Research Methods Essay

This paper uses research by studying and extensively reviewing the literature on telecommunications and Belize. To conduct the search, the scope of the study was studied and the sources of information identified. Telecommunications is considered to include communication services like radio, telephone, etc and technologies which can provide such services. Studies about the impact of telecommunications on Belize were researched. Extensive research was also conducted on the role of telecommunications in various sectors like education, health, agriculture, transportation, and other activities. The primary focus was to use the experience of Belize by studying the applications and findings which are relevant to the country. Recent reports and studies on Belize, its economy, and its telecommunication sector were used as research material for this paper. Publications are also considered as they present theory or analysis of critical issues and applications. Numerous sources of information were used to prepare the literature review. Several categories of research information are used to compile the results and content of the paper. References on telecommunications in general were used to provide an introduction and scope of study. Studies comparing Belize and its neighbors were also used to determine the success of globalization and telecommunications sector in the political, economic, social, and cultural context of the country. The role of telecommunication in rural development, agriculture, education, health, agriculture, disaster management, business, and trade were also extensively studied using various databases, publications, and studies. Selected studies and documents were used because the type of studies available would lead to an extremely lengthy paper. Scope of study The research methodology is the set of processes used to collect and analyze data. Research methodology is defined as a structured set of guidelines or activities to assist in generating valid and reliable research results. This part describes the research methods and procedures used to obtain and analyze data in this study. Research design reflects the structure of the research project and provides the means of collecting suitable data to answer the research questions. This paper seeks to identify the social, political, economic and cultural issues and outcomes which have emerged from globalization in Belize. It reviews the telecommunication sector of the country by looking at the reports of BTL. It studies the performance of the BTL. It highlights the achievements and failures of the company. It researches and examines the company’s services in the light of the government’s telecommunication industry. A detailed analysis is conducted about the success and failure of globalization in Belize by using studies which provide analysis on the economic performance of the country. Finally the study uses research material to examine the globalization success or failure in Belize as compared with its neighbors. The impact of telecommunications industry in the light of globalization is studied and researched extensively in the paper. Research Questions The following research questions are asked in this paper: 1. How has globalization affected the economic development of Belize? 2. How has globalization affected the welfare of its people? 3. How has globalization affected the success of the dominant telecommunications company BTL? Content and Analysis. This chapter looks at the results of the research conducted. It is divided into three parts which answer the three research questions. Globalization and economic development of Belize Success of globalization Globalization has assisted Belize in opening up its financial markets because of the levels of social spending. The economy has become more open because of increased public expenditures. It also has launched a positive effect on the interaction of democracy and globalization on the size of total revenue. Globalization does not depress social expenditures. Belize has diversity in terms of the level of development and social protection. It has had dramatic impact on the economies and social policy of Belize as compared with industrial countries. Creating an export oriented model led to a significant lowering of tariffs from an average of forty nine percent in the mid 1980s to eleven percent by the late 1990s (Jeffrey 69, 2006). Controls on capital markets have also been reduced which is still lower as compared with advanced industrial countries. The index of liberalization has increased in the country from sixty eight to seventy seven in the 1990s. The country however remains dependant on external capital flows because of the low savings rates. It also suffers from a high foreign debt which exposes the economy to market fluctuations. Pressure exerted by IMF and World Bank have called for pursuing neo liberal directions for the economy. Social expenditures dropped in the 1980s while they recovered in the 1990s. Social policy reforms have taken place that has reduced the general social insurance schemes. The private sector has played a prominent part in the provision of pensions and health care.

Employee Empowerment Essay

Employee empowerment is one of the management practices in today’s corporate business environment. It is a habit of allocating ideas, profit, recognition and control the costs with employees. According to the management theory of Kanter, mentioned by Rodriguez (2011) that by sharing power it will not only improve personal job satisfaction but also benefit the organization as a whole. The involvement and participation will allow them to gain greater job satisfaction and more committed to the organization’s goal (Lashley 2001). However, this management style also has some drawbacks like all leadership styles. One of the most important benefits of employee empowerment is the improvement in productivity in an organization. Employees who are empowered are more dedicated to the organization because of their active engagement. They are more responsible for the outcomes of their action, and better able to achieve job demands in an effective manner. In fact, commitment, accounta bility and the intention of fulfilling job demands are the qualities of an empowered employee (Kelleher, 2013). A satisfied employee will do their job successfully and also meet their personal target. Furthermore their responsible actions will make the success for the company and fulfil mutual commitment. That means by meeting personal targets the organisations economy is also boosted (Watson 2012). Engaged employees are dedicated to their job and have enthusiasm about their responsibility that means they love to do their duty. Another benefit is that empowered employee can have a great contribution to reduce the costs for an organization.For example, when employees have the authority to deal with customer complaints when they occur, and have the freedom to suggest a solution to the problem, that makes the employees self sufficient. This is efficient as it has less reliance on higher management approval (The Saylor foundation 2014). As a result, the organization encourages the employees to think creatively and critically which will allow them to communicate with their colleagues regarding the related problems and share innovative ideas, so it can cuts the cost of training and any overhead costs in some cases (Lashley 2001). For instance, a problem which can be easily solved by an empo wered employee could in other circumstances end up in court or compensation which could cost a lot of money for the company. The efficient use of resources by the employees can also reduce the cost. Even so, the work environment has a significant effect on how effective the employees can use the resources (Lashley 2001). The  three main desired aspects of work environment are, namely: undisturbed environment, easy accessibility and sufficient appropriate equipment to perform their job. For instance, comparing to construction work where people need protective uniforms for their job, in business there must have a computer network with Wi-Fi. These will make the employees independent and maximize the productivity of the company. The employees fell valuable and important, so there will be long-term employees who are loyal to the organization and this will reducing employee turnover costs (Owen.et.al.2014). However, the three main areas of concern regarding employee empowerment are as follow. Firstly, in a time of changing ownership or uncertain situation, it could make the decision making process lengthy (HE ATHFIELD 2014) because the rules and regulations can be different from previous as either the new management is coming or the condition is unstable where company might close down. Secondly, it could drive to disorder because the empowered employees have different solutions (HEATHFIELD 2014) for the same problem which may breach conduct according to the company policy. Thirdly, by empowering the employees the private information of the company become unprotected, this could damage the company if exposes because of the personal greed of the employees (HAMLIN 2014) while the information might be valuable to the competitors or it can create embarrassment. Though there are some disadvantages of employee empowerment, the increasing productivity and cost effectiveness can make this management style desirable for employees to work and mangers to control. Throughout the following paragraph the roles of mangers in past and present , will be discussed and how modern managers can apply these roles to find a possible solution for the problems faced by empowered environment. The role of the manager varies from company to company and time to time. However, the main responsib ilities are planning, organising, delegating, observing and evaluating (MURRAY 2014). In the past, the traditional style of management was disciplined and strictly following a chain of command. It was driven by the power of order(Gollakota,2014),but it has been developed over time.The modern managers support empowerment because it develops product and services more effectively, increases the satisfaction with colleagues, and overall it leads to create a unique place of work with advanced performance capabilities. SOURCE By applying these management skills modern managers can be able to make solutions for the  problems of employee empowerment.Fon instance, in a case where the ownership due to change and the situation is unstable,the modern managers can assure the employees about management support to recover the difficulties.Also,the managers should be able to make an adjustment(Liraz,2014) about the changes so that the employees are always up to date with the situation and sufficient training has been given to manage the situation with confidence. In an empowered environment where the solutions from employees varies from customers to customers, a modern manager can be mor e communicative about sharing the innovative thoughts and ideas by organizing frequent staff meetings with feedback.As a result, the employees are known from their colleagues about all the possible solutions to complains made by customers and also customers will have a choice. Also, there will not have any misunderstanding between the customers about the received solution from a company.Furthermore,though it seems impossible to protect a company’s secret information modern managers can use their initiatives with the help of technology.Such as, a special type of software called â€Å"content management† allows the employees to access the data according to the length of employment, to add on, DLP-Data Loss Prevention can be used for inspecting sensitive outgoing data in a company’s network (FORD 2011). Overall, due to the protection of data managers can closely monitor the activities of the empowered employees and also can make a law which will not allow to bring the personal technologies at work so it could ensure the safety of company’s secret information. There are different ways of developing the employees. For example, Managers have to be passionate about their job (SCHAPPEL 2013) because if they do not show any attention or spirit, they will not be able to motivate the employees to contribute to the targets. Also, managers should always have appreciation for the employees so the employees feel they are valuable to the company.HEATHFIELD (2014) states, as an employee they wish respect and favour to support their thinking. So managers should give recognition for an achievement, but if employees are likely to follow a wrong direction managers can resolve that with a positive attitude. Furthermore, HEATHFIELD(2014) says, managers could involve the employees in the decision making.For example, promotions of new product, or improvement meetings, which will make them feel more involved than in their usual job responsibility.Furthermore Schappel (2013) emphasised on how the  mangers can make the work place comfortable for the employees t o work .After allocating the task managers can observe the progress, also give guidance and support if needed. The managers can share the target and forecast with the employees. As they could have a better idea not only to support and share the target but also a possible solution for overcoming any difficulties that could occur. Moreover, by sharing thoughts they can make it achievable as a team (HEATHFIELD 2014) (SCHAPPEL 2013). To empower the employees is not an easy task because it needs a atmosphere of belief and cooperation from the management of a company ( Quast,2011).Also management should have the practice of welcoming any failure from the employees so that the lessons will help others in future development. Employee empowerment is considered to be the best way to keep customers satisfied, because the employees have the authority to take a possible solution for a situation and their main priority to keep the customer satisfied 11 (Quast,2011).Though this management style can be time consuming for some organizations because of the traditional frame of management and also the dependenc e on managers for every instruction,however, the creativity, teamwork,communication and innovative ideas from an empowered employee can help to achieve success and challenges from competitors. No referencein conclusion Reference list: 1.RODRIGUEZ, P,F. , 2011. Management Theory of Rosabeth Moss Kanter: Understanding Kanter’s Change model to benefit your company [online]. [viewed 21 April 2011]. Available from: http://www.business.com/management/management-theory-of-rosabeth-moss-kanter/ 2.LASHLEY,C.2004.Empowerment.Burlington.Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann 3.Kelleher.B.2013.Who’s sinking your boat? [Online video].[Viewed 24 Aug 2014]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4nwoZ02AJM 4 Watson.K.,2012.How Employee Engagement Can Boost Profits[online].[viewed 23 march 2012].Available from: http://www.yoursmallbusiness.co.uk/how-employee-engagement-can-boost-profits.html 5. THE SAYLOR FOUNDATION.,The Benefits Of Empowering Employees [online].Available from: http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/BUS208-5.2-The-Benefits-of-Empowering-Employees-FINAL.pdf 6 Owen E and Richason IV.2014. What Are the Benefits of Practicing Employee Involvement & Empowerment?[online]. Available from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-practicing-employee-involvement-empowerment-1842.html 7.Kristen Hamlin,2014.The Pro & Cons of Empowerment in an Organization.Available from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pro-cons-empowerment-organization-13397.html 8. MURRY,A.2014. What do Managers do? (The wall street journal)[online](Europe Edition)Available from: http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-do-managers-do/# 9. Gollakota.S.2014.Traditional Vs Mode rn Management – Matrix Organization [online].Available from: http://www.citehr.com/200930-traditional-vs-modern-management-matrix-organization.html 10. Liraz.M.2014. How To Develop A Strategic Plan.[Online].Available from: http://www.bizmove.com/general/m6c.htm 11.Ford,J.,2011.The Leaky Corporation.[Online].[Viewed 24th February].Available from: http://www.economist.com/node/18226961 12. Susan M. Heathfield(2014). Top 10 Principles of Employee Empowerment[online].Available from: http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/tp/empowerment.htm 13. SCHAPPEL.C.2013. 7 actions that create more effective managers.[Online].[Accessed 24 December 2013]. Available from: http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/12/24/7-actions-that-create-more-effective-managers/ 14.QUAST,L.2011. 6 Ways To Empower Others To Succeed. Online]. [Accessed:28 February 2011] .Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/02/28/6-ways-to-empower-others-to-succeed/ AUOBLC. 2012. Overview of Kanter’s Theory on Structural Empowerment [online]. Available from: http://structuralempowerment.weebly.com/kanters-theory.html FORD, J. 2011. The Leaky Corporation. [Online]. [Viewed 24th February]. Available from: http://www.economist.com/node/18226961 KELLEHER, B. 2013. Who’s sinking your boat? [Online video].[Viewed 24 Aug 2014]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4nwoZ02AJM LASHLEY, C . 2004. Empowerment.Burlington.Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann HEATHFIELD, S, M. 2014. Top 10 Principles of Employee Empowerment [online]. Available from: http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/tp/empowerment.htm

Employee Benefit and Google Essay

Google, Inc. was ranked by Fortune magazine as the best place in the U.S. to work in 2009, and it has reached another zenith by becoming the most popular Web site. Google, Inc.’s goal of providing benefits and rewards is to â€Å"strip away everything that gets in our employees’ way† (Google, 2009). Google, Inc. provides a standard package of fringe benefits, but on top of that are first-class dining facilities, gyms, laundry rooms, massage rooms, haircuts, carwashes, dry cleaning, commuting buses – just about anything a hardworking employee might want. Schmitt states, â€Å"Let’s face it: programmers want to program, they don’t want to do their laundry. So we make it easy for them to do both† (Google, 2009). Google believes in providing both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. They understand that many humans are not motivated by pay incentives alone. Google Inc. believes in administering rewards and that good company culture is vital to company success, therefore, Google hired a Culture Czar. Google, Inc.’s CCO, Chief Culture Czar, Stacy Sullivan, is devoted to one thing—make Googlers happy. One way of maintaining Google, Inc.’s culture and keeping employees happy is administering the best perks and rewards (Culture, 2009). Along with its compensation and traditional extrinsic benefits such as free health and dental benefits, flex spending accounts, 401K plans, insurance, tuition reimbursement, and vacation packages, they also have very unique benefits. These unique benefits include maternity benefits up to 18 weeks off at approximately 100% pay. In addition, new mothers and fathers get Take-Out Benefits to help make things easier. They are provided with expenses up to $500 for take-out meals during the first three months that they are home with their new baby. Additionally, Google, Inc. provides back-up child care and in the Gift Matching Program, Google, Inc. matches contributions of up to $3000 per year from eligible employees to non-profit organizations. With Adoption Assistance, Google, Inc. assists their employees by offering financial assistance in the adoption of a child. Google, Inc. will reimburse employees up to $5000 to use towards legal expenses. Free lunch and dinner from gourmet chefs create a wide variety of healthy and delicious meals every day. Got the munchies? Google, Inc. also offers snacks to help satisfy you in between meals. At Google headquarters in Mountain View, California employees have the convenience of seeing a doctor on-site. Google, Inc. is pleased to provide its Mountain View employees with free shuttles to several San Francisco, East Bay and South Bay locations. At Google headquarters in Mountain View, there is on-site oil change, car wash, dry cleaning, massage therapy, gym, hair stylist, fitness classes and bike repair. Google, Inc. will reimburse an employee for buying a hybrid car, up to $5000. Google, Inc. provides other benefits, too many to list, but one can assume that their full-time culture czar is not finished inventing new ways to reward employees (Google, 2009). More than the extrinsic rewards, people who choose to come to Google, Inc. come for other reasons besides just the outward perks and rewards. They come for freedom.

Organic memory transistor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organic memory transistor - Essay Example They (Fakher & Mabrooka, 2012) reported that the output characteristics for both the devices show perfect and good saturation area at low and high voltage; VDS respectively. They also found out that, in the control device, the mobility (Â µ), the threshold and the on/off rotation were 0.27cm2 V-1S-1, 16V and 4.1 X 104 respectively. However, in the organic memory floating gate; the mobility was found to be 0.04 cm2 V-1S-1, the threshold was between -23 and -47 volts while the on/off ratio was 2.3 X 103. For high mobility and increasing on/off ratio, the smooth surface, uniform and loose pin holes where the reverse proportionality of PMMA concentration which was above 15wt%, and can be a significant influence on the average grain region and average roughness of pentacene layer. They also stated that a clear trend was there to show that there was no hysteresis in the control transistor due to non charge storage element. In addition, they said that the gold floating gate of the organic memory transistor causes low mobility due to the gold nanoparticle affected to follow and carry charges from the first layer of PMMA through gold floating gate to the second layer of the PMMA in the insulator. ... That was when different pulses of OTMFTs were applied to the gate electrodes. This was evident in non-volatile state attitude for the organic thin film memory transistor device. Graphene oxide and floating gate: Other authors, including Tae-Wook Kim, Yan Gao, Orb Action, Hin-Lap, Hong Ma and others, also reported about the electrical characteristics of organic non-volatile memory transistors (ONVMTs) using chemically synthesized grapheme oxide (GO) as a charge trapping layer based on pentacene/PMMA/Grapheme oxide nanosheets/SiO2.GO (Kim, et al., 2010). the nanosheets were produced by modified Hammer’s process then deposited on top of SiO2 substrate using spin coating and hot plate (3000 rpm for 40s and 120C0 for 10 minutes), respectively. The drain/source contact was of gold and had a thickness of 50nm thick and a semiconductor layer of 50nm was deposited using thermal evaporation of pentacene. The GO nonosheets were located between PMMA and SiO2 layers of about 10nm of thickn ess. A clear trend, morphological properties of grapheme oxide such as rougher and coverage region were dependent on the concentration of its solution. The output and transfer characteristics of both the devices, namely; control (OFETs) device without grapheme nanosheets and (ONVMTs) device within GO nanosheets, have similar values of mobility ), threshold and on/off ration which were 0.16 cm2V-1S-1, 6.5V and 106 respectively. On the other hand, travelling electrons or hole from pentacene to GO nanosheets through PMMA layer resulted to hysteresis which was featured in the transfer characteristics of (ONVMT) device. However, there was no hysteresis in the control (OFET) due to the absence of the trap charge

Real World Example Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Real World Example - Coursework Example The primary goal of the show, as designed by the project manager, is not to profit off the products it endorses but to provide a really positive, light, and uplifting experience to the public. Thought the concept of the talk show was much appreciated and liked by the sponsoring team the first time it got introduced by the project manager, but many ambiguities and disagreements surfaced later on. Most of the disagreements were related to the point that the show was not going to sign a licensing agreement with retailers and hence, not going to profit off the products it was going to endorse. Though the project manager emphasized that this action was intended to be taken only for credibility purpose not to mention the distinguished element such an action would impart to the show, the main sponsor still held her opinion and continued the cold war. Later, the project manager finally tried talking sense into the sponsor by giving her example of the highly influential show called The Oprah Winfrey Show which had also adopted the principle of not having licensing agreements with retailers when various things were promoted. Mentioning this thing largely helped in cutting off most of the disagreements and the caravan went on finally. The major interesting aspect of the show which went right on the set was related to the way crude facts were meant to be brought before the public by the host. The project manager intended to do this in such a way that people would be ensured of viewing a vivid reality in every show so that they would stay tuned to the entire show with keen interest. Following the first few episodes of this talk show, the ratings continued getting higher. The secret behind the ratings which kept on increasing was undoubtedly the result of the many tedious efforts taken by the project manager and the confidence he showed in the entire team along with the smartness he took the sponsoring team in confidence. The fact that mostly such subjects were brought on

Organizational Change and Development in FMC Green River Essay

Organizational Change and Development in FMC Green River - Essay Example In that case, organizational change must be planned, monitored and controlled throughout its lifecycle, with completion occurring on full implementation and evaluation. Organizational change decisions are often complex, multi-faceted, and involve many different stakeholders with different priorities or objectives. Most people, when confronted with such a problem will attempt to use intuitive approaches to simplify complexity until the problem seems more manageable. In the process, important information may be lost, opposing points of view may be discarded, elements of uncertainty may be ignored -- in short, there are many reasons to expect that, on their own, individuals (either lay or expert) will often experience difficulty making informed, thoughtful choices about complex issues involving uncertainties and value tradeoffs. This fact and the tendency of change issues to involve shared resources and broad constituencies means that group decision processes are called for. These may have some advantages over individual processes: more perspectives may be put forward for consideration, the chances of having natural systematic thinkers involved are hig her, and groups may be able to rely upon the more deliberative, well-informed members. However, groups are also susceptible to the tendency to establish entrenched positions (defeating compromise initiatives) or to prematurely adopt a common perspective that excludes contrary information – a tendency termed â€Å"group think.† (McDaniel’s et al., 1999). For change management projects, decision makers may currently receive four types of technical input: modelling/monitoring, risk analysis, cost or cost-benefit analysis, and stakeholders’ preferences. However, current decision processes in Green River typically offer little guidance on how to integrate or judge the relative importance of information from each source. Also, information comes in different forms. While  modelling and monitoring results are usually presented as quantitative estimates, risk assessment and cost-benefit analyses incorporate a higher degree of qualitative judgment by the project team.  

J&J Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

J&J - Assignment Example Also they cannot mention about the risk of death on the warning label because people with suicidal tendencies may start using it. The drug earns yearly revenue of $1.3 billion so it is not possible to completely shut down its production. In order to solve the quandary, the J&J Company should make it sure that the public is well aware of the risks associated with the medicine. Instead of advising only about using it on the prescription of a doctor, it should state clearly about the potential hazards it poses to specific organs. The Company should also restrict its use as an over-the-counter drug and should only allow it to be given by a qualified doctor. This would ensure that the people do not overuse the drug. Clearly, it would reduce their sales by a large margin but it would save a lot of money it loses in legal proceedings. Also millions of lives would be saved and the company would regain its good reputation which has been tainted by various incidents of deaths. Works Cited East on, Thomas and Stephen Herrera. J&J's Dirty Little Secret. Forbes, 1998. Print.

Managing Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Managing Resources - Essay Example However strategy exists in all organizations even though it may not be written down and articulated. It defines the organization’s behavior and how it tries to cope with its environment.† In this regard, the essay is written to address three-fold objectives, to wit: (1) to present an analysis of the case, Doman Synthetic Fibres plc (B); (2) to summarize two articles from academic and scholarly journals on the topic, managing resources; and (3) to link the case with the two articles on relevant and critical perspectives. As averred by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008, 13-2), â€Å"resourcing strategies are concerned with the two-way relationship between overall business strategies and strategies in separate resource areas such as people, information, finance, and technology†. The case would hereby highlight options for managing resources in terms of deciding whether what to do with the present product, Britlene, whose patent is about to expire and with a new product, Crylon, with potentials to replace it. Doman Synthetic Fiber (DSF) was founded by Wilfred Doman in 1946 as a chemical/synthetic fiber manufacturing company. Its main product, Britlene, was used primarily in the manufacture of heavy-duty clothing and accounts for 95% of total sales in 2006. The patent protection for Britlene was about to expire in 2008. As a foresight, the research and development department of DSF designed a new product in 2005, Crylon, with the same properties as Britlene but with more heat-resistant capabilities. The current Managing Director, Wendy Doman, is faced with the dilemma of deciding whether what to do with the present product, Britlene, whose patent is about to expire and with a new product, Crylon, with potentials to replace it. In a working party meeting in 2007, several personnel of DSF presented alternative courses of action which the company could consider with regard to the Crylon case, to wit:

Information and Communication Technologies Research Paper

Information and Communication Technologies - Research Paper Example Over time customers have become more and more demanding when it comes to quality of food and of fine dining (Gundersen, Heide, & Olsson, 1996). Hoteliers have admitted that there is an increase in competition when it comes to restaurants and the quality of food being provided to the customer. One of the reasons of the increase in competition is the creation of new concepts. Moreover exposure given to chefs and cooking experts by media has significantly raised the expectations of customers (Boone, 2008). Furthermore food served at restaurants in a hotel tends to act as a factor in determining a hotel’s position in the market (Boone, 2008). A guest at a hotel tends to judge the hotel based on the dining experience that he or she has (Gundersen, Heide, & Olsson, 1996). Business objectives and strategies: The business objectives of the restaurant can be divided into two main categories increase revenue generated and cut down unnecessary expenditures of the restaurant. ... The second approach is based on arranging a celebrity night at the restaurant that would help attract a number of customers to the restaurants (Fine, 2010). Contacting celebrities would depend upon the restaurant owner’s PR and his or her network (Fine, 2010). The third approach would be marketing about the restaurant via the internet (Bailey, 2011). Online advertising would be the main tool used for promoting the restaurant over the internet (Janoschka, 2003). Through online marketing the management of the restaurant would be able to get its message across to a large number of potential customers (Janoschka, 2003). Online advertising makes use of social media websites, mobile advertising and display advertising (Janoschka, 2003). To help increase the profit margin a price vibration model would be implemented at the restaurant. The model is based on two basic activities. The first activity is to increase the prices on the menu when the traffic within the restaurant is at its h ighest peak, which is during lunch and dinner time (Schmidgall, Hayes, & Ninemeier, 2002). The second activity is regarding the improvement of the menu. The menu can be improved by removing all those items that are least favorites of the customers. By removing such items from the menu the restaurant would be able to reduce the cost of production and hence helping it increase its overall profit margin. Removing an item from the menu must only be done after a careful analysis (Schmidgall, Hayes, & Ninemeier, 2002). To achieve the third objective of the restaurant, that is to gain customer loyalty, various promotions and rewards would be offered to customers

Mercer Mayer Essay Example for Free

Mercer Mayer Essay Mercer Mayer was born in 1943, and has been writing and illustrating children’s books for almost forty years. As a child Mayor moved all the country with his family, because his father was in the Navy. I believe that this was an influential factor in determining his success. His pictures are drawn without signifying any particular region, which helps children to create an emotional attachment to the story. Mayor’s family settled down in Hawaii when he was a thirteen years old. He had attended the Honolulu Academy of the Arts for a year when he realized that he wanted to illustrate children’s books. He tells, I always liked to draw, and one day I decided I had nothing to lose, so I made a lot of sketches and began to peddle them. Mayer did this against the advice of his professors who believed that he didn’t have enough talent to succeed at it. In 1964, he moved to New York in an attempt to find work as an illustrator. While He received art training from the Arts Students League. After being turned down countless times, he was given advice from a harsh art director, insisting that he throw away his entire portfolio, because it was so terrible. As difficult as this was for Mayer to hear, he eventually took the man’s advice. With an empty portfolio, Mayer began to draw things that he remembered from his childhood, and shortly after he was chosen to illustrate his first book. Mayer’s first solo book was published, in 1967, and it was well-received by critics. It was a wordless book called A Boy, a Dog, and His Frog, and it was the first in a series of five. Mayer is given credit as being one of the creators of the wordless picture book. He continued for a while as an illustrator only, and completed the illustrations for almost 80 books. It was later on when he felt comfortable enough to add his own text to the drawings. One aspect of his style of illustrating is that he always includes humorous objects in the background of his pictures. My favorite example of this is Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. The Little Critter books have many characters that are present in the background of the story but never mentioned in the text (such as the frog, mouse, and the spider). Frogs actually appear in many of his books, from his wordless series to the Little Critter books. The lines he uses to draw his nature scenes are usually nongeometric curves that convey a harmonious and lifelike feeling. His work has also been recognized for the detailed texture it displays. In Shibumi and the Kitemaker, his use of value to draw extravagant backgrounds and faces that practically glow allows the pictures to seem realistic and three dimensional. In 1973, Mayer and his wife Marianne bought a farm in Connecticut. On the farm they were surrounded by many animals and nature, which significantly influenced his work. All of Mayer’s books feature some part of the outdoors and nature in them. His illustrations routinely feature large trees that are drawn in great detail. All of the characters in his Little Critter series are animals and the main character lives outside the big city in a wooded area. Mayer began publishing with Golden Press after his first divorce, with Marianne, in 1978. With Golden Press he started the Little Critter and the Little Monster series. Children are able to create powerful links between themselves and his books because of all of the familiar situations he writes about, like going to bed (Just Go to Bed), overcoming your fears (There are Monsters Everywhere), or dealing with the frustration of constantly being told what to do and what not to do (When I Get Bigger and I Was So Mad). Mayer married his second wife, Jo, in 1979, and they had two children together. Mayer started working from his home in Bridgewater, Connecticut, surrounded by his two young children. This situation was most likely brought about another major theme in his works, family. Some particular titles in the Little Critter series where he has adventures with only one of his family members are: Just Me and My Dad, Just Grandma and Me, Just Me and My Mom, Just Grandpa and Me, The New Baby, and Just Me and My Cousin. In the other books, Critter usually relies on his family members to help him do things like bake a cake for his teacher (The Best Teacher Ever) or help doing his science fair poster (Just a School Project). Mercer Mayer’s main characters are usually independent, strong willed, and a bit on the rebellious/wild side. His characters aren’t afraid to take action and overcome obstacles in order to do what they know is the right. In The Queen Who Loved to Dance, after the King made it illegal to sing and dance, the Queen had to stop doing those things she enjoyed the most because even a queen must obey the law. In Shibumi and the kitemaker, Princess Shibumi knew that she must give up the comfortable life she led in the palace in order to help the poor people of her city. In There’s a Nightmare in My Closet, the main character is a boy who is absolutely terrified of what might be lurking behind the closet door. One night he decides that it is time to face his nemesis. In full armor and weapon in hand, the boy attacks his monster and makes the poor thing cry. Even though the boy is mad, he understands what it is like to be afraid and decides to let the monster sleep in his bed with him. Mayer received the National Book Festival Artist of the Year award in 2007. Contrary to what his professors thought, Mayer’s illustrations are very popular with all audiences. Mayer currently lives in Roxbury, Connecticut with his third wife Gina, with whom he co-writes many of the popular Little Critter books. He continues to draw inspiration from his grandchildren, who as he says, â€Å"Always remind me what it was like. † I am a big fan of Mercer Mayer’s writing and illustrations. However, the display of gender stereotyping is definitely an unfortunate part of the content in many of Mayer’s picture books. In Mayer’s Little Critter series the mom is almost always shown in the kitchen, doing laundry, or cleaning the house, whereas his dad is rarely depicted in the house. My favorite book of Mayer’s is Just a Mess, because my room is always a disaster. I remember one particular occasion when I was frantically searching for my softball cleats before a Little League game and couldn’t find them anywhere. I have always struggled with what goes along with growing up like being neat and organized, sleeping without the closet light on, going to bed at a decent hour, not juggling eggs, and other un-fun stuff. My favorite quote of Mayer’s is â€Å"It’s real fun to be an old kid. †

Modern Portfolio Theory and Capital Asset Pricing Model

Modern Portfolio Theory and Capital Asset Pricing Model Introduction The Capital Asset Pricing Model developed by William Sharpe has significant similarities with Harry Markowitz’s Portfolio theory. In fact, the later is rightly considered as the next logical step from the latter, with both based on similar foundations. There are also differences in how each model/theory is calculated, pertaining to risk considerations. This paper’s main objective is to identify these differences while highlighting the similarities as well to put things into perspective. The report will open with an overview of Markowitz’s portfolio theory and explain it further by means of describing the efficient frontier, the Capital Market Line, risk free asset and the Market Portfolio. The report will then switch its attention to the Capital Asset Pricing Model and explain it further through the Security Market Line. The report will then close by outlining the differences between the two with a view of answering the main objective. What will come through in this report is that Markowitz’s portfolio theory uses standard deviation as its risk measure and takes into account all risk in an efficient portfolio, while the Capital Asset Pricing Model uses the beta co-efficient to measure risk and takes into account both efficient and non-efficient portfolios – further more it measures the risks of individual assets within the portfolio. Modern Portfolio Theory Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) was introduced by Harry Markowitz, way back in 1952. At a high level it proposes how rational investors use diversification to optimise their investment portfolios and give guidance on pricing risky assets. MPT assumes that investors are risk averse, i.e. given two assets A and B offering the same expected return, investors will opt for asset A if it is less risky. In effect, an investor who expects higher returns would need to accept more risk. The expected trade-off between risk and return depends on the individual’s level of risk aversion. The implication of this is a rational investor (a risk averse investor) will not invest in a portfolio if another one exists offering a better risk-return profile (Fabozzi Markowitz, 2002). For any given level of risk, investors will opt for portfolios with higher expected returns instead of those with lower returns. Another assumption under MPT is that investors are only interested in the expected return and the volatility of an investment, as measured by the mean and standard deviation respectively. Investors do not consider any other characteristics, for example, charges. In effect, based on the assumptions above, investors are concerned about efficient portfolios. To explain portfolio theory further, let us consider the formula for the expected return and risk of a portfolio under MPT. Suppose two assets A and B formed a portfolio in proportion (X) each, the expected return for that portfolio would be: R(p) = X(a)R(a) + X(b)R(b), where: R(p) = expected returns from portfolio R(a) = expected returns from asset A R(b) = expected returns from asset B The standard deviation or risk of that portfolio would be: SD(p) = √(XÂ ²aSDÂ ²a + XÂ ²bSDÂ ²b + 2XaXbRSDaSDb), where: SD(p) = standard deviation of expected returns of portfolio SDa = standard deviation of expected returns of asset A SDb = standard deviation of expected returns of asset B R = correlation coefficient between the expected returns of the two assets The efficient frontier Under MPT, Markowitz examined the efficient frontier curve. The efficient frontier curve gives a graphic presentation of a set of portfolios that offer the maximum rate of return for any given level of risk (McLaney, 2006). According to Markowitz, an efficient investor will opt for an optimum portfolio along the curve, based on their level of risk aversion and their perception of the risk and return relationship (Fabozzi Markowitz, 2002). Figure 1: Efficient Frontier Source: www.riskglossary.com The curve in the diagram above illustrates the efficient frontier. Portfolios on the curve are efficient – i.e. they offer maximum expected returns for any given level of risk and minimum risk for any given level of expected returns. The shaded region represents the acceptable level of investments when risk is compared against returns. For every point on the shaded region, there will be at least one portfolio that can be constructed and has a risk and return corresponding to that point (www.riskglossary.com) As aforementioned, each portfolio on the efficient frontier curve will have a higher rate of return for the same or lower level of risk or lower risk for an equal or better rate of return when compared with portfolios not on the frontier. It is important to note that the efficient frontier is really made up of portfolios rather than individual assets. This is because portfolios could be diversified, i.e. investors can hold assets which are imperfectly correlated (Fabozzi Markowitz, 2002). This will help to ensure that investors can reduce their risks associated with individual asses by holding other assets – a kind of set-off. The Capital Market Line The Capital Market Line (CML) is a set of risk return combinations that are available by combining the market portfolio with risk free borrowing and lending (www.lse.co.uk/financeglossary). The CML defines the relationship between risk and return for efficient portfolios of risky securities. It specifies the efficient set of portfolios can investor can obtain by combining the portfolio (which contains risk) with a risk free asset. The formula for CML is: E (r_c) = r(f) + SD(c)*[E(r_m)-r(f)]/SD(m) Where: E(r_c) = expected return on portfolio c R(f) = risk free rate SD(c ) = standard deviation of portfolio c E (r_m) = expected return on market portfolio SD(m) = standard deviation of market return The CML indicates that the expected return of an efficient portfolio is equal to the risk-free rate plus a risk premium. Both risk and return increase in a linearly along the CML. Figure 2: Capital Market Line Source: www.riskglossary.com In Figure 2 above, the CML is the line touching the efficient frontier curve. It passes through the risk free rate (assumed to be 5%). The point where the CML forms a tangent with the efficient frontier curve is the point called the super-efficient portfolio. The Risk free asset, Sharpe ratio and the Market Portfolio The risk free asset pays a risk free rate and has a zero variance in returns, e.g. government short-term securities. When combined with a portfolio of assets the change in return and risk is linear. The Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the additional return to be obtained about a risk free rate for a given portfolio compared with its corresponding risk. On the efficient frontier the portfolio with the highest Sharpe Ratio is known as the market portfolio. The CML is the result of a comparison between the market portfolio and the risk free asset. The CML surpasses the efficient frontier with the exception of the point of tangency. The Capital Asset Pricing Model While the CML focuses on the risk and return relationship for efficient portfolios, it would be useful to consider the relationship between expected return and risk for individual assets or securities. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) would be used for this. CAPM is an extension of Markowitz’s Portfolio Theory or MPT. It introduces the notions of systematic and specific risks. Let us define each: Systematic risk – this is the risk associated with holding the market portfolio of assets Individual assets are affected by market movements Specific risk – this risk is unique to an individual asset and represents that portion of an asset’s return which has no correlation with market movements. CAPM assumes the following (McLaney, 2006, 199): Investors are risk averse and maximise expected utility of wealth The capital market is not dominated by any individual investors Investors are interested in only two features of a security, its expected returns and its variance or standard deviation There exists a risk free rate at which all investors may borrow or lend without limit at the same rate There is an absence of dealing charges, taxes and other imperfections All investors have identical perceptions of each security This lends credence to the assertion that CAPM follows a natural progression from MPT. The assumptions are identical with the main difference being how risks are categorised and treated. This will be explored in detail in a later section. Under CAPM, the market place will compensate an investor for taking a systematic risk but not a specific risk. The rationale for this is that specific risks can be avoided or minimised through diversification. The formula for CAPM is as follows: r = Rf + Beta x (RM-RF), where: r = expected return on an asset Rf = rate of risk free investment RM = return rate of the appropriate asset class Beta is the relative risk contribution of an individual security to the overall market portfolio. It measures the security risk relative to the market portfolio and ignores the specific risk. The beta equation is as follows: Cov (i,M)/(SDm)Â ², where: Cov (i,M) = covariance between market portfolio and security i (SDm)Â ² = variance of the market’s return The betas for all assets are measured in relation to the market portfolio beta which is 1. In effect, if individual beta is greater than 1, then individual asset has a higher risk than the market risk. If individual beta equals 1, then individual asset risk and market risk are the same. If individual beta is less than 1, then the risk of that individual asset is less than the market risk. The value of beta provides an idea of the level or size of the change in an asset’s return when a corresponding change in the returns of an overall portfolio is experienced (McLaney, 2006). Beta has come under criticism from academics and investors who do not appreciate the value of beta as an appropriate risk measure. However, this is somewhat challenged by actual performance of the betas of portfolios and mutual funds. These are regarded as stable and can be used to predict future betas. Security Market Line CAPM can be applied by using the Security Market Line (SML). SML is a graphical representation showing the linear relationship between systematic risk and expected rates of return for individual assets. In the case of the SML, risk is measured by beta. It plots the expected returns on the y axis and the risk as denoted by beta on the x axis. In other words, the SML expresses the linear relationship between the expected returns on a risky asset and its covariance with market returns. Its formula is: Figure 3: CAPM and SML The line in the diagram above is the SML. Differences relating to MPT (CML) and CAPM (SML) To explain the differences, it is useful to consider the relationships between risk and return in the perspective of CML and SML. CML compares the relationship from an MPT perspective, while SML does from a CAPM perspective. The main difference pertaining to MPT’s relationship with CAPM is pertaining to risk. Under Portfolio theory, CML gives an indication of expected returns in comparison with risk. Here the risk is measured in terms of standard deviation of returns. The rationale for this is CML represents the trade-off for efficient portfolios, i.e. the risk is all systematic risk (McLaney, 2006). The SML on the other hand, indicates the risk/return trade-off, using beta as the measure of risk. In this case, only the systematic risk element of the individual asset is taken into consideration. The reason why CML shows no individual security’s risk profile is because all individual securities have an element of specific risk, implying that they are inefficient. CML only looks at efficient portfolios. The table below summarises the main differences between CML and SML Table 1: Tabular difference between CML and SML Summary As has been shown above, CAPM has been developed along the lines of Markowitz’s Portfolio theory. They both use expected returns and risk as the investor’s main determinant of their investment decisions. They both assume that investors are risk averse and do not consider anything else other than risk and returns. However, there are some subtle differences which will now be summarised below: Under Portfolio theory, the CML measures risk by standard deviation or total risk. The SML measures risk by beta or systematic risk under CAPM – it ignores specific risks The CML graph is interested in providing information on efficient portfolios only. The SML graph on the other hand provides insight into both efficient and non-efficient portfolio and securities REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Bodie, et al (2006) ‘Investments’ (7th edition), McGraw-Hill/Irwin, London Elton, E et al (2003) ‘Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis’, Wiley, London Fabozzi, F. Markowitz, H. (2002) ‘Theory and Practice of Investment Management’, Wiley, London McLaney, E. (2006) ‘Business Finance – Theory and Practice’ (7th edition), Prentice Hall, London O’neill, W.J. (2002) ‘How to Make Money in Stocks’, (3rd edition), McGraw-Hill, London Internet Sources www.lse.co.uk www.riskglossary.com www.wikipedia.com