New Century Financial Corporation Essay

Summary: the mortgage mess happened in 2008 when there was a decreased homing price. However, their mortgage payment by homeowners were soon greater than the price of house. As a result, they forced the repurchase policy of many mortgage agreements, and let the subprime lenders to take over their houses. Subprime lender like New Century became the bankrupt because of the high lost associate with the mortgage cancelation. To maintain earning, the management modify the estimate of its reserve. However, KPGM, the auditor of the New Century is question of their work. KPMG lost its independence due to its afraid of lost business. 1.The advantages include better understanding of the industry, lower cost because of the reduced amount of work on evaluate the industry, gain great profit when the industry is going up, and early recognition of the industry trend because of the shared information from different companies. The disadvantages include risk of loss profit when the industry go down, create a mind set of doing audit that can be bias, 2.They need to ensure the information gathered by the prior team is properly communicated and understand by the take over team. As a result, it results in the saving of the time and effort of the take over team to spend. It also gave the new team a different point of view as well as better understanding of the company. on the other hand, they also need to ensure the work quality of the taker over team will not be reduced. 3.Significant deficiency: A significant deficiency is â€Å"a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects the entity’s ability to initiate, authorize, record, process, or report financial data reliably in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles such that there is more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the entity’s financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected.† Material weakness: A material weakness is â€Å"a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented or detected.† SAS 112 requires the auditor to communicate control deficiencies that are significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control. Significant deficiencies or material weaknesses must be communicated in writing to management and those in charge of governance–for example, to the audit committee of the board–no later than 60 days following the report release date. Unqualified Opinion can be issued when internal control over financial reporting is effective: no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting exist as of the fiscal year-end assessment date. 4.The procedures to audit important â€Å"accounting estimates† include :considering the relevance, reliability, and sufficiency of the data and factors used by management, evaluating the reasonableness and consistency of the assumptions, and re-performing the calculations made by management. 5.The GAAS require an auditor to exercise due professional care, to adequately plan its audit, to sufficiently understand a business’s internal structure, and to obtain sufficient evidence to reach reasonable conclusions. KPMG allegedly failed to adhere to the GAAS by having an inexperienced audit team,; failed to challenge New Century management for unreasonable estimates; failed to test the repurchase reserve despite evidence of internal control weaknesses and apparently inaccurate estimates of outstanding repurchase requests; and failed to raise deficiencies and inaccuracies in New Century’s accounting practices or internal controls. 6. Although the investors are complaining that they should be liable for the lost because they did not actively participate in the mortgage market. It is true that they did nothing wrong, but they need to identify this risk when they invest. Investor does not have enough information about the market trend that should be provided. As a result, they invest the money base on the outdated information. There is no way for them to identify the threat of their investment. 7.1) auditor need to maintain independence from their work, lose of independence can lead to a bias conclusion, which cannot be trusted upon. KPMG’s afraid to lost New Century as a client lead them to issue a report in favor of the management. 2) do not employ inexperience auditor, especially when the company is in its hard time. Inexperience auditor will cause mistake of their work. Company in hard time have a incentive to make fraudulent statement, and inexperience auditor are not able to detect them. 3) be aware when the company going down. The management may try to management the earning in order to meet estimates.

Can schools effectively improve students’ self-regulatory skills? Essay

INTRODUCTION Overview of the Study Self-regulation is the key mediator between genetic predisposition, early experience, and adult functioning. This paper argues that all the key mechanisms underpinning the enduring effects of early relationship experiences interface with individuals’ capacity to control (a) their reaction to stress, (b) their capacity to maintain focused attention, and (c) their capacity to interpret mental states in themselves and others. These three mechanisms function together to assist the individual to work closely and collaboratively with others. If self-regulation can be influenced by experience at young age, then there is a window of opportunity in early childhood to strengthen skills that will be important for multiple domains of competence. Purpose: In this study we will look at the origins of self regulation in early childhood when many of the tools for good adaptation are shaped by interactions between children and their environments. We will examine (through qualitative research) how a specific school program can provide the infrastructure for building efficient self-regulatory skills in children. The program being studied is called Youth Empowerment and is run by a Art of Living, a non-profit educational organization, that provides stress management techniques to increase learning abilities as well as self regulatory coping skills for academic achievement and daily living. Here it will be analyzed how self-regulation is enhanced in children before and after participating in the Art of Living programs to see what impact the course has. At the same time we will study self-regulation of a similar group of children, not participating in the course, for comparison as our control group.   Background of the Study The work on self-regulation as a whole strongly suggests that these skills are extremely important for the development of competence. They begin to emerge in early childhood, and are shaped by a child’s experience as well as his or her disposition. A cranky baby may elicit different care from a parent, and a parent’s behavior may increase or decrease an infant’s proneness to distress, such that both parties influence the quality of their relationship. Their relationships in turn can then help or hinder the development of self-regulation. (Ann S. Masten, J. Douglas Coatsworth.,1998). For example, children with insensitive, unresponsive care givers do not have these emotionally supportive experiences. They may repeatedly become overwhelmed by their emotions since at early ages self-regulatory abilities are limited. Difficulties with emotional self-control may be contributing to the non-compliant, impulsive, aggressive and/or regressive behaviors we see in some children in early childhood settings. (Sharne Rolfe, 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This may be one example of how the brain is shaped by experience in these early years. Moreover, if self-regulation can be influenced by experience, then there is a window of opportunity in early childhood to strengthen skills that will be important for multiple domains of competence. Children who have trouble directing their attention or controlling their impulses may not do well on IQ tests or in the classroom or may not learn to comply with rules as readily or get along well with peers. Hence, self regulation may be a factor in predict not only academic achievement but other aspects of competence as well, such as rule-abiding behavior. For example, the findings of a recent study (A. Fabes, Nancy Eisenberg., 1992), supported the conclusion that socially competent and popular children coped with anger in ways that were relatively direct and active and in ways that minimized further conflict and damage to social relationships. The ability to make a successful transition to and through college is one of the most important challenges faced by adolescents and young adults. Researchers have clearly demonstrated the significance of self-regulation skills in such academic contexts. Collectively, they paint the self-regulating learner as someone who is meta-cognitively sophisticated. Someone who can assess the requirements of the learning task at hand, and who can identify and deploy the appropriate learning strategies; the self-regulating learner is someone who is able to make appropriate attributions for success and failure, and who readily accepts responsibility for his or her own learning (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990). However, while studies have begun to specify how features of students’ immediate learning environments affect the development and use of self-regulation skills, relatively little attention has bee n paid to the role of the family context in fostering or impeding the development of these skills. Studies that have addressed this topic for elementary school age children have found that parental support for autonomy is positively related to children’s self-reports of autonomous self-regulation (Grolnick & Ryan, 1989), and that these parenting practices are predictive of children’s adoption of an intrinsic academic achievement motivational orientation (Ginsburg & Bronstein, 1993). Past methodologies have not â€Å"scored† well with the academic demands placed upon students, as demonstrated by New York City’s 50% four-year graduation rate. In the past educators and social workers have attempted to change the student’s external stress factors to increase their academic performance, (e.i. federally funded school lunch programs, school social workers and psychologists). Although all of these programs serve to alleviate a student’s risk level for failure, it is the student’s perception and reaction to his environment, his coping skills, which determine the impact stress factors will have upon his performance.The Art of Living Youth Programs provides skills to improve these factors through stress management, human values, and service. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE According to recent experiments in public schools in   New York City, the Art of Living Youth Programs provides such-self-regulatory skills to improve these factors through its multi-pronged approach to effectively eliminate stress, violence, aggression, and lack of academic interest in today’s youth . One   key approach is the stress management technique called Sudarshan Kria Yoga ( SKY). SKY (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga) stress management practices use breathing techniques to lower the stress level in students and enable them to increase their learning abilities as well as coping skills for academic achievement and daily living. How SKY practices may help to create the ideal mental state for learning is currently being studied. In a recent analysis of SKY techniques, Dr. Richard P Brown, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry for Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Patricia L Gerbarg, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at New York Medical College have proposed a neurophysiological model to explain how yoga breathing stress management techniques may impact the nervous system. They state, †Although the scientific exploration of   SKY by Western medicine is in its infancy, these breathing techniques have the potential to relieve anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and many stress-related medical illnesses. In addition, they may provide new approaches to the treatment of behavioral disorders of children, attention deficit disorder, violence, alcoholism, and the rehabilitation of prisoners.† After undergoing the program, children demonstrate enhancement of creative skills, improved memory and concentration, development of leadership qualities and healthy emotions, clarity of mind as well as improved interaction with their peers. (Art of Loving, 2007) Indeed, recent research supports such findings. In a study on the said subject (Nagendra, et al, 1989), it was noted within a group of mentally challenged children that there was a highly significant improvement in the IQ and social adaptation parameters in the yoga group as compared to the control group. One can only deduce that meditation not only creates a shift to happier, more positive attitudes in students, but also increases critical learning skills. In summary, current research on children’s abilities to regulate emotions and social interactions shows that children who enter school with significant problems in self-regulation, or who have impaired learning abilities have a substantial disadvantage for meeting the developmental tasks of middle childhood. Intervening early to encourage self-regulation may be an important strategy for future interventions, although we need to know more about these processes to inform such efforts. Hypotheses The hypothesis of the study is that children participating in the Art of Living Youth programs improve their self-regulatory skills.   Changes in self-regulatory skills will be estimated through questionnaires. If the hypothesis is indeed valid, it would strongly suggest the importance of the Art of Living program, not just to current well-being of the children, but also to their future balance and emotional stability. METHOD Procedure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The process of research to be utilized aims to prove the hypotheses noted above which states that children participating in the Art of Living Youth programs improve their self-regulatory skills. Instrumentation Data is to be collected by questioning the students themselves as well as parents and teachers, both before they start the Art of Living course and after they have finished the program.   The questionnaire is going to be the same but taken at different time periods to record any improvements. The questionnaire is to be based on the â€Å"Self-Regulation Questionnaire† (SRQ) (Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999) but adjusted to fit the age group in question.  Ã‚   The original adjusted questionnaire is included in Appendix A.   Each question is to be answered on a scale from one to five depending on how much the subject agrees with the question statement.  Ã‚   Several studies show that the low SRQ scores are correlated with alcohol-related consequences, drug use, drinking after driving and tobacco smoking, all of which can be associated with low self-esteem.   (Brown, 1994) (Brown, Baumann, Smith & Etheridge 1997) The Sample [Respondents] The participants will be recruited from a New York based School participating in the Art of Living project.   The teachers of the relevant classes will explain the study to the parents and sign them up.   As the Art of Living courses are held annually it’s difficult to do repeated experiments, however the same questionnaire will be presented to a group of students not participating in the course at same time to see if there are any factors (seasonality, community sentiment etc) that are effecting self-regulation, not the Art of Living course. DATA PRESENTATION AND RESULTS All results will be processed in Excel and the hypothesis tested individually for the different groups: children themselves, parents and teachers.   We will collect data both for students participating in the Art of Living classes and from a control group that does not participate.  Ã‚   The hypothesis will be testing by analyzing if the difference in SRQ score is statistically significant for the participants of the Art of Living course from when they begin until the course is over.   The results will be compared to the control group to see how different the results are. DISCUSSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To present further explanation of the matter, the researcher aims to implement different issues that are related to the situation being discussed. With the utilization of the results presentation and the explanation that has been used to introduce the presentations, the proof that is needed to identify the practicality and the truth behind the hypotheses of the study shall be given clarity. Understandably, through the validation of the informations presented within the study, the idea of increasing self-regulation among young learners would become much acceptable for actual learning application among early-childhood learning institutions. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION To end the research, a six-point summary shall be used to present the major features of the study that is most implicative and influential to the society today with regards the issue of depression. Most likely, the conclusive statements that could best support this study would be much of that of the features of the study as to how it aims to face the issues of the matter in a more actual process. The concern of this study shall be fully introduced within the conclusion section as it aims to make an implication that depression among individuals could also be affected by the traditional culture that they were primarily brought up with.    REFERENCES    Fonagy, P., Target, M. (2002). Early Intervention and the Development of Self-Regulation. Psychoanal. Inq., 22:307-335. The Development of Competence in Favorable and Unfavorable Environments : Lessons from Research on Successful Children. Journal article by Ann S. Masten, J. Douglas Coatsworth; American Psychologist, Vol. 53, 1998. 16 pgs Sharne Rolfe (2005), Rethinking Attachment for Early Childhood Practice: Promoting Security, Autonomy and Resilience in Young Children, Allen &Unwin Richard A. Fabes, Nancy Eisenberg .Young Children’s coping with Interpersonal Anger. , Vol. 63, No. 1 (Feb., 1992), pp. 116-128 Family Context Variables And The Development of Self-Regulation In College Students Adolesence, Spring, 1998 by Amy A. Strage.      Pintrich, P., & DeGroot, E. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33-40. Pressley, M., & Ghatala, E. (1990). Self-regulated learning: Monitoring learning from context. Educational Psychology, 25, 19-33. Rohwer, W. D., Jr., & Thomas, J. (1989). The role of autonomous problem-solving activities in learning to program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 584-593. Schunk, D. (1989). Self-efficacy and cognitive skill learning. In C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education. Vol. 3: Goals and cognitions (pp. 13-44). San Diego: Academic Press. Thomas, J., & Rohwer, W. D., Jr. (1993). Proficient autonomous learning: Problems and prospects. In M. Rabinowitz (Ed.), Cognitive science: Foundations of instruction (pp. 1-32). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Weinstein, C. E., Zimmerman, B., & Palmer, D. (1988). Assessing learning strategies: The design and development of the LASSI. In C. E. Weinstein, E. T., Goetz, & P. A. Alexander (Eds.). Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction and evaluation (pp. 25-40). New York: Academic Press. Zimmerman, B. (1990). Student differences in self-regulated learning: Relating grade, sex, and giftedness to self-efficacy and strategy use. Journal of Educational psychology, 82, 51-59. Grolnick, W., & Ryan, R. (1989). Parent styles associated with children’s self-regulation and competence in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 143-154. Ginsburg, G., & Bronstein, P. (1993). Family factors related to children’s intrinsic/extrinsic motivational orientation and academic performance. Child Development, 64, 1461-1471. Art of living, 2007.http://www.artoflivingyouth.org/research.html. Uma, K., Nagendra, H. R., Nagarathna, R.,Vaidehi, S., & Seethalakshmi, R. (1989). The integrated approach of yoga: a therapeutic tool for mentally retarded children: a one year controlled study. Journal of Mental Deficiency,Research, 33, 415–421. Brown,J.M. ( 1994).Alcohol involvement and self-regulation in male alcoholics. Unpublished Dissertation,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Dissertation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.    Brown, J. M., Baumann, B. D., Smith, C. D., & Etheridge, S. L. (1997, July, 1997). Selfregulation,extroversion, and substance abuse among college students. Paper presented at the Research Society on Alcoholism, San Francisco, CA    Brown, J. M., Miller, W. R., & Lawendowski, L. A. (1999). The Self-Regulation Questionnaire. In L. VandeCreek & T. L. Jackson (Eds.), Innovations in clinical practice : A source book (Vol. 17, pp. 281-289). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.   Ray Doktor ( 1996) Attachment Theory, Neurobiology, and Psychopathology, from http://www.wholeminds.com/web/index.php?module=article&view=9   

Everyday Violence In Britain Between 1850 And 1950 Research Paper

Everyday Violence In Britain Between 1850 And 1950 - Research Paper Example Taking into consideration a period of 100 years observing and analyzing social patterns associated with violence in everyday Britain between 1850 and 1900, this research proposal aims at propositioning a research to the investigation. It is logical to argue that crime does not change over time.   The research, titled ‘Everyday Violence in Britain between 1850 and 1950’ aims at analyzing the role of society members such as men, women, children, families, as well as family friends in the instigation of violence in Britain between 1850 and 1950 (D’Cruze, & Crewe, 2014; Rowbotham, 2005).   The research is backed up by historical accounts in secondary sources such as journal articles as well as published books.   The choice of the topic considers a book of the same name as the topic in which the authors, Crewe and D’Cruze (2014) show how men and women equally contributed to violence with special features of feuds leading to escalated acts of violence.  T he research question for this study is â€Å"Is Britain’s 1850-1950’s Everyday Violence an Indication of Early British Acts of Crime? The research question is merited by the fact that violence in Britain did not always start as an attack but at times it started as acts of self-defense among other incidents (Frost, 2008).   However, based on the escalation-scale of recorded accounts, the research question helps in determining where the Briton drew the moral line to render violent attacks acts of crime or not.

Experience of descrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experience of descrimination - Essay Example Despite moving across the Atlantic Ocean, my religion is part of who I am. I will not change my faith just to please other people. When I was living in Saudi Arabia, I was part of the majority religion. Because of this, I never felt like other people looking down on me or treated me any different. When I moved to the United States, I stood out from the majority of the population firstly because of my ethnicity, but also because of my religion. Overall, I felt that the majority of the American people were welcoming to me. However, I occasionally got some glares from Americans who felt threatening by my presence in their country. I could not single out any ethnicity in particular because there was a wide range of people with different colors of skin that were hostile towards me. One of the standout memories of being discriminated against occurred not long after I arrived on American soil. In fact, it is one of the earliest memories of my life in America. One day, when I was still young , I became very sick. My parents were so worried about my health that they decided to take me to the local hospital. By this stage, we had already arrived to America. As such, my parents’ language ability was still a little suspect. They tried to use hand signals and gestures to get their point across. We arrived to the hospital at the peak time of traffic—somewhere around 4 to 5 p.m.

Why was the 14th century so disastrous Research Paper

Why was the 14th century so disastrous - Research Paper Example Even with its glory of production of gold and silver, during the 14th century, production reduced and the flourishing state was in a devastating state. Nevertheless, Europe was in the era of medieval industrial revolution. The mediaeval era can be referred to as the time of inventions, innovations in managing traditional means of production and economic growth. The mediaeval people referred to this period as the Great Pestilence or the Great Plague. There are three calamities that Europe suffered namely hunger, war and plague. The 14th Century was a period of anxiety, declined expectations and lost expectations. During the century, Europe experienced two great natural disasters; the little ice age and the Black Death. There were two ice age’s; the first one occurred from 1200 to1600 and the one from 1700 to 1800 (University of Wisconsin, uwgb.edu). During the first or mini ice age, the Baltic Sea froze to a level that had never been recorded or witnessed, while the Alpine glaciers developed. Combs points out that â€Å"crops failed due to cold temperatures and incessant rain† (168). The result of this was desperate and starved people, who went to the extent of eating one another to stay alive. It can be said that the situation in Europe was unstable. This is because the change in climate caused a lot of changes, especially in food production, as crops failed (Bray 59). During this period, warm and intense amount of cold and wet periods were experienced in Europe. Northern Europe lost much of its wheat and the highlands of Europe produced greatly reduced crops. The feudal system was under different forms of attacks. The famine had destabilized the land-tenure system and led to the increased movement of the peasantry. Banks closed down and others collapsed. War begun to devastate France and impoverish England, while the civil war was tearing Italy apart. The population had remained steady as the food decreased, hence leading to the classical

Opposing review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Opposing review - Essay Example With the turn of the generation, PES failed to make the next-gen jump while FIFA showed it was ready to up its game.† (FIFA 12 Vs PES 12) The opening paragraph which has been quoted above is itself very debatable, PES has been getting better with every single game but the writer fails to acknowledge the same. PES has also been improving with each game, why would the same game be bought over and over again by the fans is something the writer must answer. The article goes on to say that the last game brought out by Konami the makers of PES was very different from its other games but in all fairness there were quite a few similarities between the last one and the earlier editions but significant changes were surely made. To conclude it is very fair to say that the writer has failed to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the two games. A better analysis should have been written and the two games should have been better

ICE Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ICE Paper - Essay Example ty in Facebook continues to increase after the guarantee that Facebook is on the lookout for security lapses and always striving to enhance privacy controls. The fact that Facebook works with other security experts to ensure that its privacy controls are updated is proof that the company puts the privacy of its users in the forefront. In the article Our Commitment to the Facebook Community, Zuckerberg says, â€Å"We also work with regulators, advocates and experts to inform our privacy practices and policies† (Tow 1). Consequently, Facebook pursues new privacy monitoring standards as reviewed by the industry players. There are also agreements that Facebook participates in which create frameworks on how internet services company ought to approach security concerns in the U.S and other countries around the globe. It shows that Facebook recognizes the need to keep alert as the internet is prone to changes that may make privacy controls at one time outdated. There is a need to lia ise with other industry players and experts so as to identify the privacy loopholes and devise ways to handle them appropriate. In the end, the biggest beneficiaries are the users as their privacy concerns are taken care of. Facebook has the privacy concerns of its users every time. It conducts security and privacy access checks every day to enhance the experience of the users. Zuckerberg asserts, â€Å"We do privacy access checks literally tens of billions of times each day to ensure were enforcing that only the people you want see your content. These privacy principles are written very deeply into our code† (Tow 1). It is the concern of the user that the material he or she posts be only accessible to intended people. There emerge loopholes that hackers explore to access materials that users want to keep private. The privacy checks are meant to identify these loopholes and acts immediately to seal them. Facebook conducts the checks on a daily basis to handle any emerging problems as early as

Problem Identification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Problem Identification - Essay Example Shortage of health care professionals in hospitals is currently one of the greatest challenges for Hallways hospital management. Hallways hospital has been experiencing the challenge of shortage of nurses for a while now, and the implications seem to be affecting the organization severely. The main contributing factor towards the shortage of nurses in Hallways hospital has been the poor remuneration for the nurses. Despite having many tasks to perform in terms of providing services to patients, the nurses never get proper remuneration that is equal to the effort they put in their work. With the poor remuneration, a majority of students joining collages prefer to pursue other courses that they believe offer better pay than the health care sector . The shortage of health care professionals in the hospital occurs, despite the health care industry growing at the rate of 2.5% faster than other industries annually (Cowen and Moorhead, 2011). The shortage of health care professionals has had severe implications for the hospital. First, with the few numbers of nurses, there is the aspect of overworking the nurses, making them fatigued. This has in turn contributed to poor service delivery to patients, which has in turn affected the hospital’s reputation (Buerhaus, Straiger and Auerbach, 2009). Secondly, considering that, the shortage of nurses is a problem that cuts across the health care industry, acquiring of the nurses has become a very complicated issue. Acquisition of nurses requires that one is able to offer appropriate remuneration and better working environment with better incentives. Majority of health care professionals require continuous training in order to enable them enhance their skills and knowledge pertaining to the provision of better and most effective health care services (Huston, 2009). This requires that anyone employing the health care professionals provide

Retrenchment Strategy Essay Example for Free

Retrenchment Strategy Essay Since the beginning of the US financial crisis in 2007, regulators in the United States and Europe have been frustrated by the difficulty in identifying the risk exposures at the largest and most levered financial institutions. Yet, at the time, it was unclear how such data might have been used to make the financial system safer. This paper is an attempt to show simple ways in which this information can be used to understand how deleveraging scenarios could play out. To do so the authors develop and test a model to analyze financial sector stability under different configurations of leverage and risk exposure across banks. They then apply the model to the largest financial institutions in Europe, focusing on banks exposure to sovereign bonds and using the model to evaluate a number of policy proposals to reduce systemic risk. When analyzing the European banks in 2011, they show how a policy of targeted equity injections, if distributed appropriately across the most systemic banks, can significantly reduce systemic risk. The approach in this paper fits into, and contributes to, a growing literature on systemic risk. Key concepts include: * This model can simulate the outcome of various policies to reduce fire sale spillovers in the midst of a crisis. * Size caps, or forced mergers among the most exposed banks, do not reduce systemic risk very much. * However, modest equity injections, if distributed appropriately between the most systemic banks, can cut the vulnerability of the banking sector to deleveraging by more than half. * The model can be adapted to monitor vulnerability on a dynamic basis using factor exposures. About Faculty in this Article: Robin Greenwood is a Professor in the Finance unit at Harvard Business School. * Author Abstract When a bank experiences a negative shock to its equity, one way to return to target leverage is to sell assets. If asset sales occur at depressed prices, then one banks sales may impact other banks with common exposures, resulting in contagion. We propose a simple framework that accounts for how this effect adds up across the banking sector. Our framework explains how the distribution of bank leverage and risk exposures contributes to a form of systemic risk. We compute bank exposures to system-wide deleveraging, as well as the spillover of a single banks deleveraging onto other banks. We show how our model can be used to evaluate a variety of crisis interventions, such as mergers of good and bad banks and equity injections. We apply the framework to European banks vulnerable to sovereign risk in 2010 and 2011.

La Jument Lighthouse Essay Example for Free

La Jument Lighthouse Essay The name of this well known light house is La Jument. It is located in Brittany, France. The lighthouse is built on a rock about 300 meters from the coast of the island of Ushant in the middle of the ocean. Construction of this lighthouse began in 1904 but wasnt finished until 1911 due to the rough seas and weather conditions. The west coast of Northern France has always been known for its rough seas. This heavily trafficked sea line experiences severe weather during much of the year. This area has experienced many shipwrecks over the centuries. Including one accident, the wreck of the steam ship Drummond Castle in June, 1896, was responsible for the deaths of nearly 250 people. Between the years 1888 and 1904 thirty-one ships were wrecked there. The construction was paid for privately by a wealthy Frenchman who had almost lost his life in a shipwreck. La Jument first became famous through a series of pictures taken by Jean Guichard in 1989. To take these pictures Jean Guichard hired a helicopter to fly over the Iroise Sea during a very dangerous storm. The infamous pictures, also named La Jument, were taken on December 21,1989 of the lighthouse keeper Theodore Malgorn, who was trapped in the lighthouse during a dangerous storm with gale force winds and surge waves of 20-30 meters. The waves from this storm smashed through the windows of the lighthouse, tore the front door off, and flooded the inside of tower carrying all the furniture out with it. Theodore Malgorn was taking refuge in the lantern room awaiting a rescue helicopter when he went outside to see a helicopter hired to take pictures where he almost lost his life when a huge wave came crashing all around the lighthouse just barley escaping death saving his life in a matter of seconds. These series of pictures taken by Jean Guichard inspired many places to take the safety of lighthouse keepers more seriously. The improved technology and increased mechanization have now made lighthouse keepers unnecessary. Today in the U.S. all of our lighthouses are automated except for one in Boston, which was the first one built on our shores. Many lighthouses are no longer needed because of advancements in technology making traveling the coast more safe. Some lighthouses are now being turned over to the government or other organizations to keep them maintained for future generations to learn about their place in the history of our country.

Is International Adoption Justified In The Usa Social Work Essay

Is International Adoption Justified In The Usa Social Work Essay The reason I chose this subject was mainly because International adoption has played a major role in the news during the last few years. On the one hand, there are thousands of orphan children worldwide, mainly in poor countries. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for adoption in the U.S. and many people turn to international adoption because the supply of national children for adoption is lower than demand. In order to draw a conclusion I have made an extensively research. In particular, I made a thorough analysis for the current situation in the country, the types of adoption that exist and also some celebrities views and acts, since it is believed that celebrities have contributed to the popularity of international adoptions. Moreover, I have described the adoption system in the U.S.A., the main reasons people tend to adopt and why they turn to international adoption. Furthermore, I examined the consequences (positive and negative) of international adoption for the child, for the adoptive parents, for the birth parents and for the society in general. In the end I concluded that international adoption should be justified under certain circumstances. More specifically, I believe that it is better for a child to be adopted from a family in its own country. If this is not possible, someone should turn to international adoption, instead of leaving the child in an inadequate orphanage, where social care is non-existent. Of course, he/she should not overlook the negative impacts of international adoption and the implications it may have on the child, the original parents and the country of birth. Adoption is the act of establishing a person as parent to one who is not in fact or in law his child  [1]  . Adoption is so widely recognized that it can be characterized as an almost worldwide institution with historical roots traceable to antiquity.  [2]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nowadays, adoption can be either open or closed. Open adoption is a process in which the birthparents and the adoptive parents meet and exchange identifying information. The birthparents relinquish legal and basic childrearing rights to the adoptive parents. Both sets of parents retain the right to continuing contact and access to knowledge on behalf of the child  [3]  . On the contrary, closed adoption, the traditional closed system in adoption, seals all identifying information and bans any contact between children and their biological families.  [4]  However, during the last decades more and more countries have acknowledged the legal right of the adoptee to search for his/her original roots. There are also two types of adoption: national and international or intercountry adoption. National adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple adopts a child born in the same country. On the contrary, international adoption, is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple adopts a child from a different country through permanent legal means, and brings that child to the home country permanently. Through international adoption, the  legal transfer of parental rights from birth parent(s) to another parent(s) takes place. United States citizens started adopting war orphan children from other countries mainly after World War II. Recently, the number of families that adopt children from countries other than their own has increased considerably  [5]  . In U.S., in particular, families have adopted on average approximately 20,000 children from foreign nations each year  [6]  . And, not long ago, factors such as poverty and social changes resulted in the adoption of children from Latin America, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China.  [7]   Nowadays, international adoption has become a common practice and in some countries accounts for the majority of cases. International adoption can be conducted through both public and private agencies in each country. However, each country has passed different laws as regards international adoptions. In order to  ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interests of children, The Hague Conference on Private International Law developed the Convention of May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. This is known as the Hague Adoption Convention and it is an international treaty among over 75 nations around the world, including the United States  [8]  . Its aim is  to prevent the abduction, sale of, or traffic in children; it enables  intercountry adoption under certain circumstances and, recognises intercountry adoption as a means of offering the advantage of a permanent home to a child when a suitable family has not been found in the childs country of origin  [9]  . The aim of this study is to show whether international adoption in the United States is justified, examining the consequences on three levels: for the child, for the family, and for society in general. MAIN REASONS FOR INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION International adoption is gaining ground in our day and time. Couples and individuals tend to look for children to adopt from developing countries, such as China, Thailand, India and may more. There are a plurality of reasons that urge American people to resort to this course of action and are related to the changes effected to the social structure of society at large, the status of women, the financial situation and the changes effected in the mentality of the population. The social structure of the society and especially demographics in the United States has changed significantly. According to recent statistics  [10]  , the percentage of households headed by single parents is at about 9%, up from 5% in 1970. Out of 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006, 10.4 million were single-mother families and 2.5 million were single-father families. Some other highlights are as follows: Average household size in 2006 was 2.57 people, down from 3.14 in 1970. Slightly more than one in four households (26%) consisted of a person living alone in 2006, up from 17% in 1970. In 2006, 33% of males and 26% of females 15 and older had never married, compared to a respective 28% and 22% in 1970. In addition, contemporary society in the US faces fertility problems. According to recent data  [11]  , the level of childlessness among women 40 to 44 years old in June 2006 (20%) is twice as high as 30 years ago (10%). Moreover, 45% of the women in the principal childbearing ages of 15 to 44 years were childless. Financial pressures and the changes in the traditional stereotypical perceptions about the role of women in the society, force American people to consider marriage at a later age in their lives (40-44), after having established their careers and secured a steady income. In particular, women at this age or older do not want to risk a pregnancy, which may put the mothers life at risk or bear children with physical and/or mental diseases. This was not the case in previous decades, in which American people were very conservative with regards to accepting young, unmarried mothers in the society. The norm called for a well-built family around the patriarchal symbol, with the woman playing the role of the child-raising parent. Back then, unmarried women who got pregnant had no option other than having an illegal abortion to avoid the consequences of ostracism from the rest of the societal members. For those women who wanted to keep the child they were bearing, adoption away from home was the only choice once the child was born. Changes in social norms nowadays have made it possible for unmarried women in the United States and abroad to give birth to their children without the fear of facing all sorts of different sanctions, be it moral or psychological. This significant turn on behalf of the American society to higher tolerance levels has made possible the acceptance of unmarried mothers. Even more so, in the case of young girls giving birth, their parents are willing to adopt the new-born and thus support both psychologically and practically their young daughter. Tolerance to abortion has also been heightened and although illegal in many states, abortion is a safe resort -with the advancements in medicine- for many women who want to terminate their pregnancy at an early stage. This limits the number of children available for adoption nationally in the U.S. Added to the above is the fact that women who have a career feel that the nine months of pregnancy could interfere with their job, therefore, adoption would be a better option for them. They may not even want to take that much time out of work to have a baby. This trend is further supported by the fact that in the last decades women have become more financially independent and educated; hence, they are more capable of making ends meet and stand on their feet to run their own households, without having to get married. Still, they want to have the privilege of raising a child and reap the benefits of parenthood. Because a married couple has much higher chances of being allowed to adopt a child, unmarried women resort to international adoption, to overcome their handicap against married couples. In other cases, people who know that they carry a serious genetic disease may not want to give birth to a child, to avoid the risk of passing the disease to their offspring. Still, some families choose to adopt believing that they will be saving a child, offering a loving and supportive family. This is mainly the reason why some people prefer international adoption to national adoption, believing they offer service to the developing world. They usually choose children from developing countries, where the standard of living is very low and they mainly prefer children with no families or relatives, who live in orphanage. International adoption has received widespread media coverage lately, due to the recent adoption of foreign children by several high-profile celebrities. Nowadays, there are many cases of famous people who choose to adopt. Generally, famous people have the same reasons for adopting children that people who are not famous have. Adopting children may be one way for them to feel like they are helping the world out  [12]  . Moreover, famous people often have both financial resources and influence, so, in contrast to an ordinary family, adoption process is much easier for them  [13]  . There are many examples of celebrities who have adopted several children from abroad  [14]  , such as Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan (from China), Mia Farrow (from Vietnam and Korea), Madonna/Guy Ritchie (from Malawi) and Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt (from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam). However, in contrast to what has been discussed above, there are some negative aspects of adoption, mainly international adoption. A negative reason for adoption is when people choose to adopt in order to deduct an amount from their tax liability. In the US both those who adopt internationally and domestically can take advantage of the Adoption Tax Credit  [15]  . The Adoption Tax Credit is a valuable benefit for adopting families since they may take a tax credit for qualifying expenses paid to adopt an eligible child (including a child with special needs). Such expenses include reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, travelling expenses (including amounts spent for meals and lodging while away from home), and other expenses directly related to and for which the principal purpose is the legal adoption of an eligible child  [16]  . Another negative issue is when adoption becomes so crucial to a celebrity only to get fame, power and admiration. In such cases, international adoption becomes a trend that may result in a negative impact that could last a childs lifetime. Also, a negative aspect of international adoption relates to a tendency of the rich and famous to bypass the law. Celebrities sometimes are bending the rules and pushing the boundaries to bring babies to their own countries. They do not always respect the laws of the third countries and do not follow the procedures as ordinary people usually do. Two cases of famous people that have been discussed a lot are the cases of Madonna and Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie acts as a very good example. She has adopted following the proper procedures, she has shown great sensitivity and interest in such issues and has been Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. On the other hand, Madonna has not followed all the proper procedures according to the Malawian Law, and there have been legal disputes over whether her adoption was totally legal or not  [17]  . Her practice was condemned by many humanitarian organisations and agencies that deal with international adoptions (ISS Headquarters in Geneva expressed their disapproval for the way the procedure was carried out). In short, the discussion in this part of the essay has focused on the rationale behind international adoption. Evidently, there is a trend towards international adoption, which is attributed to the increasing demand for adoption in the U.S. It appears that many people turn to international adoption because the supply of national children for adoption is lower than demand  [18]  . Also, the rising number of single mothers in America as well as in the rest of the western world has turned international adoption into an attractive alternative to national adoption, with its legal complexities and the preference for married couples. INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION IN THE U.S. IS IT JUSTIFIED? Adoption, either national or international, came into effect so that children can live in a loving and healthy environment. In addition, through adoption, individuals as well as childless couples who wish to raise a child can enjoy parenthood. Adoption involves three parties, the child (adoptee), the family (adoptive parents) and the home country of the child (birth parents). It is evident that adoption alters traditional family structure and functioning. In other words, positive and negative aspects of international adoption emerge for each one of these parties. Positive aspects For the adoptee As I stated previously, United States citizens started adopting orphan children from other countries in substantial numbers after World War II. Moreover, over the last twenty years, many children have been adopted from poor countries all over the world. So there are numerous positive aspects for the orphan and poor children worldwide. Research shows that children do best when raised in a supportive, caring family  [19]  . The most important is that international adoption provides a permanent family for the orphan children worldwide. Also, nowadays, many high society individuals are adopting children from underdeveloped nations. This, besides a good home to live, provides the children with a secure future. Living with a rich family, children can have not only a decent living, but also good educational opportunities that they would never have had in their birth country. In addition, most children who need new homes are older than five, sick, disabled, or somehow traumatised. So they have more opportunities for a better life if adopted by a prosperous and caring family. Statistical data derived from parents, teachers and children themselves show that the vast majority of the adopted children demonstrate satisfactory adjustment  [20]  . More specifically, adopted children felt strongly attached to their adoptive families. This can be explained, in part, by the fact that the American society is highly multi-cultural, reducing thus the time for adjustment of a new member originating from a foreign country. Evidently, adjustment is even easier for an adopted international child at the age of five, which is quite malleable and open to stimuli from a different culture. For the adoptive parents Most adults, when they get married plan to have children. Few of these individuals expect ahead of time that there will be difficulties in conceiving a child. Yet, approximately, one in six couples in the U.S. will experience a fertility problem  [21]  . When this happens, most couples seek a medical solution. Nearly 50% of them will be eventually able to have a child biologically  [22]  . The remaining couples must decide whether to remain childless or to seek parenthood through adoption. There are thousands of children without a family all over the world and people who wish to adopt have a better chance of obtaining a child internationally. Thus they are able to give a permanent home and a nurturing environment for an orphan child. This is definitely a positive scenario and, according to statistical data derived from interviews, adoptive parents expressed considerable satisfaction in their roles  [23]  . For the birth parents The biological parents are forced to give away their children, usually because they are very poor, and they cannot provide a stable home and the necessary basics for living. Giving their child for adoption makes them happy that their child gets a family, and a secure future in a loving and healthy environment. Even though the process of separation from their children is painful, they realise that this is a far better solution than not being able to provide their children with a safe, healthy and promising future. On occasions when the mother is very young and has little or no experience to raise a child, adoption is also a better option than entrusting the fate of a newborn to an inexperienced mother, who may be living in the slums of an impoverished nation. For the society of the birth parents International adoption brings significant financial resources into poor countries, putting them in a better economic condition. Still, societies are deprived of their younger members in cases where the adoptee goes to another country. Celebrities like Madonna and Angelina Jolie have provided significant financial resources to poor countries. In addition, celebrity adoptions, through the publicity that they have, play a major role in increasing peoples awareness as regards poverty all over the world. Negative aspects For the adoptee International adoption often, but not always, involves trans-racial placement. Opponents of trans-racial adoption suggest that placement of children outside their own racial group will undermine the development of positive racial identity, ultimately leading to cultural genocide  [24]  . The childs removal from its birth country would mean the loss of the childs original language and culture. According to research, adopted children may experience the loss of birth parents and extended birth family; loss of status; loss of ethnic, racial, and genealogical connections, loss of feelings of stability in the adoptive family, and loss of identity  [25]  . For some children, adoption is associated with feelings of confusion, sadness, anger, embarrassment, and shame. When children begin to understand the meaning and implications of adoption, around five to seven years of age, emergence of sensitivity to adoption related stigma and loss occurs. Some children appraise being adopted in negative ways and have great adjustment problems. In reality, the younger the children the more sensitive they are to adoption issues. For the adoptive parents Among the many tasks experienced by parents are those associated with coping with infertility and the transition to adoptive parenthood, discussing adoption with their child, creating a family environment that supports the childs exploration of adoption issues, helping their child cope with loss, supporting a positive self-image and identity in their child in relation to adoption and, in some cases, as the adoptee moves into adolescence and adulthood, supporting their childs plans to search for birth family. Although not necessarily a negative implication of adoption, it is a great challenge for the adoptive parents, especially when they have adopted a child from abroad. For this child, the pursuit of answers to questions about his/her origins, cultural differences, ethnic background and the like is a long journey that many a times has an unclear destination. The decision to adopt a child is not an easy choice. Profound stress, typically associated with infertility, often results in both short-term and long-term psychological problems, including heightened feelings of anxiety, guilt, shame, anger, and depression; diminished self-esteem and marital difficulties  [26]  . For the birth parents The child is genetically connected with the birthparents and this connection is lost with adoption. As a result, birthparents suffer from a loss of their role as parents, which makes them feel irresponsible and incapable of bringing up their child. Sometimes birthparents are under great pressure and are enforced to give their child to adoption against their will. Sometimes they worry about the future of their child, and they wonder if they will ever see it again. They may feel anger with themselves, with the society, even with the adoptive parents. And the most important issue is that they will have to deal with this for the rest of their lives. From what has been covered in the preceding paragraphs it is concluded that adoption can change significantly the life of all parties involved. Adoption is therefore justified and should be made with the best interests of the child. Likewise, international adoption should be an option only when and if there is no viable alternative in the childs country of origin  [27]  . It should be also mentioned that Unicef believes that international adoption should be considered as a last resort, for children who cannot find a permanent home in their country  [28]  . CONCLUSION Through my study I can understand that international adoption constitutes a great part of the total adoption and has caused public reaction, both positive and negative. I agree with adoption critics, which focus on the issue of exploitation since adoption often involves the transfer of children from less to more privileged people, or from black to white families  [29]  . However, I would like to make it clear that international adoption does not always cause injustice. It should be taken under consideration that there are many orphan children in poor countries or families that are not in a good situation to raise a child. In the case of international adoption, I believe that all alternative solutions for orphan children in poor countries should be considered. These children have no home and family and they are suffering neglected in various institutions. Keeping orphan children in inadequate institutions rather than giving them good permanent homes, does not mean that they will be happier. If a family in their country could offer them home, love and affection, I am convinced this solution would be preferred. If not, international adoption clearly represents an extraordinarily positive option for them. Otherwise, homeless children around the world will probably live or die in inadequate institutions or on the streets. In my opinion the U.S. is a suitable new home for internationally adopted children since a large part of the population who want to adopt a child are well-off and can offer a good and caring family. Since the number of national children for adoption is less than the demand for adoptions, international adoption is the next best alternative  [30]  . To this end, international adoption in the U.S. is justified. Yet, we should not overlook the negative impact of international adoption discussed in the previous section and the implications it may have on the child, the original parents and the country of birth. Ideally, it would be better to provide a home in the country of birth but this is not always possible if the child was born in a very poor country, where social care and infrastructure to support local adoption are non-existent. Banning international adoption will not solve the problems of homelessness in poor countries. Being anti-foreign without a reason is not reasonable. As far as international adoption works well under the existing adoption laws and serves childrens interests, it should be justified and facilitated. The destructive earthquake in Haiti left almost 300,000 people dead and thousands of children without a family. I am of the opinion that for many of these children, international adoption could be a justifiable solution and a unique opportunity for the U.S. to prove that its citizens can make good use of it for the sake of the children and their future.

Christ :: essays research papers

Christ: VICTORY!! "It is finished!" John 19:30. What Christ is referring to here is the accomplished salvation of the people. What that means is that when we are saved, we do not have to put out burnt sacrifices up to Him. It is no longer needed because Christ died for us, which took away the iniquities of our sin. He did this out of great love for us. This is exemplified in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who so ever belief in him shall have eternal life!". That verse is very important to us, or should be, because in a way, one could base his/her relationship with the Lord upon it. The reason is because God loved us so much that he did that for us so that is the least that we could do. In Genesis 3:15 it says that we will be punished for our sins. Yes, that is true, but God will forgive and forget them if we repent. You see this is not possible without Jesus dying for our sins. In Romans 5:6-8 it says that Christ died for all of us. Even the bad ones, ALL. This is a sign of the Victory that Christ had won a victory here. The reason is because of all of the lives that he saved and will later be saved. In Romans 5 it says that Jesus died for All Sinners! We are all sinners so his death was for all. When Jesus says that "It is finished", he can also be referring to the older predictions of Christ’s' life. There is one in particular that it might have been talking about in Isaiah. That is the one in which Isaiah talks of the life of Jesus and the crucifixion, in very short and brief detail. The suffering in which Jesus took for us lasted all through the night, and then in the morning a sword was thrusted into His side to see if he was alive. After the water poured out of His side, you can say that it is officially over. In my heart it is not completely over, just that of that era. Jesus will always live in my heart and not until the very end times is it over in my heart. When the life of Jesus was over, at the same exact time God tore the cloth in the temple from the top to the bottom. The reason it had to have been God is that no one would be capable of tearing it from the top.

The Brady Bunch :: essays research papers

THE BRADY BUNCH The word sitcom is short for Situation Comedy. A good sitcom story idea places the star (or supporting character) into a situation in need of a resolution, which will cause the character to respond in unexpected, exaggerated, and hugely sidesplitting ways (Rannow, pg. 13). A comedy now days are different from how they were in the 1960's and 1970's though. Today directors use sexual content and foul language to make people laugh and do not usually have a purpose or point to get across to the audience with each show. In earlier comedy, such as The Brady Bunch, Director Jack Arnold tried have a lesson learned in each episode while still maintaining a sense of humor, minus the foul language and sexual content. Although the show is not extremely funny to most people it is still a classic show that deserves to be remembered. The Brady Bunch tends to say that our society is corrupt in a way. It displays many problems that people deal with on a daily basis and expresses how they feel they should be fixed. The show tries to get across to the audience that even though there are some people out there that are not right in the head, you yourself still have to be. Mike Brady, the father always gives out these lessons. For example when Marcia's new boyfriend steals Greg's phony playbook for the football game, Mike tells Greg that in actuality, Greg would win the game by cheating himself, unless he confessed to Marcia's boyfriend and told him the truth. After doing so, Greg and his team prevailed as champions of that game. Although The Brady Bunch sends out loving vibes every episode, as the hippie's did at that time, it did in fact portray surprising violence in one memorable episode. A boy by the name of Billy continuously calls Cindy 'Baby Talk'; due to her lisp. One time Peter stands up for her and ends up getting punched in the eye. Mike Brady then teaches Peter how to fight in order to defend himself if the time comes. Sure enough the time came and Peter knocks the boy's teeth loose and he ends up having a lisp himself. After Cindy calls him 'Baby Talk'; though Peter sticks up for Billy and tells her not to tease him because she remembers how bad it felt to be teased herself.

Analysis of Domestic Water Consumption

TECHNICAL REPORT OF STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME(SIWES) WITH ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCIL(AMAC)ABUJA PESENTED BY ADEYEMI ISAAC SHOLA UJ/2008/EV/0222 SUBMMITED TO THE DEPARTMENT OFGEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES,UNIVERSITY OF JOS IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B. Sc Hons)DEGREE PROGRAMME IN GEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING. NOVEMBER, 2012. DEDICATION This report is dedicated to God Almighty my creator.To my parents, Mr. & Mrs. ADEYEMI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My sincere gratitude goes to God almighty for his guidance and grace given to me throughout my six month industrial training. I remain grateful to my parents for their effort and support towards my education. My gratitude also goes to my departmental supervisors Mrs. L. S Rikko and Mrs. Simi, for setting out time to come and see us in our place of primary assignment. I want to thank my industrial based supervisor Mr.Ali Adamu and the entire staff of the zonal plannin g office for their assistance. Much gratitude goes to my head of department and to all the staff of the department of geography and planning, university of Jos. Finally, I want to say thank you to all my friends who have been of great encouragement to me throughout this period, I remain grateful. ABSTRACT The Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a program which has been organized by the federal government through the industrial training und (ITF) for Nigeria institutions in order to enlighten the students on the usage of equipment and professional practice in their different fields of study. In fulfillment of my study as a geography and planning students, I carried out my six month industrial training in the survey and planning unit office Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), located at area 10 Garki, Abuja. This report comprises of the organization chart of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), urban and regional planning department and also Abuja Municipal Area Council(AMAC). his report also contains the functions of the zonal planning office, functions of the urban and regional planning department and also the activities I participated in and experiences I gained. Some of the problems encountered during the exercise and possible solutions, were not left out. In conclusion I recommended ways of improving the program and also support of the program by the federal government. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Dedication Acknowledgement Abstract CHAPTER ONE 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 Industrial Training Fund 1. Brief History of SIWES 1. 3 Objectives of SIWES 1. 4 Relevance of SIWES to Urban and Regional Planning CHAPTER ONE 1. 0 INTRODUCTION The Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme is a program which involves the students, the universities and the industry. The siwes forms a part of the approved minimum academic standards in various degree program in Nigerian universities. The scheme is funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria and is coor dinated by the Industrial Training Fund and the National Universities Commission (NUC 1996).The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme, bridges the gap between theory and practice and also it is aimed at exposing students to machines and equipments, professional work methods and ways of safe guarding work areas and organizations. This report contains the work undertaken, new knowledge learnt and problems encountered by the student during the six months industrial training in zonal planning office Abuja municipal area council located at area 10 Garki, Abuja. Solution to the problem are also included. 1. 1 INDUSTRIAL TRAINNING FUND(ITF)The industrial training fund was established in 1971 as a man power development agency for the federal government of Nigeria. The provision of decree 47 of 8th October 1971,empower industrial training fund (ITF) to promote and encourage the acquisition of skills in industry and co mmerce with a view to generate pool of indigenous trained manpower su fficient to meet the needs of the Nigeria economy. A clause was invented by the ITF in 1978 in the policy statement no. 1 dealing with issues of practical skills among locally trained professionals.Selection 15 of the policy, states that internal emphasis will be place on certain product of post-secondary to adopt or orientate easily on their possible post-graduation for environment. 1. 2 BRIEF HISTORY OF STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME(SIWES) The student industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) came into being with the establishment of industrial training fund (ITF) by the federal government of Nigeria in 1973 under the degree of 47 of 1971 in other to boost indigenous capacity of the nation’s industrial need.This was brought about by the federal ministry of commerce and industries, finance, education in collaboration with NUC and board of technical education (NUBTE) who thought that the main aim of training and exposing students to industrial fields is to give th em practical knowledge of what they have been thought in their respective courses. The first started on the 8th of October 1974 with few number of students from different institutions which later increased to a large number of students in tertiary institutions nationwide. 1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF SIWES To provide an avenue for students in Nigeria Universities to acquire industrial skills and experience in their course of study. 2 To prepare students on anticipated working situations after graduation. 3 To expose students to working methods and techniques in handling equipments and machinery that are not available in their various institution. 4 It enhances students contacts for later job placement. 1. 4 RELEVANCE OF SIWES TO URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING Planning is not complete until the job carried out on paper is transferred to the ground. his program gives students the opportunity of seeing work design on paper presented and transferred on ground. it also help in promoting social intera ction and appreciating planning in practice and administration and relating with other allied professionals in planning. 1. 5 HISTORY OF FEDERAL CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Federal capital development authority (FCDA) is parastatals under the federal capital territory administration (FCTA) charged with the responsibility of building and developing the federal capital territory.Federal capital development authority (FCDA) was established in April 1976 by degree No 6 of 1976. Federal capital development authority comprises of 10 departments namely: Abuja metropolitan management council (AMMC), Engineering, survey and mapping, resettlement and compensation, finance and administration, mass housing, satellite town infrastructure, urban and regional planning, public building and procurement department. (chart of FCDA). 1. 6 HISTORY OF ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCILThe evolution of Abuja Municipal area council could be trace to its creation as development area on the 1st of October 1984. in 1987, on the recommendation of the Ahmadu Bello University consultancy group it assumed the full status of local Government (area council). The area council secretariat has different departments such as health, works department, legal department, revenue, Abuja environmental protection board. Location/population Abuja municipal area council is located on the eastern wing of the federal capital territory. t is bounded on the east by Nasarawa state,on the west by kuje area council , North- west by Gwagwalada and on the North by Bwari area council. The last demographic report by the national population commission indicated that the population of the area council stood at 309,306. However it is important to note that the population figure may double this number as the area council is daily experiencing influx of people. The people Abuja municipal area council has the following ethnic groups: gbagyi, gwandara,koro, gade. he main gbagyi settlements in amac include the following:karu, n yanya, durumi,garki, keffi,kabasa, mabushi, jabi, lugbe, idu, toge, hulumi, pyakasa, jikwoyi, kuduru, orozo, maitama and asokoro areas. the gwandara people can be found in places like karshi, jiwa, awagwa, karmo and idu. The area council besides the city caters for the needs of over 49 communities each presided by village heads. Besides that, the area council has twelve political wards namely:City centre, Wuse,Gwarinpa, Garki, Kabusa, Gui, Gwagwa karshi, Orozo, Karu and Nyanya. (org chart of AMAC). CHAPTER TWOThis chapter consist of basically the administrative work, assingment, fieldwork and lectures recived during the cause of my industrial training at Abuja Municipal Area Council. 2. 0 ADMINSTRATIVE WORK/ASSINGMENTS RECORDING OF INCOMING AND OUTGOING FILES: This is as a result of a complaint been brought to the planning office, in most cases it is a problem of encroachment. This complaint is been filed and taken to the planning and survey unit. My supervisor gives me this file to record into a booklet the file number, the date it was filed, the nature of the complaint.An outgoing file is a file I record which have already been treated. CONFIRMATION OF PLOT NUMBERS ON LAYOUTS: This is an exercise given to me by my supervisor. This entails the checking out of the plot numbers on a specific layout to confirm whether the plot exist in the layout and also to verify the total number of plots on a some layout which includes Apo extension II, Jikoyi village Intergration layout. ASSINGMENTS Some assingments were given to me by my supervisor which I carried out. This assingments includes; defination and type of scales and difference between geography and planning and urban and regional planning.DEFINATION OF SCALE: A scale can be defined as the ratio between the distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the earth surface. TYPES OF SCALES Representative Fraction: This type of scale is a fraction that expresses the mathematical relationship between map and the land such as 1:50,000 which is 1 map unit is equal to 50,000 units. Statement Scale: This is represented in form of a statement that a given distance on the earth equals a given measure on the chart or vice versa. Example 2cm represents 1km. Linear Scale: this shows directly on the map and the corresponding grounddistance.

Ethnicity and Gender in Late Childhood and Adolescense Essay

Abstract This paper focuses on an study that was conducted to examine the awareness of gender and ethinic bias along with gender and ethnic identity in late childhood and early adolescence. Data was collected on children in 4th, 6th, and 8th grades from various elementary and middle schools. The ethnic groups that were represented were White/European American, African American, an Latino. Daily diaries and individual interviews displayed that ethnic, gender, and grade level differences affected the awareness of bias ( Developmental Psychology, 2011). It was further proven that children in this age range were more aware of gender bias than ethinic bias. Keywords: gender identity, ethnic identity, bias During adolescent development a child’s need to be identified based ethnicity and/or gender becomes more prevalent and is further influenced by their peers. In addition, during this stage of development, social identity can have a deeper impact on intergroup attitudes. In the text, chapter 3 discusses gender schemas and how they evolve from being inflexible to flexible though the development of a human being (Wade & Tavris, 2011). In the Development Psychology article, â€Å"Ethnicity and Gender in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: Group Identity and Awareness of Bias†, 2011, psychologists, Alabi, Brown, Huynh, and Masten examined the awareness of gender an identity bias and its impact on the individuals/groups. The hypothesis is the possibility that children can be aware of one type of bias and oblivious to the another based on their group identity. The study was conducted with 350 students from three participating elementary schools and three middle schools in Southern California. The schools represented various ethnic/racial make-ups and socioeconomic statuses that included 67 African American, 120 White, and 167 Latino students. Two methodologies were used during this study, case study and naturalistic observation. The case study methodology as described by the text is the description of an individual based on their observation of behavior during a specified period (Wade & Tavris, 2011, p. 18). During the first week the case study was conducted by each participant receiving a diary to document their assessment of what identity was most important to them. The approach was referred to as identity centrality and the children received an ethnicity and gender score based on the results. The second portion of this test, identified as the identity salience approach involved students documenting whether or not they thought about gender, ethnic, or no identity at all during each period of the school day. The results of this test revealed that 51% of the children mentioned ethnicity and 63% mentioned gender. Following this portion of the study, the students were assessed through individual interviews with the same ethnicity, same gender experimenter. To assess ethnic identity, the students were presented five items with opposing questions, in which they had to choose the statement that they most identified with. A similar assessment was conducted to determine the degree of their gender identity. The final results of these assessments revealed that 51% of the students were aware of ethnic bias associated with ethnic identity while 49% were unaware. The relationship between bias and group identity was determined by eight ethnic and gender identity measures to include: gender and ethinic identity, salience, centrality, positivity/importance of ethnicity, contentedness with gender, felt gender typicality, and felt pressure to conform to gender norms. Over 38% of the students felt positive about their ethnicity and felt content/typical with their gender. 26% percent felt that their ethnicity was not important and felt no pressure to conform to gender norms. 20% of the students felt that their ethnicity was not important but was discontent with the gender norms. Finally, 9% felt that their ethnicity was positive and important and were content with gender norms. In this study the awareness of gender and ethnic bias varied by age group. It comes as no surprise that children become more aware of gender bias than ethnic bias at a young age. As the text mentions, gender identity is discovered at preschool age in which the process of gender typing begins. This is where boys and girls begin to get in touch with their masculine and feminine characteristics (Wade & Tavris, 2011, pg. 107). Ethinic identity creates a sense of emotional attachment to the group and the individual feels the need to conform to the values set forth (Wade & Tavris, 2011, pg. 350). This study further showed that European American students were more aware of gender bias than ethnic bias. In middle school all students were equally aware of both biases but African american and Latinos were likely to be aware of ethnic bias in elementary school. The potential cause of this stemmed from belonging to a negatively stereotyped group which raised the earlier awareness. This showed that European American students were less likely to be targeted for ethnic bias ( Developmental Psychology, 2011). In early adolescence girls were more aware of gender bias than boys and could attest to being targets of discrimation. Conclusion The conduction of this study proved that children in late childhood and adolescence were more aware of gender bias than ethnic bias. In addition the results showed that children who were non European-American experienced and identified with ethnic bias at an earlier age. The limitations to this study was the demographics. This study was conducted in Los Angeles which has a very unique demographic because it is essentially a melting pot of ethnicities. The different socioeconomical factors and educational inequalities impacted the outcome of the results. Children in the poorest schools had more challenges to encounter in school than their peers in this study. These experiences molded their ethnic identities and the biases associated with it. During late childhood an adolescence development, group identity and intergroup relations became important factors. It is expected that this age group no matter the gender/ethnicity will witness or be a target of discrimination. Although legal segregation is a thing of the past, gender and ethnic bias can greatly impact society but the attitudes and beliefs of individuals can be contained through intervention. With intervention at the earlier stages of development, children can fully witness equality. Future research methods inspired by this article should focus on the data collected from various locations throughout the country. Keeping this research generalized to one location compromises the true validity of the study. New research methods will determine how different ethnicities identify with gender and ethnic bias. Other areas of concentration that should be included in this study are the workforce, judicial system and media/television. Successful results of these research methods can pave the way for some individuals to change their ideologies. These studies can impact the lives of everyday people and potentially unveil solutions to discrimination. As we become a more multicultural country, we must realize the importance of cultural awareness so that we can better interact with different ethnicities/genders. Parents should encourage their to children to foster positive relationships with their peers despite cultural difference. These solutions will alleviate the stereotypes associated with gender and ethnic identity. References Brown, C. , Alabi, B. , Huynh, V. , & Masten, C.. (2011). Ethnicity and Gender in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: Group Identity and Awareness of Bias. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 463. Retrieved May 21, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2321539051) Wade, C. , & Tavris, C. (2011). Invitation to Psychology, fifth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Porter’s 5 Forces Essay

Webjet is Australia and New Zealand’s largest online travel agency. Leading the way in online travel tools and technologies, Webjet enables customers to easily search and book the best domestic and international travel flight deals, travel insurance, car hire and hotel accommodation worldwide. Webjet sites are simple to navigate, engaging and informative, giving customers confidence when managing their own travel arrangements. Webjet offers a 24/7 customer support service to cater to our customers’ needs. On 21 August 2013, Webjet announced a profit of $11. 4 million and NBAT of $6. 5 million. During the year the company experienced a growth in total transaction values of $110 million from $768 million to $884 million. About service Webjet. com has created our site around the belief that saving time and money is the key to opening up a world of travel opportunities. Operating as a completely independent flight booking engine, Webjet. com shows the absolute economical fares available, displaying the lowest total travel price. With the use of leading proprietary search technology, Webjet. com sifts through millions of published airfares from over 150 different airlines and 69,000 hotels to choose from. In addition to discounted fares offered through our consolidator network we provide the most affordable travel options available. We are fully committed to providing better access to savings on both international and domestic airfare as well as top deals for hotels, travel packages, cruise, car rentals and more! Unlike most of our competitors, we display the TOTAL price, including taxes and fees, up front to allow customers to compare prices and know what to expect at point of purchase. â€Å"We help U. S. world travelers navigate through the jungle of international airfares to find the best deals,† says Mathias Friess, Webjet. com’s CEO. With that said who wouldn’t want to easily find flights that will save them money? Also, not only does Webjet. com promise convenient and affordable flights but we also promise privacy. Booking online, no matter what site used, requires users to provide personal information. Webjet. com promises to not only protect this information but also to only share it after receiving the travelers’ consent. So why choose Webjet. com? Because our team works to provide affordable fares and put customers’ needs first. Marketing and IT team We’re more than such social media junkies and computer geeks. Our marketing team works to make a connection with our customers and let them know about the exciting updates with our site. We figure out what you want and need so that we can get it to you. From making you smile with our #TravelProblems tumble to providing travel tips with our blog and updating you on deals with our newsletters we enjoy reaching out to each customer. We’re constantly using our creativity to give travelers what they’d want from sweepstakes to our hangout videos that provide tips for traveling abroad. Feel free to connect with us on our Facebook, Twitter and Google+. History Established in 1998, Webjet was founded by former Jetset Travel Chief Executive David Clarke. Management WEB’s senior management has a mix of backgrounds, with a core group of directors and managers having been with the company for several years. In the early 2000’s this group pursued the development of an integrated booking platform to streamline its website activities Since then they have expanded Webjets services into complimentary fields that can be managed via their existing website. Webjet’s ROE over the last several years attests to the success of these decisions and management’s ability to provide good returns on investor capital. Internal ownership is substantial, with over 12% of outstanding shares owned by the directors and senior managers alone. Bonuses are typically 20% or less of total remuneration across the management group. Risks †¢Stiff competition in online accommodation service with the likes of Wotif (WTF) and lastminute. com †¢Competition from existing brand-name competitors like Flight Centre (FLT), who are also developing their online accommodation presence †¢Reliance on indebted Australian and new Zealand consumers for the vast majority of revenue †¢Sensitivity to the AUD, as a lower dollar will discourage Australian’s from holidaying overseas Opportunities †¢One of the few companies in Australia that is currently benefitting from the high AUD, as Aussies head overseas for their holidays to take advantage of increased purchasing power †¢The web-based business model is unencumbered by physical store fronts like its rival Flight Centre, making Webjet suited to the on-line shift for flight and accommodation bookings †¢Good brand name recognition within Australia †¢An easily-scalable business for overseas operations Webjet is a great business with good brand name recognition in Australia and a business model suited for the online future. Their financials look great, with a stable ROE of approximately 20-25% and a robust balance sheet that has no debt. Management have successfully grown the Webjet business by increasing the services it offers and maintaining a low cost structure. Unfortunately Webjet has no durable competitive advantage and is sensitive to movements in the AUD. Further, the online world has low barriers to entry and consumers can be fickle. In addition, Webjet must also compete with established travel groups like Flight Centre and dedicated booking agents like Wotif. As such, Empire Investing considers Webjet a Good Company with no competitive advantage – one we’d like to own, but only at a big discount to compensate.

Proposed Market Entry Strategy Essay

1. Executive Summary The use of air conditioning is widespread since it does not only provide appropriate room temperature for electrical equipments that make internet and telecommunication works but also provide comfortable atmosphere for cooling rooms in a houses, trade centers, office buildings and many others. The situation reveals that air conditioning equipments have vital roles in society. However, the use of air conditioning devices is associated with high costs since they consume large power of electrical current. Under such circumstances, the development of efficient cooling and purifying devices become the next stage in the air cooling and purifying development. One of air purifying and cooling products available in the market is EnerVent ®, which developed by Northridge Enterprise. The company understands that to win customers’ hearts, there are four key features that EnerVent ® should possess; they are true Fresh air delivery, low costs and low heating air conditioning in compact design, high quality of air purifiers that are not merely circulating the same air in a room, and capability to eliminate harmful gases, mold, and germs. Concerning the issue, this paper has elaborated several issues concerning the market entry strategy for EnerVent ® including target markets, market potential, competitive market analysis, marketing objectives, marketing mix strategy (product, place, promotion, and place) 2. Introduction 2.1. Development of Air Conditioning and Purifying Products Nowadays, the discussion over the benefits of the sophisticated information technology including computers and telecommunications on business and communication is an endless topic in seminars or exhibitions. However, in order to work properly, such equipments need low-temperature in order to prevent overheating so that the use of high-power air conditioning is vast in the equipment rooms. In addition to the use of air conditioning devices for cooling rooms, they also provide comfortable atmosphere for cooling rooms in a houses, trade centers, office buildings and many others. The situation reveals that air conditioning equipments have vital roles in society. This makes sense since the use of air conditioning is widespread and easily found in almost every place that provide comfortable atmosphere. According to ARI CoolNet, air conditioning has several functional benefits as following: ï‚ § Providing personal comfort ï‚ § Improving productivity in the workplace where it relates to the comfortable place the air conditioning provides ï‚ § Increasing good medical and health services ï‚ § Helping vendors to preserve fresh and frozen foods like seafood, frozen potatoes, sausage an many others ï‚ § Protecting electrical equipment from excessive heating Since the use of air conditioning, previously called as manufactured air, is vital in day-to-day activities, it becomes a significant invention in human history. However, recent air conditioning or ventilation products do not end in the development of fancy casing or cooler temperature but also in several values added features. For example, the invention of Plasma cluster technology, which is capable of killing 99-percent bacterium and viruses including Aviation flue viruses, becomes the Sharps’ competitive advantage that generate revenue for the Japanese company’s air conditioning and cooling products including refrigerators, chillers, air conditioner, air purifiers, to name a few. However, the use of air conditioning products is associated with high costs since they consume large power of electrical current. Under such circumstances, the development of efficient cooling and purifying devices become the next stage in the air cooling and purifying development. 2.2. EnerVent ® Products EnerVent ® is manufactured to fulfill the need for efficient ventilation system that has several features including compact design (small) and lightweight compared to existing whole house and individual room air conditioning system. The EnerVent ® has favorable tagline that clearly target particular customers as following: There is nothing like fresh air from open windows on a Spring day. Yet high heating and air conditioning costs keep homes sealed tight to save money. Harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs stay in. Even quality air purifiers can only clean and circulate the same air. The EnerVent ® system offers the best of both worlds, bringing in and circulating out up to 12 true air exchanges daily without a significant energy penalty† The EnerVent ® jargon suggests that there are four features that the company concerns when developing EnerVent ®; they are Fresh air delivery, low costs and low heating air conditioning in compact design, high quality of air purifiers that are not merely circulating the same air in a room, and capability to eliminate harmful gases, mold, and germs. Concerning the size, Figure 1 shows example of several air conditioning designs that appear to be ‘usual’, large, and ‘compact’ design. (a) GMG (b) Delonghi Figure 1 Several Design of Existing Air Conditioning System Source: OK CHINA INDUSTRIAL LTD, 2007 In addition to size, competition in air conditioning system evolves into the provision of fresh air that circulate the true fresh air from the outside instead circulating the same air. This feature is significantly important since people have great concerns over the raising pollution because of industrial plants discard smoke, the forest fire, bad air-refreshing systems in a house, etc. Generally, air pollution in the U.S., to be precise, and other industrial countries is because acid rain in both the U.S. and Canada in which the US becomes a country that emits a large amount of carbon dioxide as the result of fossil fuels burning; limited resources of natural fresh water, water pollution due to pesticides and fertilizers (â€Å"Air pollution from other countries drifts into USA†, 2005). Concerning the capability of eliminating odor, EnerVent ® also present attractive features since the product is capable of eliminating harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs. In the market, this feature is best represented by Sharp’s Plasma cluster product as shown in the Figure 2. (a) Sharp FU40SEK (b) Sharp FU-S40TA Figure 2 Sharp Air Purifier with Plasma cluster technology Source: Callde, 2007; Pantipmarket, 2007 3. Target Markets Since EnerVent ® has particular characteristics that present the â€Å"true† fresh air to either â€Å"whole houses† and â€Å"individual room†, therefore, the target market for EnerVent ® is as following: ï‚ § Brand of Products : – True fresh air like one from open windows on a Spring day – Eliminate harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs stay in – Low energy consumption ï‚ § Customers’ Preferences : People who concern about the need for fresh air in a room that has capability to eliminate harmful materials at low operation costs ï‚ § Ages : above 25 (this is the age where people use their rational reasons when buying a product). This is important since home electronic industry are fulfilled with advertising that trick customers ï‚ § Income Levels : above $2,500 per month (considering that the price of air Purifying is above $100, see Figure 3) Figure 3 Air Purifier Source: Bizrate, 2007 4. Market Potential and Sales Forecast The market potential for air purifiers from EnerVent ® is people who concerns about the People who concern about the need for fresh air in a room that has capability to eliminate harmful materials at low operation costs. The description suggests that EnerVent ® target both high-end customers since they are more concern about complete features regardless the price and low-end customers since they concern about low-operational costs despite high ownership costs. For high end customers, they realize that air pollution is more influencing the children than adult. All of U.S. researchers open their study about finding the polluted air impact at the children. It is believed that air pollution make the children lung become smaller. This evidence assures that air pollution own the chronic impact. In addition, this impact will be permanent at all of the children until they become adult (â€Å"Air Pollution Might Affect Lung Development in Children, Study Finds†, 2004). Bad air quality give the negative impact to the environmental quality and the financial loss because of the air pollution is not small. Because financially, air pollution will improve the cost, which must be become the responsibility of society. It can be in the form of medical expense for pain suffered, decreasing of the work productivity as an effect of air pollution, and decreasing of the prosperity life. Due to the fact that air pollution may provide unfavorable condition for an entire family; therefore, Northridge Enterprise has wide market potential to sell EnerVent ®, the true air purifier. To be specific the market potential for EnerVent ® is as following: 4.1. Middle and High Class market, Offices and Buildings There are many considerations in the minds of consumers when they are buying air conditioning product. In most parts of the world, air conditioning is the consumption of middle and high-class families, buildings and offices. For these people, cost is not the prime factor of consideration. It is quality that concerns them the most. In the light of this consideration, the Enervent will only gain small portion of the market in this segment because there are many air conditioning products which have better features and higher capacity to regulate air in larger offices. The Enervent on the other hand, can only regulate air in a limited space because it does not have the capability of producing cool air as a regular air conditioning machine. There are however, mid and high class households and small offices that prefer to use air purifier because they like the natural atmosphere of their houses and offices. These are generally smaller establishments or places which have plenty, but small to medium-sized rooms. This represents an opportunity for Enervent to enter the medium and high class households, buildings and offices. The opportunity however, is very small compare to the entire market of air conditioning equipment in the medium and high class market. 4.2. Medium and Lower Income Families Air conditioning needs are not the sole demands of medium and high-class establishments. In the modern realm where people’s desire for quality has been considerably enhanced, the need for air conditioning spreads to the low income families and offices. This represents a better opportunity for Enervent to gain larger portion of the market. This is true because for low income families and low-budget offices, the cost of having a full fledged air conditioning system can be quite overwhelming. In previous times, they generally switch to air purifier products because they are cheaper and do not consume too much electricity. However, the presence of the Enervent creates new and better alternative. These people could gain better quality than average air purifiers and pay cheaper costs than the average air conditioner products (Ward, 2007). 4.3. The market for Air Regulator Machines The rapid development of economy in various regions of the world generated massive demands for air conditioning products. In some markets, the air conditioning products are displaying a rapid increase, like the Indian market and Saudi Arabian. They are potential markets because of their geographic conditions and their economic development. On the other hand, there are also markets that displayed declining tendencies in the air conditioning market development because of the over-crowded markets, like China. In Europe, United States and most of the Asian countries displayed stable or otherwise mild development in the air conditioning market (Wind of Change, 2006). The product is, on the other hand, a revolutionary product filling a niche between the high cost air conditioning equipment and the simple air purifier machine. In a sense it has similar but different markets than those of the air conditioner products. Because of the revolutionary nature of the industry, and the contributions from low income, middle and high class markets elaborated above, I believe that the product will take over approximately 5-10% of the air conditioning market in the end of the first year. Furthermore, being the sole producer of Enervent, then the sales number of the company will be similar to that percentage. For instance, if the US air conditioning market is worth US$ 1 billion annually, then Enervent will generate a sales number of US$ 50-100 million. 5. Competitive Market Analysis The air conditioning industry is a global industry. Most of the modern countries plus several of the developing countries witnessed rapid growth of their air national air conditioning industry. In Saudi Arabia for example, demands for air conditioners is the highest in the world. Analysts have stated that the Saudi Arabian market has become a unique investment opportunities for foreign investors. Although not exactly alike, similar rate of growth can be witnessed in India and other developing countries (Saudi Aircon, 2007). Despite the rapid growth of the industry, Enervent cannot expect to gain the full benefit of the market development. The direct competitor of Enervent is air conditioning itself. Despite their significantly higher prices, they have larger capacity of regulating temperature and the condition of large rooms. Modern air conditioning is also equipped with various features that do not exist in Enervent, like self cleaning device, etc. Furthermore, air conditioning has a better and more widespread reputation that Enervent, which is a new and unpopular product. The competitive advantages of Enervent against the direct competitor are price and efficiency. The product is considerably cheaper, lighter and more far more electricity efficient than the average air conditioning machine. Indirect competitor of Enervent is the cheaper and simpler air purifier. The low cost and electricity efficient device is also quite popular as alternative of air conditioners. They generate significantly less cost than the average air conditioner, but cannot act as a temperature regulator. Many considered that the air purifier and the air conditioner market is not the same. Nevertheless, they are the same. Air purifier is an indirect competitor of both the air conditioner market and Enervent. Enervent has the advantage of temperature control with similarly low cost and efficient electricity compare to the air purifier. In addition to the analysis above, there are also other factors in the air conditioner industry that generates opportunities for Enervent to grow, they are: †¢ The emerging new styles of offices In the modern world, people are not satisfied having the same offices as other companies. In order to facilitate such a need for creative office design. The trend toward more stylish offices generates more complicated buildings with less ventilation. Pursuing efficiency, more employees are stationed in smaller rooms. These conditions generated the need for larger capacities of air conditioning. This is logical because managers have realized that poor air quality in the workplace could result in lack of productivity and worse, sickness (Cunningham, 1986). The necessity for more air conditioning system generates more demands of air conditioning machines. However, because companies are constantly searching for ways to enhance efficiency, their attention turn toward products which can deliver similar performance in air conditioning with less prices and more electricity efficient performance. This leads to opportunities for the newly designed Enervent, an air conditioning machine which are significantly cheaper and much more electricity efficient (Piercy, 1982). †¢ New Competitors The highly competitive environment is created by various factors. For one, the amount of players within the industry also plays a great role in shaping the competitive atmosphere. In the air conditioning market, Far Eastern manufacturers have improved their manufacturing capabilities by cooperating with Japanese producers. The new entrants are expected to influence the European market aggressively by means of targeting an established distributor. These new entrants have significantly lower price structures, thus allowing them to deliver cheaper prices to consumers. This leads to harder and more competitive atmosphere in the industry of both air conditioning machines and air purifier machines. In a sense, this also influences Enerven as an alternative between the two products. 6. Marketing Objectives The hardest mission of a marketer in getting the product accepted and recognized within the local environment. The Enervent is a new product with revolutionary technology. Its first year in the market should be the year of promotion and market penetration. Therefore the marketing objectives should be: †¢ Establish presence in local environment There are various factors that could influence how a product will result revenues and profits within its market. Each local environment has different preferences of how products should be. It is important for Enervent to win the hearts of local society by collaborating with local culture and traditions. The failure to achieve that will create poor and undeveloped sales performance. Thus, one of the most important and early marketing objective should be how to generate connection with local markets (Korey, 1986). †¢ Discover new channel of distributions and marketing In the first year of marketing, new products should be brought throughout the markets using various channels and means of transportations. Getting to know the local infrastructure and how will it affect the business is very much important. Thus, discovering new channel of promotion and distribution is also an important objective (Koney, 1986) †¢ Create a distinction Establishing presence and discovering new channels are usually not enough to get the product running and generate revenues and profits. The product needs features or appearance that will differentiate it from other products. This activity is called brand designing (Keegan, 1989). 7. Marketing Mix In the following chapter I will use existing information to make an assessment of how Enervent should be sold. This assessment is important because it determines the shape of the business offering toward consumers. Re-designing the business offerings has been the core purpose of performing a marketing mix analysis. In terms of Enervent, the following is suggested: 7.1. Product Positioning Strategy Enervent should be well promoted to reflect capabilities of the new and revolutionary product. As implied in previous chapters, the product should be advertised as a brilliant alternative to air conditioning and air purifier. It is the combination of both worlds which brings the best of them. The product can also be advertised as the new revolution in air conditioning. The advertising campaign would have to generate the image that Enervent is the next generation of low cost, low energy air conditioning (Keegan, 1989). As mentioned in previous chapter, the product has different opportunities in different segments of the market. Therefore, there is a need to perform different emphasize on different segments of the market. In the medium to high-class households, buildings and offices, the company should focus on promoting the product as a smart replacement of the average air conditioning system because of its air temperature management capabilities and its low cost and energy efficient nature. This would attract those customers which prefer to maintain the naturality of their environments as mentioned before. On the other hand, in the low-income households and offices, the product should be promoted as the new generation of air conditioning. The product should be promoted as the new and brilliant evolution toward environmental friendliness and quality preservation. Because the company is forecasted to generate more sales in this segment, this characteristic of product positioning (as a revolutionary new generation of air conditioning) should be the main scenario of marketing. Other processes within the product positioning activities which require attention includes: paying attention to manufacturing specifications, labeling and packaging to represent the target market we are aiming and the position of our product. The product must also be tested first before it enters the market. Analysts also suggested that the product should be matched with its surrounding environment, whether in times of sale or distribution. For instance, products that travel through the road should contain different specifications and equipments to products that travel through air (Keegan, 1989). 7.2. Pricing Strategy In marketing mix, price is considered as one of the factor that contributes to the total value of product offering. Despite the high quality of the product, if the pricing strategy does no reflect value (which means the value gained from the purchase is greater than the value of money sacrificed for the purchase), then customers would not be appealed to the product. Price has been the most important consideration in buying air conditioner machines for years. Because of the highly advanced technology and the power needed to perform the task of regulating air throughout the surrounding environment, the average air conditioners cost quite a fortune. In terms of Enervent, I propose a new set of pricing considerations which emphasis on acknowledgement of the segments in which the product will be marketed. In other words, the pricing strategy should reflect discounts, bonuses, price competitiveness, etc. Nevertheless, managers cannot ignore the importance of having a valuable product. The psycography of customers sometimes generates new understanding over the behavior of consumers. For one, consumer often mistaken quality with price. Often we find that if we charge higher, people would buy the product more. Managers in charge of the pricing strategy must have considerable sensitiveness toward the behavior of his/her customers. 7.3. Distribution strategy Distribution is also a factor in marketing and selling products. Companies must have provided their officers with sufficient funding in order to prevent lack of funding in the delivery process. Often, the assignment on distribution is in line with order processing stages. In a sense, distribution is an inseparable part of order processing and the process is not over until the products are delivered successfully to customers. In terms of exporting the Enervent, managers of the distribution process should prepare all the necessary export preparation and documentation. Often shipments failed because of the lack of diligence in preparing the required documentation (Basche, 1971). Distribution management includes managing the cost of distribution. In we are to export Enervent as a part of our central operations, than it is important for us to assign the distribution cost to the recipient instead of to our own cost structure. Forwarding freight is crucial in distribution management. Managers of distribution process must also pay attention to other supporting issues like insurance and arbitration. The lack consideration of these small factors could generate problems in later days. In distributing the Enervent, we must also consider the fact that inventory support is crucial for distribution process. Inventory management and warehousing strategies must be accounted to the nature of the product to prevent losses or diminished product quality. 7.4. Promotional activities In terms of advertising and promotion, we have discussed the need to represent Enervent in different ways for different market segments. On the other hand, if reality forces us to choose, we must choose to represent the largest demands on the market. In the Enevernet case, this means promoting the product as the new generation of air conditioning. Promotions can be performed through ‘indirect forms’, like literature, direct mail, etc. There are also a more direct form of promotion which includes exhibitions and trade shows. Often, the presence of a good sales force is also influential to promotional activities. In marketing Enervent, managerial abilities to motivate sales forces are important to promotional activities. This is important considering the product is new in the market. Another way of motivating the promotional activities is by using agents. External agents who receive commissions are generally more motivated to do their job because of the compensation strategy. Reference †Air Pollution Might Affect Lung Development in Children, Study Finds.† 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.californiahealthline.org/index.cfm?Action=dspItem&itemID=105505 ARI CoolNet. â€Å"Air Conditioning: Improving the Way We Live.† Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.ari.org/consumer/history/history-ac.html Basche, J.R. Jr. â€Å"Export Marketing Services and Costs†. 1971. New York: The Conference Board, p4. Cunningham, M.T. â€Å"Strategies for International Industrial Marketing†. 1986. In D.W. Turnbull and J.P. Valla (eds.) Croom Helm p 9. Delonghi.  « Delonghi Portable Air Conditioners – Delonghi Portable Air Conditioning.  » 2007. Retrieved May 7, from http://www.delonghi-portable-air-conditioners.co.uk/images/3176.jpg Korey, G. â€Å"Multilateral Perspectives in International Marketing Dynamics†. 1986. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 20, No. 7, pp 34-42 Keegan, W.J. â€Å"Global Marketing Management.† 1989. Prentice Hall International Editions. OK CHINA INDUSTRIAL LTD. â€Å"Wholesale Air conditioner.† 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://www.sz-wholesale.com/shenzhen_China_products/Air-conditioner_1.htm Piercy, N. â€Å"Company Internationalisation: Active and Reactive Exporting†. 1982. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp 26-40. Saudi Aircon 2007. 2007. Riyadh Exhibitions. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.recexpo.com/recweb/show_overview.asp?id=79 â€Å"US Market for Air Conditioning.† Worldwide Market Intelligence. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from www.bsria.co.uk/documents/pdf/misc/17200 leaflet.pdf Ward, Susan. â€Å"How to Find and Master a Niche Market.† 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://marketing.about.com/od/careersinmarketing/l/aa060303a.htm â€Å"Wind of change in air-conditioning market.† 2006. China Economic Net. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/27/content_437865.htm