Nursing Care in Rural Communities Essay

Nursing Care in Rural CommunitiesLiving in a rural community can present challenges for residents in receiving adequate health care. Many believe that rural communities present less health risks than urban communities. In actuality, they each have their own unique health problems and risks. In rural areas, the elderly population is at risk for not obtaining sufficient healthcare for numerous reasons such as knowledge deficit, lack of transportation, and financial woes. The healthcare community also faces challenges in providing healthcare in rural areas. The community health nurse plays an extremely important role in rural America. They will help ensure that the community has access to appropriate medical care and assist with referrals for financial assistance. Rural Community Health versus Urban City Health There have many debates over the years about who has the better quality of life, including less health problems, those who live in rural communities or those that live in the urban city communities. Any person that is asked, will most likely have their own opinion. However, in actuality, both have their own unique set of health problems. Kids that grow up in rural areas, particularly farming areas, have a lower incidence of asthma and breathing difficulties than kids raised in urban areas. But, on the other hand, children in rural areas, on average, consume more fat and sugar than those in urban areas. Therefore, it is no surprise that the childhood obesity rate is the highest in rural areas CITATION Bec11 l 1033 (Beck, 2011). Urban communities a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases and more violent crimes than that in rural communities. In urban areas, there tends to be a larger impoverished population due to immigrants migrating to urban areas. When a large portion of the population is at or below poverty level, it results in poorer living conditions and difficulty obtaining adequate food, water, sewage, and health care. Because of that, there is an increased rate of preventable diseases related to lifestyles CITATION Gal12  l 1033 (Galea, Ompad, & Vlahov, 2012). Both urban and rural communities have various drug and alcohol problems. The types of drugs and population using are unique to the area. Urban areas tend to have more sources available to help those seeking it. There are more treatment centers and also clean needle exchange programs. The Elderly Population in Rural America Many elderly that live in rural communities, have lived there the majority of their lives. Many will be living alone if their spouse has previously passed away. A specific need that many may have is lack of transportation. In most rural areas, there is not public transportation available. This results in many elderly missing medical appointments, check-ups, and possibly not even making an appointment when ill. Lack of receiving appropriate medication can also be a result of being without transportation. However, there are many other contributing factors for those not taking the appropriate medications. Many elderly living in rural areas, come from families that have farmed all their lives. Farming is an industry that has its ups and downs financially, and although provided for the family at the time, many did not have money available in retirement funds. This has resulted in a monetary deficit in the aging population. Another reason the elderly population in rural areas may not recei ve the appropriate prescriptions, is knowledge deficit. Many, especially in rural areas, have grown up treating themselves and their families with home remedies. This was a cost-saving solution, and also resolved the issue of limited available medical care. There are specific medical problems that are more prevalent in rural populations. These include heart disease, skin cancers, and Alzheimer’s or a form of dementia. Chronic diseases also more predominant in the aging population of rural America, these include arthritis and hypertension CITATION Rog02 l 1033 (Rogers, 2002). Challenges for Healthcare in Rural America. There are several challenges that are widespread when providing healthcare in Rural America. In general, there are less healthcare providers and hospitals available in rural areas. If there is a hospital close, it will most likely lack many pertinent departments such as a cardiac cath lab or a labor and delivery unit. Patients will be required to relocate to a larger town, further away. This may not be possible to many rural  Americans due to lack of financial ability, lack of transportation, or the lack of education. T hey may not have been educated on the importance of the procedure. There are also many insurance companies that do not contract with rural physicians. This would deter many people from obtaining adequate medical care due to the out of pocket cost CITATION Mos08 l 1033 (Moscovice & Rosenblatt, 2008). The Role of the Community Health Nurse in Rural Settings. The community health nurse will take on many roles in rural settings. Educating about the importance of immunizations is imperative. But, also, ensuring that all community members that desire the immunizations have the ability to come to the clinic to receive them. If not, the nurse may need to develop another plan in order to meet the community’s needs. The community health nurse needs to assist the elderly with obtaining transportation for medical visits. If they are only able to establish transportation certain days of the week, if possible make appointments for that day for them. Education is a large part of any nurse’s job description. However, as a rural community health nurse, it is essential that the community is educated on disease processes and the importa nce of taking prescriptions as prescribed by the physician. Many in rural communities, will generally have their own home remedies that they have used and may not understand why a specific medication is necessary. Because of financial concerns of many in rural areas, the community health nurse will need to educate patients on medical financial assistance programs and which local providers and hospitals are contracted with their insurance companies. Urban areas and rural communities in America, each come with their own unique health problems that are specific to that area. As a rural community health nurse, it is imperative to understand what specific deficits the general rural population has related to healthcare. The community health nurse has the ability to ensure that the entire rural community has access to healthcare, adequate education related to their medical problems, and can help refer patients to assistance for transportation and financial assistance. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Beck, M. (2011). City vs. Country: Who is Healthier. Wall Street Journal. Galea, S., Ompad, D., & Vlahov, D. (2012, September). Urban Health Issues. Retrieved from Rutgers University: http://www.healthynj.org/ Moscovice, I., & Rosenblatt, R. (2008). Quality-of-Care Challenges for Rural Health. The Journal of Rural Health, 168-176. Rogers, C. (2002). The Older Population in 21st Century Rural America. Rural America, 2-10.

Globalisation Drivers

Explain what is meant by the term globalisation. Identify and analyse the key drivers of the process of globalisation over the last twenty years. During the mid 1990’s the International Monetary Fund has defined globalisation as: ‘The growing interdependence of countries world-wide through the increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows, and also through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology’ (Turner, 2006).Over the years, this interdependence of countries worldwide has increased dramatically. An indication of this has been the increase in the number of domestic and foreign strategic alliances by six times during the period 1989-1999 (Nam-Hoon Kang, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2001). This change clearly indicates how companies from all over the world interact with each other and form partnerships in response to the phenomenon of globalization.The mai n drivers that have helped globalization to expand and deepen over the past years have been technological revolutions such as the widespread use of Internet and the ease of trans-boundary travelling, the creation of international institutions that encourage free trade by removing trade barriers, the establishment of multinational corporations which seek to increase their profits by taking advantage of what globalisation has to offer (Economics for business 5th edition John Sloman p. 498) and last but not least the change of governments’ policies towards deregulation and privatisation (Development in Practice Taylor & Francis p. 24). This study aims to outline and examine these key drivers that made it possible for globalisation to evolve. The study will also focus on the magnitude of the drivers with relation to globalisation. â€Å"Globalisation is both a result and a force of modernisation and capitalist expansion, entailing the integration of all economic activity (local, national, and regional) into a ‘global' market place: that is, a market place that transcends geopolitical borders and is not subject to regulation by nation states. (Development in Practice Taylor & Francis p. 524) Technological revolutions are viewed by many as one of the key drivers of globalisation. (Bradley 1993, Dicken 1992). Firstly, the reduction in transportation costs and the ability to communicate freely and easily due to the advances in technology have caused tourism to rapidly grow over the years (Tourism in the age of globalisation Salah Wahab, Chris Cooper p. 320). Most importantly, not only individual people as passengers were benefited by the lower transportation costs.In the last half of the twentieth century, the price of transporting products worldwide has fallen dramatically due drops in the cost of air travel, the containerization and increasing ship size (Chrystal, 2007, p. 11). Containers have the ability to move non-fragile goods at the cost of 1% of retail value to any place. In the past years, when the transportation of goods was done through shipping before containers were invented, the cost involved used to be around 10%-20% of retail value. by BCRA) The striking difference in cost indicates the new potential for transfer of goods at increased quantities at a faster and cheaper rate from one place to another. In addition to this, the rapid grow of communications, especially through Internet has added significant strengths to globalization (Economics of globalisation By Partha Gangopadhyay, Manas Chatterji). The Internet has provided a powerful and cheap tool for sharing of information on goods and services through the form of advertising. This helped firms to boost their sales since they can target a bigger range of potential customers at a very low cost.The trends clearly show a constant increase of Europeans e-commerce sales from 2006 to 2011, reflecting a similar increase in the corporations that are investing in the e-bu siness (ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND THE GLOBALISATION ERA). Furthermore, internet enables free, fast and easy communication of ordinary people from all around the world which also serves as a factor that promotes globalisation and exchange of views and ideas on new products and services (Economics of globalisation By Partha Gangopadhyay, Manas Chatterji).In the recent years, technology is undoubtedly an enabling driver of globalisation but the latter is also influenced by economic motives. This actually means that globalisation is also driven by the economic motives of people. These motives have to do with shifting patterns of production and consumption from one place in the world to another (Tourism in the age of globalisation p. 321). More specifically, businesses seek new opportunities to lower their costs, to achieve savings of scale and to establish a competitive global position by gaining a greater global market share (Economics for business 5th edition).As a result of these motiv es, the foreign direct investment over the years has increased substantially and inevitably the number of cross-borders mergers and acquisitions has also increased. Corporations are trying to lower production costs by shifting the production to countries with cheap labour as well as to countries with abundant resources such as raw materials. China, India and Eastern Europe have been in the recent years the targets of FDI since they possess a production comparative advantage because of abundant and low wage labour force (By Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee).Furthermore, the reduction in trade barriers, the lower transportation costs and the development of stock markets, increased the corporations’ ability to trade and invest at a global scale. For example, stock markets have served as mechanisms for important inflow of capital for corporations since they can go public and raise significant capital that can be used for FDI (http://www. globaldesig nandbusiness. org). Someone can easily distinguish that while benefiting from what globalisation is offering the corporations are themselves driving the phenomenon through their innovations on technology and their overseas activities.The corporations’ economic activities, which are mentioned in the previous paragraph, are also related to the trade institutions that are world widely formed. The world trade institutions are associations that aim to the liberalisation of trade and encouragement of transnational economic actions. Such institutions are namely the WTO, NAFTAA and EFTA. These institutions have similar goals ie to increase competition and economic efficiency through the reduction of trade barriers and the governments’ regulations over trade within the members of their organisations.These organisations are having their members agreeing in reduction of tariffs and other policies (such as antidumping and subsidies) in order to make the governments transparent. Th e organisations are also setting special committees with the task of making sure that the pre-agreed policies are followed and that no member gets out of line. Because of the establishment of such institutions and the clear increase in their membership with ascending time the world trade has increased dramatically (http://www. wto. org, http://www. nafta-sec-alena. org).A good indication of that is the fact that the United Kingdom’s imports and exports contribution to its GDP has increased from 45% to 57% over the period of 1950 to 2005 ( Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee). Consequently, as the world institutions become stronger more active and more influential, globalisation is strengthened due to the improved and amplified interactions of corporations and countries as a whole. The governments as the years pass are trying to create a more competitive environment so that they can become attractive for foreign inflows of capital and investment.Fur thermore, they want to minimize the outflows to less regulated countries (Global public policy: governing without government: Wolfgang H. Reinicke p. 15). In order to achieve these goals, they have been converting their policies towards a more economically favourable manner. Inevitably they have been trying to reduce their trade barriers and accelerate economic growth by joining the world trade institutions (e. g. WTO) as well as the free trade blocks such as the E. U and ASEAN. The trading blocs have a large number of objectives that bring the country-members closer to each other.Some of these objectives demand that the members cannot practise anticompetitive behaviour such as high tariffs, quotas and anti-competitive taxation whereas additionally peace, mutual respect and cultural acknowledgement are also promoted (http://www. aseansec. org, http://europa. eu). Looking at another aspect in the chapter of the governments’ policies that is driving globalisation, someone could identify the remarkable example of the transition countries. The transition countries are suggested to be China, the former Soviet Union, ex-communist Europe countries and third world countries such as India (http://en. ikipedia. org). Over the past 20 years these countries have undergone various economic and political changes that have substantially shifted the countries from the previously central planned economies towards free market economies. As a result liberalisation and privatisation have been encouraged (Privatization in transition countries: By Oleh Havrylyshyn, Donal McGettigan p. 7 and 8). Because of those changes, globalisation has been favoured through its inherent characteristics to become stronger and deeper with modernisation and capitalist expansion. (Taylor &Francis). Looking back to the key drivers of globalisation we have presented in this study, they have all been relatively important since they are all favouring globalisation correspondingly. It is clear that the technological advances and the governments’ policies and behaviours separately and distinctly are really adding to the increasing pace of globalisation. However, the interesting thing that someone could safely say, it is that these drivers are interrelated which suggests that one driver is driving the other and both of them are driving globalisation. References: 1.European Business 2nd Edition Debra Johnson Colin Turner p. 59 2. Nam-Hoon Kang, Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development, 2001 3. Economics For Business 5th Edition John Sloman p. 498, Development In Practice Taylor & Francis p. 524 4. Tourism In The Age Of Globalisation by Salah Wahab, Chris Cooper (Bradley 1993, Dicken 1992) p. 320-323 5. Economics By Richard G. Lipsey, K. Alec Chrystal p. 11 6. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND THE GLOBALISATION ERA by STUPARU, DRAGOS, VASILE, TOMITA (article) 7. Economics of globalisation By Partha Gangopadhyay, Manas Chatterji p. 191-193 8.Globalisation: prospects and policy responses, fourteenth report of session †¦ By Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee p. 7-12 9. http://www. globaldesignandbusiness. org 10. http://www. wto. org 11. http://www. nafta-sec-alena. org 12. Global public policy: governing without government: Wolfgang H. Reinicke p. 15 13. Privatization in transition countries: By Oleh Havrylyshyn, Donal McGettigan p. 7-8 14. Monetary Policy under Uncertainty Proceedings of the 2007 Money and Banking Seminar – BCRA p. 86 (report) 15. http://www. aseansec. org 16. http://europa. eu 17. http://en. wikipedia. org

A Slant On

, # 8220 ; The Old Man And The Sea # 8221 ; Essay, Research Paper Santiago: A Perfect Role Model for Manolin In the novel, # 8220 ; The Old Man and the Sea # 8221 ; , Hemingway builds a character that is easy comparative to any great hero or graven image in history. This character, named # 8220 ; Santiago # 8221 ; displays the features needed to suppress his conflicts or at least make all he can to accomplish his ends. This is particularly of import sing the fact that he is looked at as a wise man of kinds by another character, the immature male child named? Manolin. ? Manolin has known the old adult male since the age of five. As a protege to Santiago, Manolin has grown to hold a great trade of regard for the old adult male. This is represented by the male child? s avidity to stand by the old adult male? s side no affair what the state of affairs is. Santiago is the prototype of the homo will, and a show for how bravery and doggedness are able to win over troubles that seem about impossible to get the better of. Early on in the novel, we see that the old adult male has fallen onto difficult times in his fishing profession. This is non the first clip this has happened though. It has been many yearss since his last gimmick and the state of affairs looks really black to those who do non cognize the old adult male? s desire and bravery. They see the# 8220 ; furrows # 8221 ; , and # 8220 ; malignant neoplastic disease blotches # 8221 ; of an old adult male, but non the eyes, which# 8220 ; have remained unchanged. # 8221 ; Most of the townsfolk know of Santiago? s looking discouragement, and their reactions to this are slightly disconnected. A good part of the townsfolk and chap fishermen sympathize for Santiago and keep a great trade of regard for this fallen hero. But the others shun him and his curst fishing fortune. They are superstitious and experience that he brings a dark cloud to loom over the small town that will cuss all of them with his exact bad fortune. However, it is clear to the reader that it is what Santiago possesses, which the pessimistic fishermen do non, that gives the old adult male an overall advantage. This prized ownership is identified by the reader as a strong will. It appears that Santiago has ever coveted the strong will. Once known as # 8220 ; El Campeon # 8221 ; , because of his singular arm-wrestling and fishing abilities, it appears that he still obtains this strong will inside him. As a human-centered in the truest sense, he was more than willing to learn the immature Manolin everything he knew of angling while Manolin was merely a really immature kid. In return, a great trade of esteem was formed by Manolin in acknowledgment for the befriending by Santiago. Presently, nevertheless, Manolin, like many of the other fishermen isn? t absolutely clear on how to react to the old adult male? s quandary. He realizes that the old adult male is in an improbably atrocious fishing drouth, but he besides remembers their doggedness in the yesteryear and the wagess they reaped for it. He decides that he will take non to listen to others such as his male parent and what they have to state, and continue in support of his friend. As a mark of his trueness, Manolin foremost asks the old adult male if he may attach to him on his following twenty-four hours? s trip to sea. At first this supplication is turned down by the old adult male. But after farther bargaining and a spot of reminiscing of better times, the old adult male agrees to some aid from the male child. The reluctance by Santiago shows his attention for the male child? s wellbeing. It is merely the adult male? s assurance in his salvation that allowed him to eventually accept the male child? s offer of aid. Santiago? s certainty in this # 8220 ; salvation # 8221 ; is perplexing to some, while Manolin has no problem hold oning the thought. This is because the qualities that have been instilled into the male child are the same as the old adult male? s. They are genuinely believing on the same wavelength. This separates, or isolates them from the remainder of the small town ; but neither the male child nor the adult male truly cares. Subsequently in the book comes the difficult trial of Santiago? s mental and physical strengths. Finally, his opportunity for salvation, comes in the signifier of a Very big fish. In fact, it is the largest fish the old adult male has of all time attempted to catch. A great conflict between the old adult male and the fish Begins. This conflict, nevertheless, is non one fueled by fury and defeat, but instead by bravery and volitions. The old adult male and the fish are similar in certain facets. These facets are recognized by the old adult male, and this is why the conflict is such an honest one apparently on both terminals of the rope. # 8220 ; There is a difference between ? killing? and the ceasing of allowing an animate being die. # 8221 ; Santiago knows this, and he is good determined to convey in the mighty fish, and intelligibly so. # 8220 ; When an single sees that all finite centres and truenesss are fliting and incapable of being permanent objects of religion, so he will abdicate all old attempts in desperation, repent in humbleness, and appreciatively do the motion of religion by which entirely his life can go meaningful and worthwhile. # 8221 ; Yet at the same clip his regard for the fish and award of his ain character clutters any opportunities of pure satisfaction for the salvation that would be the violent death of the fish. Santiago found award in everything he did. He was non a mendicant ; though he had much to implore for. He was non a quitter ; though failure long stared him in the eyes. Most significantly, he was a lovingness adult male. He cared for himself and others every bit. It was easy to see that these traits had so been passed down to Manolin. Just as the old adult male found no # 8220 ; loss of true pride # 8221 ; in his failures, the male child found similarly in his friendly relationship with the old adult male. After all, in Hemingway? s # 8220 ; hunt for wider societal significance # 8221 ; , # 8220 ; The Old Man and the Sea # 8221 ; showed it is non success that determines one? s worth. It is, as the male child and the adult male both knew, character that is the true clincher. Bibliography A ) Klemke, E.D. # 8220 ; The Meaning of Life # 8221 ; New York: Oxford University Imperativeness 1981, p. 166 B ) # 8220 ; Hemingway # 8221 ; Compton? s Pictured Encyclopedia, vol. GH Chicago: 1957 p. 378 C ) Hemingway, Ernest # 8220 ; The Old Man and the Sea # 8221 ; New York: Simon A ; Schuster 1995 D ) Singer, Peter # 8220 ; Applied Ethics # 8221 ; New York: Oxford University Imperativeness 1986, p. 87-88

Three Summaries for three sections (9.1 - 9.2 - 9.3) Essay

Three Summaries for three sections (9.1 - 9.2 - 9.3) - Essay Example Use of white space is also important, as well as selecting different fonts to highlight different types of information. Additionally, presentation support materials such as slides should be planned carefully. Fourthly, one must think visually. The nature of design projects requires thinking visually. Thus, one should know their purpose and audience, and make an appropriate use of the medium. Finally, writing ethically is paramount. Here, a designer should present designs and other technical results in ways that show what is favourable, as well as what is unfavourable in the design. Additionally, this includes giving full credit to others, such as authors or previous researchers, where it is due. With regard to oral presentations, there are various key needs that must be met. First is knowing the audience. After identifying the type of audience, the presentation can be tailored to hat audience. Second is the presentation outline. This provides a clear structure of the presentation and includes a title slide, an overview of the presentation, a problem statement, background on the problem, objectives, and functions of the design, among other key components. The outline should include both rough and detailed outlines. Thirdly, the team presenting should know the setting in which it will be presenting. This will help them know the types of devices such as slide projectors, are available. Overall, this guides their usage of visual aids. Fourthly, there is need for the team to practice regularly before their presentation in order to gain confidence. Finally, a design overview is key. This is key to helping the team get undivided attention from professionals about their design proj ect. Although this might pose some challenges to the team, it is a constructive and important process to the team. With regard to the final project report, it is

Employee safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employee safety - Essay Example The other two research arms were a focus group and interviews. The results showed that management commitment were perceived to be . , and that there was a positive/negative relationship between safety climate and injury rates. A study of the level of safety climate is often used as a measure of the level of management's commitment to safety. Injury rates provide additional information about the multinational companies approach to safety compliance in Ghana. This study will provide each of the construction sites that participate with a formal document that reviews their company's current safety climate, employee perceptions and injury frequency. Further, it is anticipated that this research will contribute to the application of international safety standards in the workplace for employees in developing nations. Also, this study will complement current empirical literature on workplace safety by highlighting and extending understanding of safety climate and injury rates on construction sites. Some of these factors are, the impact of expanding global skills and technologies, the socio-political influence of foreign investments, and general organizational factors impacting worker issues in less-developed nations. ... This study will provide each of the construction sites that participate with a formal document that reviews their company's current safety climate, employee perceptions and injury frequency. Further, it is anticipated that this research will contribute to the application of international safety standards in the workplace for employees in developing nations. Also, this study will complement current empirical literature on workplace safety by highlighting and extending understanding of safety climate and injury rates on construction sites. [just delete everything thing after in recent times] 1.6 Limitations Paragraph one This will however be supported by the focus group, interviews and document reviews. 2.1 Paragraph one Some of these factors are, the impact of expanding global skills and technologies, the socio-political influence of foreign investments, and general organizational factors impacting worker issues in less-developed nations. Together, the interplay of these factors between multinational corporations and the people that they hire direct the socially responsible conduct of employees and their organizations.

Car Racing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Car Racing - Assignment Example This is because in the world of car racing time is of great importance since every time lost normally reduces the chance of success (Doeden, 2009). Most companies in motor sports normally have highly qualified personnel. Some of the people hired include product designers who are normally entrusted with the role of coming up with outstanding car designs and features such as engines that will make the company stand out from the rest in addition to increasing the chances of winning in a race besides being easy to alter if need entails (Murray, 2013). Such companies also have a devoted human resource team whose main objective is normally to ensure that everything runs smoothly, for instance ensuring that the team responsible for conducting replacements are qualified and ever ready to swing into action when need arises. The companies have also come up with new technologies in order to increase speed and at the same time cutting down the expenditure cost. For instance, a fuel flow restrictor whose main role is minimizing fuel spent on car racing (Sam, 2014). Just like in car racing, the main objective of many companies and organizations is normally to succeed in business, which usually results to increase in terms of revenue. In my opinion, for other companies to succeed in the field of business, they ought to embrace the motor sport ideas. For instance, the companies should have an excellent human resource department whose main role should be ensuring the well-being of employees. In most companies, whenever a car develops a mechanical problem, it normally takes a lot of time before the problem is fixed hence loss of revenue. In this case, companies ought to have an ever-ready mechanical team whose role is identifying mechanical problems and fixing them immediately in a move to prevent the business from becoming

Teaching case study for international marketing Essay

Teaching case study for international marketing - Essay Example Its various strategies and marketing activities are also discussed. Poundland is one of the famous companies in the retail industry. It is a British multinational company having its presence in most of the big countries of the world. It is a public limited company. The company was established in 1990 by Stephen Smith and Dave Dodd. The company deals with various types of products like kitchen ware, home, healthcare, gifts etc. The company sells all of its products at  £ 1. The company is considered as the largest single priced retailer in UK. In 2014 the company earned revenue of 997.8 million pound. In that year the profit of the company was  £ 13.9 million. The firm has around 10,020 employees who play vital role in operating the business process. The target of Poundland Company is to increase its market share and customer base. The company has expanded its business operations in many countries of the world. Now it is focusing on expanding its business in China. This country can be a big market for this company. The firm has the objective to t he entire market of China. In different other countries the company is enjoying strong growth in customer acquisition and sales (Halliburton and Ziegfeld, 2009). The company expects the same business growth after expanding into China market. Poundland is into the retail industry for a long period of time. The retail stores of Poundland sell products of different brands. The company also has products of its own. The company is famous for selling all products for  £ 1. This unique pricing policy helps the brand to attract maximum number of customers. The firm promotes its brand by maintain its strong and active presence in different social media sites like facebook, twitter, pin interest etc (Agrawal, 1995). Through this social media sites the company performs different marketing activities for increasing its brand value. The brand has large number of female customers. The

Facing your monsters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facing your monsters - Essay Example The process of life progresses from simple imaginary nightmares to real life fears that is vividly explained in the article (Langella 158). Once the author realized that the thoughts about monster were gone, then it is replaced by the real fears. The fear of greying mummy and shapeless objects is replaced by real fears. The prime purpose of the essay is to discuss about the article â€Å"The Monster in my head† The author illustrates personal experience on monsters and provided a connection on imaginary fears with his son’s story of monsters. The author demonstrates that fear can be created by individual’s personal perception and experiences towards certain things. According to Frank Langella, human beings have the potential to create fears. Langella illustrated that he knew monster would come every. The long pathway between the house of neighbour and own family was covered by tufts of grass and black dirt. In the mid-1940, the author watched a movie about mummy. Langella does not recollect the name of the movie but remembers the powerful image of a man with mouth exposed and wrapped in greying cloth. The author describes the fear of monster at a very young age. Langella knew that every night a mummy would come and hunt him down. Until one night, monster did not show up for daily routine. Langella’s son also struggles with the fear of monsters. Langella used first stra tegy to fight with imaginary monster. The implementation of the strategy is to remove the creation of fear. Later, author realized that fear can be created by daily experiences and activities. The author vividly illustrated the time when his son used to struggle from the fear of monsters. Imaginary fears on monsters are the integral parts of children life. The fear of monsters resides inside the head of children. Children would simple reply that monsters are hiding inside the bed or closet and will come out later to haunt. The author describes that the fear of imaginary monster is mainly

The Chinese Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Chinese Made Toy Recalls at Mattel - Essay Example Any toy quality/safety problems could be overcome by making manufacturing changes. The article also mentions that there was â€Å"lax regulatory enforcement,† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc., 179) in the factories that Mattel had set up in China, which often meant thatâ€Å"these laws were routinely ignored† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc., 179); problems of toy quality and safety could clearly be avoided if there was stricter control and supervision of product quality in these factories. Also, this problem of safety and quality could be eliminated if Mattel had developed its Global Manufacturing Principles before it had started a supply chain trading partnership with China, and ensured that the Chinese industries followed the rules and regulations of the GMP and terminating the partnership in case the Chinese did not follow the rules. (A2) Mattel made a number of positive responses to the toy recalls that largely had the impact of improving it s public image and in winning back its good reputation. Firstly, its CEO Robert Eckert appeared in a video, in which he made a public apology for the defected and harmful toys Mattel had produced and also pledged to â€Å"change how we work in the future†(The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc,176). Mattel representatives in September 2007 even made clear to the American Congressional Committee that the defected toys were a result of Mattel’s â€Å"own flawed toy designs†; this then lead to Mattel making changes in its manufacturing process. Apart from this, Mattel also guaranteed to â€Å"increase the frequency of its paint inspections, testing every batch delivered† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc., 176). In 2007, it also put a check on its products that were being shipped out of its Asian factories in order to thoroughly examine them for quality and potential health hazards; this had the effect of preventing â€Å"more than two-thirds of the recalled toys from reaching consumers† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc,177).Lastly, Mattel set up a â€Å"Corporate Responsibility division, which had accountability internally and externally for adherence to company safety and compliance procedures† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc., 177). The effect of all these actions was that it restored the positive image of Mattel in the public eyes. (A3) The article includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers and customers† (The Chinese-Made Toy Recalls at Mattel Inc., 179). Between Mattel and Early Light, there is a supply chain trading partnership that involves the two companies to work with one another when making decisions about manufacturing and distributing products. As the article states, the two companies have enjoyed this kind of collaboration for 15 years, and in my opinion, the two should contin ue to work together as supply chain trading partners since this entails a number of benefits. Firstly, the long amount of time (15 years) Mattel and Early Light have worked together in collaboration means that a high level of

Compare and contrast the labour forces of the preindustrial and Essay

Compare and contrast the labour forces of the preindustrial and industrial ages - Essay Example For conducting the comparative analysis, the era prior to industrial revolution has been considered as pre-industrial age, whereas the period starting since industrial revolution has been considered as industrial age. Before embarking on making any comparison between the pre-industrial labour force and industrial labour force, it is necessary to look at the major features of labour market of pre-industrial age as well as that of industrial age to form a clear idea about the features of labour force during these two periods. Characteristics of labour market at any point of time can be viewed in terms of labour force composition, production process, division of labour, labour market institutions, wage structure, etc. The present paper will first discuss the major characteristics of labour market in the two periods under consideration, which are preindustrial era and industrial era. In the pre-industrial period, economies were mostly dependent on agricultural sector and to some extent on home based industries, like manufacturing, construction etc. Industrial sector did not flourish on a commercial basis largely. There existed only a few industries, which ran their business on a commercial basis, like iron or textile industries, etc. Consequently, most of the labourers were agricultural labourers or were employed in home based industries. Labourers mostly concentrated on rural areas, because during that period the notion and extent of urbanization was very limited. As far as, gender perspective in labour force participation was concerned, it was found that males mostly dominated that labour market. Female participation in the labour force was very low. In this context, one interesting thing can be mentioned that in pre-industrial era, women used to be involved in doing household activities even because most of them belonged to very poor families. In addition, mo re earning members were required to meet the daily needs of living

Ultrasound Machines India China And A Skewed Essay Example for Free

Ultrasound Machines India China And A Skewed Essay General Electric Co. and other companies have sold so many ultrasound machines in India that tests are now available in small towns like Indergarh, where there is no drinking water, electricity is infrequent, and roads turn to mud after a March rain shower. A scan typically costs $8, or a week’s wages. GE has waded into India’s market as the country grapples  with a difficult social issue: the abortion of female fetuses by families who want boys. Campaigners against the practice and some government officials are linking the country’s widely reported skewed sex ratio with the spread of ultrasound machines. That’s putting GE, the market leader in India, under the spotlight. It faces legal hurdles, government scrutiny, and thorny business problems in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. â€Å"Ultrasound is the main reason the sex ratio is coming  down,† says Kalpana Bhavre, who is in charge of women and  child welfare for the Datia district government, which includes Indergarh. Having a daughter is often viewed as incurring a  lifetime of debt for parents because of the dowry payment at marriage. Compared with that, the cost of an ultrasound â€Å"is nothing,† she says. For more than a decade, the Indian government has tried to  stop ultrasound technology from being used as a tool to determine gender. The devices use sound waves to produce images of fetuses or internal organs for a range of diagnostic purposes. India has passed laws forbidding doctors from disclosing the sex of fetuses, required official registrations of clinics, and stiffened punishments for offenders. Nevertheless, some estimate that hundreds of thousands of girl fetuses are aborted each year. GE, by far the largest seller of ultrasound machines in India through a joint venture with the Indian outsourcing giant Wipro Ltd., introduced its own safeguards, even though that means forsaking sales. â€Å"We stress emphatically that the machines aren’t to be used for sex determination,† says V. Raja, chief executive of GE Healthcare South Asia. â€Å"This is not the  root cause of female feticide in India.† But the efforts have failed to stop the problem, as a growing economy has made the scans affordable to more people. The skewed sex ratio is an example of how India’s strong economy has, in unpredictable ways, exacerbated some nagging social problems, such as the traditional preference for boys. Some activists are accusing GE of not doing enough to prevent unlawful use of its machines to boost sales. â€Å"There is a demand for a boy that’s been completely exploited by multinationals,† says Puneet Bedi, a New Delhi obstetrician. He says GE and others market the machines as an essential pregnancy tool, though the scans often aren’t necessary for mothers in lowrisk groups. Prosecutors in the city of Hyderabad brought a criminal case against the GE venture with Wipro, as well as Erbis Engineering Co., the medical-equipment distributor in India for Japan’s Toshiba Corp. In the suits, the district government alleged that the companies knowingly supplied u ltrasound machines to clinics that were not registered with the government and were illegally performing India has been a critical market to GE. Its outsourcing operations have helped the Fairfield, Connecticut, giant cut costs. The country also is a  growing market for GE’s heavy equipment and other products. The company won’t disclose its ultrasound sales, but Wipro GE’s overall sales in India, which includes ultrasounds and other diagnostic equipment, reached about $250 million in 2006, up from $30 million in 1995. Annual ultrasound sales in India from all vendors also reached $77 million last year, up about 10 percent from the year before, according to an estimate from consulting firm Frost Sullivan, which describes GE as the clear market leader. Other vendors include Siemens AG, Philips Electronics NV, and Mindray International Medical Ltd., a new Chinese entrant for India’s pricesensitive customers. India has long struggled with an inordinate number of male births, and female infanticide—the killing of newborn baby girls—remains a problem. The abortion of female fetuses is a more recent trend, but unless â€Å"urgent action is taken,† it’s poised to escalate as the use of ultrasound services expands, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a report. India’s â€Å"alarming decline in the child sex ratio† is likely to exacerbate child marriage, trafficking of women for prostitution, and other problems, the report said. The latest official Indian census, in 2001, showed a steep decline in the relative number of girls aged 0 to 6 years compared with the decade earlier: 927 girls for every 1,000 boys compared with 945 in 1991. In much of northwest India, the number of girls has fallen below 900 for every 1,000 boys. In the northern state of Punjab, the figure is below 800. Only China today has a wider gender gap, with 832 girls born for every 1,000 boys among infants aged 0 to 4 years, according to UNICEF. GE sells about three times as many ultrasound machines in China as in India. In January, the Chinese government pledged to improve the gender balance, including tighter monitoring of ultrasounds. Some experts predict China will be more effective than India in enforcing its rules, given its success at other populationcontrol measures. Boys in India are viewed as wealth earners during life and  lighters of one’s funeral pyre at death. India’s National Family Health Survey, released in February, showed that 90 percent of parents with two sons didn’t want any more children. Of those with two daughters, 38 percent wanted to try again. Although there are restrictions on abortions in this Hindu-majority nation, the rules offer enough leeway for most women to get around them. GE took the lead in selling ultrasounds in the early 1990s soon after it began manufacturing the devices in India. It tapped Wipro’s extensive distribution and service network to deliver its products to about 80 percent of its customers. For more remote locations and lower-end machines, it used sales agents. The company also teamed with banks to help doctors finance  the purchase of their machines. GE now sells about 15 different models, ranging from machines costing $100,000 that offer sophisticated color images to basic black-and-white scanners that retail for about $7,500. To boost sales, GE has targeted small-town doctors. The  company has kept prices down by refurbishing old equipment  and marketing laptop machines to doctors who travel frequently, including to rural areas. GE also offered discounts to buyers inclined to boast about their new gadgets, according to a former GE employee. â€Å"Strategically, we focused on those customers who had big mouths,† said Manish Vora, who then sold ultrasounds in the western Indian state of Gujarat for the Wipro-GE joint venture. Without discussing specific sales tactics, Raja, of GE Healthcare South Asia,  acknowledges the company is â€Å"aggressive† in pursuing its goals. But he points out that ultrasound machines have broad benefits and make childbirth safer. As the machines become more available, women can avoid making long trips into cities where healthcare typically is more expensive, he says. Indian authorities have tried to regulate sales. In 1994, the government outlawed sex selection and empowered Indian authorities to search clinics and seize anything that aided sex selection. Today any clinic that has an ultrasound machine must register with the local government and provide an affidavit that it will not conduct sex selection. To date, more than 30,000 ultrasound clinics have been registered in India. GE has taken a number of steps to ensure customers comply  with the law. It has educated its sales force about the regulatory regime, demanded its own affidavits from customers that they will not use the machines for sex selection, and followed up with periodic audits, say executives. They note that in 2004, the first full year it began implementing these new measures, GE’s sales in India shrank by about 10 percent from the year before. The sales decline in the low-end segment, for black-and-white ultrasound machines, was especially sharp, executives say. Only in 2006 did GE return to the sales level it had reached before the regulations were implemented, according to Raja. Complying with Indian law is often tricky. GE cannot tell if doctors sell machines to others who fail to register them. Different states interpret registration rules differently. GE also is under close scrutiny by activists battling the illegal abortion of female fetuses. Sabu George, a 48-year-old activist who holds degrees from Johns Hopkins and Cornell universities, criss-crosses the country to spot illegal clinics. The criminal case in Hyderabad against Wipro-GE, a company  representative, three doctors, and an ultrasound technician followed an inspection that found one clinic could not produce proper registration and had not kept complete records for two years. A team of inspectors seized an ultrasound supplied by Wipro-GE. The inspection team’s report said it suspected the clinic was using the machines for illegal sex determination. The owner, Sarawathi Devi, acknowledged in an interview  that her clinic, Rite Diagnostics, was not officially registered at the time of the inspection. She said the ultrasound machine was owned by a â€Å"freelance† radiologist who had obtained proper documentation for the Wipro-GE machine but was not there when the inspectors had arrived. She denied the clinic has conducted sex determination tests. Later, Dr. Devi’s records show, she registered the clinic with the government and bought a Wipro-GE machine, a sale the company confirms. The court case was part of a wider dragnet spearheaded  by Hyderabad’s top civil servant, District Magistrate Arvind Kumar. During an audit last year, Kumar demanded paperwork  for 389 local scan centers. Only 16 percent could furnish complete address information for its patients, making it almost impossible to track women to check if they had abortions following their scans. Kumar ordered the seizure of almost one-third of the ultrasound machines in the district due to registration and paperwork problems. A suit also was lodged against Erbis, the Toshiba dealer. GE’s Raja says that, in general, if there’s any doubt about the customer’s intent to comply with India’s laws, it doesn’t make the sale. â€Å"There is no winking or blinking,† he says. A Wipro-GE representative is scheduled to appear at the  Hyderabad court hearing. An Erbis spokesman said he was unaware of the case in Hyderabad. A court date for Erbis had not been set. A visit to the clinic in Indergarh, a town surrounded by fields of tawny wheat, shows the challenges GE faces keeping tabs on its machines. Inside the clinic, a dozen women wrapped in saris awaited tests on GE’s Logiq 100 ultrasound machine. The line snaked along wooden benches and down into a darkened basement. On the wall, scrawled in white paint, was the message: â€Å"We don’t do sex selection.† Manish Gupta, a 34-year-old doctor, said he drives two hours each way every week to Indergarh from much larger Jhansi City, where there are dozens of competing ultrasound clinics. He said even when offered bribes, he refuses to disclose the sex of the fetus. â€Å"I’m just against that,† Dr. Gupta said. But he is not complying with Indian law. Although the law requires that clinics display their registration certificate in a conspicuous place, Dr. Gupta’s was nowhere to be seen. When Dr. George, the social activist, asked for the registration, he was shown a different document, an application. But the application was for a different clinic: the Sakshi X-ray center. Dr. Gupta said the proper document wasn’t with him, adding: â€Å"I must have forgotten it at home.† Asked by The Wall Street Journal about the clinic, the local chief magistrate of Datia district called for Dr. Gupta’s dossier later in the day. When a local official arrived, â€Å"Sakshi X-Ray center† had been crossed out on the application. In blue pen was written the correct name, â€Å"Sheetal Nagar,† the part of Indergarh where the clinic is located. It’s not clear how Dr. Gupta procured the GE machine. Dr. Gupta said he bought it from a GE company representative, but he declined to show documents of ownership. GE says it does not comment on individual customers. Like the rest of India, the Datia district government has  taken a number of steps to try to boost the number of girls in the district. For girls of poor families, the local government provides a place to live, free school uniforms, and books. When they enter ninth grade, the government buys bicycles for them. Yet the low ratio of girls born had not budged much over the past decade, according to Bhavre, the district government official. Ultimately, says Raja, head of GE Healthcare in South Asia, it’s the job of the government, not companies, to change the prevailing preference for boys. â€Å"What’s really needed is a change in mindsets. A lot of education has to happen and the government has to do it,† he says. India’s Ministry of Health, which is now pursuing 422 different cases against doctors accused of using ultrasounds for sex selection, agrees. â€Å"Mere legislation is not enough to deal with this problem,† the ministry said in a statement. â€Å"The situation could change only when the daughters are not treated as a burden and the sons as assets.† Most recently, both Siemens and GE have introduced handheld  ultrasound machines, only slightly larger than an iPhone. Initially they will sell for under $10,000.

Legislative Requirements Essay Example for Free

Legislative Requirements Essay The purpose of this assignment is to identify the key aspects of current legislative requirements and codes of practice for teaching within the animal care sector. As a teacher within the establishment, it is my responsibility to ensure that none of my students are disadvantaged, by taking into account the Equal opportunity legislation, formally known as the Equality Act 2010, which came into force on the 6th October. It states that â€Å"no one is to be discriminated against irrespective of age, ethnic origin, gender, race, nationality, disability or domestic circumstances† the Equality act also replaces the Disability discrimination act. It would be my responsibility as a teacher, to ensure that any resources such as handouts and other learning material are free from bias (Wilson 2008 Pg 21 chap 1). Being in part, a vocational course, the health and safety at work act 1974 would be a key legislative requirement, as an educator I would be expected to demonstrate a model of best practice for my students to look up to and follow, subsequently, The management of Health and safety at work regulations 1999 would also be another piece of legislation which would be particulary relevant Furthermore, as an educator by law I have a duty of care towards my students, the legislation states that as teachers if you are proven negligent, you may have to compensate the injured party, not only does this apply to individuals but the organisation as well, I would have to ensure that whilst providing learners the opportunity to experiment and develop independence, it would have to be achieved in a safe working environment. Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences 1995 is also relevant, being an educator in a potentially hazardous environment, more commonly known as RIDDOR, and states that certain incidents are reportable by law, they must be reported to the health and safety executive and the local authority, An example of this being if hospital treatment is needed to be administered to a student following an activity, the educational establishment should have clear guidelines on how to report incidents. There are numerous legislative requirements which as an educator I would have to adhere to. Wilson (2008) states that whilst some of these aspects need only awareness of context, many of them will impact on your first teaching experience, therefore require a detailed knowledge.

Theory of Planned Behavior Approach

Theory of Planned Behavior Approach INFLUENCING FACTORS OF  ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION IN STUDENTS Abstract Using the Theory of Planned Behavior approach, this study aimed to examine the structural equation model (SEM) of factors that cause the formation of entrepreneurial intention in college students. In addition, this study also provides an illustration of what the underlying factors correlated with the formation of entrepreneurial intentions in male students and the underlying factors correlated with the formation of entrepreneurial intention in female students, given the sex role is correlated to parenting style. Research data collection methods were questionnaire and scale of Personal Attraction, Subjective Norm, and Self-Efficacy. Multiple regression analysis and structural equation model (SEM), is used to analyze the correlations between the factors that cause the entrepreneurial intention in male and female students. From the results of model testing on both male and female students, it can be concluded that this research model meets the goodness of fit structural equation. From S EM it can be concluded also that the factor of self-efficacy is the main influencing factor of entrepreneurial intention of both male and female students. In addition to self-efficacy, in male students, another influencing factor of entrepreneurial intention is Personal Attraction, while in female students is subjective-norm. Key word: Entrepreneurial intention, Theory of Planned Behavior, Personal Attraction, Subjective-norm, Self-Efficacy, SEM INTRODUCTION The number of unemployed in Indonesia in February 2010 reached 8.59 million people or 7.41 percent of the total workforce. Although in general Unemployment rate (TPT) is likely to decline, which in August 2009 at 7.87 percent and in February 2009 at 8.14 percent, but the TPT for Diploma and Bachelor Degree levels were increased, 2.05 percent and 1.16 respectively (BPS, 2012). In this case, it has become the focus of the government to provide new jobs, but Yudhoyono as president of Indonesia asked the public to foster an entrepreneurial spirit as one of the labor-absorbing sectors. Be entrepreneurs who created the product market, and new business he said (Kompas, 2011). In developing the entrepreneurial spirit, a question that often comes to policy makers is: What makes some people more entrepreneurial than others? (Licht, 2007). In this case Baron (2004) argues that cognitive understanding of the individual in personal decision-making is important. Therefore, in the theory of designed behavior is exploited in entrepreneurship ever since the 1990s, and it has facilitated a new approach to the intention conception. In line with the popularity of designed theory of entrepreneurship, a visible increase of in the field of entrepreneurship education and training has also taken place in recent years. Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) has been defined as, one of the most common psychological theories used to explain and predict human behavior, Including entrepreneurship (Kolvereid, 1996). Entrepreneurship scholars argue Generally That entrepreneurial behavior is intentional and so best predicted by the measure of intentions of an individual (Bird, 1988). Ajze n (1991) defines intentions as Indications of how hard individuals are willing to try, of how much of an effort to exert They are planning, to perform the behavior. The Stronger the intention to engage in a behavior, the more Likely should be its actual performance. This study follows the cognitive approach, through the application of an Entrepreneurial Intention model. A number of works are being published Lately about this issue. However, a lot of research is still needed to better comprehend the which the factors affecting entrepreneurial Perceptions (and, through them, intention) are. In particular, our knowledge is specially limited in a specific areas. Cross-cultural studies are needed so That the effect of different cultures and values on the entrepreneurial intention is increasingly Understood. The research was conducted in Yogyakarta Indonesia, where the nuances of culture in this city is very thick. With influenced by the culture in which one lives, the parenting style will color the way to teach the children that men and women to behave and act towards the tendency to be an entrepreneur or not. The main purpose of this paper isclearly in line with those needs. First, we try to test the adequacy of the Entrepreneurial Intention Model on male and female students who became the subject of this study. And, secondly, we also try to know what factors are most influential in predicting entrepreneurial intentions of university students both male and female. These results will hopefully shed some light on a number of issues. It will serve as a confirmation of the applicability of this cognitive model to the entrepreneurial decision. In this case, our sample comes from kota yang mungkin berbeda cultural and social structure dibandingkan penelitian-penelitian terdahulu. Perbedaan pada mahasiswa pria dan wanita juga dilihat faktor antesedent yang membentuk intensi kewirausahaannya. It will also contribute to clarify the specific pattern of relationships among the antecedents of intention. Finally, relevant implications for educators and policy-makers could be derived. ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION MODEL       From the perspective express by Krueger et al (2000) explain that since the decision to become an entrepreneur may be plausibly considered as voluntary and conscious, it seems reasonable to analyze how that decision is taken. Entrepreneurship may be viewed as a process that occurs over time (Gartner et al., 1994). In this sense, entrepreneurial intentions would be the first step in the evolving and -sometimes- long-term process of venture creation (Lee and Wong, 2004). The intention to start up, then, would be a previous and determinant element towards performing entrepreneurial behaviors (Kolvereid, 1996). In addition, intentions toward a behavior would be the single best predictor of that behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, Ajzen, 1991, 2001). In turn, the intention of carrying out a given behavior may be affected by several factors, such as needs, values, wants, habits, and beliefs (Bird, 1988; Lee and Wong, 2004). In particular, Ajzen (1991) calls antecedents the set of cognitive variables that would exert their influence on intention (personal attitude towards the behavior, perceived social norms, and perceived behavioral control). More favorable antecedents would make more feasible the intention of carrying that behavior out, and the other way round (Lià ±Ãƒ ¡n, 2004). Obviously, situational factors also influence entrepreneurial intentions (Boyd and Vozikis, 1994). Variables such as time constraints, task difficulty, and the influence of other people through social pressure could be examples of these situational factors (Lee and Wong, 2004). Therefore, exogenous factors also influence ones attitudes toward entrepreneurship (Krueger, 1993). From the previous researches on entrepreneurial intention, there are some differences in their results. Indarti and Rosiani (2008) states that self-efficacy proved to affect the intentions of entrepreneurship in students, while Wijaya (2008) and Segal, et al. (2005), states that self-efficacy is not proven to affect entrepreneurial intentions. In the study of Alstete (2002) concluded that the external environment such as unemployment, frustration with previous employment and the need to get a decent life, effect on entrepreneurial intentions, but the study of Ismail (2009) and Zain et al. (2010) environmental factors was not proven to emerge entrepreneurial intention. Because of the inconsistencies of those entrepreneurial intentions studies, so it is still relevant to post the question of what exactly the factors influencing a persons entrepreneurial intention. Does Attitude towards the behavior (Personal Attraction), subjective norm (subjective norm), and self-efficacy (self-efficacy) have an influence on the entrepreneurial intention of students, as well as whether environmental differences demographics (sex, gender, age, and family background) distinguish level of entrepreneurial intention of students. Because it is becoming very important for a person when they want to choose a career path of his life (Ajzen, 2001; Kolvereid, 1996). Intention becomes the fundamental element towards explaining behavior. It indicates the effort that the person will make to carry out that entrepreneurial behavior (Lià ±Ãƒ ¡n, 2004). And so, it captures the three motivational factors that influence behavior (Ajzen, 1991): (1) Attitude towards the behavior (Perso nal Attraction, PA) refers to the degree to which the individual holds a positive or negative personal valuation about being an entrepreneur (Ajzen, 2002, Kolvereid, 1996). It would include not only affective (I like it, it makes me feel good, it is pleasant), but also evaluative considerations (it is more profitable, has more advantages). (2) Perceived Social Norms or Subjective Norm (SN) would measure the perceived social pressure to carry out -or not to carry out- that entrepreneurial behavior. In particular, it would refer to the perception that reference people would approve of the decision to become an entrepreneur, or not (Ajzen, 2001). (3) Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) would be defined as the perception of the easiness or difficulty in the fulfillment of the behavior of interest (becoming an entrepreneur). It is, therefore, a concept quite similar to perceived self-efficacy (SE) (Bandura, 1997). In the same way, it is also very similar to Shapero and Sokols (1982) visio n about perceived feasibility. In all three instances, the important thing is the sense of capacity regarding the fulfillment of firm creation behaviors. Nevertheless, recent work has emphasized the difference between PBC and self-efficacy (Ajzen, 2002). PBC would include not only the feeling of being able, but also the perception about behavior controllability. That is, the extent to which performing it or not is up to the person. On the other hand, as mentioned above, situational or demographic factors have an influence on intentions (Boyd and Vozikis, 1994; Lee and Wong, 2004). In particular, a greater knowledge of different entrepreneurial aspects will surely contribute to more realistic perceptions about the entrepreneurial activity (Ajzen, 2002), thus influencing intentions indirectly, but due to the limitations of this study, the gender factor which will be considered as a demographic factor that affecting another three antecedent factors of entrepreneurial intentions. In Figure 1, therefore, we summarize the model we will be using as a starting point for our analysis. Apart from the explicit inclusion of external variables, this Figure 1 is quite similar to the Theory of Planned Behavior described by Ajzen (1991), and used by Kolvereid (1996), and Lià ±Ãƒ ¡n (2004). One particularity, however, is that we have specifically hypothesized what the pattern of relationships among the so-called antecedents of intention is. Social norms are assumed to influence both personal attraction and self-efficacy perceptions (Kennedy, et. al., 2003). However, due to demographic variable is nominal data, the effect of sex on the entrepreneurial intention model is analyzed by comparing the baseline model of entrepreneurial intention model on a sample of male, female sample and total sample of male and female. METHODS Entrepreneurial intention has been measured through a scale with 7 alternatives of answer. These are general sentences indicating different aspects of intention. A similar system has already been used by Zhao et al., (in Lià ±Ãƒ ¡n Chen, 2006 ). However, Armitage and Conner (2001) identified three distinct kinds of intention measures: desire (I want to ), self-prediction (How likely it is ) and behavioral intention (I intend to ). The Entrepreneurial Intention scale was modified from the Entrepreneurial Intention Questionare (EIQ) from Linan Chen (2006). Aspects of this scale are (1) the purpose ofhis life to be an entrepreneur (2) preparing yourself to become an entrepreneur, (3) strong-willed to try to become an entrepreneur, and (4) seriously consider setting up a business. The Cronbach alpha reliability for this scale was 0.84. Personal attraction has also been measured through an aggregate attitude scale. This scale was modified from the scale of Linan Chen (2006) and Kennedy, at. al. (2003). This scale has the aspect (1) interest in entrepreneurship compare to other job areas, (2) belief in the success of a career in entrepreneurship, (3) gain confidence, including higher salaries, when becomes an entrepreneur, and (5) to be enthusiastic and have satisfaction when becomes an entrepreneur. The Cronbach alpha reliability for this scale was 0.77. Subjective norms, or Perceived social valuation, according to Ajzen (1991), should be approached through an aggregate measure of the kind what do important others think? Subjective norm refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform that behavior. It is based on beliefs concerning whether important referent individuals or groups approve or disapprove of an individual establishing a business, and to what extent this approval or disapproval matters to the individual. Generally speaking, the more the opinion of a particular referent group or individual matters to the individual and the more encouraging the individual thinks it is of enterprising activity, the stronger should be the individuals intention to start a business. This scale refers to the aspects raised by Linan Chen (2006) which reveal aspects of how large the opinions of people who are considered important by the subject (the opinions of family, friends, and the closest people) about the work as an ent repreneur. The Cronbach alpha reliability for this scale was 0.80. Self-efficacy scalerates their level of agreement withseveral general statements about the feeling of capacity regarding firm creation. In a recent work, Ajzen (2002) considers that perceived behavioral control is a concept somewhat wider than self-efficacy. It would also include a measure of controllability (the extent to which successfully performing the behavior is up to the person). Four aspects of this scale are (1) believe that can start forming a new company, (2) believe that can run entrepreneurial ventures relatively smoothly, (3) understand the things what to do when running a project, (4) believe that the entrepreneurial ventures established will be successful. The Cronbach alpha reliability for this scale was 0.79. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The entrepreneurial intention model to be tested has been presented in Figure 1. Structural equation modeling was used to test its empirical validity. Diperoleh hasil goodness of fit dari ketiga baseline model yang ada (lihat table 1). We estimated the models using the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation procedure of AMOS 5. Table 1: Multiple goodnesss of fit measures of the baseline model Model X ² X ²/DF CFI RMSEA NFI GFI Male 2.523 2.523 .953 .076 .852 .962 Female 2.495 2.495 .956 .075 .856 .982 Male Female 1.741 1.741 .970 .052 .774 .950 We start with some important global goodness of fit. According to Ghozali (2008), a reference to indicators of Goodness of Fit test can be viewed with at least 6 criteria. (1) A first measure is the chi-square value. Fundamental test equipment to measure the overall fit is the likelihood ratio chi square statistic. The model considered good if it has a chi square = 0, which means there is no difference. The recommended level of acceptance is significant if p à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0.05, which means the actual input matrix with that, predicted input matrices were not statistically different, (2) We report the normalized chi-square, where it is adjusted by the degree of freedom (df) to evaluate model fit (à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²/df). The normalized chi-square should be less than 2.0 or 3.0 for models with adequate fit. (3) The next measure to report is Bentlers comparative fit index (CFI). This index is based on a comparison of the hypothesized model against the independence model as baseline mo del. The range of the CFI is form 0 to 1. A value > 0.9 is considered representative of a good-fit model (Byrne, 2001). (4) The next measure is the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation). RMSEA values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹indicate goodness of fit is expected when the model is estimated in the population. RMSEA value of less than or equal to 0.08 is an index to the receipt of the models show a close fit of the model was based degree of freedom. RMSEA is an index of measurement is not influenced by the size of the sample so that the index is typically used to measure the fit of the model on the number of samples, (5) The Normed Fit Index (NFI) compares minimum fit function value of the actual model with the baseline model (worst fitted Independence Model). NFI values range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating better fit. Values greater than .90 are typically interpreted as indicating a good fit. (6) GFI (Go odness of Fit Index) used to calculate the weighted proportion of the variance in the sample covariance matrix that described by the estimated population covariance matrix. This index reflects the overall level of fitness model that calculated from the residual quadratic model predicted that compared with the actual data. Goodness of Fit Index value is usually from 0 to 1. Better value close to 1 indicates the model we tested has a good fitness value is said to be good GFI à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0.90. Table 1 shows some Important Multiple goodnesss of fit baseline measures of our three models, while the three baseline for the SEM images can be seen in figure 2. From the study it can be concluded that the male-female baseline model, PA (Personal Attraction), SN (Subjective Norm), and SE (Self-Efficacy) otherwise affect the entrepreneurial intention. This is supported by the results of multiple measurements of the three baseline regression model coefficients obtained results of multiple regression .604 (male baseline model), .643 (female baseline model), .584 (male-female baseline model). In each of the baseline model (male, female, and male-female), the variable PA, SN, and SE simultaneously accounted for 36.5%, 41.4%, and 34.1% in predicting entrepreneurial intention (see Table 2). Table 2: Multiple regression measures of the baseline model Baseline Model R R Square F Sig Male .604a .365 74.624 .000a Female .643a .414 43.739 .000a Male Female .584a .341 34.511 .000a a. Predictors: (Constant), Self-Efficacy, Subjective Norm, Personal Attraction; Dependent Variable: Enterpreneurial Intention Pengaruh masing masing variabel exogenousterhadap endogenouspada setiap baseline model dapat dilihat pada tabel 3. Secara keseluruhan sampel penelitian (male-female baseline model) dapat disimpulkan konsisten dengan Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991, 2001) bahwa ke tiga antecedent (PA, SN, dan SE) berpengaruh terhadap tinggi-rendahnya entrepreneurial intention seorang mahasiswa, dan dari ketiga faktor yang mempengaruhi entrepreneurial intention tersebut, prediktor Self-Efficacy yang paling kuat mempengaruhi Entrepreneurial intention (lihat figure 2, dan table 3).Penelitian terdahulu shows a main effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial output including entrepreneurial intention, disimpulkan oleh Krueger and Brazeal 1994; Zhao, Seibert and Hills 2005. Hal serupa juga dapat ditunjukkan pada hasil penelitian Ramayah Harun, 2005; Zhao et al, 2005, yang menunjukkan adanya hubungan positif antara efikasi diri dan intensiberwirausaha. Influence of each exogenous to endogenous variables on each baseline model can be seen in Table 3. Overall the study sample (male-female baseline model) can be inferred is consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991, 2001) that the three antecedent (PA, SN, and SE) high-low effect on entrepreneurial intention of a student, and from the three influencing factorsof entrepreneurial intention, the predictors of Self-Efficacy has the most powerful influence to Entrepreneurial intention (see figure 2 and table 3). Previous research showed a main effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial output Including entrepreneurial intention, inferred by Krueger and Brazeal 1994; Zhao, Seibert and Hills, 2005. The same can be shown in the results of the study Ramayah Aaron, 2005; Zhao et al, 2005, which showed a positive relationship between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. Personal Attraction is an important predictor, in addition to self-efficacy, in predicting the level of entrepreneurial intention in the group of male, while in the group of women Subjective Norm functions become very central in addition to Self Efficacy (see figure 2 and table 3). Table 3: Koefisien regresi antar variabel PA, SN, SE, EI of the baseline model Baseline Model Relationship Male Female Male Female SE -.078 .354** .101 PA -.003 .118 .029 EI .107 .254** .181** EI .316** .262** .301** EI .213** .093 .171** PA: Personal Attraction; SN: Subjective Norm; SE: Self-Efficacy; EI: Entrepreneurial Intention *: p This is probably due to the group of male students (men) tend to not pay attention to the opinions of those around him. They look more independent in decision-making to determine his career. Women may be due to upbringing as a child accustomed to a more gender roles into consideration the environment surrounding their career life, so thattheir entrepreneurial intentions was affected by it. In Indonesia the research that states that the position of women becomes a disadvantage in Small and Medium Enterprises which are caused by the culture, so they face the double burden and are rarely involved in decision-making process (Asian Development Bank-GFA-Swiss Contact Management, 2000 in Mahastanti Nugrahanti, 2010). Its just interesting it was found that among men and women did not differ in terms of intentions kewirausaannya, although in the case of Personal Attraction, Subjective Norm, and Self Efficacy gained significant difference. Group of male students showed Personal Attraction and Self-Efficacy higher than in women. However, groups of women showed higher levels of Subjective Normsthan those in group of men (see table 4). Table 4: Male Female t-test value and mean for each variable Variables Group Mean t-test Sig Entrepreneurial Intention Male 81.20 .716 .398 Female 80.45 Personal Attraction Male 43.77 8.362 .004 Female 40.88 Subjective Norm Male 42.81 35.393 .000 Female 49.81 Self-Efficacy Male 57.83 18.730 .000 Female 52.58 Papalia, Olds Feldman (2001) with social psychological approach to explaining why the men and women of any difference of behavior patterns and psychological state that is due to the existence of gender defferences. Papalia et al. (2001) explains that gender defferences obtained of how the pattern of care received from the small children of men and women differently, they are educated with parenting interests, attitudes, and behaviors are different. As a result, through the gender typing, character / trait and skill of its men and women will be different too, because they adopt the traits, attitudes, and behaviors which are culturally inappropriate for him. In the study Ahmed, Aamir and Ijaz (2011), theirfindings of the study suggest that economic factors have a weak and insignificant impact on the entrepreneurial intentions of students, while structural factors have significant and weak relationship with entrepreneurial intentions. Social factors are the factors That have modest but significant effect on entrepreneurial intentions of university students. It can be inferred That like social support, support from family, colleagues, friends, public etc. has direct and Important influence on the entrepreneurial career preferences of students. So Wang and Wong (2004) have found gender and education level as significant factors in Explaining entrepreneurial intentions. Only Research Rani Kundu (2007) which examines gender issues related to the level of confidence and job performance found that there are differences between men and women in terms of confidence levels, but no difference in job performance. Even from the research of Ali Davies (2003) concluded that there are differences in job performance between men and women, more women have higher job performance than men. This also might be able to answer this research results dynamics which concluded that there was no difference between entrepreneurial intention in male and female students. CONCLUSIONS SUGGESTIONS Overall the structural conceptual model is designed based on goodness of fit of the three have met the eligibility baseline model (fit), so it can be interpreted in accordance with empirical conditions a graduate student. Theoretical research model is an adaptation of the concept of theory of planned behavior. Appropriate research model, Personal Attraction, Subjective Norm, and Self-Efficacy, positive influence on Entrepreneurial Intention. Of the three antecedent variables, Self Efficacy variables that most impact. Specific results acquired in the male student group, Subjective Norm did not significantly affect the Entrepreneurial Intention, whereas in the group of female college students personal atraction not significantly influence entrepreneurial intention. Based on research, in practice it can be suggested that efforts need to be done to improve ones Self-Efficacy for increased ones entrepreneurial intention. This can be done by increasing knowledge and skills so that students become more confident and willing to take risks that can be calculated solution. For future studies are expected to include more demographic variables, such as parental background, education, education level, in order to conduct counseling for male and female students become more focused. Bibliography   Ã‚   Ahmed, I., Aamir, M, Ijaz, H. A. (2011) External factors and entrepreneurial career intentions: moderating role of personality traits. Internaional Journal of Academic Research, Vol. 3, No. 5. September. 262 267. Ajzen, I. (1985),Fromintentionstoactions:aTheory ofPlannedBehavior,inKuhl,J.andBeck ­ mann,J.(Eds),ActionControl:FromCognitiontoBehavior,SpringerVerlag,New York, NY, pp. 11 ­39. Ajzen, I. (1991): The theory of planned behavior, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. Ajzen, I. (2001): Nature and operation of attitudes, Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 27-58. Ajzen, I. (2002): Perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1-20. Ali, H. Davies, D. R., (2003) The Effect of Age, Sex, and Tenure on The Job Performance of Rubber Tappers, Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, Vol.23. Armitage, C.J. and Conner, M. (2001): Efficacy of the theory of planned behavior: a meta-analytic review, British Journal of Social Psychology, 40 (4), 471-499. Badan Pusat Statistik (2012), Keadaan Ketenagakerjaan Indonesia Februari 2010. www.bps.go.id diakses 5 Januari 2012 Bandura, A. (1997): Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, New York: Freeman. Baron, R.A. (2004): The cognitive perspective: a valuable tool for answering entrepreneurships basic why questions, Journal of Business Venturing, 19, 221-239. Biehl, B. (2008)The performance of women and men in organisations: a theatre studies approach, Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 23 No.

Getting Sober :: Expository Cause Effect Essays

Getting Sober To recognize that they have drinking problems, alcoholics have to be completely miserable and willing to change. When they get to this point, it is called their "bottom." There are "high bottom" and "low bottom" drunks, but it doesn't matter as long as they get sober. There are many different reasons why an alcoholic decides to get sober, but in my own case, I lost my self-esteem, I couldn't control my drinking, and my life became unmanageable. The first thing that made me think about getting sober was that I lost my self-esteem. I always used to cut myself down in front of people and never knew how to accept compliments- sure signs of low self-esteem. The biggest symptom I had of low self-esteem was that I wasn't comfortable in my own skin or around people unless I was drunk because the only way I could stand myself was when I drank. I also never cared about my appearance, so I wouldn't wear make-up, fix my hair, or bathe regularly. Still, low self-esteem was something I would never have guessed I had-that is, until I thought about killing myself. Then I knew something might be wrong. The second thing that made me want to get sober was the realization that I couldn't control my drinking-it had become a mental and physical obsession. Since my first drink at the age of twelve I couldn't go a day without a drink, and I could never have just one. By the age of seventeen I was used to drinking a case and a half of beer a day, and for the next two years I lived in a drunken fog. I could not go to school, work, or anywhere else outside my front door without a drink or the promise of one. I finally realized something had to be done when I couldn't get a drink one day and swallowing my own spit made me violently sick. I was forced to drink NyQuil to keep from throwing up because it was the only alcohol in the house. But the main reason I got sober was that my life became unmanageable. The first thing that made me notice I was out of control was getting kicked out of high school two weeks before graduation.

Schizophrenia Essay -- Disorder Psychological Schizo essays

Schizophrenia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schizophrenia is an extremely puzzling condition, the most chronic and disabling of the major mental illnesses. Approximately one percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lives. With the sudden onset of severe psychotic symptoms, the individual is said to be experiencing acute schizophrenia. Psychotic means out of touch with reality, or unable to separate real from unreal experiences. Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by loss of touch with reality, thought disorders, delusions, hallucination, and affective disorder. Two psychiatrists came up with two-different concept of schizophrenia. One of the psychiatrists was Emil Kraepelin. He came up with the theory of dementia praecox. Two major aspects of the disorder is a early onset and a progressive intellectual deterioration. He presented this concept in 1898 as â€Å"The Diagnosis and Pronosis of Dementia Praecox.† Eugene Bleuler another psychiatrists took the definition further. From 1885 to 1897 he worked as a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zurich. His views were the opposite from Kraepelin theory. He believed that the disorder did not necessarily have an early onset and that it did not inevitably progress toward dementia. The differences between Kraepelin and Bleuler: Kraepelin writings then fostered a narrow definition of schizophrenia and an emphasis on description. †¦ Bleuler’s work, in contrast, led to a broader concept of schizophrenias and a more pronounced theoretical emphasis. Schizophrenic disturb though, perception and attention, motor behavior, emotion and life function.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thought disorder is one symptom of schizophrenia. This is when your thought and speech is delusion. There are several types of delusion of control, and hypochondriacally delusions. One of the most dramatic symptoms is hallucination. Hallucination is strange voices heard in the air. There are three types of hallucination: aucible (repeated thoughts), arguing voices, and connecting voices. Affective symptoms is another sign of schizophrenia. This is when they show no form of expression. Being happy on somebody misery or feeling sad on somebody happiness. Motor abilities of an schizophrenia is weird. This symptom is when they’re not aware of their actions. They can also stand or sit in a uncomfortable positions for a long period of time. Recent studies... ...ange of outcomes is possible. A review of almost two thousand patients’ life histories suggests that twenty five percent achieve full recobery, fifty percent recover at least partially, and twenty percent require long term care. When large groups of patients are studied, certain factors tend to be associated with a better outcome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development of a variety of treatment methods and facilities is of crucial importance because schizophrenic patients vary greatly in their needs for treatment. With a wide variety of facilities available, mental health professional will be better able to tailor treatment to the dfferent needs if individual patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, schizophrenia is a lost cause disease. We do not know why or how people get diagnose with this symptom. Not having the ability to know my actions is a scary thought. I couldn’t imagine myself sitting in a restaurant in the middle of my meal. Suddenly have a strange loud outburst in front of my friends, date, or a business meeting. That would be stressful and embarrassing. As scientists learn more about the chronic disease, we should be able to help more schizophrenic patients achieve successful outcomes.

A Comparison Between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini Essay -- Nation

A Comparison Between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini shared many similar characteristics. They shared movements that were typical of National Socialism: they adopted a radical nationalism, militaristic hierarchies, violence, the cult of charismatic leadership, contempt for individual liberties and civil rights, an anti-democratic and anti-socialist orientation, and a refusal to socialize industries. Hitler and Mussolini looked upon the new form of government, which was Totalitarianism. This form of government means there is only one leader to make decisions and thus they killed or jailed all opponents. Mussolini and Hitler used this form of government after World War One to make their countries into world powers. Perhaps the most obvious similarity would be the path they took to power. In parliament Hitler and Mussolini gathered small groups of followers they would use to bully voters, Hitler’s SS and SA and Mussolini’s Brown Shirts. The point of these behind these parties was that they both expressed what voters wanted to hear. They spoke of greater job opportunities and rejuvenation of their countries. Hitler and Mussolini used violent propaganda to increase social struggle everywhere in their countries. The polarization of the society produced by this violent behavior benefited the fascist parties. Both leaders used their political strength to impose conditions on their people. Both Hitler and Mussolini were finally given the opportunity to form a government and carried out their election promises. Their ruling of power came about to be so similar because of their similar roads to power. Here we see some differences in the way Hitler and Mussolini actually came to power. Mussolini encountered many forms of resistance and had to co-exist with other competitors for power, such as the Italian monarchy and rivals even inside his own party. Hitler proved very strong right from the beginning and he brought his plans very nearly to completion, controlling the party and the country much more thoroughly than Mussolini could. The goals of these two leaders were also very alike because of their fascist ideas. The keystone of the fascist political system was the leader: every person and every group, every lobby, lay beneath him on the same level. The Italian and German fascist movements tr... ...m agreement on religion. In Italy the Catholic Church exercised a strong influence on the people. In Italy the strong presence of Catholic religion and organizations influenced Mussolini’s policies concerning women. Although the fascist ideology intended to abolish class struggle by establishing a new corporative society, its ideas about the role of women in such a society remained very conservative. Hitler had similar beliefs about the role of women in a Nazi society but he never tried to force them to stay home, indeed, he supported their participation in industrial production. Hitler’s rule was cold and calculating, his only joys were the tramping of military boots in Nazi parades and the huge applause at Nazi rallies. On the other hand Mussolini tried to appear o his people as a â€Å"superman†. It is true that the Italian dictatorship was more conservative in its application than that of Hitler’s reign of terror. But, both the fascist ideas and rulings of these two leaders proved to have some similarities worth mentioning. Both leaders left their countries with an economic and social debt to the Allies, which is still strong in the minds of many older members of the community.

Corporate Finance Essay

Introduction In 2001, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Williams Company was in financial distress. The primarily energy-industry company was struggling with a shrinking energy trading market, which was marked by distressed entities such as Enron’s broadband unit and Global Crossing. Williams also suffered internally with a floundering telecommunications division and a plummeting stock price. These issues led credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the credit rating of Williams’ bonds to the level of non-investment-grade junk bonds. Amidst all of this uncertainty, the company on January 21, 2002, announced a new CEO, Steven J. Malcolm. Malcolm realized one of the most important functions for Williams moving forward would be raising capital. Malcolm’s four-pronged plan to achieve this goal involved selling assets, reaching a resolution for its energy and trading book, managing and monitoring cash and businesses and â€Å"right-sizing† Williams to reflect the new scope of operations. However, Williams had a substantial amount of short-term and long-term debt maturing in the second half of 2002. In addition, its credit and commercial paper facilities needed to be renewed about the same time. With approximately $450 million dollars of cash on hand and only one undrawn revolving credit facility, Williams sought external financing to help meet its current cash flow needs. One group of investors led by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway along with Lehman Brothers offered Williams a solution with a one-year $900 million loan. Under the terms of the agreement, each lender would loan $450 million to Williams Production RMT, a Williams subsidiary, whose major assets included natural gas properties in the Rocky Mountains. In addition to the repayment of the principal in one year, Williams would pay 5.8 percent interest quarterly and an additional 14 percent of the principal at maturity plus a â€Å"deferred setup fee.† The deferred setup fee would be equivalent to the greater of 15 percent of the principal or 21 percent of the purchase price less RMT’s indebtedness. This would be influenced by any further asset liquidation by RMT. The loan, guaranteed by Williams Company as well as certain subsidiaries, also contained several covenants that Williams must meet to avoid breach of contract. The positive covenants included maintaining an interest coverage ratio of greater than 1.5 to 1 and maintaining a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.15 to 1. Negative covenants limited restrictive payments (including redemption of capital stock) and capital expenditures in excess of $300 million. Thorough evaluation of the terms and lending scenario reveals this loan would create a beneficial scenario not just for the lenders, but for the borrower as well. For Williams, the loan provided temporary relief from multiple short-term debt security maturations and enhanced the company’s ability to secure a credit facility of $700 million. This would likely be followed by favorable market reactions in the form of increased stock price as a result of decreased uncertainty of future cash flows. Also, any Buffett investments in Williams would signal a strong endorsement of the company’s future prospects, likely leading to increases in Williams’ stock price. Likewise, for Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers, this deal should supply high returns on investment. Assuming the loan would be held to maturity, the lenders would divide returns of approximately 34% on this loan. Given that Williams guaranteed the loan, backing it with asset and capital stock, such returns on this risk would be a huge win for both lenders. Although the risk-free rate would be necessary to determine the exact net present value of the investment opportunity facing Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers, sufficient information is available to find the project’s internal rate of return. The IRR for this agreement ranges between 11.87% and 13.01%. The return on investment (ROI) for this particular agreement ranges between 52% and 58%. In either case, the numbers range because of provision (c) listed in the case’s Exhibit 1. The â€Å"deferred setup fee† fluctuates depending on potential sales of RMT’s assets. Terms of the proposed financing Guarantees Those involved in the lending process establish financing terms to protect the positions of all parties. The debt guarantee in Williams’ proposed financing, for example, provided insurance for the repayment of debt. Williams would essentially act as a co-signer for Williams Production RMT’s obligations to Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers. Per the terms, Williams would have to agree to make payments in place of Williams Production RMT if any of the payments were late or not paid. Using a guarantor would allow Williams Production RMT access to a loan at a lower interest rate than if Williams had not secured the loan. The logic behind this is that two individuals or entities promising to pay back the debt means there is lessened risk for overall default. That means Berkshire and Lehman may be willing to accept a lower interest rate in return for less risk of loss. It is quite possible that Williams Production RMT would not have been able to obtain a loan without a gu arantee. Covenants Equity and debt investors have a somewhat adversarial position, though both want a company to succeed. Equity investors want the company to take a certain amount of risk so they have the chance of seeing large returns. Debt investors want a company to be more conservative to protect the issuer and to ensure that the company will repay its debts. Like many other companies, Williams’ top priority, however, is to maximize stockholder wealth. This creates a dilemma in a debt offering. Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers therefore use debt covenants to limit the amount of risk Williams can take in the hopes that the company’s actions will not endanger loan repayment. Collectively, these covenants outline the rights of the lenders and restrictions upon Williams in regards to the loan. When a company does not live up to its debt covenant, it breaches the contract. In theory, such action would trigger automatic payment to creditors. In reality, however, many companies default because they are not in good financial health and thus cannot pay. Therefore, breach of covenant usually means that the two parties renegotiate the terms of the debt, often calling for higher interest rates or other incentives for the issuer to allow Williams more time to pay. Williams’ financial problem During the first half of 2002, Williams suffered a number of financial difficulties. The company’s total cash flow decreased by 680.22 percent as compared with 2001. During the year, Williams’ only net positive cash inflows came from financing, which netted the company $1.061 billion. In contrast to cash inflows, the company’s outflows totaled $1.589 billion from operations and investing. Overall, the decrease can largely be attributed to the decrease in cash flow from operations, which amounted to a decrease of $2.566 billion. Specific to operations, much to blame is the company’s decrease in working capital of $879 million. To adjust for this decrease in cash flows, the company liquidated a number of assets in 2002. The most valuable included the Kern River and Williams pipelines, which generated immediate cash proceeds of $1.124 billion. The question remained, however, as to how Williams would be able to find a way to pay debts of $2.347 billion within the next year and eventually long-term debts of $11.972 billion. In May 2002, the firm sold another $1.7 billion in assets and announced its intention to sell an $1.5 to $3 billion in assets. Previously, in December 2001, Williams planned to cut its 2002 capital spending by 25 percent or $1 billion to bolster its balance sheet. Williams also issued $1 billion in equity-linked securities called FELINE PACS and decided to cut its dividend by 95 percent. While seemingly drastic measures, the negative total cash flow of $619 million reveals that reducing dividend payments and selling off two major sources of operating income was not sufficient for Williams to dig itself out from under its debt obligations without independent financial assistance. Signs of distress It was clear that Williams was in deep. Though the signs of distress were many, the most noticeable was that the company’s cash flows were insufficient to meet its short-term debt. Unless the company continued to take drastic action, it could have found itself entering into bankruptcy proceedings within the next year. Another concerning sign included that in 2002, Williams’ 95 percent decrease in dividend payments and its more than 90 percent decrease in stock price should have indicated that the firm was struggling. Particularly striking was the fact that dividend disbursements had been increasing for the prior 10 years and that Williams Communications stock closed at a mere $0.01 per share on July 31, 2002. Williams also sent strongly negative signals with its 2002 sales of its Kern River and Williams pipelines. Although these netted the company immediate cash amounting to $1.124 billion, the sale was made at the sacrifice of substantial cash inflows, suggesting this was an act of desperation. Investors weren’t the only ones receiving signs of Williams’ distress. Credit agencies also observed uncertainty in Williams’ future, as indicated by the company’s fluctuating credit ratings. With Williams in July 2002 settling at a B+ Standard & Poor’s long-term credit rating, the company saw resulting increases in bond yields. Whereas Williams had bond yields of approximately 7 percent in December 2001, its yields fell just under 20 percent in July 2002, further complicating its situation. Recommendation Williams’ plight left it with few options for restoring its financial solvency, and most were of limited feasibility. Williams could have issued additional equity at the then current stock price of $2.95 per share, though this would dilute the company’s current share base. In addition, most companies only hold seasoned equity offerings when they believe their stock is overpriced. Considering that Williams’ stock price had fallen by more than 90%, Williams should not consider an equity offering. The company also could have issued more bonds. This option was not feasible, however, due to the company’s credit downgrade.With Standard & Poor’s rating the company a B+ in July 2002, Williams would have to issue many bonds and pay a substantial yield amounting to just under 20 percent per annum. Williams also could have sold assets. Since Williams had already sold close to $3.0 billion in assets, however, selling more could damage the company’s ability to generate operating cash flows. Though Berkshire and Lehman presented an opportunity, most lenders were hesitant to provide Williams capital due to the company’s financial turmoil. This large, 35 percent interest loan appears to have the most favorable terms possible for Williams in its last-ditch effort to save itself. The real winner here, however, would be Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers, both of whom would glean a lucrative return on their investment, given it is successful. Williams, on the other hand, should agree to the loan only because it has no other feasible options.