The New Definition Of Racism Essay - 1961 Words

The New Definition of Racism in a Post-Obama America Racial discrimination has persisted in American societies from the oppressiveness of servitude to lawful seclusion. Digressing in severity, Americans are presently burdened with the modern manifestation of those years of racial intolerance and prejudice - a new definition of racism. While slavery and lawful segregation, such as Jim Crow Laws, are a thing of the past – by less than a century – racism is still an intrinsic societal problem that has subliminally permeated American culture. A 1947 study to determine the racial preference of â€Å"Negro† children exemplified the preference Caucasian and African American children, of all skin pigmentations, had for white baby dolls, which were inherently more beautiful and desirable (Clark and Clark p. 169-78). Variations of this study repeated as late as 2010, show little improvement of this perception that a white baby doll is more desirable and attractive than a colored baby doll (Cooper). In a historic 2008 election cycle, Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States of America, but only two years later a repeated study on the racial preferences of children correlates powerfully with the original study in 1947. While a majority of all child participants, especially the younger children, in the recent 2010 study identified darker skin colors negatively, they were unable to provide justification for their answer beyond the restatement of theShow MoreRelatedRace, Racism, Or Ethnicity1559 Words   |  7 Pagesand has raised many questions, due to its lack of proper definition and mostly because of its negative connotations. Associated with ethnicity or racism, it created a lifelong debate about whether or not races are socially constructed. The aim of this essay will be firstly to establish clear definitions of words such as race, racism, or ethnicity, and secondly to explain the evolution of racism, from scie ntific racism to colour blind racism through the work of ideologists such as Gobineau and EduardoRead MoreThe Relationship Between Race and Ideology Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesThe Relationship Between Race and Ideology In this essay I will argue that the key to end racism is to understand race and ideology and how this two concepts relate to each other. Appiah claims that race does not exist. He uses scientific methods to prove that individuals from different groups of people have no greater genetic differences between them than the genetic differences in individuals from the same group of people. He writes: #8230;human genetic variability between the populationsRead MoreAfrican Apartheid And Its Historical And Theoretical Context1430 Words   |  6 Pagesinequality. We will consider South-African apartheid along with its associated focus on race as well as globalization along with its associated focus on class and nationality. We will examine how these concepts encompass the statist, racialised, classist new world order. We commence by examining South-African apartheid and its historical and theoretical context. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation used in the overtly racist regime in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. It was based on laws that bannedRead MoreRacism in Our Society Essay examples1068 Words   |  5 PagesRacism in Our Society Race relations are becoming increasingly important in our civilization. Despite this increasing importance, the question, Is our society racist? is commonly debated. After investigating this subject, it is evident to me that American society is racist. There are various definitions of both racism and society. It is important to clearly define these terms when addressing such a controversial and emotional issue. Racism is defined by Merriam-Webster as a beliefRead MoreRacial Identity By Dr. Beverly Tatum1141 Words   |  5 PagesBlack Kids sitting Together in the Cafeteria? After receiving a letter from a school principal in New Jersey applauding her on her reason of why, in racially mixed schools all over the country, Black kids were still sitting together in school cafeterias. In the text Tatum shares her thoughts about the development of racial identity faced by the African American population and how it is interrelated to racism at the turn of the twentieth century while highlighting the Black-White relation in childhoodRead MoreThe Differences Between Race And Race869 Words   |  4 Pagespoliticians, news outlets and sociologists. In particular, anthropologists hold to a very particular definition of race, essentially st ating that race exists only as a sort of construct that humans create in order to classify each other and make assumptions based upon these classifications. In many ways, this assertion holds merit. For instance, recent scientific evidence points to numerous physiological similarities between races, and these similarities discredit the ideals of ‘scientific racism’. HoweverRead MoreRacism : Racism And It Is Fair For Label A Country Racist?1648 Words   |  7 Pagesyears, racism has been at its highest, so the media reports to the public. Through sports, policing, and schooling, some story of racism is written up by a major news organization and society goes into disbelief. In any community, racist people exist, but with all the recent stories written by major and minor news organizations, it raises the underlined theme that America is racist. But, it is fair to label a country racist? In order to answer the question, there needs to be a set definition and understandingRead MoreImproving Awareness Of The Indigenous Peoples And Cultures1478 Words   |  6 Pagesdevised links directly to this standard as it promotes reconciliation by helping students explore their own identities and how they have been influenced; diversity and similarity in Australia, racism in Australia and how to overcome cultural or racial misconceptions. Although the lessons target identity and racism in general, there is a strong emphasis on the experiences of Aboriginal people (such as a focus on the ‘Stop. Think. Respect. Behind the scenes interviews’, see lesson 3; and exploring whatRead MoreRacism During The United States1282 Words   |  6 PagesRacism in the United States Whites seemingly have always thought they were somehow superior to colored people. Whites in England conquered half the world just to show how powerful they were. Spaniards used Native Americans as slaves to mine gold in the early days of Mexico. America relied on slaves to farm for them or perform household chores. After slavery was abolished in most countries, racism prevailed. In the United States whites established the â€Å"Separate but Equal† idea. For example, whitesRead MoreThe Probem of Reverse Discrimination Essay1749 Words   |  7 Pagesexist? Another even more high news case was Ricci v. DeStefano. This landmark case ,most likely lead to Griffin and Low being rewarded as they were, started in 2003 when nineteen firefighters filled a lawsuit against the city of New Haven, Connecticut alleging that the city discriminated against them regarding promotions. Of these firefighters, seventeen are Caucasian and two are Hispanic, had all passed the city test for promotions to management. New Haven officials invalidated the test results

Ir A Nuclear Power And Producing Atomic Bombs - 3054 Words

Around 2003, the hidden Iranian plan of becoming a nuclear power and producing atomic bombs was revealed by a major opposition group: Mojahadeen. The U.S and other Western countries have been seriously discussing this matter with Iranian authorities after they verified the validity of the news. Iran has undergone billions dollars in expenses, in attempts to gain nuclear power. Generally, the main sanctions are divided into four different groups: U.S sanctions (Executive Order), European sanctions, UN sanctions, and sanctions imposed by the U.S congress. During the beginning years, the effect rate of sanctions weren t very high until sanctions were imposed on Iran’s oil/energy sector and the banking system (Slavin, 2007). When the Iranian revolution took place is 1979, Iranian civilians were in search for a better life which would bring them more political freedom, which at the time, they were lacking. The revolution, attempting to overthrow Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi occurre d and not only were Iranian civilians striped of their political freedom, but they were stripped of their other rights and privileges as well. The new ideological theocratic government betrayed the hopes and dreams of civilians of having a better democratic life and instead set up a theocratic dictatorship that affect Iranians until this day. Relations between the United States and Iran has changed drastically ever since the Pahlavi Dynasty. At one point, prior to 1979, America and Iran wereShow MoreRelatedNuclearization in South Asia13618 Words   |  55 Pagesthe Cold War, been widely regarded as the two countries most likely to become involved in a nuclear war. The cultural, religious, and ideological tensions that underlie the state-tostate antagonism are very deep-seated. The long and contested border, frequent armed conflict and mutual distrust result in an inherently unstable situation between the two nuclear armed rivals. This study will summarize the nuclear history of Ind ia and Pakistan, illustrate the dangers of instability, and examine potentialRead MoreElectromagnetic Radiation7946 Words   |  32 PagesINTRODUCTION Radiation, flow of atomic and subatomic particles and of waves, such as those that characterize heat rays, light rays, and X rays. All matter is constantly bombarded with radiation of both types from cosmic and terrestrial sources. This article delineates the properties and behaviour of radiation and the matter with which it interacts and describes how energy is transferred from radiation to its surroundings. Considerable attention is devoted to the consequences of such an energyRead MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 PagesProfit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology e. Genetic modification f. Right tech for wrong reasons 3. Arts/Culture a. Arts have a future in Singapore? b. Why pursueRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pageshemisphere. He sent attack dogs to maul naked Indians, seized Caribbean women as sex slaves, and disemboweled other natives who resisted conquest. Many were hanged, some were burned alive. He chopped off the hands of thousands who were slow in producing the gold he wanted. Many Arawak Indians responded by committing a series of mass suicides. He shipped 500 Arawak Indians back on Europe as slaves, although 200 died on the voyage. He brought Western diseases which spread across North and SouthRead MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pagesimplementing formal project management? 5. Has Hyten done anything wrong? 6. Should formal project management give employees more room for personal growth? 7. Will formalized project management make it appear as though business development has taken power away from other groups? 8. Were the MBAs exposed to project management? 9. Were the organizational personnel focusing more on the problems (disadvantages) or advantages of project management? 10. What basic fears do employees have in considering organizational

Physical Education In Secondary Schools Essay Example For Students

Physical Education In Secondary Schools Essay Physical Education In Secondary Schools Essay My philosophy of physical education in the secondary setting deals with students becoming physically fit. Also that students learn how to communicate with others, especially in a team setting. My philosophy also holds in it different teaching methods. Methods that physical education teachers can use to get the most out of their students. With this philosophy of physical education I plan to use it toward becoming a good teacher. The major reason for having physical education in secondary schools is to lead the students toward a better lifestyles and to be physically fit. There was an article published In 1992 by, The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), stating what The Physically Fit Person should consist of. This article states five factors of a physical fit person. One factor is that a physically fit person has learned skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities. The second factor, is the person physically fit. The third factor is does this person participate regularly in physical activity. The fourth is a physically fit person knows the implications of and the benefits from involvement in physical activity. The last factor is that a physically fit person values physical activity and its contributions to a healthful lifestyle. The plan as physical educators is to have each child be a physically fit person, by their exit of high school. This will take some work but I believe it could be done. Another very important issue to be learned in secondary physical education is teamwork. This is a very important aspect in everyday life. This helps people think of others as much, or more, than themselves. Today some work places are going to the team oriented style of work. The worker needs to be able to express ideas amongst his/her teammates and come with solutions together. A good activity that could be introduced in secondary physical education programs is a ropes course. Rope courses are great for students to get into the teamwork mentality. This could help students be dependable on each other and trust each other. Education is not only a necessity, but a major part of life. Some children perceive school as a punishment. Including myself, that was the way I felt as a child. But as I grew older I found out that learning can be fun. Some children seem to take education for granted. When I was a school boy, I never realized how much I was learning. The only thing that got me through school was the two days of physical education that I had per week. If I knew then how much I was learning, I probably would have enjoyed school more. Educators need to be aware of this and make children realize that they are accomplishing something every time a fact is embedded in their head. A good way of letting children no they are learning is by positive feedback. Positive feedback can work wonders with struggling students, as well as achieving students. In my own experiences of playing sports I had two very different coaches. One coach was very positive and one was very negative. The coach who offered positive feedback is the coach I admired more, and is also the coach I listened to the most. The coach who said negative things, I didnt care to listen to. By giving positive feedback the teacher or coach allows the child to be a believer in his/her self. When the learner starts believing in themselves then learning becomes easier and more learning occurs. I would like to make physical education an enjoyable learning environment. A place where children can look forward to coming. Especially in the secondary setting. Students have so many other things to think about. Guys think about girls and girls think about guys. Some students even have to worry about their after school job. Physical educators need to be able to express the subject matter in a interesting way for the learners to better understand. .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .postImageUrl , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:hover , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:visited , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:active { border:0!important; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:active , .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919 .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud048f544f42e975a4732f08cd9c84919:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Philosophy: Time Essay If teachers made an effort to make their classes as enjoyable as possible for learning, students may eventually love attending physical education classes. Every student has the ability to learn. Some students learn at a more rapid pace than others. In physical education class we will be teaching them all. Our job as physical educators is to bring out the best in each student. Even if the student doesnt learn easily. For example, special education students have trouble learning, if they can accomplish just a simple task it would be great. The teacher could .

Michael Eisners Disney

Corporate-level strategy Disney’s corporate level strategy is anchored on Walt Disney’s corporate vision to â€Å"create universal timeless family entertainment†. The synergy and strategies applied by Disney has helped the firm’s market growth and expansion strategy.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Michael Eisner’s Disney specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Disney was informed of the importance of vertical integration and total control by â€Å"Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit†. As a result, â€Å"Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit† taught Disney the important lesson of total control and vertical integration. â€Å"Disney established its own distribution house, film studio, music label and so on to better control quality content and costs. The effectiveness and efficiency of the communication and production department was made possible by the synergy developed by having similar c orporate culture† (Smith 2003, p.15). Acquisition strategy Disney successfully acquired ABC which helped it increase market share and reduce competition as it increased its synergy. Brand Image Brand Image is an important corporate strategy that has helped to differentiate and promote the image of Disney among its competitions. To do this Disney has employed horizontal integration strategy to promote its products thus gaining a lot of customer interest and loyalty. To do this Disney used a number of ways such as the Disney Broadway shows which were meant to improve its brand image and the use of parades to get the attention of clients. Disney also licensed its characters as a means of keeping them longer in client’s mind and as opposed to using it as a cash flow mechanism. Geographical and horizontal expansion leading to synergies and leverage in capabilities and resources. Disney had to apply horizontal integration to increase it market niche and awareness. It was able to use cross-promotions to expand its market segment.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company introduced more adult content that was more than the normal family content with animations, movies and theme parks and others that formed part of the market. Geographic expansion was a logical strategy applied by Disney where it ventured to markets in Tokyo, Japan. Leadership and creativity Disney had one executive whom it relied heavily to implement the creativity of the firm. â€Å"Walt Disney created the animated film then led his theme park vision to create a total entertainment for the whole family (Smith 2003, p. 56). Business level strategy Differentiation strategy Disney has succeeded to differentiate its products in various ways by providing a range of products which include movies, consumer products, introduction of vacation resorts, development of TV and Radio, it has successfully developed theme parks and lastly it has publishing services. This differentiation strategy has enable Disney command a huge market and it has been able to remain in the minds of customers for long. Clients are able to identify themselves with Disney due to its wide range of products. Product level development Disney has successfully invested in research development to come up with unique products to meet the ever increasing needs of its customers. To this end, Disney has successfully developed zoological parks for animals which are a major source of revenue, it has introduced food concessions and it has developed Water Park. These are key product developments that were added to Disney line of services. Market development Disney has not only served the local market but it has also ventured in international market. It has global markets such as in Tokyo Japan, Canada, India, Canada, Hong Kong, parts of Europe and china as well as other regions of the world. Disney structure â€Å"Since the company started in 1923, quality, creativity, entrepreneurship, and teamwork have been the core of Disney’s corporate values. Walt E. Disney himself was known for his commitment to excellence and hardworking management style† (Smith 2003). Before this, the structure was non-hierarchical with no one with a title.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Michael Eisner’s Disney specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This helped Disney to improve quality of work as it achieved synergy in the company. After the death of Disney in 1966, the company’s values started to fade away as the management of the film section had difficulties in coming up with creative ideas. â€Å"In 1984, Eisner took over Disney as an outsider but he quickly instilled the same corporate values introduced by Walt Disney and simultaneously introduced frictions based on his promise of maximizing shar eholder’s return of 20%† (Smith 2003). The hierarchy of the company changed since Eisner recruited from outside people who would run the motion pictures section, he developed a strategic planning group and came up with marketing segment and this led Disney to have a hierarchical structure. Eisner put emphasis on financial performance and innovativeness. This led to conflict between the creative and financial group in the firm. Control Structures Behavioral control There is an effective leadership and conflict management control system headed by Eisner. The behavioral control ensures the relationship between the employees themselves and between the employee and the company. They have established a mechanism to reward good behavior and to punish wrong behavior. There is an Imagineering unit in the company meant to improve the corporate behavior of the company. Output control There is output control responsible for all that comes out of the firm. This includes the studio s kills. There are controls to monitor all the segments of the customers served and their buying behavior. The firm has also developed licensing and brand name as a control mechanism. There are many control mechanisms to control its distribution channel. Works Cited Smith, David. Disney: The First 100 Years. New York: Disney Editions, 2003. Print. This case study on Michael Eisner’s Disney was written and submitted by user Fallen One to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Global Strategies in International Business

Global Strategies in International Business The industry based view of strategy explains how industry attributes affect the performance of companies. According to Peng et al., the industry specific attributes relate to factors in the external environment of a company (1). These are factors that are determined by many players in the market and not just an operating company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Global Strategies in International Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This means that the company in question does not have full control over how it performs in the market because of the power of external factors. This approach to strategy formation brings out that managers should consider external factors that affect their operations. The manager should not just consider internal characteristics of his company but also those of competitors and other market stakeholders. Even though businesses operate independently in markets, their activities are affec ted by those of other similar businesses in the same industry. Many markets are perfectly competitive and so prices and the level of output produced are determined by many parties. The business level model of global competitive dynamics brings out how different organizational functions enable companies to compete in the global market. Businesses must make use of different functions such as production, accounts and marketing so as to create competitive advantage. Since profits are what keep businesses in operation, all activities must be competitive so that the organization gains advantage over its rivals in the global market. The industry based view of strategy works well with the business level model of entrepreneurship since the two factors are inter-related. Managers must develop strategies in relation to industry factors. When this is done, the strategies become practical and realistic in relation to the market. This approach enables managers to consider how industry factors aff ect individual business functions and the demand and supply of their products so that pricing and product strategies can be effective in creating profits. The industry based approach however neglects the firm’s internal capabilities of dealing with challenges. At times the resources and skills possessed internally are enough to meet the needs of the market while industry factors complicate what could have been solved easily.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The corporate-level model of multinational strategy, structure, and learning looks at the firm as a corporate body. This means that all activities are interrelated so that the organization moves in one direction. In the global arena, organizations need to develop strategies that create harmony and cooperation between individual departments. Corporate strategies also determine organizational activities, str ucture and acquisition of knowledge. The industry based approach to strategy formulation puts the focus of managers on industry factors. When managers consider the impact of industry forces on the firm’s activities, they are able to develop strategies that can overcome challenges from the external environment. When global strategies are based on the industry view, organizations gain the advantage of being in touch with the actual situation in the market. The industry based view however does not optimize on available resources within the organization such as manpower, time, finances and skills since its focus is on the industry factors. In conclusion, the industry based view on strategy has both advantages and disadvantages in relation to the business-level model of global competitive dynamics and the corporate-level model of multinational strategy, structure, and learning. The industry specific factors affect corporate strategies especially in the global business environment. Strategy formulation and implementation should be based on the global perspective of markets. Global strategies therefore have to consider industry factors and how these affect the operations of individual businesses. Managers are faced with the task of ensuring that their organizations remain competitive so that they gain advantage over their competitors. Bibliography Peng Mike W, Wang Denis Y and Jiang Yi. â€Å"An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on Emerging economies†. Journal of International Business Studies. 39(2008): 920–936. Web. https://www.utdallas.edu/~mikepeng/documents/articles/Peng08JIBSWangJiang39(5)pp920-936.pdf

The Many Forms of Plurals

The Many Forms of Plurals The Many Forms of Plurals The Many Forms of Plurals By Mark Nichol Plurals take many (sometimes curious or counterintuitive) forms. Here is an outline of how to form various types of plurals according to the word form or ending: For words ending in: nonsibilant, or voiceless, consonants: add -s (dogs). voiced, or sibilant, consonant blends: add -es (riches). vowels: add -s (knees). -f: delete -f and add -ves (loaves) or -s (chiefs). -x: add -es (foxes). -y: delete -y and add -ies (bodies). For words of Latin or Greek origin ending in: -a: add -s or -e, depending on context (formulas/formulae). -ex: add -es or delete -x and add -ces, depending on context (indexes/indices). -ies: leave as is (species). -is: change to -es (axis). -ma: add -s or -ata, depending on context (stigmas/stigmata). -um: add -s (aquariums), delete -um and add -a (curricula), or either depending on context (mediums/media). -us: delete -us and add -i (alumni), -ii (radii), -era (genera), or -ora (corpora), or leave -us and add -es (octopuses) or use another form, depending on context (cactuses/cacti). Types of irregular forms include: ablaut, or mutated, plurals, with changes in the midst of a word (tooth/teeth; louse/lice). identical singular and plural forms (deer, spacecraft). -en and -ren endings (oxen, children). Some words have more than one plural form, one of which may be archaic (cows/kine) or reserved for a distinct meaning (dice/dies). One problematic category is in referring to fish in general and specific varieties of fish in particular: â€Å"Look at all the fish!† but â€Å"Gars are long, slender, predatory fishes.† Also, some types are given a distinct plural form (sharks, barracudas), though for others, the plural form is identical to the singular one (salmon, sturgeon). Plurals of letters, numbers, or abbreviations are generally formed simply by adding -s, although occasionally, the otherwise incorrect use of an interceding apostrophe is warranted (â€Å"Mind your p’s and q’s†). Usually, however, pluralizing names of letters requires no special treatment, especially when the letter is italicized, as here: â€Å"There are five es in beekeeper.† Initialisms and acronyms also require only an -s: â€Å"Many NGOs are headquartered here,† â€Å"It’s like having two NASAs.† The singular forms of some words are, because they end in s include gyros, kudos, and biceps (as well as triceps and quadriceps). The plural forms are the same, although the latter examples are also pluralized by adding -es. For other words, the original singular has been supplanted by a plural form used in both cases (alga by algae; graffito by graffiti). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Types of LanguageHow to Pronounce MobileEbook, eBook, ebook or e-book?

Disucssion Question 1 week 2 Investment Information Assignment

Disucssion Question 1 week 2 Investment Information - Assignment Example s on a company with a good record of cash generation from its daily business so as to reduce risk of investment and boost prospects of positive returns. The firms being considered by the investor might have realized high returns resulting to good cash flows. In such cases, the criteria of choosing a suitable business entity to invest in will change- the investor should go for the company which invests its returns in a manner that would benefit him (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2011). For example, Company A saves most of its return for a rainy day while company B pays its shareholders A balance sheet is often described as a "snapshot of a companys financial condition" categorically stating the balances of the business at the end of each financial year. The left side comprises of the Assets (things the company owns ) listed in order of the time taken to change them to money (liquidity), and the right side made up of debts of the business and amounts payable. Thus, an investor should choose to invest his or her financial assets on a company with a large asset base which will ensure security of his invested capital in case of anything, and refrain from investing in companies with a high gearing ratio since it will result to a little or zero return on his investment and the risk of losing the invested capital increases

Very easy no essay Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Very easy no essay - Assignment Example y-four year olds owning their own businesses: "The trend may dilute corporate pools of promotable junior managers but provide a needed infrastructure for corporate outsourcing" (Keaveney 102-103). Which paraphrase is acceptable? A necessary infrastructure for corporate outsourcing is provided even though the trend of members of the younger generation owning their own businesses is weakening the availability of potential executives (Keaveney 102-103). Increasingly, members of the younger generation are becoming entrepreneurs rather than making themselves available to work their way up the management scale for an individual company; the difficulties this may cause for companies is offset by the services as subcontractors they can provide as outsourcing becomes more necessary and more common (Keaveney 102-103). The current fashion of members of the younger generation owning their own businesses might water down the numbers of available potential low-ranking administrators; however, it might also supply a necessary means at a basic level for business to subcontract (Keaveney 102-103). The original quotation from Bob Simpson on a website reads "Although some people believe the Lamborgotti Fasterossa is the fastest car in the world, others name the Ferrari as the fastest." Which is an unfair and misleading use of this quotation? You are using material from a newspaper article. There is no author given, but the title of the article is "Was Emerson lying to his constituents?," published in the  Edmonton Journal  on Feb. 14, 2006, on p. A2. Which is the proper parenthetical citation for this

The High Dropout Rate for College Students Essay Example for Free

The High Dropout Rate for College Students Essay Everyone should believe that our education is crucial being that this would actuates the amplitude of progress of an individual’s civil and industrial contentment. You can’t tell me one specific person who would not want to have a degree under their belt along with attaining a very high paying job in the future. What a lot of people fail to realize is that prior to accomplishing a degree, and reaping the benefits, adversity as well as many different problems has to be conquered first. These same adversities and problems are the leading causes why most college students were and are still unable to graduate and they just give up and dropout. That is because when starting school they don’t prepare themselves for these things so when they come along the most inconsiderable thing for them to do is give up. The cause of students dropping out of college is not entirely the student’s indiscretion alone but comparatively with different circumstantial and social elements. Overall dropping out of college is a huge issue for many people today and in this paper I will discuss the many causes why there are high dropout rates and the remedies there is to empower us to finish (www. solutionsforamerica. org). Many undergraduates find that college is not exactly what they thought it would be and that definitely includes me. In my opinion as I’m sure any other college student would agree, whether they be young or old is that there is a lot more reading, studying, you have greater expectations that you have to fulfill and of course the work is much harder. Many people can testify to the fact that the workload is a bit much compared to what we were used to doing back in high school. The whole idea of having to read a whole lot then having to sit and listen to lectures and takes notes believe it or not scares a lot of people; my sister was one of them which is the reason why she dropped out her first time around. Some people have a lack of self control and balancing the new work load with their so called social lives isn’t what they really want to do. Some students are used to the high school teachers staying on top of them for the works that needs to be done, but when you are in college you get a list which is called a syllabus for every class with all the assignments that needs to be done and when they are due. When you don’t have any motivation to push you, this can be one of the very reasons why many person dropout of college. Its obvious that one of the reasons why the dropout rates for college students is so high is they financially just cannot do it. Yes there is the option of financial aid but there are many rules and regulations behind it. For instance I wanted to attend college right after I got my GED in 2006 but because my grandmother did not want to sign any papers for me or give any of her information I was not allowed to. I had to wait until I was of age to be considered an independent student to apply for my FAFSA and be eligible. There are a lot of low income families where they have to work in order to survive because they have large families and going to just isn’t what is in their interest. Tuition for college can be very expensive and if you can’t get a loan they paying for it will be a headache. My sister attends Mercy College and her tuition is almost $9000 a semester and that’s not even including books, possible school supplies or any other charges (Krystal Berry). Some students don’t get enough financial aid and are forced to drop out because they can’t get any loans or find a job that will cover the remaining balance. Most of the time they are unaware of the other options that they have but I will speak on that later on in my essay about the things that can be done to help people in these different situations. Attending college is no walk in the park and there will be many hurdles, hardships, trials and tribulations along the way but we just have to fight through it and not let our finances by any means hold us back. Studies show that most students who enter into the ninth grade won’t graduate with their peers four years later. The reason being is because many of those same children live in these in these under privileged areas and most of them can’t read better than a third grade level. A lot of things showed that because these students can’t read past the third grade level they have a higher chance of dropping out of high school and never make it to college. The high dropout rates in college and the dropout rates in high school have a lot to do with each other in more ways than we think. There a lot of things that advocate that the students are not being supported in any way in their education and honestly that’s sad. Most people in those areas urge the young people to get a job instead of making them understand that if they stay in school and do well that when they finish they can get an even igher pay. These students aren’t prepared for what’s to come in high school, let alone are able to survive enough to make it to graduation and then into college. There are these programs called the GPS-NYC and STEPS that work with these students. The GPS-NYC (Graduate, Prepare, and Succeed) helps ninth grade students with a history of chronic absen teeism graduate on time and ready for college. GPS works to significantly improve educational outcomes throughout New York City through a program policy proposition. STEPS (Supporting Transitions from Early Education to Public Schools) wishes to better early grade literacy by ensuring that a child’s learning and development needs are perpetually met in the first eight years of life. The point is to help bridge the gaps between pre-school and elementary schools (www. unitedwaynyc. org/education). I think with these programs it has helped these students continue on to get a better education; it starts from young. A majority of the people that dropout of college just don’t go to class; they party all night and sleep all day. They have the mentality that going to class is a waste of time; they don’t feel the need to study because in high school they didn’t have to and still passed. Most people are just not prepared for what’s to come in school which is a horrible thing. A lot of high schools reassure the students that they are preparing them for the college life but in actuality aren’t even coming close to what they need to be taught. I think that when entering in college for your first year you should have a guidance counselor to somewhat guide and counsel you. Though there are some student advisors that may act as counselors because they truly do care about the students they have other things to do. When in high school it should be required for all students to take at least two college level course and if they did exceptionally well then some credits will be received for it. It’s the lack of interest that is the reason why now more than ever the high dropout rates are kind of increasing. Financial reason is the number one reason why there is a high dropout rate in college and I don’t know about any other school or state but there are many options. You can either get financial aid or even get a loan from the bank if your credit is good or you can get a co-signer. There are certain programs that if you qualify for you will get funding some kind of funding to help you with school. Most people have the mentality that they have to take four classes at a time when in reality you really don’t have to. Many individuals can afford to pay for at least one class with some serious sacrifices but they don’t want to shell out the money for it; if it’s not financial aid paying for it then they don’t want to do it which is a shame. We all should at least take one class if possible to prevent from staying out for so long. Smaller classes, better communication, and increase supervision are some things that can prevent the high dropout rate in college. If there were a lot more good teachers who keep the classes interesting and parents were more involved that would make it a lot easier. Most parents kind of forget about their children and are not as active in their lives when they go to college especially if they go away (www. dosomething. org). .

Andrew Carnegie Lived The American Dream :: Andrew Carnegie

What is the American Dream? According to Webster the American Dream is the ideal according to which equality of opportunity permits any American to aspire to high attainment and material success. Andrew Carnegie is the epitome of the American Dream because he is a classic example of rags to riches success story. He seemed to be touched by an angel. No matter what was wrong with the world, Andrew Carnegie was to consistently capitalize on success. Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835. â€Å"Protected by proud and self-sacrificing parents, Andrew may not have known in these years what real poverty was†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Wall, Andrew Carnegie) Andrew Carnegie’s formal education ended after elementary school, the family's respect for books and learning ensured that Carnegie's education would continue throughout his life. Born the son of a weaver, Carnegie’s family suffered the effects of the industrial revolution. The mass production of the new steam looms left countless families out of work. To escape the depression of their hometown his family immigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1848. At the age of thirteen, Carnegie began his new life in America as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory. Through a connection from his uncle, Carnegie was offered a job as a messenger boy and operator for the Telegraph Office. From the promotion of his new job, Carnegie became acquainted with Pittsburgh’s most Well-known men. While employed by the Telegraph Office Carnegie met Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who offered him a job. It was while being employed by Scott, that he was given a proposal to invest in the Adams Express Company. Carnegie was able to convince his mother to mortgage their home and loan him $500 to begin his first investment. In 1865 Carnegie left Pennsylvania Railroad after 12 years to concentrate on his own businesses, the first being the Keystone Bridge Company, which made iron and steel. Carnegie surrounded himself with intelligent advisors, made heavy investments in new equipment, and maintained his ownership stake in all his enterprises, enabling him to exponentially increase his wealth. During his trips to business trips Carnegie he came to meet steel-makers. At about age 38, he began concentrating on steel, founding the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works near Pittsburgh, which would eventually evolve into the Carnegie Steel Company. In the 1870s Carnegie's new company built the first steel plants in the United States to use the new Bessemer steel-making process, borrowed from Britain. Andrew Carnegie Lived The American Dream :: Andrew Carnegie What is the American Dream? According to Webster the American Dream is the ideal according to which equality of opportunity permits any American to aspire to high attainment and material success. Andrew Carnegie is the epitome of the American Dream because he is a classic example of rags to riches success story. He seemed to be touched by an angel. No matter what was wrong with the world, Andrew Carnegie was to consistently capitalize on success. Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835. â€Å"Protected by proud and self-sacrificing parents, Andrew may not have known in these years what real poverty was†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Wall, Andrew Carnegie) Andrew Carnegie’s formal education ended after elementary school, the family's respect for books and learning ensured that Carnegie's education would continue throughout his life. Born the son of a weaver, Carnegie’s family suffered the effects of the industrial revolution. The mass production of the new steam looms left countless families out of work. To escape the depression of their hometown his family immigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1848. At the age of thirteen, Carnegie began his new life in America as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory. Through a connection from his uncle, Carnegie was offered a job as a messenger boy and operator for the Telegraph Office. From the promotion of his new job, Carnegie became acquainted with Pittsburgh’s most Well-known men. While employed by the Telegraph Office Carnegie met Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who offered him a job. It was while being employed by Scott, that he was given a proposal to invest in the Adams Express Company. Carnegie was able to convince his mother to mortgage their home and loan him $500 to begin his first investment. In 1865 Carnegie left Pennsylvania Railroad after 12 years to concentrate on his own businesses, the first being the Keystone Bridge Company, which made iron and steel. Carnegie surrounded himself with intelligent advisors, made heavy investments in new equipment, and maintained his ownership stake in all his enterprises, enabling him to exponentially increase his wealth. During his trips to business trips Carnegie he came to meet steel-makers. At about age 38, he began concentrating on steel, founding the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works near Pittsburgh, which would eventually evolve into the Carnegie Steel Company. In the 1870s Carnegie's new company built the first steel plants in the United States to use the new Bessemer steel-making process, borrowed from Britain.

Report to the Management of Wilson, Tan & Associates

Introduction This report provides an evaluation of the performance of the performance of two U.K companies that operate in the fashion industry with the objective of identifying a suitable takeover target for Wilson & Tan Associates. The report covers the financial performance of the two companies based interpreted in the context of the business environment in which they operate. The two companies included in the report include Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc. The analysis is based on the group statement of financial position as at 2011 and 2010 and the group income statement for the years ending 2010 and 2011. The rest of the report is organised as follows: section 2 focuses on analysing the financial performance of both companies in relation to their industry and economic environment; and section 3 provides conclusions and recommendations on which company to take over. Analysis of the Performance of Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc Appendix 1 contains the ratios of both companies over the period 2010 and 2011. The ratios cover a variety of areas including profitability, liquidity, management efficiency and long-term solvency.ProfitabilityThe ability of a company to generate a return on invested capital is a critical factor in determining the value of the company. Profitability serves as a measure of the competitive position of a company as well as the quality of the management (Penman, 2007; Robinson et al., 2009). It can be observed from appendix 1 that overall profitability of Mulberry Plc is better than that of Supergroup Plc. Supergroup Plc realised a gross profit margin of 55.82% in 2011 up by 6% from its 2010 figure of 52.58%. Despite this high ratio, that of Mulberry Plc was high. The company realised a gross profit margin of 65.4% in 2011 up 11% from its 2010 figure of 59.0%. The operating profit margin of Supergroup Plc was higher than that of Mulberry Plc for both 2011 and 201. However, Mulberry Plc r ealised a greater improvement in the operating profit margin from 2010 to 2011. If the company continues with this spirit it will soon outperform Supergroup Plc. In terms of the net profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity, Mulberry Plc outperformed Supergroup Plc. In addition, Mulberry Plc witnessed a significant improvement in these ratios from 2010 to 2011 while Supergroup Plc witnessed a significant decline in these ratios over the same period. With respect to profitability, both companies appear to be profitable. However, the performance of Mulberry Plc surpasses that of Supergroup Plc. The high profitability observed for these two companies can be attributed to positive developments in the fashion industry. Despite the poor economic climate, the U.K fashion industry is experiencing a growth in revenue. The U.K remains a major manufacturer of clothing and high quality fabrics. The combined textile and clothing industry in the U.K is valued at ?8.5billion worth of goods. Retail sales in the fashion industry in 2009 were approximately ?285billion. Export sales amounted to approximately ?7.3billion at manufacturer’s prices with the U.S.A, Japan, Russia, France, Italy the Middle East, Hong Kong and China being major export destinations (Fashion United, 2011). Rising trends in both export and domestic sales explain why companies in the industry are experiencing increasing profit margins and return on investment as indicated by the ratios of Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Group Plc.LiquidityLiquidity measures a firm’s ability to meet its current financial oblig ations. It is a measure of how well the firm can pay its short-term creditors with its current assets without having to liquidate its non-current assets. In order words, liquidity measures how quickly the company converts assets into cash (Myers and Brealey, 2002; Penman, 2007). Appendix 1 also presents liquidity ratios for Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc. It can be observed that Supergroup Plc has a better liquidity position than Mulberry Plc. Supergroup Plc had a current ratio of 2.81 in 2011 up 1% from 2.79 in 2010. On the contrary, Mulberry Plc had a current ratio of 1.62 in 2011 down 24% from 2010. The quick ratio of Supergroup Plc was 1.59 in 2011 down 17% from 1.91 in 2010 compared to a quick ratio of 0.97 for Mulberry plc in 2011 down 34% from 1.48 in 2010. Considering only the current and quick ratios, it can be observed that Supergroup plc can meet its current liabilities with its current assets better than Mulberry plc can do. The cash ratio for both companies in 2011 was less than 1.0 suggesting that cash and cash equivalents are not enough to meet current liabilities. This means that if both companies suffer a write-down in the value of inventory or an increase in bad debts, they would be unable to meet their current liabilities with their current base of cash and cash equivalents. Overall, the liquidity position for both companies is declining although Supergroup Plc appears to be doing better than Mulberry Plc. The deteriorating liquidity for both companies can be attributed to the current economic climate. Bank lending has declined significantly as a result of the global financial crisis. Arranging an overdraft facility has become more difficult compared to what use to be the case before the global financial crisis. Declining liquidity too can be as a result of the constant change in the fashion industry. Clothing inventory becomes obsolete too quickly. This suggests slow moving inventory can result to liquidity constraints for companies that operate in the fashion industry.Management EfficiencyEfficiency ratios are aimed at understanding how well a company manages its activities especially how it efficiently manages its assets. Appendix 1 illustrates a number of efficiency ratios for Supergoup Plc and Mulberry Plc. The inventory turnover of Supergroup plc declined from by 36% from 3.13times in 2010 to 2.01times in 2011. Supergroup is able to turnover more inventory than Mulberry plc who s aw a decline in inventory turnover by 42% from 3.25times in 2010 to 1.88 times in 2011. The decline in the number of times that inventory is turned over led to an increase in the number of days that inventory is outstanding by 56% from 117 days in 2010 to 182days in 2011 for Supergroup Plc and by 73 % from 112 days in 2010 to 194 days in 2011 for Mulberry Plc. This decline in inventory turnover for both companies helps to explain why the liquidity ratios declined. Both companies have increased the number of days that inventory is held thus increasing the probability that inventory may become obsolete and thus result to a deterioration in its value. As far as inventory turnover is concerned, the management of Supergroup Plc is more efficient. The receivables turnover of Mulberry Plc however, is better than that of Supergroup Plc. Mulberry Plc is able to collect its outstanding receivables faster than Supergroup Plc can do. This is reflected in the lower number of days that its receiv ables remain outstanding compared to Mulberry Plc. The purchases turnover of Supergroup Plc is higher than that of Mulberry Plc. In addition, the number of days of payables of Supergroup Plc is higher than that of Mulberry Plc. This suggests that Mulberry Plc is either defaulting on its payments or has a higher bargaining power over its suppliers. The results for Supergroup Plc suggest that it either has a lower bargaining power or does not default on its short term debts. In terms of Payables turnover and receivables turnover, Mulberry Plc outperformed Supergroup plc indicating that the management of Mulberry plc is more efficient in managing its assets than Supergroup plc. Looking at the working capital, fixed asset, and total asset turnover, it can be observed that the performance of Mulberry Plc was better than that of Supergroup plc.Long-term SolvencyThe solvency ratios indicate that Mulberry Plc is in a better solvency position than Supergroup Plc. The company has no long-term debt which makes its debt-to-equity and debt-to-capital ratios equal to zero. Conclusions and Recommendations One can conclude from the above analysis that Mulberry Plc performed better than Supergroup plc over the 2 year period under investigation. While Supergroup plc appears to have a better liquidity position than Mulberry plc, Mulberry plc is more profitable, has a better management and is in a better solvency position than Supergroup Plc. Given its more efficient management, it can work on its liquidity position and improve in subsequent years. In the light of these findings, this report considers Mulberry Plc a better takeover target and thus recommends that the management of Wilson, Tan & Associates should consider placing a takeover bid for it. References Fashion United (2011) Facts and Figures in the UK fashion industry, available online at: http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/facts-and-figures-in-the-uk-fashion-industry, [accessed: 1st February 2012]. Myers, S. C. Brealey, R. A. (2002). Principles of Corporate Finance. 7th Edition McGraw-Hill. Penman, S. (2007) Financial Statements Analysis and Securities Valuation.3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill. Robinson, T. R., Greuning, J. H., Henry, E., Broihahn, M. A. (2009), â€Å"Financial Analysis Techniques† in Financial Reporting and Analysis, CFA Program Curriculum, vol. 3, Pearson Custom Publishing.

Bus303 Final Paper

Human Resources Management Reflective Paper BUS 303 Human Resource Management Reflective Paper In analyzing the concepts discussed in Human Resource Management, I have found an interesting mix of education and forethought into the role of a human resource manager. Many of the aspect of human resource management such as HR planning, recruitment and selection, as well as, human resources development and labor relations all play a significant role in the success of any organization.There are many benefits to the learning that has taken place in this course that has helped me better understand HRM and its roll that will shape not only my position in business now but for future positions in the years to come. The primary function of human resource management is to increase the effectiveness and contribution of employees in the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. For a human resource department to function correctly its many functions need to work together and it all starts with human resource planning.All businesses have a human resource planning process. Many times upper management teams work with human resource experts when it comes to human resource decisions. These HR decisions help to shape the overall strategic plan of an organization. Human Resource departments function at their best when they are viewed within an organization as a partner with upper management that will aid with the planning and administration of human resource decisions. The HR head is a centerpiece to the decision making process.HR managers often times evaluate the availability of talent, employee behavior and analyze current skills that are needed within the organization. Human resource planning is â€Å"the ongoing process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset – its human resources. † (http://www. investopedia. com) The main goal of human resource planning is to make sure there is a functional and working conne ction between employees and the jobs in which they do. There has to be a balanced pproached for human resource managers because there is a fine line trying to avoid deficiencies and surpluses of labor within the organization. For HR managers the balance is kept by analyzing current labor demand verses future labor demand and balancing the supply and demand between the two. Often times HR planning has to be flexible so that organizations can adapt and keep up with the changing business environments in the markets in which they serve. Human resource planning is an ongoing task that must look at the long term and short-term goals of an organization.Without the flexibility and the ability to adapt to a changing business environment, organizations could be left behind in the competitive marketplace. Planning needs to take into account many factors such as recruiting, training, outsourcing, employee development, job analysis and others just to name a few. Ultimately, it is human resources responsibility to make sure that the organization has the right people in the right place in order to successfully navigate the organization to fulfill its strategic plan. When it comes to HR planning there are six specific factors for the HR planning process.They are environmental scanning, labor market analysis and forecast, internal analysis and forecast, gap analysis, developing HR plans and strategies, and HR strategy implementation and assessment. â€Å"HR planning and organizational strategic planning should not be treated as separate activities: they must have a mutual relationship for their integration to be valuable. Similarly, HR planning should be guided by organizational goals and strategies and should inform each and every one of those processes; the various HRM processes can then be conducted effectively. (Youssef, C. 2012) I believe that the HR planning process is the absolute most important part of an HR management team’s work. The reason is that there is s o much that goes into the planning that shapes the overall strategic plan of an organization. The many other factors that HR deals with are important, yet without an overall plan and vision, the overall long-term goals of the organization could not be reached in an efficient manner. For example, I had worked at a small local company that had started up about a year prior to my arrival.At the time that I had started it was ran by a husband and wife both of which did not have any HR experience. They had goals on what they wanted to do both long term and short term yet the organization was unable to reach many of those goals primarily because of the lack of an HR professional. In order to recruit new people the owners relied on referrals from other business owners in the area and ads that were posted in the local newspaper. They had no online presence and they were not able to keep up with the competition for qualified candidates.They were losing quality potential employees to their co mpetition because of a lack of planning and non-flexibility. After about a year of continuous struggles, they brought in an HR consultant that brought many good ideas and the owners fortunately embraced many of them. They had decided to recruit and bring on board a professional HR manager with many years of experience that helped the owners in an area that was one of their weaknesses, HR management. The new HR manager brought plenty of changes to the processes within the organization while keeping in mind the overall long-term goals of the owners.Many of the changes were to the recruitment process. She did things such as adding an â€Å"apply now† link on the company’s website and got the organization more of an online presence in on-line job boards within the area. Along with that, the interview process was more formal with the changes that she made. More of the work was done electronically such as applications, and resume submitting. The owners of the company also in vested with an organization that provided services for companies to give personality and aptitude assessments so that they could better understand a potential employee.Of course, this all happened over time and the organization became better at understanding what type of labor force they needed. This is exactly why the planning process is so important. It helps to organize and execute the overall strategic plan of an organization and that is the exact reason that HR exists, to increase the effectiveness and contribution of employees in the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. Culture, it comes down to organizational and employee behavior and HRM plays the biggest role. â€Å"There is no one omnipotent culture.What works this year may not work in the next†. (www. sjsu. edu) The culture of an organization is not automatic. It takes time and hard work for an organization to build and cultivate its own identity and culture within the workplace. Many times HR manager s forget the importance they have in shaping the culture of an organization. I have seen it before in companies in which I have worked. For instance, the organization that I currently work for had sort of a laid-back culture one in which it was ok for sales people to work in business casual clothes such as slacks and a polo shirt.A couple of years ago the CEO was replaced and when the new CEO came in, change came to the culture. No longer, was the sales team allowed to wear business casual, it was professional dress only and it made a big difference in the professionalism with the organization. It also made a difference with new hires and made the biggest impact with our customers. This is just one example of the how the culture changed within my organization but the important thing to note was that the new CEO led this change by example as he did with everything else.He would only wear suits and ties and never did we see him or any other person on the management team in business ca sual. It was just one-step but a very important one in changing the culture of the organization. The best way for HRM to shape organizational and employee behavior is to lead by example. There are other control methods to make sure individual employee behavior is kept in check, such as utilizing a corporate code of conduct that must be signed and followed by all of the employees.For this to work, an organization must have meaningful penalties when the code of conduct is violated, and it must make sure that those policies are enforced and that enforcement is structured and consistent. Overall, HR managers need to lead by example to create or maintain a positive culture within their workplace. It is critical that all managers are aware of their roles and responsibilities in upholding positive workplace environments that can increase employee satisfaction and it all starts with HRM. In conclusion, HRM plays one of the biggest and most important roles in the success or failure of an org anization.Without the right planning and having the right people in the right place, it is very hard for an organization to meet the overall goals in which they have set out to succeed. Looking at the learning that has taken place in this course, it has opened my eyes to the importance of a competent and structured HR department. The course has helped me to look at past experiences and better appreciate the HR directors that I have worked with in the past and it has helped me better understand HRM and its roll that will shape not only my osition in business now but for future positions in the years to come. References Youssef, C. (2012). Human resource management. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education http://www. investopedia. com/terms/h/human-resource-planning. asp#axzz2LJdsjswT (Retrieved from World Wide Web, February 16, 2013) http://www. sjsu. edu/people/phyllis. connolly/courses/c17/s1/kane_umanageroleorgcul200(Retrieved from the World Wide Web, February 18, 2013

The Jungle Essays - Economic Ideologies, Production Economics

The Jungle Essays - Economic Ideologies, Production Economics The Jungle A French philosopher once said that the greatest tyranny of democracy was when the minority ruled the majority. Upton Sinclairs The Jungle gives the reader a great example of exactly this. A man who earns his living honestly and through hard work will always be trapped in poverty, but a man who earns his living through lies and cheating will be wealthy. The Jungle portrays a Lithuanian family stuck in a Capitalistic country. It shows the ongoing struggle of a lower class that will never get farther in life as long as the minority of rich people rule over them. The Jungle conveys a struggle between Capitalism and Socialism. Socialism is the best way out for the peasants, but a Capitalistic America has already trapped them. When Jurgis Rudkus and his family first come to America, they do not know how it was run. Once Jurgis begins working in the stockyards, he finds out that the upper class dominates over the lower class. Supposedly America is a democratic nation, but this is not true. Capitalism rules the nation. The upper class bosses rule what goes on in the peasants lives. It is a form of slavery. Sinclair writes: Things that were quite unspeakable went on there in the packing houses all the time, and were taken for granted by everybody; only they did not show, as in old slavery times, because there was no difference in color between master and slave. (106) Sinclair compares the conditions of the factories to that of slavery. The rich boss is the master and the peasant is the lowly slave. Capitalism rules in the stockyards of Chicago. The higher class people can get ahead in life because they have an in with the system, but the peasants will forever be stuck at their work on the machines in a packing plant. Jurgis Rudkus endures the work in the factory system. He comes across Capitalism first hand here. Through his work in the meat packing plant, he sees how they are able to work around government regulation through bribes and deceit. He also soon learns that everyone steals from the people below them in the system. Sinclair writes, ...the bosses grafted off the men, and they grafted off each other; and someday the superintendent would find out about the boss, and then he would graft off the boss (59). Sinclair reveals that men of a higher status were able to steal freely from others and get away with it. If one found out, he just stole right back from another. This was Capitalism in and of itself. Here, in the stockyards of Chicago, the upper class rules over the lower class. In Packingtown, Jurgis Rudkus and his family face many difficulties with the Capitalistic rule. The people take advantage of them and steal their money. When they first came to America, they had to pay many fees because they were foreigners and did not know better. Eventually, Jurgis decides to buy a house. He thinks he is getting a good deal, but in reality is not. The real estate agent tells him that it is a brand new house, but this is a lie. Sinclair writes, ...it was not new at all, as they had supposed; it was about fifteen years old, and there was nothing new upon it but the paint (65). The real estate agent took advantage of them because they were lower class. He was able to do so because they did not know any better. The upper class ruled over them. They lived in a Capitalistic nation that trapped them as lower class citizens. The Capitalistic way of life allows for a lot of corruption in the government and police department. Many people pay off high officials in order to get lead way in court and other places. Men who own saloons pay the police so they can sell liquor on Sundays. At one point in the book Jurgis beats up a bartender because he will not give him his change for a hundred dollar bill. The bartender does not get in trouble for this because he has paid people off. Sinclair writes, ...the owner of the saloon had paid five dollars each to the policemen alone

To B or Not to B

To B or Not to B To B or Not to B To B or Not to B By Maeve Maddox English words ending in the spelling -mb occasionally give English learners difficulty. The error arises in trying to pronounce the final b. Some of these words derive from originals that included the b sound and spelling. Some, however, had the unnecessary, (sometimes called the parasitic), -b added after the words were in common use. Here are some -mb words that come from roots that included the b as part of the spelling. bomb [bÃ… m]- noun meaning an explosive device. From Italian bomba, possibly from Latin bombus, a buzzing or booming sound and Greek bombos deep and hollow sound. climb [klÄ «m] verb meaning to ascend. He climbed the stairs. He climbed the cliff face. As a noun it means an ascent. It was an arduous climb. Climb is from the Old English verb climban. comb [kÃ… m] noun (OE camb) meaning a toothed implement. As a verb it means to perform the act of running a comb through hair. It is also used figuratively to mean examine with care. She combed (or combed through) the files, looking for evidence. dumb [dÃ… ­m] (OE thumb; ON dumbr) meaning mute. The modern sense of stupid was influenced by German dumm, stupid. jamb [jÄÆ'm] (Old French jambe, side post of a door) Ultimately from words meaning leg, a jamb is an upright piece of wood or other material that forms the side of a door, window, or other opening. lamb [lÄÆ'm] This word for a baby sheep retains its OE spelling. plumb [(plÃ… ­m)] The noun refers to a heavy object (usually a lead weight) tied to a string, used by builders to establish a vertical line. Plumb comes into English by way of Old French from the Latin word for lead [lÄ•d]:plumbum. (In case you ever wondered about the abbreviation for lead on the Periodic Table, now you know.) As a verb plumb can mean to make a wall straight, or determine the depth of something. It is used figuratively in the sense of examining something closely. Ex. He plumbed the depths of his soul. tomb [tÃ… «m or toom] a noun meaning a place of burial. The verb is to entomb. It came into English from French. At first the b was pronounced, but fell silent at some time in the 14th century. womb [wÃ… «m or woom] the uterus. From OE wamb or womb meaning belly or uterus. The following words had the -b added to them after they had been in use without it. crumb [krÃ… ­m] a small piece of something; from OE cruma. The verb crumble derives from OE gecrymman to break into crumbs. The -b may have got into the act by analogy with the French word humble. limb [lÄ ­m] OE lim could mean the branch of a tree or a body member. The final -b began to appear on the word in the late 1500s. numb [nÃ… ­m] The adjective numb, meaning devoid of feeling, comes from the OE verb niman, to take. In 1440 the word existed as nome, taken, seized. A person who had been taken with shock or cold couldnt feel normally. The unnecessary -b attached itself to the word during the 17th century, giving us numb. thumb [thÃ… ­m] This word for the short fat digit that enables us to pick up things comes from OE thuma. The -b got attached to the word about 1290. morewords.com/ends-with/mb/ Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†A While vs Awhile20 Slang Terms for Law Enforcement Personnel

One word description speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

One word description speech - Essay Example Well, this is not competition but rather trying to determine where I need to improve on. It is worth noting that my confidence and enthusiasm also complements my greatest trait. I socialize a lot because I believe in the power of being together and sharing. In fact, I believe that my social nature helps me deals with anxiety, depression and anger. I have human nature and believe that honesty is one of the avenues of success. Just not to keep you waiting for long, I was trying to justify my major trait; which is ambitious. That is the kind of a person I am. Just to add on top, being an ambitious person has enabled me to be very organized, academically prepared and successful in various situations. As they say, each and every human has the weakness and the strength side of him/herself. My weakness is that I sometimes solve my problems in a simple way; that sometimes do not give me the ultimate solutions to the problem I am faced. To summarize it all, my ambition is my strength and I believe it is my driver to

Support to SMEs in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Support to SMEs in the UK - Essay Example This importance of the sector can therefore not be overlooked. Moreover, with the increased shift towards government and private sector alliances in most nations, it is impediment upon the government of the day to closely monitor and support the activities of the small businesses in the country. It is through the recognition of this fact that the government has the obligation of providing support to the various SMEs in the country. Another important factor about SMEs is through the characteristic growth that they have exhibited in major economies of the world including the United Kingdom. To harness this growth to the national economic growth, there is a need for a good operational environment for such enterprises. The government, private sector and other parties have therefore taken measures to ensure that the businesses are supported for an enhanced growth that will translate into an economic improvement. This paper will critically analyze the support and resources that have been a vailed to the SMEs in the country in terms of linguistic and cultural support. ... First, there are two major national wide financial assistance programs. They include the enterprise finance guarantee (EFG) and the enterprise capital funds (ECF). Secondly, there are other separate programs that are concerned with supporting the enterprises within England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales (BBC, 2011). The EFG is a nationwide financial assistance program to SMEs that was established to encourage and enhance lending to the various enterprises from the various commercial banks. Since lending tradition in the country has always followed strict requirement criteria, the government has been able to use this program to assist the enterprises meet these standards. This is through providing a guarantee of 75% to their loans on commercial banks. The enterprises also need to show that they have an annual income or turnover of about 25 million pounds (BBC, 2011). This program is flexible to all enterprises except in the coal industry. The EFG program is therefore a resourceful finan cial guarantee program that helps enterprises overcome the cultural barriers imposed by commercial banks that traditionally prefer to deal with established organizations because of the strict requirements of lending in the country. Through this program, the enterprises are able to acquire loans, repay their existing loans among other financial undertakings for the support of business growth and expansion. As a result, it is estimated that about 6000 enterprises benefit from this resourceful program annually in the country with enterprises required to access the program through their banks. Likewise, the ECFs are another move by the national government aimed at supporting the growth of SMEs. The program is a capital oriented initiative that involves

Use And Abuse Of Drugs In Sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Use And Abuse Of Drugs In Sports - Essay Example Many professional athletes, especially football and baseball players, have used cocaine during the playing season, and sometimes amphetamines during the games themselves. Some of these players turned in brilliant performances, suggesting that the consumption of cocaine, like amphetamines, may be beneficial for speed and strength, at least in the short run. In a sports "scandal," the Commissioner of the National Football League suspended four players for four games of the 1983 season because of their involvement with drugs. One of the four, defensive endsRoss Browner, had set a Super Bowl record of 10 unassisted tackles. Another, running back Pete Johnson, was the all-time leading rusher for the Cincinnati Bengals. A third, a rookie, finished third in team tackles. It seems doubtful that cocaine hurt their playing. (Howe, 125-126) Drug abuse, one of the most sensitively charged and important issues facing athletics and society in general today, defies easy solutions. The problem of drug abuse has grown at all levels of athletic competition over the past two decades at a frightening speed, from the interscholastic to the Olympic and intercollegiate levels of competition. In the United States, the increase of drug abuse in athletics reflects a like increase and, to a degree, acceptance of drugs among the general populace. It is a serious issue that includes health considerations, law enforcement problems, and moral/ethical questions for athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators. The growing awareness of the presence of drug use in the world of athletics has produced drug and alcohol awareness programs. In an increasing number of sports, from boxing to hockey and from athletics to basketball, there has been a striking rise in the detrimental usage of drugs to enhance players' performance, not only by professional sports men but also by amateurs. In reply to global alarm over the occurrence of healthiness and other societal harms associated with the usage of illegal or prohibited drugs in competition of sports worldwide, World Health Organisation initiated an international programme to facilitate nations of the world to build up and carry out drugs abusage deterrence activities in 1992. (Massimino, 44) In present state world where only some glower on a cup of coffee to benefit in the morning, and where money plays such an vital and essential role in sports, it is difficult to influence sports men not to take performance improving illegal drugs. In different corners of world even though prototypes of' drug usage are different varied; some shape of drug usage subsist in approximately all sports and across nearly every age group. The latent injurious and detrimental usage of drugs took many forms, including over usage of unproven food supplements and vitamins, negative dependence on therapeutic drag to treat wounds and injuries, and the taking of huge amount of anabolic steroids. The harmful drugs usage among sports men of the world is an element of an active and exceptionally complex procedure associated with physiological, social, psychological, economic and political variables. No simple pattern of drugs usage materialized, apart from that an outsized number of nations and several different sports are affected. The efforts to standardize and manage the usage of drugs in sports have alerted on creating modern processes of checking and testing programmes. Checking and testing

Racial discrimination Essay Example for Free

Racial discrimination Essay The era of Jim Crow segregation will forever be linked with racial discrimination and the push for civil rights following Reconstruction.   The two most influential black men of the time, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, were also two of the most polarizing forces within the black community.   Both men strived for racial equality in the eyes of the law, but they employed contrasting strategies in order to combat the dire political and economic situation African Americans found themselves trying to escape. With his leadership skills and political cache, Booker T. Washington was the most famous African American leading the black charge into the 20th Century.   His power increased with his economic and political ties through the Tuskegee Institute and his relations with Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, both of whom were racially prejudiced.   Mr. Washington believed that blacks should accept their subjugated citizenship for the time being instead of agitating the white population.   In his mind, if blacks could earn a dollar through industrial education they would be much better off than fighting the latent power of white society. On the other end of the spectrum, Harvard educated W.E.B. DuBois took the intellectual path to the racial struggle.   His theory held that blacks should never accept a lower position in society just because that was the way things were.   Through his writings and organizing tactics, DuBois rallied the intelligentsia, The Talented 10th, in order to raise black consciousness above the perceived blind acceptance of Booker T. Washington.   DuBois was severely opposed to racial segregation in both politics and economics whereas Washington supported an agenda based on the separation of the races.

Should College Students Be Tested For Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome? :: essays research papers fc

Should College Students Be Tested For Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome? Today, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a horrifying epidemic that is grasping our younger adults. If more college students knew more about the exact effect of AIDS, then it wouldn’t be a huge epidemic as is now. College students need to be tested for AIDS so that they can inform other people of the opposite sex of the sexual background so that they don’t pass the deadly disease to them. Today with many of the college students being sexually active with people that they barely know, it is encouraged that students get tested for AIDS at least every 3 months for virus. Catching AIDS is not a joke and no one wants to be the unlucky soul to have it. Once acquiring AIDS, there is no turning back because Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is non-curable. I believe that a lack of knowledge of their mates background is the reason why students contract AIDS. If a person is HIV positive, I believe that it is everyone’s right to know so that they can be safe from cold-hearted people who don’t want to reveal having it. Luckily a female student at Si Tanka-Huron University in Huron, South Dakota didn’t contract the disease, from her boyfriend who did not inform her that he was HIV positive, before the two of them proceeded in unprotected sexual intercourse. His name is Nikko Briteramos and he was sentenced for having sex with his girlfriend without revealing that he had HIV. Their was justice this time with the girl being HIV negative but the next time someone unprotected sex with someone that they do not fully understand their sexual background might not be so fortunate (Anonymous 39). It is instances like this one why I believe that there should be some type of tattoo or something to let people know that someone is HIV positive so that there will not be any suspicions of a mate lying about not having HIV. The tattoo ca n be permanent or temporary(for those diseases that are curable). Knowledge of the background of a mate sexual background is a key factor of college students staying aware and safe from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Doctors and scientists say that knowledge is an enabling factor with regard to students’ comfort levels in asking their partner’s sexual histories, and in requesting that partners take an AIDS test just as the girl should of did her boyfriend Nikko Briteramos.

Financial Market

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management Emerald Article: Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of Malaysia Mansor H. Ibrahim Article information: To cite this document: Mansor H. Ibrahim, (2012),†Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of Malaysia†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 25 – 34 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216802 Downloaded on: 26-09-2012References: This document contains references to 13 other documents To copy this document: [email  protected] com This document has been downloaded 335 times since 2012. * Users who downloaded this Article also downloaded: * Mohamed Hisham Yahya, Junaina Muhammad, Abdul Razak Abdul Hadi, (2012),†A comparative study on the level of efficiency between Islamic and conventional banking systems in Malaysia†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 48 – 62 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216820Muhamad Abduh, Mohd Azmi Omar, (2012),†Islamic banking and economic growth: the Indonesian experience†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 35 – 47 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216811 Samy Nathan Garas, (2012),†The control of the Shari'a Supervisory Board in the Islamic financial institutions†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 8 – 24 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216794 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided y ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY OF THAILAND For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which pub lication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www. emeraldinsight. com/authors for more information. About Emerald www. emeraldinsight. com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education.In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/1753-8394. htm Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of MalaysiaMansor H. Ibrahim Mar ket risk and gold investment 25 Department of Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between gold return and stock market return and whether its relation changes in times of consecutive negative market returns for an emerging market, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies the autoregressive distributed model to link gold returns to stock returns with TGARCH/EGARCH error speci? cation using daily data from August 1, 2001 to March 31, 2010, a total of 2,261 observations.Findings – A signi? cant positive but low correlation is found between gold and once-lagged stock returns. Moreover, consecutive negative market returns do not seem to intensify the co-movement between the gold and stock markets as normally documented among national stock markets in times of ? nancial turbulences. Indeed, there is some evidence that the gold market surges when faced with cons ecutive market declines. Practical implications – Based on these results, there are potential bene? ts of gold investment during periods of stock market slumps. The ? ndings should prove useful for designing ? ancial investment portfolios. Originality/value – The paper evaluates the role of gold from a domestic perspective, which should be more relevant to domestic investors in guarding against recurring heightened stock market risk. Keywords Malaysia, Emerging markets, Gold, Returns, Investments, Stock markets, Gold investment, Market return, Correlations, Market risk Paper type Research paper Introduction Over the past decades, the global ? nancial markets have witnessed a string of ? nancial crises, among them include the Mexican peso crisis in 1994, the Asian ? nancial ? in 1997/1998, the Russian crisis in 1998, the Brazilian crisis in 1999, the Argentine ? nancial crisis in 2001/2002 and most recently the US subprime crisis in 2007 and the Greece ? nancial crisis in 2009. Mentioning of these crises is likely to conjure up in the mind of many the images of excessive risk in stock market investment and to bring back interest in gold as an alternative investment asset. This interest is well-placed as gold used to be a standard of value, is still considered as a store of value and is universally accepted. Moreover, there seems to be a trong belief that gold can provide protection, as a hedge or a safe haven, against this heightened risk in the ? nancial markets. As noted by Baur and McDermott (2010), gold differs from other assets in that it reacts positively to adverse market shocks. As they mention, real gold value reached its historic high roughly in 1980 when the global economy faced the threat of stag? ation due to oil crises in 1970s. Likewise, at the time the US subprime crisis intensi? ed in September 2008, gold has responded with a surge in its value (Baur and McDermott, 2010). International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance andManagement Vol. 5 No. 1, 2012 pp. 25-34 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1753-8394 DOI 10. 1108/17538391211216802 IMEFM 5,1 26 Against a backdrop of recurring ? nancial crises and contagion as well as emerging interest in gold, several studies have attempted empirical investigation of gold hedging property. Notable among these studies are recent works by Capie et al. (2005), Hillier et al. (2006), Baur and Lucey (2010) and Baur and McDermott (2010). Capie et al. (2005) investigate an exchange rate hedge of gold using weekly data of gold price and sterling-dollar and yen-dollar exchange rates from January 1971 to February 2004.They ? nd supportive evidence for exchange rate hedging property of gold, although the strength of hedging tends to vary over time. Hillier et al. (2006) assesses the investment role of precious metals, namely gold, platinum and silver for the US market. They note low correlations between these three metals and stock market returns, which suggests diversi ? cation bene? ts of gold investment. Baur and Lucey (2010) examines whether gold is a safe haven, i. e. maintaining its value in times of market stress or turmoil, for the US, UK and German markets.They document evidence suggesting the ability of gold to hedge against ? nancial risks and to serve as a safe haven in extreme market conditions for these markets. Most recently, Baur and McDermott (2010) extend the work of Baur and Lucey (2010) to a larger number of markets, which include both major developed and emerging markets. They analyze the relations between gold return and returns of world and emerging market indexes, various regional market indexes, and 13 individual market indexes. Their results demonstrate the ability of gold to provide a hedge and a strong safe haven for European and US markets.Thus, for developed markets, gold provides protection against losses during extreme market conditions. As they explain, investors in these markets sell stocks and buy gold when faced with heightened ? nancial risk. By contrast, the emerging markets seem to lack these properties indicating that investors tend to react differently to adverse shocks in emerging markets. Namely, they shift the composition of their portfolios by selling shares of emerging markets and seeking shelter in the developed markets, which are viewed to be relatively safe.In the present paper, we take lead from these studies and examine the investment role of gold for an emerging Asian market, Malaysia. We attempt to contribute to this line of inquiry in several aspects. First, in Baur and McDermott (2010), the investment role of gold for emerging markets is examined by looking at the relation between gold return and emerging market index return and individual market returns of four largest emerging markets, i. e. Brazil, Russia, India and China. We add to their study by looking at a smaller emerging market.Second, while the present study looks at gold investment from an international perspec tive, we look at the issue from a domestic perspective. All aforementioned studies employ gold price in US dollar in their analysis. Instead of using the dollar-denominated gold price and converting it into domestic currency unit as in Baur and Lucey (2010), we use domestic gold price instead. While we acknowledge that the Malaysian gold price may have depended on the global gold price, the use of gold price quoted domestically in ringgit screens out potential confounding effect of exchange rate movement and currency onversion. Finally, we bring out a new empirical perspective in evaluating the investment role of gold. Namely, we examine whether gold maintains its value or its relation with market returns when faced with consecutive negative daily returns. We focus on Malaysia due to deep interest in gold shown by Malaysian policymakers and academics in the face of 1997/1998 Asian ? nancial crisis. Tun Mahathir Mohamad, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, voiced interest in this un iversally accepted asset and proposed the use of gold particularly in international trade settlement The News Strait Times, 2001). A series of international conferences have been organized on the subject of gold and gold Dinar[1], among them include International Conference on Stable and Just Monetary System and International Conference on the Gold Dinar in Multilateral Trade in 2002, International Conference on Gold in International Trade in 2003 and International Conference on Gold Dinar Economy in 2007. In July 2001, Malaysia became the 12th country in the world to have its own gold bullion coins through the launching of the gold bullion coins known as Kijang Emas by the Royal Mint Malaysia.This is followed by the issuance of Royal Mint gold Dinar in 2003 and Kelantan State gold Dinar in 2006. While the introduction of these gold coins is to serve primarily as a store of value or an alternative ? nancial asset for investment, the gold investment performance for the case of Malays ia has hardly received any empirical attention. The availability of daily domestic gold bullion price since 2001 provides us an opportunity to examine the investment role of gold from a domestic market perspective and, at the same time, widens the literature on emerging markets. The rest of the paper is structured as follows.In the next section, we provides the empirical framework used in the analysis. Then, we describes the data and present estimation results. Finally, we conclude with the main ? ndings and some concluding remarks. Empirical framework We specify our empirical model using an autoregressive distributed lag model along the line of Capie et al. (2005). Thus, we have: RG;t ? a ? rRG;t21 ? b1 RS;t ? b2 RS;t21 ? 1t ?1? where RG is the daily return of gold investment and RS is the corresponding return of stock investment. The lagged dependent is included to allow for autocorrelation structure in gold return.Meanwhile, the incorporation of once-lagged stock return is based on our presumption that, in emerging markets, the transmission of information among markets may take time. That is, the changes in stock return may be impounded into the gold return with lag. The total sensitivity of gold return to stock market ? uctuations is based on the sum of stock market coef? cients, i. e. b1 ? b2. If this sum is signi? cantly positive and is far from unity or the model explanatory is close to zero, we may conclude that gold serves as a diversi? cation asset (Hillier et al. , 2006).Meanwhile, if it is not signi? cant or is signi? cantly negative, then gold investment can provide a hedge against ? nancial market risk (Baur and Lucey, 2010; Baur and McDermott, 2010). We refer to equation (1) as our basic model. Based on equation (1), we ask further whether gold return dynamics remain similar under conditions of consecutive negative market returns. To this end, we adapt the framework used by Nam et al. (2005) in their analysis of stock return asymmetry by modifyi ng equation (1) as: RG;t ? a0 ? a1 Nmt ? rRG;t21 ? ?b10 ? b11 Nmt ? ? RS;t ? ?b20 ? b21 Nmt ? ? RS;t21 ? 1t ?2? here Nmt is a dummy variable representing consecutive negative market returns. Five alternative dummies corresponding to days of consecutive negative returns are considered and they are de? ned as: Market risk and gold investment 27 IMEFM 5,1 N0 ? 28 † N1 ? N4 ? † † 1 if RS;t , 0 0 otherwise 1 if RS;t , 0; RS;t21 , 0 0 otherwise ?3? ?4? . . . 1 if RS;t , 0; 0 otherwise RS;t21 , 0; :::; RS;t24 , 0 ?5? Note that we include Nm as both intercept and interactive dummies. The intercept dummy is intended to capture the level effect of m ? 1 consecutive negative market returns, current return and the returns of last m days, on gold return.Meanwhile, the interactive dummy is to capture the changing relations between stock return and gold return under conditions of consecutive negative market returns, the main interest of the paper. In the paper, we denote these mo dels with alternative de? nition of dummies, respectively, as model N0, N1, N2, N3 and N4. In equation (2), the sum b10 ? b20 captures the relation between the two markets under normal market conditions while b10 ? b20 ? b11 ? b21 measures their relation when the stock market experiences m ? 1 days of consecutive negative returns. Accordingly, the signi? cance of b11 and b21 re? cts the changing relations between gold return and market return in times of market downturns. If they are signi? cantly positive, then the gold return tends to move in closer tandem to stock market movement, weakening gold investment role as a diversi? cation asset. However, if they are signi? cantly negative, then gold investment is said to provide at least a hedge against ? nancial losses during market downturns. Finally, if they are insigni? cantly different from 0, the dynamics of gold return tends to resist the slumps in stock prices and preserves its relation to the stock market regardless of the mark et conditions.We believe that this perspective that we bring provides a nice complementary empirical exercise to the works of Baur and Lucey (2010) and Baur and McDermott (2010) that look at the relations between the two during extreme market conditions. In the implementation of equations (1) and (2), we take note of ample evidence that high-frequency asset returns tend to exhibit leptokurtic property or volatility clustering, the so-called autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) effect. In ? nance literature, various error distributions have been assumed and variance equation speci? cations have been suggested.The error distribution is assumed to be distributed according to either the normal distribution (N), t-distribution (T), or generalized error distribution (G). Among the time-varying variance speci? cations include the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH), threshold ARCH (TARCH), and exponentional GARCH (EGARCH). The latter two allow for asymmetric responses of volatility to positive and negative shocks. To avoid arbitrary model selection, we follow Capie et al. (2005) by basing on the maximum of log likelihood as a selection criterion. We ? nd asymmetric volatility speci? cation (TARCH or EGARCH) to best ? the gold return dynamics and generalized error distribution to best describe the error distribution. The suitability of asymmetric volatility modeling for gold return is in conformity with the behavior of other asset returns (Lobo, 2000; Koutmos and Martin, 2003). Data We employ 2,261 daily observations spanning from August 1, 2001 to March 31, 2010. The beginning date is dictated by data availability of gold bullion price. The selling prices of one troy ounce domestic gold bullion are used to represent domestic gold prices while the Kuala Lumpur composite index is used to represent aggregate prices of stock market investment.The data on the two prices are sourced, respectively, from Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, and Data Stream International. We compute gold and stock market returns as the ? rst difference of the natural log of respective series. Table I provides descriptive statistics of the two returns. We also plot these series in level and ? rst-differenced forms in Figure 1. Both gold and stock prices experience an upward trend over the sample period. While the daily average gold return is relatively higher than the daily average stock market return (i. e. 0. 6 percent against 0. 03 percent), it is more volatile than the market return as re? ected their respective standard deviations. This is accounted by the more extreme positive values of gold return (0. 1246) than the stock market return (0. 0426). Meanwhile, the extreme negative value of stock market return (2 0. 9997) is only slightly higher than the corresponding value of gold return (2 0. 0782). From the plots, we also note marked reduction of stock market prices around years of the Argentine ? nanci al crisis in 2001/2002 and of the US subprime crisis in 2007/2008.While the gold return is positively skewed, the market return demonstrates a negative skewness. Both return series are characterized by excess peakness having kurtosis statistics to be substantially higher than 3. This suggests volatility clustering in the return series, which is apparent in the graphical plots. The Jarge-Bera statistics reported at the bottom of Table I soundly rejects the null of normality for both returns. These characteristics in the data seem to justify the use of GARCH-type models for model speci? cation. As a preliminary analysis, we report the cross-correlations between RG,t and RS,t for up to ? e lags. With the standard error in the order of 0. 021 in absolute value, the correlation of roughly 0. 042 and higher suggests signi? cance correlation between the two returns. We note very low and mostly positive correlations between gold return and contemporaneous and lagged stock returns. Among the se correlations, only the DG Mean Median Maximum Minimum SD Skewness Kurtosis Jarque-Bera Probability Observations 0. 000305 8. 72 ? 102 5 0. 042587 2 0. 099785 0. 008518 2 0. 999659 15. 06466 14,082. 94 0. 000000 2,260 29 DS 0. 000561 0. 000000 0. 124645 2 0. 078182 0. 011909 0. 092587 12. 8588 8,656. 123 0. 000000 2,260 Market risk and gold investment Table I. Descriptive statistics IMEFM 5,1 8. 4 0. 15 0. 10 8. 0 0. 05 30 7. 6 0. 00 7. 2 6. 8 –0. 05 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 –0. 10 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 08 09 (b) Gold Return (a) Natural Log of Gold Price 7. 4 0. 08 7. 2 0. 04 7. 0 0. 00 6. 8 –0. 04 6. 6 Figure 1. Graphical plots of gold and stock prices and returns –0. 08 6. 4 6. 2 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 –0. 12 (c) Natural Log of Kuala Lumpur Composite Index 02 03 04 05 06 07 (d) Stock Market Return correlation between gold return and once-lagged stock return is signi? ant. Its correlation is positive, suggesting that the gold market tends to f ollow the stock market with one-day lag. The cross-correlations between gold return and lead stock returns indicate the absence of signi? cation correlations. Accordingly, the gold market does not lead the stock market. This preliminary analysis seems to provide a basis for our one-equation empirical approach with no feedback from gold return to stock return and with the inclusion of once-lagged stock return in the mean equation of gold return. As regards to our main interest, it indicates at best the diversi? ation property of gold investment since its noted positive correlation is far from unity. However, this ? nding is only suggestive and must be subject to a formal analysis, which we turn next (Table II). Estimation results This section conducts a formal analysis of gold return and its relation to stock market return as speci? ed in equations (1) and (2) using GARCH-type models. We experiment with various error distribution assumption and variance speci? cation and choose the o ne that maximizes the log likelihood. The values of log likelihood functions for alternative models are given in Table III.This log likelihood criterion unequivocally suggests the generalized error distribution of error terms. It also suggests either TARCH or EGARCH speci? cation to best describe variance speci? cation. TARCH speci? cation is chosen for basic model, model N0 and model N1 while EGARCH speci? cation for other models. Note that the differences in the log likelihood values between the two speci? cations are marginal. Estimation of the TARCH (1, 1) model for the basic mean equation yields the following results (numbers in parentheses are p-values): RG;t ? ht ? 0:0004 20:0344RG;t21 20:0111RS;t ?0:016? ?0:046? 0:582? 0:0000014 ?0:008? ?0:07721221 t 31 ?0:0502RS;t21 ?0:014? 20:05351221 I t21 t ?0:000? Market risk and gold investment ?0:003? ?0:9413ht21 ?0:000? N ? 2; 259; GED Parameter ? 1:7025 ? 0:000? ; Log Likelihood ? 7; 168:42 where It ? 1 if 1t , 0 and 0 otherwise. Th e use of TARCH model implies that previous shocks have asymmetric effects on volatility. Since the coef? cient of 1221 I t21 is negative, t bad news (1t , 0) tends to dampen market volatility. In other words, once-lagged positive news (1t2 1 . 0) exerts a greater impact on gold return volatility than negative news does, which conforms to the ? ding of Capie et al. (2005). Moreover, gold return volatility tends to be highly persistent as suggested by large coef? cient of lagged volatility. Turning to our main theme, we note the signi? cance of only once-lagged stock return. This conforms to the correlation structure observed in the previous section. However, its coef? cient is small, in the order of 0. 05. Thus, a 10 percentage point k RG,t, RS,t-k RG,t, RS,t? k 0 1 2 3 4 5 0. 0032 0. 0579 2 0. 0224 0. 0127 2 0. 0085 0. 0173 0. 0032 0. 0240 0. 0151 0. 0254 0. 0258 2 0. 0167 GARCH Speci? cation Basic N0 N1 N2 N3 N4GARCH-N GARCH-T GARCH-G TGARCH-N TGARCH-T TGARCH-G EGARCH-N EGARCH-T EG ARCH-G 7,035. 569 7,146. 246 7,163. 378 7,046. 186 7,153. 767 7,168. 421 7,026. 377 7,158. 247 7,168. 083 7,035. 893 7,146. 520 7,165. 204 7,046. 458 7,154. 348 7,170. 701 7,026. 710 7,158. 82 7,170. 554 7,036. 291 7,146. 26 7,163. 645 7,046. 785 7,153. 782 7,168. 730 7,027. 169 7,158. 361 7,168. 641 7,034. 568 7,142. 140 7,159. 647 7,045. 231 7,149. 472 7,164. 399 7,031. 521 7,154. 147 7,164. 628 7,031. 221 7,138. 171 7,156. 706 7,043. 397 7,146. 017 7,162. 170 7,030. 436 7,151. 064 7,163. 104 7,030. 379 ,134. 302 7,152. 533 7,042. 447 7,141. 644 7,157. 886 7,031. 285 7,146. 542 7,159. 008 Table II. Estimated cross-correlations Model Table III. Log likelihood of alternative GARCH speci? cations IMEFM 5,1 32 reduction in stock returns is associated the decrease in stock return by 0. 50 percentage point on average and likewise for the stock market increase. Note that the coef? cient of lagged gold return is negative. This suggests that the gold return tends to exhibit a reversal patt ern and that the long run impact on gold return of stock market variations is even smaller.In order to evaluate the dynamics of gold return during times of consecutive negative market returns, we estimate the chosen GARCH models (Table III) for the consecutive negative returns ranging from one to ? ve days (equation (2)). Results of the estimation are provided in Table IV. Note from the table that there are no changes in the results for the variance equation. Gold return volatility depends mostly on its past volatility and positive shocks tend to propel higher volatility. In the mean equation, we generally observe no level effect of consecutive negative market returns on gold return except for model 3.Similar to the basic model, we note signi? cant positive coef? cient of lagged stock return in all models except one, i. e. model N0. More importantly, there seems to be no changes in the relations between gold and stock returns in times of consecutive negative market returns. The coef ? cients of interactive dummies are all indistinguishable from 0 except one, i. e. the N3 model. In the case of N3 model, the investment role of gold is further enhanced. In responses to four consecutive Estimated coef? cients Mean equation a0 a1 r b10 b11 b20 b21 Variance equation u0 u1 u2 u3 N0 (TARCH) 0. 0000 2 0. 0007 2 0. 315 * 0. 0465 2 0. 0602 0. 0352 0. 0254 N1 (TARCH) 0. 0003 2 0. 0004 2 0. 0320 * 2 0. 0054 0. 0263 0. 0545 * * 2 0. 0114 Model N2 (EGARCH) N3 (EGARCH) N4 (EGARCH) 0. 0004 * * 0. 0001 2 0. 0341 * * 2 0. 0093 0. 0110 0. 0474 * * 0. 0150 0. 0004 * * 2 0. 0025 * * 2 0. 0265 2 0. 0034 2 0. 0979 0. 0549 * 2 0. 2243 * * 0. 0004 * * 2 0. 0008 2 0. 0284 * 2 0. 0036 2 0. 0146 0. 0507 * * 2 0. 2640 0. 000001 * * * 0. 000001 * * * 2 0. 1156 * * * 2 0. 1064 * * * 2 0. 1261 * * * 0. 0809 * * * 0. 0776 * * * 0. 0858 * * * 0. 0830 * * * 0. 0923 * * * 2 0. 0575 * * * 2 0. 0539 * * * 0. 0595 * * * 0. 0603 * * * 0. 0592 * * * . 9402 * * * 0. 9410 * * * 0. 9942 * * * 0. 9950 * * * 0. 9936 * * * Notes: Signi? cant at: *10, * *5 and * * *1 percent, respectively; the estimated models are: Mean equation: RG;t ? a0 ? a1 Nmt ? rRG;t21 ? ?b10 ? b11 Nmt ? ? RS;t ? ?b20 ? b21 Nmt ? ? RS;t21 ? 1t Variance equations: TARCH: Table IV. Estimation results of extended models ht ? u0 ? u1 1221 ? u2 1221 ? I t21 ? u3 ht21 t t GARCH: p log ht ? u0 ? u1 j1t21 = ht21 j ? u2 1t21 =ht21 ? u3 log ht21 negative market returns, current and last three-day returns, the gold market tends to move in the opposite direction of stock market slumps.The coef? cient of interactive dummy-lagged stock return in the N3 model is signi? cantly negative and its magnitude (in absolute term) is substantially higher than the coef? cient of lagged stock return. Thus, there seems to be a movement of the gold market away from downward trend in the stock market. The evidence that we uncover, thus, supports strong resistance of the gold market to stock market downturns. This is in sharp contrast to the we ll-documented ? nding that national stock markets tend to have strong co-movements during times of market decline and turmoil, which limit potential diversi? cation bene? across national stock markets. The heightened reaction of domestic stock markets to downturns in other markets have been documented by Pagan and Soydemir (2001) and Bahng and Shin (2003) for several emerging markets. Moreover, the ? nancial crises are noted to propagate shocks more strongly through the contagion or domino effect (Dornbusch et al. , 2000; Hasman and Samartin, 2008; Markwat et al. , 2009). Thus, a ? ight to other markets for shelter during times of ? nancial crises may not help. In the case of gold investment, its diversi? cation bene? ts are not restrained in times of market downturns.Indeed, there is some evidence that the stock market may surge in value when the stock market posts a negative trend. Conclusion A series of ? nancial crises that erupted in different parts of the world and their accom panying excessive risk have raised serious concern over investment in stock markets and are likely to bring back interest in gold as an alternative investment asset. In light of this, we examine the relation between gold and stock returns and investigate whether it changes during times of consecutive negative market returns for an emerging market, Malaysia.Applying GARCH-type models to daily gold and stock returns over the period August 2001-March 2010, we uncover evidence indicating signi? cant positive relation between gold return and once-lagged stock return. However, the coef? cient of the once-lagged stock return in gold return equation is small and far from unity. We further note that, their relation has not strengthened during times of consecutive days of market declines. To the contrary, we ? nd some evidence that gold return tends to break from its positive relation with stock market return following four consecutive stock market returns. These ? dings are in sharp contrast to the observed strong co-movements among national stock markets in periods of market downturns, which are attributed to contagion or domino effect. Based on these results, we incline to suggest the favorable property of gold as an investment asset for the Malaysian emerging market. At least, gold provides a diversi? cation bene? t to investors in the Malaysian market. The domestic Malaysian gold market tends to have resistance to heightened risk in the stock market as its preserve its low positive relation with stock market variations regardless of the market conditions.At best, with evidence pointing to the negative relation between gold return and stock market return after four consecutive negative market returns, gold tends to possess a hedging property in times of market declines. In short, our results seem to support the initiative by Malaysia in introducing various gold coins, namely Kijang Emas, Royal Mint gold Dinar and Kelantan State gold Dinar, as a vehicle for preservin g wealth in the midst of recurring ? nancial turbulences during the present time. Market risk and gold investment 33 IMEFM 5,1 34 Note 1. 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