 1960’s and was looked at with a skeptical eye. They were the â€Å"camera company from Japan† (Mintzberg, et al 2003, p. 75) and were not looked at as serious contenders in the photocopy market. Due to the PPC market being cornered by Xerox and their numerous patents, Canon instead moved into the Coated Paper Copying (CPC) market. This technology transfers the reflection of the original image directly to the special zinc oxide coated paper. This is in direct contrast from the PPC technology which uses regular paper and indirectly transfers the image using a rotating drum and charged particles. A similar technology is still being used in fax and photocopiers today. In 1962, while still in the inferior Coated Paper Copying and marketing under a separate name, the Top Management of Canon challenged their engineers to create a PPC process that would not infringe upon the patents held by Xerox. The engineers answered with the â€Å"New Process† in 1968 and became the first copier to carry the Canon name. Two years later the research came to fruition when the NP1100 was released in Japan. This model utilized dry toner and copied at a whopping rate of ten pages per minute. This, of course, is slow by today’s standards. Canon had finally broken into the PPC market. Riding on the success of this new technology, Canon released the NPL7 in 1972, marketing it exclusively to Japanese companies. This model contained several noticeable improvements over the first generation NP1100. Most notably is that the model was â€Å"More economical, more compact, more reliable,† while still keeping the same quality of copy. (Mintzberg, et al 2003, p. 77) Canon’s Top Management began looking for alternative markets for the Plain Paper Copier in the latter half of the 1970’s. The small office market was identified as Canon’s next target market. They devised a plan to accommodate this market by producing a photocopier, using PPC technology, and offering it to small businesses that did not require the large volume, high speed machines that were currently being offered on the market. The concept itself had the potential to change the market by decentralizing the office photocopier. Prior to this innovation, the photocopier in large offices were centralized to one corner of the office, primarily due to its mammoth size. In 1979, Canon’s concept became a resounding reality. They were able to produce a photocopier that not only met and exceeded the cost and reliability targets that were set by Top Management, but in a more practical application, it was able to reduce the need for constant and continual copier maintenance. Based upon previous experience with patent law, Canon employed the use those laws to protect their new found development. Through the years, Canon has demonstrated several core competencies that have enabled them to propel themselves to the top of the market. First and foremost, Canon has employed a pool of extremely talented engineers who made up Canon’s Research and Development team. Through their research, Canon was able to uncover new and innovative products. This varied product line, which included cameras, calculators, and photocopiers, demonstrates Canon’s diversified product line. This diverse line of merchandise is integral to the company’s survival and has enabled Canon to take a multifaceted approach to technological competition. The more diverse type of products that are offered, the more chances there are for success. This has not always worked out in Canon’s favor however. An example of this would be in the development of the synchroreader. Although the technology was much more advanced than what was on the market, poor marketing decisions and an ignorance of United States patent laws cost Canon that share of the market. Since that time, Canon has taken a step by step approach to their marketing strategies. This is especially apparent with the development and marketing of the NP110 copier. They began by distributing the unit in Japan only in a direct sales format. In doing so a company opens themselves up to the threat of collapse due to spreading themselves too thin. Secondly, we can surmise that an isolated marketing strategy, such as the one that Canon employed when marketing their copier to local Japanese dealers first, will be more effective in the long run. By distributing the product locally at first you can focus on close to home customers rather than across seas customers. Finally, a truly cost effective manufacturing process can be more beneficial at times than the products that come off the assembly lines themselves.

Outbreak of the Marburg Virus :: History Journal Medical Essays

Report from Uige Province I have now been working in Angola as a medical relief agent for three months. It is only recently that people have started talking about a possible outbreak of the Marburg virus here in the Uige Province in Northern Angola. We fear the worst as this disease, a deadly but rare hemorrhagic fever related to the Ebola virus, has many similar symptoms to other infectious diseases such as Malaria or typhoid fever making it difficult to diagnose. After incubating for five to twenty-one days, the disease comes on swiftly with symptoms such as fever, chills, muscular tenderness and headache.1 The fifth day of infection is marked by the appearance of discolored spots and raised bumps around the chest, stomach and back area. Other symptoms at this stage include vomiting, chest pains, nausea, and diarrhea.2 These symptoms quickly become more severe resulting in jaundice, severe weight loss, inflammation of the pancreas, shock, liver failure, and multi-organ dysfunction3. Typically lasting 3-9 days, if a person does survive this period, the recovery process is prolonged, oftentimes marked with recurrent hepatitis, inflammation of the spinal cord, eyes, and parotid gland, transverse myelitis, and orchitis.4 This is worrisome, as in the region where I am currently working there is little room in the local hospital and very limited funds. If the outbreak grows it can only cause more fatalities due to our lack of resources. As of now, only sporadic cases have been reported since the last Marburg virus outbreak in Druba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 19985. We can only hope for limited spread of infection, as there is no cure or vaccine for this deadly virus. December 17th, 2004 As of now, there have been 34 reported cases of what might be the Marburg virus and 34 deaths thus resulting in a 100% fatality rating. Currently the outbreak here in Angola is the worst epidemic of any kind of hemorrhagic fever and is continuing to infect as the number of cases increases around 3% each day.6 Fortunately WHO, the World Health Organization, has sent operatives to investigate if, in fact, the virus that is spreading is the Marburg virus and not another hemorrhagic virus. The whole staff at the hospital is becoming nervous, as we are particularly vulnerable to infection.

Grendel a Philisophical Point of View Essay -- Essays Papers

Grendel a Philisophical Point of View Grendel follows the philosophical evolution, from solipsism to nihilism, of a socially isolated creature, a monster. It is an examination of human supernatural curiosity and its many dangers, specifically the tendency toward blind cynicism. Grendel is a censure of the rapid growth of this cynicism in twentieth century society and the consequent widespread distrust of abstract ideals. In investigating his own nature, the monster in the story destroys himself. He realizes that the universe is determined, accidental, and so he loses faith in his own importance. With time, he becomes a beast, until eventually his soul has wholly left him. He does not die for love, or for passion, or for freedom. His spirit dies instead simply, hopelessly, mired in boredom and anger, without courage or sadness. Grendel is dead long before his body fails him. He fades away, and the most important theme in this novel is that such self-destruction, though tempting, is not the only answer. Grendel's first defense against a brute universe is solipsism: the belief that the self can know only itself and that it is the only existent thing. As the novel clearly demonstrates, solipsism is a weak defense. However loudly a creature may declare its godhood, the universe continues to function independently. However a creature may deny the reality of outside factors, outside factors will continue to impose themselves upon his everyday existence. The main flaw in so...

Ellen and Edward represent Essay

Ellen and Edward represent the dynamic challenge of working with two people who enter therapy together, but present different levels of clinical symptomatology. In this case, Ellen appears to be experiencing the most difficulty functioning in her life. She reports a lack of energy, persistent sadness, and even occasional suicidal ideation. These problems are not new for Ellen as she has likely suffered from clinical depression for several years. Her termination of individual therapy may have triggered or intensified her recent increase in symptoms. Ellen’s diagnosis is Major Depressive Disorder. Her severity ranges from moderate to severe. At this time, Edward does not meet criteria for any Axis I disorders, but further information would be necessary to understand his personality and other areas of functioning more thoroughly. Neither member of this partnership meets criteria for an Axis II diagnosis. There are no medical conditions reported and therefore, no Axis III diagnosis. Axis IV psychosocial problems for Ellen include her previous abuse. As a couple, psychosocial difficulties include communication problems and marital discord. Ellen’s GAF is estimated to be 35 while Edward is functioning more effectively at a GAF of 65. The couple’s level of functioning is more reflective of Ellen’s more severe difficulties (Weeks & Hof, 1995). They are failing to communicate, meet basic needs of the household, and sustain meaningful aspects of the relationships. Because Ellen has experienced a mood disturbance for longer than the duration of her marriage, it is possible that even her mate selection of Edward was related to her diagnosis (Weeks & Hof, 1995). For this reason, Ellen’s individual diagnosis should be seen in the context of the relationship for the purposes of couple’s therapy. It is an integral part of their relationship and cannot be extracted if the couple wishes to fortify their relationship through marital counseling. Ellen would still be encouraged to seek her own individual therapy and consultation with a psychiatrist to address the severity of her depression. Ellen’s diagnosis was reached through the decision-tree method presented in the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). This method is a thorough way to match the presenting symptoms to the most appropriate clinical diagnosis. In this case, Ellen’s experience of a mood disorder was clear early in the initial session. The details she described about her past provided enough clinical information to eliminate bipolar disorders and more mild forms of depression. Major depressive disorder encompasses the duration and severity (i. e. occasional suicidal ideation) of her condition. The single criticism of the decision-tree method may be its tendency to over-diagnose. While this client clearly met criteria, there are very few paths out of the decision-tree should a client present mild symptoms that do not yet merit a full diagnosis. There are many different medication options that may supplement Ellen’s participation in psychotherapy. Lexapro and Zoloft, members of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class, may be useful. If Ellen does not respond to these drugs or is at-risk for their adverse side-effects, Wellbutrin is another option. This drug has a complete different action mechanism than the others in the SSRI class. Ellen’s response and compliance with any antidepressant medication should be monitored closely. Her history of abruptly terminating treatment could indicate a potential to also stop taking her medication without warning. Many antidepressants need to be tapered off in gradually decreasing dosages. Abruptly ceasing treatment can cause dangerous side effects. References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM IV- TR. (4th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author. Weeks, G. R. & Hof, L. (1995) Integrative Solutions: Treating common problems in couples therapy. New York: Psychology Press.

Medical Online Care Consultancy Report Essays

Medical Online Care Consultancy Report Essays Medical Online Care Consultancy Report Paper Medical Online Care Consultancy Report Paper A survey of three online competitors has been conducted in order to give an assessment of the industry. In brief, competitor analysis identifies the strengths and weaknesses of competing products or services before beginning work on prototypes. Since this proposal is a pre-cursor to a prototype model, it is deemed necessary in order to show how typical tasks are achieved. The competitive advantages of each product are discussed, and a short summary of the market position is generated. Conducting a competitor survey offers the benefit of discovering strengths and weaknesses of competing products or services and to develop a list of issues that need to be addressed in order to compete effectively. The first question is always: what is a competitor? A context of use analysis, (who is the intended user? ), of the intended product is important as it will identify the users, the tasks, and the context in which the product is planned to be used. In this proposal the product is an online business that satisfies a user need. The user, typically, is a patient in need of medical care, prescriptions or a medical diagnosis. The key to a lucid competitor analysis is to focus on the user need to be serviced and not on the enabling technology. Below are survey results of three randomly picked competitors in the online healthcare industry with a short evaluation of each.

Ancient Indian Architecture

Ancient Indian Architecture Architecture has played an important role in the Indian culture. These artworks render creativity and artwork and also portray the culture, hard work, and religion. Ancient Indian architecture can be divided among the different religions and civilizations. These architectural achievements are now one of the main attractions which attract tourists to India from all over the world.Harappan Architecture (1500BC- 230BC)Harappans, Indus Valley Civilization, believed in a "utilitarian" form of architecture rather than "aesthetic". They believed in simple architecture which could be utilized in everyday life and which also served a purpose while it remained simple whereas the latter built works of beauty which were usually built to impress.A common Harappan house consisted of two floors made of baked bricks and the center, which was courtyard, was enclosed on the four sides by rooms. These houses were constructed in a way that the windows and doors were opposite to the street.The Sanchi stu pa in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh built b...The reason why they did this is unknown, but their cities were well planned; they had streets and a covered system of sewage. Between the time of the Harappan Civilization and the Mauryan Empire, texts and writings found by archeologists talk about great architectural structures and palaces. The reason why is yet unknown, but there are two possible possibilities: either archeologists haven't come across the correct site, or the great structures were made of perishable goods such as wood or clay. During this time period, stone wasn't widely available whereas wood was, so this had led archeologists to believe that over the course of time, the wood/clay structures have discinigrated due to undesirable conditions.Mauryan EmpireThe earliest evidence/ traces of the Mauryan Empire come from a pillared hall which was discovered from Ashoka's palace in Patna. The pillars were made of stone, and archeologists beganto see...

How far did the liberals lay the fondations of the welfare s essays

How far did the liberals lay the fondations of the welfare s essays How far did the Liberals lay the foundations of the welfare state? The welfare state was set up in 1945, after the second world by the Labour government. It ensured that people would be looked after from the cradle to the grave. Some historians would argue that the Labour government should not be given all the credit for founding the welfare state but that the Liberals in 1906-1914 had already laid the foundations. In 1906 the Liberals took over government, most of the Liberals still believed in Laissez-Faire but a small group of new Liberals believed the government should carry out more social reform. Two of these new Liberals were David Lloyd George and Winston Spencer Churchill. David Lloyd George was welsh and came from a working class background and because he had experienced poverty first hand he sympathised with the poor and he wanted to help them. Thanks to the surveys that were carried out by Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree the liberal government decided to pass a series of reform acts. The first to help was children as Rowntrees poverty cycle showed that it was mostly children that were suffering, so this was the first area that the Liberals passed reforms in. The first act they passed for children was The School Meals Act 1906. This meant that children got fed breakfast at school so that they could concentrate during the school day and that they were guaranteed to have at least one good meal a day. The second act they bought in was The Medical Inspections 1907. This meant that all children that were going to school had to get medically inspected for such things as height, weight, eyes, ears and teeth. There was one last reform that the Liberals passed for children; this was The Childrens Charter 1908. This act bought in a lot of acts and joined it as one. This reform banned children from doing certain things, for example children under 16 were not allowed ...

You Are What You Eat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You Are What You Eat - Essay Example Also I exercise a lot which I consider a great way to keep myself in shape. With so many activities, it is important to have a balanced and a varied diet. I do not have any health conditions nor is anyone in my family suffering from a disease that has genetic origins therefore I do not have pre-disposition to acquire a genetic disease. The top ingredients in my diet are carbohydrates, proteins, fats. Protein is a natural ingredient which is present in all the living organisms. It is one of the most important building blocks of life. Proteins play an extremely important role in making up human body and they are present in almost every part of it, from blood to hair, a large number of organs comprise of protein. Therefore an important portion of the diet should be dedicated to the intake of proteins so that the repair and growth mechanisms continue to operate in the best possible way. Our body needs a certain amount of protein daily so that it can carry out the vital processes of life. It is needed to repair tissues, form broken cells and also in blood where it is necessary for efficient transfer of oxygen to all the organs of the body. Deficiency of protein can lead to a lot of serious diseases. I take a lot of fish, beans and poultry items in my diet which are rich in different types of proteins (Boylan, Spallhoiz, & Driskell, 2008). These are all natural sources so are free from any possible side effects.

Nutrition low income diet plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nutrition low income diet plan - Essay Example The protein and carbohydrate requirement were at par to RNI and DRV values, though carbohydrates were less in terms of RNI. Unfortunately the fat rich foods were purchased less. Although the fat requirement of 35% was obeyed but there was disparity in intake of trans fatty acids, saturated fatty acids and mono-unsaturated fatty acids. This could lead to impairment of transport and absorption of vitamins, less available energy for heavy endurance work, and decreased feeling of satiety. After reorienting her purchase by reducing 1 avocado, white wine and replacing with 12 more French dressings in her diet will not only address the issue of meeting RNI and DRV of fats but will also reduce her expenses by 0.32 pounds and her new expenditure will be 23.3pound/week. This indicates that she will be able to live on a 30 pound weekly income. Introduction Diet Charts are essential to indicate the amount or portions of the various food items that one should consume in the entire day to meet the daily calorie requirements. Calorie requirement depends on the gender of the individual, the type of daily activity undertaken, profession of the individual, specific disease states, and specific clinical conditions like pregnancy, lactation ( Darnton-Hill, Nishida and James,2004:101-121). Diet charts also need to be formulated based on the socioeconomic conditions of the individual and hence there cannot be a concept of universal diet chart (Barker, 2002:17). Calorie requirements are based on the concept of Balanced Diet. A Balanced Diet is one which contains all the necessary macro and micronutrients comprising of carbohydrates, fats and proteins including vitamins and trace elements to meet the daily calorie need of an individual, so that the individual can maintain his or her daily activities and at the same time keeping a good health and preventing the chance of diseases by building body immunity. The calorie requirements of an individual are expressed in the form of Adult Con sumption Units. Adult Consumption Unit expresses the calorie requirement of a person in reference to the average calorie requirement of a reference man, which is normal sedentary adult man. The calorie requirement normally considered at an average of 2400kcal. The different ACU speculated are: The calories are provided by carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Dietary carbohydrates serves the principle source of energy, acts as protein sparers, as metabolic primers for protein and fat metabolisms and also forms the fuel of the Central Nervous system (Lippard and Berg, 1994).50-60% of total calories should come from carbohydrates (McArdle, Katch, and Katch ,2006). The calorific value of carbohydrates is 4.1kcal/gram (Kathleen Mahan, Raymond and Escott-Stump, 2012). Fats are required to supply the required amount of essential fatty acids, to act as dietary vehicles for transport and absorption of vitamins, provide high percentage of energy for heavy endurance work, to bring satiety (Haque and Mozaffar,1992:1351-4). Fat requirement increases with the rise in total calorie requirement because fat have a high calorie value around 9.1 kcal/gram, which is more than proteins or carbohydrates (Berg , Tymoczko, and Stryer 2002:603). The calorific values of proteins are 4.1kcal/gram. A protein containing adequate and balanced amounts of essential amino acids has high nutritive value because its amino acids are promptly incorporated into

Physics of Formula One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 1

Physics of Formula One - Essay Example Enzo Ferrari the legend behind the name Ferrari had a passion for car racing which motivated him to come out with the brand name which is today a household name in the field of F1 races. It was in 1945 that the work started on designing and building the very first Ferrari, a project which was being prepared around 12-cylinder2 – a first in the history which went on to provide a direction to the car in general and car racing in particular. Ferrari was the first car to use 1.5 litre unit in a V12 configuration. Since then the company has not looked back. Ferrari, the car was the brain child of its founder Enzo Ferrari. The journey begins with the foundation of Scuderia, sort of a club, on 16th November 1929, exclusively for participating in motor-racing competitions. Enzo Ferrari an integral part of Alpha Romeo for many decades, parted ways in 1929. When Ferrari left the club, he was not allowed to have his name on any of the cars or clubs for the next four years. But his resolve and patience saw him through in his ventures and he started with an 8-cylinder, 1500 cc sports spider, named as 815. It was only in 1946 that the name Ferrari comes into being for cars. The company has not looked back since then. Thereafter came its association with Michael Schumacher in 1996, which further helped in establishing the brand equity called ‘Ferrari’. The F1 racing is now an integral part of Ferrari. In fact F1 racing has now become a big industry in itself. Such developments have started driving other car manufacturers as well int o the race and serious manufacturers like BMW have also started experimenting with the sporty driving. Though it may sound boring to people watching the racing on the tracks, its television clippings have started commanding huge premium. This potential was foreseen by Mr. Ecclestone of ‘Formula One Administration’, who produces the electronic feed being watched by over 40 billion viewers (The

Food Safety Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Food Safety Management - Essay Example Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) has emerged as a popular system of safety management and has become pivotal to securing the safety of the food supply and battle against the escalation of food borne disease.(Taylor and Taylor 2004).However as the instance of the Potter Foods example shows that small and medium sized businesses have found the entire process a "bureaucratic nightmare", and find the whole implementation of the HACCP complex and barriers.(Taylor and Taylor 2004).The system has its origins in the first US manned space Programme (Taylor and Taylor 2004 citing Buchanan 1990) and today it is "an operation specific system of preventative control, which identifies, evaluates and controls hazards of significance to food safety". On the facts we have been told that Potter foods has to as a matter of code of practice implement a food safety management system based on the Codex HACCP Principles with in a time frame of 2 years. It has been required that such a plan must cover all microbiological, chemical and physical hazards that might arise from the raw materials used, covering the entire of the manufacturing process, right up to the point of handover to the Customer. It was also specified that any support programmes, with the prerequisites must be effectively implemented with proper result.At this point I would suggest that such documentation must be completed upon a product-by-product basis and my project plan suggests that suitably qualified personnel should be employed to advance this process. Summary of the problem From the case study it is possible to glean that Potter's Foods being a medium-sized manufacturer of chilled ready meals based in the north of England has three large factory buildings dealing with bakery and party food items which are called Bakery, Chilled and Party .We have been told that the seasoning room and the raw material distribution centre are located in the same store and that the Company uses its own transport for work in progress foods or raw materials however it has not been mentioned that the distribution centre or its transport have proper refrigeration as this is very important for HACCP implementation and could be major reason for the foreign body complaints Potter Foods are facing. In the drawing up of the project plan it is pertinent to note that Potter Foods has to keep up its marketing edge as a flexible manufacturer, with low cost production and prompt delivery and at the same time utilise and keep up the customer confidence. It has also been mentioned that Party is an old building and may not be conducive to the HACCP implementation. There is a problem of taking action against suppliers for defective and unsafe food as it has been said that the raw materials purchased have little paper work into them. As mentioned before Potter's foods are having trouble with microbiological counts and poor equipment maintenance and there is consultation at an organised level with in the technical managers and directors. It has been stated that there is a large amount of wastage due to changes in raw materials suppliers and that the timing of the cooked foods and their temperatures is not adjusted for safety. There is also another danger as it has been stated

Importance of Organization culture to organizations Essay

Importance of Organization culture to organizations - Essay Example Organizational Culture refers to a pattern of learned behaviors that is shared and passed on among the members of an organization. It comprises of the various assumptions, values, beliefs, norms, rituals, language, etc. that people in an organization share. Organizational culture can be thought of as an evolutionary process that has been established, accepted and internalized over a period of time, by a majority of members of the organization. Fred Luthans defined culture as â€Å"the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior.† Culture helps people to interact and communicate with other members of the society. Cultural traits are acquired gradually over a period of time. The differences in values and beliefs held by people all over the world make adjustments and interaction with people belonging to other cultures very difficult for some. To be successful in the global economy, it is important for all managers to be sensitive to the differences between them. People orientation is one of the characteristics of Organization culture. This is one thing that is lacking at Camford University.

Food Safety Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Food Safety Management - Essay Example Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) has emerged as a popular system of safety management and has become pivotal to securing the safety of the food supply and battle against the escalation of food borne disease.(Taylor and Taylor 2004).However as the instance of the Potter Foods example shows that small and medium sized businesses have found the entire process a "bureaucratic nightmare", and find the whole implementation of the HACCP complex and barriers.(Taylor and Taylor 2004).The system has its origins in the first US manned space Programme (Taylor and Taylor 2004 citing Buchanan 1990) and today it is "an operation specific system of preventative control, which identifies, evaluates and controls hazards of significance to food safety". On the facts we have been told that Potter foods has to as a matter of code of practice implement a food safety management system based on the Codex HACCP Principles with in a time frame of 2 years. It has been required that such a plan must cover all microbiological, chemical and physical hazards that might arise from the raw materials used, covering the entire of the manufacturing process, right up to the point of handover to the Customer. It was also specified that any support programmes, with the prerequisites must be effectively implemented with proper result.At this point I would suggest that such documentation must be completed upon a product-by-product basis and my project plan suggests that suitably qualified personnel should be employed to advance this process. Summary of the problem From the case study it is possible to glean that Potter's Foods being a medium-sized manufacturer of chilled ready meals based in the north of England has three large factory buildings dealing with bakery and party food items which are called Bakery, Chilled and Party .We have been told that the seasoning room and the raw material distribution centre are located in the same store and that the Company uses its own transport for work in progress foods or raw materials however it has not been mentioned that the distribution centre or its transport have proper refrigeration as this is very important for HACCP implementation and could be major reason for the foreign body complaints Potter Foods are facing. In the drawing up of the project plan it is pertinent to note that Potter Foods has to keep up its marketing edge as a flexible manufacturer, with low cost production and prompt delivery and at the same time utilise and keep up the customer confidence. It has also been mentioned that Party is an old building and may not be conducive to the HACCP implementation. There is a problem of taking action against suppliers for defective and unsafe food as it has been said that the raw materials purchased have little paper work into them. As mentioned before Potter's foods are having trouble with microbiological counts and poor equipment maintenance and there is consultation at an organised level with in the technical managers and directors. It has been stated that there is a large amount of wastage due to changes in raw materials suppliers and that the timing of the cooked foods and their temperatures is not adjusted for safety. There is also another danger as it has been stated

Orientalisms Effect on Art and History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Orientalisms Effect on Art and History - Essay Example (Wikipedia 2006) In 1948, while Said was a grade school student (a private English school in Cairo) the state of Israel was created and 80% of the Palestinian population was left without a home, including Said's family. A privileged child, Said had little interest in the conflict. His family left and he did not return to Palestine until as an adult in 1990. After being expelled from Victoria College in Cairo for poor behavior he was sent to the United States, with citizenship in the US, and finished high school at a private boarding school in New England. He went to Princeton University to study English literature and history. His graduate studies were at Harvard. In 1992 he achieved University Professor at Columbia, their most prestigious position. The Suez Crisis made an impact on him as an Arab-Palestinian but he did not get involved. But the Israeli victory over the Arab forces in 1967 and the Israeli occupation of the last remaining Palestinian territories forced Said to take a political stance for the liberation of Palestine. In 1968 he wrote his first article about the Palestinian cause: The Arab Portrayed (Dexheimer 2002). While visiting his family in Beirut in '71, he got entrenched in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine as a part of a community of academics and writers who were involved in various colonial and postcolonial struggles. He translated the speeches of Yassir Arafat into English for the Western press, still not getting politically involved. But in 1977, he was elected to the exiled Palestinian National Congress. It was at this time that Said, as an academic in the field of comparative literature, began writing on contemporary Arab literature about figures such as Naguib Mahfouz, Elias Khouri, and the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (McLemee 2003). In 1975-1976 Said became a fellow at Stanford University and wrote Orientalism (1978), the book that made him famous. In the next three years he published Covering Islam (1981) and The Question of Palestine (1979), which, in conjunction with Orientalism, has been called his trilogy. This critique of Oriental Studies questioned everything about this subject that had been a scholarly pursuit at most of the well-known European universities for centuries. Said used his fame of the 1980-90's to further the cause of Palestine and advocate for human rights. In the 1980's Said lobbied the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to re-think the strategy of armed struggle for liberation and urged Palestinians and Arabs to understand the importance of mutual respect and co-existence with Israelis. He advocated a two-state solution. A temperate voice, he made many friends within Israel. This occurred despite his unsympathetic stance toward Israel (Wikipedia 2006). Said became a personal target of other conservative Jewish and Christian Zionists. Attacks on Said suggest an "orientalism" on the part of the right-wing Zionists. As an articulate Arab intellectual, Said was viewed as a

Chain of Command Essay Example for Free

Chain of Command Essay The main focus of Article II of the United States Constitution is the executive branch and the role that it plays in the government. By definition an executive is â€Å"a person or group of persons having administrative or supervisory authority in an organization.† The President, who is elected, is the head of the executive branch and the US government’s chain of command. Second in command is the Vice President who must also be elected. Article II is broken down into four sections in the Constitution and outlines who the qualifications to run, the term that a President can hold office, as well as the duties, responsibilities and powers that he has and the grounds for impeachment. Section 1 Section one of Article II outlines the executive power in 7 clauses. Clause 1 and Clause 2 support each other. Clause 1 states that the President of the United States shall hold office for a term of four years with a Vice President who must be elected for the same term and that executive power shall be vested in the President. Clause 2 describes the appointment and qualifications for presidential electors. In Clause 2, it says that each state shall appoint a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representative to which the state may be entitled in the congress but no senator or representative that hold office under the United States can be appointed as an elector. This means that each state chooses electors equal to the number of representatives, representing them in congress, but no senators, representatives or federal officers can become an elector. It then goes on to describe the original method of electing the president and vice president. Originally, an elector would cast two votes for the president, one at least one vote had to be from a state different than the elector’s and who ever had the majority of votes became the president and the vice president would be the runner up. If there was no person who received the majority of votes the House of Representatives could have chosen one of the five with the greatest number of votes. If there was a tie, the House of Representatives could have chosen one of the candidates. When the House would vote, each state representative would cast one vote, and a quorum of two-thirds applied in both houses. One member from two thirds of the States, and a member from two thirds of the states and a majority of all the states were necessary to choose a President. If two or more candidates tied, the senate broke the tie. This was superseded by the twelfth amendment which made some significant changes. Now, electors cast one vote for president and one for vice president rather than two votes for president. If there is a case where no presidential candidate receives the majority, the house chooses from the top three instead of the top five. In addition, the amendment requires the senate to choose the vice president from the candidates with the two highest figures if no vice president candidate receives the majority of electoral votes. The twelfth amendment also specifies that to be vice president, a candidate must also qualify to be President. Clause 3 states that congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and the day for casting their votes. Clause 4 states the qualifications for the office of the president. According to the clause, the president and vice president must be at least 35 years old, both must be a natural born citizen of the United States, and both must have been a U.S. resident for 14 years. The twelfth amendment required the vice president to meet all the qualifications of an eligible president and the twenty-second amendment prevents a president from being elected more than twice. The 5th clause states that in the case of removal of the president from office, or his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of office, the vice president shall assume his duties. In the case that both the president and vice president were removed, resigned, deceased, on unable, then congress, by law would declare which officer would act as president until the removal, death, resignation, inability were to occur or a president was elected. This caused much controversy when President William Harrison died in office. A debate occurred on whether vice president John Tyler would become president, or just be the acting president. Tyler felt like he had a right to become president, and eventually took the Oath of Office, while set the precedent for vice presidents, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson to ascend to the presidency. Because of this, the Presidential Succession Act was adopted in 1947 which established the line of succession of the office of the presidency in the event that the President or Vice President becomes unable to fill the vacancy. The Presidential Succession Act makes clear that only someone serving as Vice President can ever succeed to the title â€Å"President of the United States† and anyone who takes office under its provisions can only act as President† even if they have to act for 4 years. Clause 6 of Article II states that the President shall be compensated, at stated times for his services. This compensation shall never be increased or diminished during the period he is elected and also during that period, he also shall not receive any other compensation from the United States meaning federal and local government. The Presidents salary is currently $400,000 a year. Clause 7 states that before he enters office, the president shall take the following oath or affirmation: â€Å"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.† Section 2 Section 2 of Article II outlines the President’s powers while in office. Clause 1 of Section 2 states that the President shall be commander in chief of the army and the navy of the United States. Although he is the commander in chief, Article One gives Congress the right to declare war, not the President. The President may require the principal officer in each of the executive departments to give their advice in writing. Additionally, the President may grant pardons or reprieves for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. Clause 2 of Section 2 is also known as the advice and consent clause. The President exercises the powers in the clause with the advice and consent of the senate. The President can enter the U.S. into treaties but they aren’t effective until they are ratified by a two thirds vote in the senate. The President may also appoint judges, ambassadors, consuls, ministers and other officers with the advice and consent of the Senate. However, by law Congress may allow the President, heads of executive departments, or the courts to appoint inferior officials as they see fit. Clause 3 of Section 2 gives the President the power to fill vacancies that may occur during the recess of the senate by granting commission that expire at the end of their next session. Section 3 Section 3 of Article II outlines the Presidents responsibilities while in office. While in office, the President must â€Å"from time to time† give congress information on the State of the Union and recommend to congress’s consideration measures that he judges as â€Å"necessary and expedient.† The President may, in â€Å"extraordinary occasions† call one or both houses into session. If both houses disagree on the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them at a time he thinks is fitting. The President receives all ambassadors and other public ministers. Most importantly, â€Å"he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.† The President commissions all officers including military and foreign service and although the President has discretion in how and when to enforce laws, he cannot refuse to enforce constitutional law. Section 4 Section 4 of Article II allows impeachment. Section 4 states â€Å"The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from the office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. â€Å" The President, Vice President, executive officers as well as judges can all be impeached by the House of Representatives and tried in the Senate. If an official is convicted by impeachment, he is immediately removed from office and remains liable to trial and punishment in court for civil or criminal charges. The trial, if any is separate from the impeachment itself. There have been two U.S. presidents that have been impeached by the House of Representatives, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton but they were acquitted at trials that the senate held. The House Judiciary Committee voted on Articles of Impeachment for President Nixon, but he resigned before the full House of Representatives could vote, therefore he was never impeached. Why is Article II important? Article II is important because it establishes the office of the President and the Vice-President, and sets their terms to be four years. It defines the job that the President has to do and the rules that he has to follow. In a sense, it’s his job description and prevents him from overstepping his boundaries. Not only does Article II make the President Commander in Chief, it allows cabinet to aid him, and make treaties with other nations as he sees fit to protect us. It commands him to keep the Union informed about the status of country through the State of the Union address and to most importantly to enforce all laws.

Gold investment: An overview

Gold investment: An overview Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Overview Since prehistoric time, human are using the gold in trading and value keeping asset. Even current financial activities are always surrounding by the gold issue. The ancient treated the gold as the true form of wealth. Gold has been using early in 4000 B.C as a fashion decorative object in where today Eastern Europe is centred. In 1500 B.C the gigantic gold-bearing regions of Nubia made Egypt a wealthy nation (National Mining Association). By the time the gold has widely recognize as the standard form of medium of exchange for international trade. Gold is represented the royal and honourable in different religious and cultural area. Its aesthetic appearance is the finest ornament above all other metal. Gold play the role in all aspect around us, such as religious customs, reward system, ornament, jewellery, and even the component of industrial product. Gold exist and be using for decade, its intrinsic value is still maintain high and irreplaceable. Investing in gold has been seen as the supreme way of safe haven investment. Gold investment is booming in recent year and the reasons behind this incident can be explained as the investor become more aware of the benefit of the gold and its special features. Gold demand for investment purpose accounted one-thirds of gold demand all over the world which is substantial influential (World Gold Council, 2009). Investment demand for gold has shown as significant increase in the last seven years as investor seeking the fashion to balance their investment portfolio and safeguard against the economy and political uncertainty Generally gold demand can be divided into three main types, which included the Jewellery demand, gold investment demand, and industrial demand. The gold investment can be further divided into physically and non-physically holding the gold. In Malaysia, there are several ways to participate in gold investment and this will be studied in chapter two. 1.2 Benefit of gold investment In portfolio management, prudent investor will have different sort of investment vehicle. The reason for holding diverse investment is to safeguard the portfolio against fluctuations or uncertainty that occurs in the economy system. Gold investment has been studied by many of professional toward its ability to protect the wealth of investors against the overwhelming global financial crisis and economic uncertainty. Generally, the group of similar asset will react correspondingly among each other during the transformation of the economy and financial system. Diversification will reduce investors risk in portfolio investment. Besides the common investment vehicle like company share, bond, and mutual fund, gold investment is an option for investor to diversify their investment portfolio. Portfolio that contains gold investment is generally more robust and less risky as compared other investment vehicle. The inflationary hedging ability of gold is prominent especially during the economic uncertainty period. Gold price react quickly that other commodities when there is any change in the market condition. Conversely, price of the CPI-basket is adjusted slowly to the change of market condition ((Mahdavi Zhou, 1997). Risk factors that may affect the gold price are quite different in nature from those that affect other assets. Purchasing power of gold is maintain even the transformation of the era is remarkably significant (Greer, 2005). In addition, gold is one of the examples of safety investment instrument that have very limited amount of risk associated with it. The credit risk is the possibilities that the debtor unable to repay the loan. Gold is unique which do not involve such repayment relationship. The profitability of gold investment is operating in the accrual basis. The liquidity risk which means the possibilities that the asset cannot be sold as the buyer in the market may not be available during the time of reselling. However the gold market has high demand rate from the individual consumer, jewellery sector, financial institution and manufacturing of industrial product. Thus its liquidity risk of gold investment is very low (World Gold Council, 2009). 1.3 Problem statement Gold investment in Malaysia is less well known by investor, even though it is a superior investment vehicle. Generally, most of the elderly will save their money in fixed deposit. Some of them may invest their money into mutual fund and government bond. The rate of return from the fixed deposit is very low and the intrinsic value of the saving will be overwhelmed by the wave of inflation during financial crisis or recession. The purpose of this study is to find out what are the reasons that affect the intention to adopt gold investment in investors portfolio. In early 2008, the inflation rate surge high, most of the investor who invests in share market suffers a huge loss in the market. The collapse of Lehman brother and many giant corporations in 2008 raised the vigilance of the investors. Many of investors seek for the immunity to keep their capital away from the threat of inflation and downward movement of stock prices. According to World gold council (2009) stated that there is significant increase in the demand of gold investment. Current financial recession and anxiety toward future uncertainty have urge the political and finance officer unearth the solution to withstand the inflation problem. Some professors have suggests the gold investment to investor as the safe haven to protect their wealth against the inflation shock. Gold investment has the special feature of inflationary hedge which have been study by a number of researchers and professionals. Malaysian investors should add the gold investment into their portfolio and hence reduce the risk of investment. However, gold investment in Malaysia is still not widely adopted as compared to other counties such as Singapore, Thailand, China, United state and India. Some investors are eager to make the quick profit from the speculating activities such as short-selling the share and the commodities future. However the speculating activities will create the bubble in the market and finally it will turn into another financial turmoil. The gold price seen not stable in short and is more volatile than other commodities. However the gold price in long-run shown an upward shifting trend and the value of gold is appreciated over the past 30 years. In Malaysia, the gold investment opportunity is very limited and the public are hard to find the advertisement of the gold investment account or the gold investment seminar. The lack of public awareness toward the gold investment is one of the problems in Malaysia. It is imperative to enhance the public awareness to the gold investment and adoption of gold investment in the investors portfolio. Gold investment is very popular in other country such as china and India during the recent years. Based on the statement from the World Gold Council (2009) the investment demand hit high at 656 tones which account for 16 per cent of total gold demand. James Burton, the CEO of the WGC has announced the investment demand for the gold market has a striking increase in the last six years. The rising demand of gold investment is due to the investors seek to further diversified their portfolio and safeguard against economic uncertainty and political instability. However this tide is not yet hit the Malaysia Investment market as compared to other country. As we can see the method of gold investment in Malaysia is enormously limited. This thesis may help the local investment institution to identify the factors that affect the adoption of the gold investment. Thus the local institution can come out with the absolute plan special cater for the local investor. It may help to establish the sound financial investment structure in Malaysia. Besides, investors are furnished to more options of investment and enhance the ability to diversify their investment portfolio. Development of a country required the liberalization of the Malaysia market so that to attract the multinational corporation expand their business locally. Generally, Malaysias local investment institution is lack of competitive advantage as compared to giant foreign investment institution. Hence government always exercise its authority to prevent the foreign institution enter into Malaysia financial market. This will be an obstacle to the government in their liberalization plan. In order to increase the competitiveness of the local investment institution, the research on perception of local investor is indispensable. It would assist the local investment institution to compete with the strong forces from overseas. In the evolution of the world monetary system, the gold is increasingly been esteemed as the new form of currency after the abandoned of the Bretton Woods System in year 1973. The loss of confident towards the paper notes and some professionals have pointed out gold as a true form of medium of exchange. Greer (2005) has defined the money is backed by nothing other than the confidence that its holders place in the issuing bank. The paper notes will be able to exchange for goods and as way to store their wealth. However, it depends on the ability of that government to keep inflation under control. The problem of the fiat money have cause the Zimbabwe nation suffer from the hyperinflation due to the excessive money supply. Malaysian should employ some inflationary hedging instrument to avoid the unwanted event. The rising demand for gold in the countries such as china, India, United state and Australia in gold investment have significantly drive the gold investment as part the portfolio investment tools worldwide. Malaysia is still on the developing stage of this form of investment instrument. Thus we are rarely seen the Malaysian investors holding their portfolio with the portion of gold investment. Even gold is superior and have been widely adopted in other countries. 1.4 Objective of study The General objective of this research is to examine the perception of Malaysian toward gold investment. Investor perception toward gold investment is extremely important when come to the promotion of the gold investment. Here is to study what is investor view on the gold investment. What investor perceive the gold investment and what is image of gold investment that in the eye of investor. Special objectives: 1. To determine the adoption of gold investment in Malaysia There some relevant cause and effect relationship of the low adoption of the gold investment. Why gold investment is not popular and widely adopt by the investor as compare to other investment or saving plan. One of the objectives of this thesis is to discover the factors that associate with the degree of espousal to gold investment. 2. To determine the factor affect the gold investment among Malaysian Gold investment is prominent investment vehicle and is widely embraced. The factors affect the gold investment adoption in Malaysia provide insight to the investment institution to cater local investors need. 3. To determine the relationship between perception and adoption of gold investment Is the Malaysians perception toward gold investment having significant relationship with the adoption of gold investment? The perception is the behavioural aspect of human thinking and the adoption is the actual action takes by the Malaysian. Hence, the relationship will be examined in this research. 1.5 Significant of study Based on the investor perception toward gold investment, bank and the investment institution can formulate the gold investment plan to gratify the local investor needs. Malaysia is gradually moving to the liberalization era in different area especially banking area. Due to the open forces from the foreign financial institution, local banks and investment branches are increasingly focus on the customer services and their facilities improvement. By understanding the local investor perception toward the gold investment, local banks or other local investment institution will be able to compete with other foreign giant finance and investment institution. The local investment institution professionalism and customer service is improved if the research and development are increasingly focused on the development of facilities. In addition, government will be eased when implementing the liberalization plan if the local financial institutions are employed with the strong competitive advantages . Malaysia evolves to a resilient nation as we moving deeply into the liberalization era. Thus the local banking system needs to have more inputs to renovate the investment structure in Malaysia. This research enhances the ability to attract the foreign direct investment due to the liberalization of the market. The demand of Malaysia currency is indirectly driven by the foreign direct investment. Hence it will strengthen the Malaysia currency to other nations currencies rate. This research contributes to the Malaysia financial market stability and development while the losses of the investors had been minimized due to the â€Å"safe haven† protection of gold investment. It enhances the resiliency and stability to country financial market, because the losses of investor is been reduced. In addition, local consumers and market players are given the opportunity to variety of choices and enjoy the privilege in term of banking products and services from the open force of the liberalization. Hence it boosts the local investor and market player confident toward the local banking and finance institution. Gold investment in Malaysia is not well known investment vehicle to investors even though there are rising demand of the gold investment from the global perspective. Thus, analyze Malaysia perception toward the gold investment is a vital driver which directly influences the gold investment demand in Malaysia. During the economy difficulties, the consumer are generally suffer from the rising price of the necessities. The decrease of the consumer spending will detain the recovery of the local economy system. If Malaysians engage in some sort of inflationary hedging instrument, the situation will be ease. The inflation problem will not distress the nation seriously as the investors are protected against inflation. From the gold investment facilities provided in Malaysia, we can draw the conclusion of the Malaysia gold investment industry is not well-crafted as compared to other foreign country. There is the need to produce more research topic related to the Malaysia gold investment industry. The research can extend the investor knowledge toward Malaysia gold investment market and also create the awareness to the gold investment opportunity. Malaysia aims to establish a knowledge-based society which is stated in the National Vision Policy (NVP). Hence, in order to consistent with National Vision Policy the extension of the knowledge in gold investment is one of the significant of study in this research. Diversification enables investor to minimize their risk in their portfolio. Investors are given more option to diversify their investment portfolio instead of the current common type of investment vehicle. The inflation rate surge high every year, the real wealth of the investor is diminish over time if they do not involve in the inflationary hedging activities. Among the inflationary hedging activities, gold investment is the safer form of instrument. It is because gold have the high demand and high intrinsic value instead of the legal tender given by the authorities. In addition, the gold is durable and imperishable even for thousands of years. Thus, it acts as a superb value storing asset among others. Risk adverse investors such as elderly will be able to keep their wealth more efficiently and withstand the uncertainty in future. This study provides the important feature of the gold investment which can benefit investor especially during the economic uncertainty period. 1.6 Organization of study In this research project, there are total of five chapters and the title for this research is â€Å"the perception of Malaysian toward gold investment; an empirical study. In chapter one, the overview of the gold investment and benefit of gold investment is included in this research. Besides, the problem statements give an illustration of the problem of gold investment in Malaysia. After that objective of study and significant is study is developed and explained briefly. Chapter two is the literature review; the information is obtained from various sources such as the, research journal, bank catalogue, newspaper, book, and website. In this chapter, the variables are studied clearly and the independent variables are further justified. Chapter two included the study of gold supply and demand, characteristics of gold and gold investment opportunity in Malaysia. After that, the independent variable is studied accordingly. In chapter three, the Research Framework and model specification is developed. Theory of reasoned action has been employed in this study. After that, the hypothesis is established for ten independent variables. Research design is stated in this chapter and it provides detailed information for the method of study. Research sample, questionnaire design, data analysis method is included in this chapter. Chapter four is about the result analysis which the data will be analyzed and interpreted. Finally, chapter five is the recommendation and conclusion of the study. Chapter 2: literature review 2.1 Gold supply and demand Precious metal has the feature of the currency and it possesses the intrinsic value besides the legal tender given by government (Greer, 2005). Hence, investor tend to put their money in gold during time of uncertainty and when they loss confident toward the paper currency (Rusell, 2009). Recent years, there is an increase demand in this real asset due to the loss of confidence toward the paper currency (Willie, 2009). Gold price is demand on the demand and supply mechanism in short-run. Gold demand is high in the country such as East Asia, India and Middle East. In addition, China, India, USA, Italy, and Turkey accounted 55% of the total gold demand of the world. The gold demand can be divided into the jewellery demand, investment demand and industrial demand (Lutter, 2009). Jewellery demand has a highest percentage to the total gold demand. India is the largest jewellery demand due the cultural and religious tradition which is independent to the economic variable. The investment demand which is the primary consideration in this research mean the gold is been traded over-the-counter market. The investment demand has a dramatically increase over last five year which shown a 412% in term of value (World gold council, 2009). More investors seeking gold as protection against the instability of numerous macro-economic variables such as inflation, currency exchange rate, and interest rate (Levin and Wright, 2006). In industrial demand, gold has been use as the thermal and electrical conductor, the demand arises from the use as an electrical components. On the supply side, it is come from the mine production, central bank holding, recycled gold and gold production. The mine production is inelastic to the changes in price and demand due to the long mining process. Recycled gold is from the process of extract and melt down of the jewellery and electrical components (World Gold Council, 2009). 2.2 The characteristic of gold Gold have variety of characteristics besides the independent variable stated in this research. For example, gold possess the characteristics of liquidity, store of value, durability, unit of account and Malleable. The characteristics of the gold provide strong foundation of the demand for the gold especially during the recession or economic uncertainty period. According to world gold Council (2009), the liquidity risk of the gold is relatively low as compare to other investment vehicle especially during the economic hardship. Murray (2004) said that the gold market provide high liquidity to investor when they are in the need of the fund. According to Sathye (2003), the collateral is a second source of repayment to the loan. The Marketability of the asset is an important consideration to the lending decision. The Marketability of the asset depends on the acceptability of the particular asset. Gold has the characteristic of acceptability. Levin Wright (2006) stated that gold is widely acceptable and investor can sell the gold whenever they need the liquidity of the fund. The According to Harmston (1998), gold can uphold its real purchasing power in long run. He claim that gold have consistent value storing ability even at the economic instability. Sjaastad, Larry and Scacciavillani (1996) claimed that when world inflation is surging higher, gold is performance its remarkable function as a value storing instrument. Dubey, Geanakoplos Shubik, (2003) said that gold is a form of commodity money and it can store the value. However gold is durable as compare to other commodities. Besides, the durability of the gold is prominent as a value storing asset. In chemical term, gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number of 79. This metal has the high thermal and electrical conductivity, resistance of corrosion and malleable characteristics (Wikipedia, 2009). Gold has an atomic number of 79 and atomic weight of 196.967. Gold has high melting point which at 1064.43 °C. Beside, gravity of gold is 19.3 and can be explained as 19.3 times weight than equal volume of water (National Mining Association, 2004). 2.3 Gold investment prospect in Malaysia Gold is an efficient investment vehicle for preservation of wealth and a store of value during the economy volatility especially the high inflationary period. The special features of gold such as diversifier, safe haven, inflationary hedge, universal acceptance, and transportability have make the gold demand the superior choice for investment purpose. In Malaysia, investors have some ways to participate in the gold investment market either physically and non-physically holding of gold. Firstly, we discuss the physically holding of the gold in Malaysia. The Commercial bank investment branches have contributes some fine-tuning gold investment account such as Maybank, Public Bank, Standard Charter Bank, and Bank Negara Malaysia. Maybank offers their gold investment account which called Gold Savings Passbook Account (GSPA). The minimum first purchase is 5 grams only. The weight of gold holdings can be converted to Ringgit Malaysia at the prevailing market gold price and the selling price will be update at the Maybank website from time to time (Maybank, 2008) Public Bank provides the Public Bank Gold Investment Account for investor to participate at the gold market. Public Bank Gold Investment Account having the similar concept with the Maybank Gold Saving Passbook Account. The only difference is the minimum first purchase is 20 gram. Bank can make available the physical gold upon customer require physical withdrawal of gold. A minimum quantity of 2 grams of gold should be maintained by the customer as an assurance of the account is in active mode (Public Bank, 2008). Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad offered its retail investment gold to investor with the launch of Premium Currency Investment Gold (PCi Gold). PCI Gold is a dual currency investment which means that contain both USD and gold. However the minimum amount of 250,000 is required to operate the account with the possession ranging from one week, two week and one month (Standard Chartered Bank). For the gold investment passbook provided by the Public Bank and Maybank is quite similar, the trading record for the gold investment is recorded in a passbook provided to investor. This type of gold investment in generally back by the real gold. However the disadvantage of the gold investment passbook is the investor will not be given any interest and dividend. Investors just make a profit when they sell the gold at higher price. In addition, the bank will charges the gold investment passbo ok holder when the convert or sell their gold holding. When investor buy the gold through the gold investment passbook the price will be slightly higher that the prevailing world gold price. Bank Negara offers the Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coins. By issue the Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coins, Malaysia become the 12th country issue its own gold bullion coins. The Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coin purchase and reselling price is determined by the prevailing international gold market price (BNM, 2002). Investor can buy other bullion coins in some international company such as the Canadian Maple Leaf, American Eagle, and Australian Kangaroo Nugget. The gold investment that involve in non-physically holding of the gold in Malaysia includes gold fund, gold related fund and units trust that involve gold as a core element. The exchange trade fund (ETFs) which is trade similarly as stock or bond. ETFs track the index movement and performance and it is listed on stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia, 2009). Gold exchange trade fund (ETF) is another option for investors and it is listed and traded just as the stock exchange. ETFs enable investor to take part in gold market without investors physically own the gold because it tracks the price performance of the gold bullion. However gold exchange trade fund is still not available in Malaysia. Investor can invest in ETF in Singapore through foreign trading account offered by a local securities firm and investor is subject to the currency risk Gold fund and gold-related funds can be defined as unit trust funds that pool investor fund for investment in gold and other precious metals and investor vary from individuals, corporations to government institutions with common investment objectives. Investor can benefit from the expertise of fund manager who administer the pool fund investment rather that do internal data collection by themselves. There are only one gold fund is available in Malaysia with the minimum investment set at US$150,000 which equivalent to RM513, 000. For gold related fund, investor can just invest minimum of RM 1, 000 to diversify their investment portfolio. (New Straits Times, 2009) The above information provides an insight and general idea to the way to participate in gold investment industry in Malaysia. Investors need the timely information to make their decision on selecting the proper way go investment and investment instrument. According to Lutter (2008), investor will search for the particular investment vehicle before they add the instrument into their investment portfolio. Investor will normally seek information for these four categories, individual, salesperson and advertisement, public communication instruments and personal observation. 2.4 The independent variables of the intention to adopt gold investment among Malaysian In this chapter, the independent variables that are expected to have significant relationship toward the intention to adopt gold investment will be examined. The dependent variable is the intention that Malaysian investor employ the gold investment as part of their investment portfolio. The potential independent variables are the inflationary hedge, currency rate, diversifier and safe haven, time horizon, third party influences, cultural influences, risk averse, advertisement, and professionalism. The independent variable is grouped according to Maheran, Nursuzila and Aspiyati (2008) which adopt the theory of reasoned action. Besides, some mortification is made to tally with this research special requirement. The advertisement and professionalism is common type of independent variable that influences the adoption of some products or services. Advertisements play an important role to persuade consumer intention to accept the products and services. Professionalism is needed especially for the investment sector; investors are generally employs less information than the agent and the professional in the field. 2.5 Economic Factor and gold investment Purchasing power of gold is maintain even the transformation of the era is remarkably significant and the purchasing power of the contemporary currency is diminished gradually (Greer, 2005). In year 1945, Breton wood agreement which endorse by the United States Congress was set the gold exchange standard. The standard involves setting par values for currencies in term of gold and the member countries is required to convert foreign official holdings of their currencies into gold at the prevailing par value. Breton wood system had fixed the 35 US dollar equivalent to 1 ounce of gold to establish the global currency standard (Dammasch, 2005). According to world gold council (2009), the current gold price is increase sharply and currently one ounce of gold is approximately equivalent to 1079 US dollar per ounce. From the above , we can notice that the purchasing power of US currencies has generally declined due to the impact of rising prices for goods and services. Consequently, gold is always in pursuit by the investor when there is fluctuation in the currencies and economy. According to World gold council (2006), the robust growth of the gold investment demand recent year can be attributed to the factors such as macro-economic and the political instability. Economic factors have high contribution to the gold investment demand and the US dollar plays a crucial role in this aspect. According to Levin and Wright (2006), gold is prominent for its inverse relationship with the US dollar. During the drop in the currency rate of the US dollar recently, the gold price had shown a robust upward shift in the price. The currency factor contributes to investor decision making framework in adoption of gold investment (Boye, 2005). The inflationary hedging ability of gold and currency rate volatility is the key independent variable in this research and it is widely study by many of the professors (eg. Lutter, Sjaastad, Larry Scacciavillani, Worthington Pahlavani and Greer) 2.5.1. Inflationary hedge and gold investment Under the overwhelming financial emergency in 2008, investors are alert to the predictable inflation in the coming future; they realize the advantage of possessing gold, this drive the gold investment demand in China (China research and intelligence, 2009). In consistent with the china research and intelligences finding, world gold council researcher shown that the gold price remains high and stable at around US$ 989/oz in the first quarter of 2009. The scenario is driven by the anxious of investors toward the stability of the financial system, risk aversion, future possibility of inflation and as well as deflation (WGC, 2009). The World gold Council and China researcher predict the gold demand increase during the late 2008 is driven by the inflation and economy uncertainty. In Lutter (2008) study he shown that investor treat gold investment as the superior investment instrument and belief it will give the return which is higher that the inflation rate. Thus investor will demand gold during the inflationary period. According to Worthington and Pahlavani (2007), they claimed that commodities are the best way to hedge against rising prices which reduce the returns of purely financial assets like stocks and bonds. Worthington and Pahlavani point out that gold is special which unlike most commodities; gold is durable, relatively transportable, universally acceptable and easily authenticated. The commodities hedging ability is supported by Ranson and Wainwright (2005)

The Ghost Of Hamlet’s Father Essay -- Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

The Ghost Of Hamlet’s Father  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   What would Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, be like without the character of the Ghost? The drama simply wouldn’t BE! The Ghost, though not a human character in most senses of the word, is crucial for the development of the play. This essay will analyze this interesting character.    The ghost’s apparition has deep significance. It touches the very spiritual underpinnings of the Denmark state. Frank Kermode in â€Å"Hamlet† explores the spiritual dimension of this spectral visit:    But meanwhile the ghost – â€Å"this thing† – has appeared. (Horatio as skeptic raises questions as to its status which could have been avoided.) There has been speculation as to its purpose, but one thing seems sure: it has to do with the state of the nation – it   â€Å"bodes some strange eruption to our state† – and with the armaments drive now in progress under the threat from Norway. That it genuinely has to do with the state of the nation – its spiritual rather than its merely political state – we shall learn; and to give us a â€Å"musical’ sense that this is so, there is the unexpected speech about Christmas (1138).    Let it be said that the Ghost makes his appearance even before the drama has begun. Marchette Chute in â€Å"The Story Told in Hamlet† describes the ghost’s activity prior to the opening scene of Shakespeare’s tragedy:    The story opens in the cold and dark of a winter night in Denmark, while the guard is being changed on the battlements of the royal castle of Elsinore. For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. A... ...: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Excerpted from Stories from Shakespeare. N. p.: E. P. Dutton, 1956.    Edwards, Philip. â€Å"The Ghost: Messenger from a Higher Court of Values?† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from Introduction to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. N. P.: Cambridge University P., 1985.    Kermode, Frank. â€Å"Hamlet.† The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Mack, Maynard. â€Å"The World of Hamlet.† Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.      

David Cronenberg :: essays research papers

David Cronenberg People can interpret different things in different ways. Some people look at the Eiffel Tower and say that it is a work of genius. Others may look at it as if it were the ugliest thing in Europe. Two opposing views creates controversy. People look at the work of the well known director, David Cronenberg, the same way. In my essay, I will not take a side, but I will clearly and concisely outline and detail both sides of his work. David Cronenberg was born May 15, 1943 in Toronto Ontario. His childhood was rather disturbing, with abusive parents, and living a very sheltered life in the suburbs of Toronto for most of his life. He went to the University of Toronto, where he studied film and producing and direction. David’s first big screen success came to him in 1969 when his simple and tasteful film "Stereo" got shot down at the box office. David was somewhat discouraged by this and in 1970 would shock the world with his first film of the horror or shock film industry that broke all the limits. "Crimes of the Future" was a large success at the box office and at he 1970 Cannes Film Festival. Little did the public know, David Cronenberg was not finished there. The ideas he had stored in his uncanny mind of his were peculiar, odd and extraordinary. With his continuing success artistically, the public began to find his work vulgar and disturbing. In 1983, David Cronenberg produced and directed the highly sucessful "The Fly." From that film on his work was very controversial. The artists found his work deep, and meaningful, while the ordinary person though it to be the work of a madman. He had 5 more films to direct. "Dead Ringers" , "Naked Lunch", "Madame Butterfly", "Crash" and "ExistenZ." As his films progressed they got either more artistic and meaningful or more sickening. Naked Lunch was once again cheered at the 1991 Cannes Festival, but less than he previous successes. His work is often stylish and experimental. With plots concerning the aftermath of some disastrous biological mishap. The Fly and The Dead Zone prove this point. These two movies in the 1980s have given David his cult status. David Cronenberg’s 1993 entitled, Madame Butterfly enraged critics even more but the artists found his work compelling. It was at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival that the bomb was dropped.

Huckleberry Finn: Hypocrisy in “Civilized” Society Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a sequel to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain illustrates the Southern states and slavery. Published in 1884, the novel focuses on the important issues that affected America. These issues included racism, slavery, civilization and greed. The book has become one of the most controversial books ever written. The controversy has grown to the point that the novel became banned in several states due to its racial and slavery context. Various symbols, quotes and events have been used in the novel to show hypocrisy in the civilized society in the novel. Hypocrisy in the civilized society is chosen by the recognized rules and regulations by the society. The regulations and rules disregard reason since they favor a particular group and at the same time obtain unfairness against other groups. One example that illustrates the hypocrisy in the civilized society is the instance where the judge who arrives in the town, who is apparently new, allows Huck ’s father Pap to gain custody over Huck (Twain, 25). In the same instance, Jim, a fugitive slave, does not receive custody over his children under the same legal system. Hypocrisy and ridiculousness is indicated when the judge awards custody of Huck over Pap regardless of the danger that Pap, who is a drunk, is to his son. However, the judge awards custody to Pap based on his position as Huck’s biological father. However, the same law does not apply to Jim who does not gain custody of his children despite him being the biological father of his children. Another example that illustrates the hypocrisy in the civilized society in the novel is the feud between Grangerford and Shepardson. The dispute between the Grangerford and Shepardson families is based on reasons that are worthless to both of them. However, both families engage in violent murders of the family members in an effort to maintain family honor. The families are deemed extremely educated and civilized. The reason that led to the dispute between the two families resulte d from the elopement of Sophia Grangerford, Buck Grangerford’s sister and Harney Shepardson. However, the families have always been in a dispute that has lasted for 30 years for reasons that are unsure. The two families after learning of the elopement bring weapons to church. However, both families, using their guns, kill their family members at the growth of the feud. Regardless of the families’ civilized status, hypocrisy is shown where both families kill each other over a meaningless feud. Another example that indicates hypocrisy in the civilized society in the novel is the biased punishment of crimes according to the society’s rules and regulations. This is shown by the non-judgment of the Duke and the King regardless of the fraudulent schemes that both con artists involved in the community. Huck and Jim rescue the Duke and the King and offer them their raft. The first scheme begins when both criminals present fake identities to Huck and Jim. The Duke introduces himself as the English Duke’s son, also known as the Duke of Bridgewater whereas the King presents himself as the Lost Dauphin as well as Louis XVI’s son and France’s designated King (Twain, 144-145). Additionally, one of the con artists, the Duke, takes advantage of Jim’s race and position as a runway slave and prints leaflets that offer $200 reward to any person that manages to catch the runaway slave. The Duke is able to do this by occupying an abandoned printing shop in which he was able to print the handouts (Twain, 156). The con artists use the tactic as a way of buying them time and unrestricted travel for a day. However, most of these crimes that the two commits go unpunished regardless of the statement that the society is civilized and enlightened. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a controversial novel that includes the racial prejudices that characterized conventional America during the civil war. Regardless of the novel narrating a fictional story on actual events, the novel also highlights the current issues that affect the present society. The issues of slavery and racism are still obvious in the world today. Works Cited Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.

Investigating Bubble Wrap as an Insulator Essay

Apparatus   Kettle Water   Small Plastic Bag What are we going to do? We are going to experiment for which bubble wrap or bag is the best insulator. We are doing this experiment because to prove my research in the hypothesis. We will test the big bubble wrap, small bubble wrap, a plastic bag and just the steel can. To extend the experiment we will test the bubbles facing inwards and outwards of the steel can. This will be used for the big bubble wrap and small bubble wrap. 1. First we will boil up some water in a kettle. 2. Then, we will measure the 140ml in a measuring cylinder. This is because we won’t to know how easily heat energy can escape through the can. 3. We shall pour the 140ml of hot water on the steel can. 4. We will put a plastic lid on top of the can. A thermometer will be put through a pierced hole into the middle of the plastic lid. 5. Later we will measure the temperature. 6. As soon as the temperature falls to 84 degree, we will start the timing. 7. We will record the temperature every minute for 10 minutes. After ten minutes the experiment will be done. 8. We will repeat the experiment to find an average temperature for every minute. 9. Finally we well repeat this experiment for the big bubble wrap facing in and out of the can, the small bubble wrap facing in and out of the can and the plastic bag around the steel can. We have chosen to start every experiment at 84 degrees because we think the water may not reach temperatures as high as 90 degrees. For a fair test we will measure the temperature at every minute to make equal spacing of time between each reading of time. ANALYSIS Apparatus Small Plastic Bag Method In my experiment I kept many of the things I was going to do, the same. But after finding a couple of difficulties in the experiment I had to alter a couple of things. They were: –   The process of measuring the hot water. I found out that the temperature of the water decreased rapidly so I could not start the experiment at 84 degrees. So I changed the process of measuring the water. Instead of measuring the water after boiling it up, I measured the water before boiling it up. This meant that I had to put 5ml of extra water in the kettle because a tiny bit of the water would have been evaporated.   Inserting more water into the steel can. I found out that the steel can was not being filled to the top. This meant that the air between the lid and water had been transferring heat energy by convection. I stopped this by adding 10 extra millilitres of water into the steel can. Conclusion In my results table I have observed that the big bubble wrap was the best insulator. The small bubble wrap was a worse insulator than the big bubble wrap and although the plastic bag was the worst insulator, it was the best insulator. The results of the experiment with no covering on the steel can did not fit the graph. This is because the graph showed that the experiment with no covering on the steel can was a good insulator. I would have thought that no covering on the steel can would have helped the heat energy escape. The only explanation for why the graph showed that the experiment was a good insulator is that a big, thick object would have been near the steel can preventing from escaping so easily. In my prediction, I said that the big bubble wrap would be the best insulator. This is because there is a lot gas in each bubble preventing heat energy from escaping so easily. The atoms in a gas are little and very spread out which makes the vibration of one atom to another very hard. I also said that the plastic bag was a good conductor because the heat energy only had go through the steel can and plastic bag. There was not much gas between the steel can and plastic bag together because the plastic bag was close to the steel can. Heat energy can go through a solid easily by conduction because the atoms are close together making the vibrating of each atom easy. This theory has been proved by my results and graph. I decided to record the temperature at every minute in each the experiment, because then I would have a wide range of results of the temperature decreasing. EVALUATION There were some things that were not fair which made the experiment go wrong a little. They were:- 1. The reading of the temperature. Sometimes I would not reading the temperature because the marks on the thermometer were squashed together so I could not read the numbers so easily. If I had a high-tech piece of equipment (e. g. a computer) then I could connect a thermometer to the computer and just read the temperature off the computer. 2. The reading of the temperature APPROXIMATELY every minute. Most of the time I could not read the temperature exactly every minute. Sometimes I was reading the temperature before the minute and sometimes after the minute. This effected my results because some results read the same and some had a big decrease (like the point at the orange circle). I could get solve this problem by also using a computer and connecting a stopwatch to it so the temperature could be given at exactly every minute. 3. The rounding off of a number after being read. Many of the numbers that I read were not whole numbers. So I had to result to rounding the number off. This effected my results because again some results read the same and some had a big decrease. If the thermometer had smaller marks telling you the numbers then I could have precise results. We could result to using a computer. I was not happy with my results with my results for â€Å"no covering† at 1 minute (marked orange circle) because of all the reasons above. These reasons are why my graph a bit out of shape. Although my graph was not accurate, my results were reliable to prove my prediction. My results clearly show that the big bubble wrap was the best insulator (and a bad conductor) and the experiment with the bag was the worst insulator (and a good conductor). I could make my results better by repeating the whole experiment again but this time using all the suggested I have given. If I were to do this then I would get the accurate results and prove that the experiment â€Å"without covering† would be the worst insulator. I would do the experiment three or four times to get a better and more reliable average. My results are not sufficient to prove my conclusion. I think I would have to do the experiment with â€Å"no covering† again to at least make my conclusion right.

Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 16

Economic - Essay Example The HS2 railway would be a great investment for the United Kingdom (Cowen, 2011). Since the railway line will run from London to Leeds and then Manchester, it would ease congestion on Britain’s railway line. However, critics of the projects argue that high-speed railway would not benefit the country accordingly because of the price tag. Despite the opposition, it is rational to argue that the HS2 project is a necessity in Britain. Given enormous growth in freight and passengers, the new line would help ease these problems. Having high-speed railway line in Britain would mean expansion and growth of areas outside London. As discussed in the paper, the HS2 railway line would contribute a lot to the economy of Britain. The benefits of the projects justify the revised costs given its long-term investment (Nash, 2010). The high-speed railway line in Britain will open up the region and in turn encourage trade among European nations. This project means that Britain has embarked on expanding its international trade, taking advantage of the newly competitive exchange rate to penetrate new markets. It will encourage new foreign investments, expand and ameliorate its tourism industry and improve the education and skills base to continue providing a platform for new employment. In addition, under the Economic Recovery Plan of Britain, the government with the new project will appreciate the role of the public sector in economic growth. The project has also mobilized a variety of cross-public activities, which are aimed at supporting the Scottish economy through the effects of the global recession (Nash, 201). With the aim of escalating economic recovery in the Northeast England, the approval of the High-speed railway will encourage competition among firms in Northeast England. The project will aim at making the Northeast region a more cohesive, ambitious, and attractive for investment and working based on