Thanks for 24 Years of Service

1. How valid do you think the comments are that Russ is hearing? Answer – Students’ answers will vary with their age and experience. The issue is the validity of the comments. The issue is dealing with the perceptions. Basically, Russ needs to translate his experience into transferable job skills and sell himself as an adaptive person. Most of what he’s hearing is probably stereotypical, but he can’t re educate the job market; he has to reinvent himself. 2. If you were a small business executive in need of someone with extensive financial experience, would you consider Russ?Explain your position. Answer – Again students’ answers will vary. Pro—great extensive experience, new ideas from a different industry, and a high performance track record. Con—the need to adjust to a new company culture, possibility of leaving due to pay issues, not knowing the specific business. Discuss with students how they could address the cons either a s a business owner or as Russ. Business owner—assign a mentor to help cultural adjustment, offer pay incentives tied to company growth and profitability that could help make up for the pay cut.Russ—shift his own attitude and realize the world has changed, work for a temp agency to get experience in smaller companies, study the company’s industry and bring a series of new ideas with him to the interview that related specifically to a small company in that industry. 3. What suggestions might you make to Russ to help him find suitable employment? Answer – See comments under #2. Russ’ biggest challenge is changing his own mindset and then demonstrating that to potential employers. Focus on transferable, skills not specific job experience Thanks for 24 Years of Service 1. How valid do you think the comments are that Russ is hearing? Answer – Students’ answers will vary with their age and experience. The issue is the validity of the comments. The issue is dealing with the perceptions. Basically, Russ needs to translate his experience into transferable job skills and sell himself as an adaptive person. Most of what he’s hearing is probably stereotypical, but he can’t re educate the job market; he has to reinvent himself. 2. If you were a small business executive in need of someone with extensive financial experience, would you consider Russ?Explain your position. Answer – Again students’ answers will vary. Pro—great extensive experience, new ideas from a different industry, and a high performance track record. Con—the need to adjust to a new company culture, possibility of leaving due to pay issues, not knowing the specific business. Discuss with students how they could address the cons either a s a business owner or as Russ. Business owner—assign a mentor to help cultural adjustment, offer pay incentives tied to company growth and profitability that could help make up for the pay cut.Russ—shift his own attitude and realize the world has changed, work for a temp agency to get experience in smaller companies, study the company’s industry and bring a series of new ideas with him to the interview that related specifically to a small company in that industry. 3. What suggestions might you make to Russ to help him find suitable employment? Answer – See comments under #2. Russ’ biggest challenge is changing his own mindset and then demonstrating that to potential employers. Focus on transferable, skills not specific job experience

Natural Resources And The Economy Of Middle East Essay

The role of oil in the economies of the Middle East has altered over time and it is possible to recognize stages in its development. At first the main benefit was financial for the reason that, even though revenues were modest from the 1930s to the 1960s, these met most of the expenditure needs of the royal households in the Gulf and funded the major proportion of government current spending. Since oil production expanded in the 1960s revenues grew, and the quadrupling of oil prices in 1973-4 resulted in an enormous windfall. This could be interpreted as the second stage. Oil revenue was viewed mainly as a means of funding investment rather than just current expenditures, despite the fact that for some of the Gulf states the revenue was so great that it was probable to put some aside into ‘funds for future generations’. Because Middle East production stagnated and declined in several countries, the link between oil prices and development became of crucial significance. This was obvious from the infrastructure boom ensuing from the 1979 oil price rises, and the virtual halt to major investment projects following the price falls of the 1980s. (Mohamed Rabie, 1992). A third phase has now started in which the volume of exports and the price of crude oil is becoming of less importance for the economies of the region. Oil is less vital as an output however more crucial as an input. It is the marketing of refined products and petrochemicals which matters more and more, not the sales of crude oil. In these state of affairs pricing issues turn out to be more complex. Low domestic pricing of oil inputs can assist the international competitiveness of the Middle Eastern refining and petrochemicals industry, particularly during the entry, start-up and infant-industry phases. In the longer term Middle Eastern crude oil may not be internationally traded, instead it is oil products exports which will matter. In this situation OPEC’s declining significance as a cartel is less damaging to the economies of the Middle East than might otherwise have been the case. Diversification into downstream production means that it matters much less that oil prices are performing like those of other main commodities, with cyclical volatility and a long-term tendency to decline. The economies of the Middle East may still be oil-dependent; however the nature of this dependence is altering from output to input dependence. This has the advantage of being more controllable. Some of the issues which were important in the literature on the oil and development link are debatably now less pertinent in a period of lower oil prices. There was a long debate in the 1970s and 1980s regarding whether oil windfalls were a blessing or a curse. One argument for the latter view was the view that oil-dependent economies tended to undergo from ‘Dutch disease’, so called due to the effect of gas exports from the Netherlands in driving up the guilder, making manufacturing exports uncompetitive and imports cheaper, with ensuing adverse consequences for unemployment. Even though this argument is at first sight persuasive, and there was certainty proof in its support in the Netherlands and arguably in Britain, its relevance to the Middle East is open to question. (Mohammed Akacem, 1992). The countries of the Gulf had little local manufacturing capacity in the 1970s which could have been threatened, and the lack of labour was more of an issue than unemployment. Oil exports were in any case denominated in dollars, as were most imports, consequently the level of the exchange rate was of comparatively minor significance for trade. A strong exchange rate checked inflationary pressures, and any depreciation would merely have resulted in imported inflation which would have added to that generated domestically through supply bottlenecks. For countries such as Egypt, with manufacturing capacity and non-oil exports for instance cotton and textiles, Dutch disease was more likely, particularly as oil became more and more the leading export after the return of the Suez fields by Israel, and there was as well the indirect effect of Gulf oil exports on the exchange rate through remittances. Investigation by economists, particularly Bent Hansen, made known little empirical support for Dutch disease in Egypt. Cotton and textiles were mainly exported to Eastern Europe under bilateral trade deals that had administered rather than market prices. Imports were subject to tariffs, quotas, foreign exchange controls and other restrictions. The official exchange rate was itself-controlled, while admittedly at a high, and perhaps overvalued, level in the 1970s. It is uncertain, though, if a lower rate would have done much to boost exports, given the supply constraints in the Egyptian economy. (R. K. Ramazani, 1998). Oil revenues were most likely of more consequence at the political economy level, as they reinforced the role of the state by increasing both its power of patronage and its capability to control economic activity. There was less need to collect other forms of tax revenues due to the significance of oil revenues, and also conceivably less government accountability. All countries in the Gulf adopted some form of development planning, simply so as to find out their expenditure priorities and ascertain how spending plans interacted. The consultation when planning the expenditure of oil revenues merely extended to the government ministries, though, and not to the general public. In addition, governments often ignored their own development plans if circumstances changed, either through new defence and security concerns or due to the changing price of oil. References: John Page (1999). The Impact of Lower Oil Prices on the Economies of Gulf States; Middle East Policy, Vol. 6 Marc J O’Reilly (1999). Oil Monarchies Without Oil: Omani & Bahraini Security in a Post-Oil Era; Middle East Policy, Vol. 6 Mohamed Rabie (1992). The Politics and Economics of Oil; Middle East Policy, Vol. 1

UK Mail industry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

UK Mail industry - Assignment Example On the other hand, the problems, which the Royal mail has recently faced, made consumers think about the necessity to make the mail market competitive and open for the new participants. As soon as the decision to open the mail market for new companies from the beginning of 2006 has been taken, two questions appeared: will Royal Mail stand the competition and is the competition a threat to its operations and position In order to answer this question, the position of Royal Mail on the British market should be considered from the following viewpoint: is the leading position of Royal Mail connected with the high quality of its services or with the impossibility for the similar companies to enter this marketing segment To my mind, the quality of Royal Mail service in the recent years has somewhat decreased and new competitors may create a serious threat to the Royal Mail leadership, though new companies will have to break the resistance of those consumers, who rely on their constant preferences and are not willing to change the supplier of universal mail services. Royal Mail still carries several advantages and meets some challenges, which help it to keep its profitable position. It is noted among the most reliable employers of the UK, having over 193,000 workers in its staff, which is almost 1% of the working British population. (http://www.royalmail.com) The number of addresses serviced by Royal M ail is the biggest in the country, making up to 84 million deliveries a day. As Royal Mail itself quotes, 'Since then we've undergone a huge transformation, turning losses of more than 1 million a day three years ago into a 537 million profit fromoperations in 2004-05. And we are delivering our best quality of service on record with world-class performances. This success has given giving us a base to meet the next challenge of full competition in the UK mail market from 1 January 2006. We will fight hard for every single letter. We are determined to compete successfully in the open market - but in order to do so we need a fair regulatory regime and the ability to invest in the modernization of our business.' (http://www.royalmail.com) The key words here are 'modernization and investment', which are the urgent needs of Royal Mail today to stand the competition. Despite the serious organizational changes, through which it went in the year 2001, Royal Mail is still fully owned by the Government, thus the need of about 2 billion to renew the equipment, technologies and premises should be invested from the state budget, which now seems problematic. The open mail services market becomes a threat to the Royal Mail and its profitability. Modern customers choose speed, quality and reliability, especially when it concerns such services as mail, which are in fact the foundation of everything. Mail services all over the world face the decrease of the mail volumes, with the wide spreading of emails. Speed is often a decisive factor in relation to the universal mail services, thus new technologies are crucial for Royal Mail to stay a leader on the British market. (Cohen & Waller, 2000) It can be said, that Royal Mail has 'subscribed' on receiving its competitors, as it now faces the

Economics and Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economics and Finance - Essay Example Another important feature of a developed bond market is that this corporate bond market provides an alternative source for funds used for operational purposes by the private sector other than borrowing from banks or from the equity markets. Debentures, Unsecured Notes and subordinated debts are those securities which are traded and issued on the corporate bond market. Those firms which are running efficiently and successfully can also decide to spread out their activities and start-up new projects. To start new projects the firms need to raise capital. Hence the firm can decide on raising those funds from the bond market as it can be advantageous for the firm in the long run. Understanding the corporate bond market is critical for any company. The following sections give an outlook of the market, on how it functions(the securities which can be issued in the market), the advantages of issuing bonds over other sources such as equity markets and other sources of finance, the types of fi rms that can issue the corporate bonds, the providers of debt and their requirements. The information of the corporate bond markets will help the Board in making informed decision regarding the use of corporate bonds for raising capital to finance the new project which is worth 800 million. Types of securities that can be issued in the corporate bond market The following are the three types of securities that a firm can issue. 1. Debentures A debenture is a type of a document which is not secured by any collateral. Below are the two types of debentures explained? a. Fixed-Charge debenture:. In this type of debenture, a charge is fixed over those assets which are permanent for example fixed assets like buildings. In case the company defaults, these assets are not allowed to be sold until the bondholder has been satisfied in the event of default. The first claim on the assets is of these bondholders b. Floating-charge debenture: In this type of debenture, the charge is floating, that is a charge is issued over assets such as finished goods. Since, these assets are meant to be sold the firm issues a floating charge over these assets. When the firm defaults the floating charge is converted into fixed charge. The bondholders can then take control of the assets. When the claims of the fixed charge bondholders are satisfied, they can claim the remaining assets of the firm. 2. Unsecured Notes It is a corporate bond with no underlying security attached to it. The bondholders cannot claim the assets until the fixed-charge and floating-charge bondholders are satisfied. In the event of default, the unsecured notes holders will be paid last. 3. Subordinated Debt Subordinated debt is that type of a debt which is issued for the long-term and in the event of a default, subordinated debt holders receive after all other creditors. Subordinated debt is closer to equity than debt. It is shown as shareholders’ funds on the balance sheet. It improves the credit rating of the firm. As a result the firm can borrow more easily. Types of firms that qualify for raising direct debt Direct debt can be raised by public limited companies, who can do this by issuing financial securities such as stock and bonds.. These shares can be issued to the general public by means of an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and

What Impact Does Technology Laws Have On Business In America Essay

What Impact Does Technology Laws Have On Business In America - Essay Example (Techtheory, 2012). The frontier of technology has been clouded by businesses since forever. Anything that can speed up production, make it more efficient and bring home more profits will fish in increased business. Technology brought with it a change in the system, for example online air-ticket bookings, ATMs and so forth (Winston 2011). The opulent past eras together with the nowadays growing anxiety of technical transformation would suggest that there is a detailed scholarly reflection on the relationship between decree and technical know-how. Though, such is not inevitably the situation. Most academic researches on law and technical expertise can be responsive to anxieties engulfing a certain machine or technically arbitrated goings-on. This conventional grant resides in a rationally constricted border of location related with safeguarding a required upcoming finished law as a tool of communal procedure the scholar-lawyer’s task is primitively expressive and graphic in thi s case; it comprises the documentation of the ‘concerns’, ‘ambiguities’ as well as the ‘holes’ which need to be taken care of by decree-makers and lawmakers. This conference targets to contest this conventional strategy. (Techtheory, 2012). ... ysver 2010) Technology plays a major role in changing the interaction of lawyers with the clients along with changing the ways through which advertisement is done. It is a primordial form of regulations that guards innovative designs, imaginative practices of communication, findings, creations and secrets of trade. Law of this framework is upheld on the notion which is there to encourage creativity, and thus people accountable for unearthing and advances in sciences deserve to be compensated for their efforts put in for start-ups and break-through. Trifling ventures, too, have now come to be much easily started up with the help via the Internet. Even stay-at-home housewives who believe that they are able to make exceptional bakery items can now find it easier to market them over the World Wide Web and transport them to their customer base. Of course it is not as easily done as said. Any transaction steered online has to consider the issue of copyright, privacy and security. The compe nsations are some degree of dominations rendered by patent and copyright laws. A person is shamefaced of infringement of copyright if any one out of the five exclusively selected privileges provided to copyright proprietors is violated, under the Copyright Act. Copyright concerns; domain name concerns; trademark concerns; defamation; and linking and framing. In those privileges are included the right to prevention of reproduction of product (or work) by others, public display of a product, or distribution of a product (Tsyver, Patent law in the United States 2010). Nowadays, courts all over the globe are pressing hard to bring about the creation of Internet Laws- a process that is anticipated as well as dreaded at the same time. These laws are considered necessary because there are no past

Muslims in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Muslims in America - Essay Example This discovery was monumental because it revealed that Muslims had inhabited America from the beginning. The third contributor, Alexander Webb, is believed to be the first American to convert to Islam. This was recorded in 1888 and then five years later he was appointed as the first Muslim in British Parliament. 2. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the number of mosques established in America increased considerably, partly due to conversion for which the dominant number of converts are African-Americans, but also due to the influence of settlement patterns resulting from immigration. As Muslim families grew in size so did their needs for places to worship. There are now more than 1500 mosques, compared to 600 in 1980, 230 in 1960 and 19 in 1930. One of the major factors that helped the emergence of Muslim Ethnic Mosques was the article written soon after the race riots of 1967 and 1967 in Newark, NJ. The East Orange Record also reported that the East Orange Deputy Police Chief praised the Muslim population as a 'stabilizing influence' in the area, and noted 'an almost zero percent crime rate within the Islamic community. While crime rates were lower in Muslim communities, many citizens still struggled with the cultural ignorance of most Americans. They fought to make their religion understandabl e and accepted by the mainstream society. 3. 3. The initial introduction of Islam in Africa occurred in 639 A.D. when the Arabs began exploring North Africa. As the religion grew across the continent, many Africans were being brought to America. In America, for many African Americans their first exposure to Islam was because of their slave ancestry and history. Today, The African-American Muslim community is diverse and complex in its theological beliefs and the way in which Islam became a mainstay in the lives of many African Americans can be traced back to the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. During this time, many African Americans migrated out of the southern states to the east in search of a better life. The eastern United States had the highest populations of Muslims at the time, and they reached out to help the African American travelers in their time of need. By recognizing African American's poor housing and economic conditions, Islamic followers in the eastern United States fought to improve the lives of the A frican Americans and their influence was lasting, with many converting to the faith and passing it on to their future generations. 4. There are several different factors influencing the race relations between African Americans and the immigrant community. African Americans have struggled and have revealed that in their living experience of Islam, it is not always singularly a manifestation of culture. Often traditional Muslims are at odd with African-American Muslims who are not binded by a singular cultural expression or see that Islam is culture itself. Many believe that the tensions also arise because African-Americans are very aware of racism and discrimination. Many African American's feel that traditional Muslims treat them as inferior due to the fact that they were not the original Muslim race. These tensions can be seen in acts of violence specifically n the San Francisco Bay area of California. Here a string of liquor store robberies have been aimed at stored owned by traditional Muslim citizens. It was soon discovered that the criminals were African American

Gender Differences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Gender Differences - Essay Example The preparation and the aftermath of any of the above mentioned occurrences requires special planning and assistance. The research will show that due to our "classic conditioning", we are systematically excluding a segment of our population from participating in an all important undertaking. The literature will use the educational system to show how we view gender, and how this time honored perception skews the method and attitude of instruction and attention, in fostering a mere tolerance, and not an equal commitment to the presence of girls in the classroom. The fact that gender differences in the classroom is not viewed as a significant entity, is stunting the growth and denying the full potential of a majority of the school age population. Additionally, the literature will also address the gap and the absence of ethnic gender diversity considerations in the educational system. The system addresses this matter as if the low income minority female is present in the classroom, only to bide her time, until something else comes along. She receives little credit for her achievements and given only casual acknowledgment for her efforts. The literature sets out to highlight the existence of gender differences and whether the presence of these differences is fertile ground for bias. And whether the bias results in a disadvantage for any of the groups affected. Is it a fact that boys are educated differently from girls, and if so, does the advantage have a positive or negative impact on the achievement of the gender or race of those without the advantage. Are remedial measures necessary to assist in obtaining gender and ethnic equality The review clearly points out the existence of gaps in standardized test scores among various students classifications, for example, a Caucasian female student who has a high GPA will invariably score, on average, 30 points less than her Caucasian counterpart on the SAT. Even if the male has a lower GPA than the female, his scores will be higher than the female.This phenomenon is so pervasive until college admission officers have adopted a policy to make a 30 point allowance between male and female scores when making admission decisions. 2.0 CHAPTER TWO 2.1 GENDER IDENTITY Gender identity is the individuals private experience of his/her gender; the concept of the self as masculine or feminine. This is such an important part of a person's self concept that in most adults it is virtually impossible to change it. There are several different perspectives on how gender identity is formed and this writer finds the following concepts the most appropriate; psychoanalytical, social learning, and cognitive development.Psychoanalytical theory describes a process in which the young child identifies3 with the same sex parent. She internalizes the characteristics and behavior styles of that parent and begin unconsciously to react in similar ways; Social Learning theory suggests that the child develops a gender identity through a learning process that involves modeling, imitation and reinforcement. The theory rests on the assumption that boys learn to be boys and girls to be

Final Question 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Final Question 1 - Essay Example In solid fuel fire such as wood contain the volatile oils that normally evaporate and burns into corresponding flames. Carbon is normally left after solid combustion then sublimates from the underlying surfaces of the hot substance thus combusting as a gas. Oxidation is a chemical change that mainly produces heat energy during the combustion process. It mainly creates sufficient heat that starts fire via creation of required oxygen that subsequently causes combustion (Horsfall, 2002). Oxidation can either add oxygen or remove hydrogen Combustion can be stopped by removal of the heat by cooling the underlying burning material, cutting the supply of either fuel or air source and adding of the chemical substances. Cooling of the material is normally done by water, which act blankets and evaporating in contact with fire thus cutting off the supply of oxygen for combustion thus halting it. Smothering agents are commonly utilized in cutting the underlying supply oxygen such as carbon dioxide and it is ought to be utilized on energized electrical equipment as the electrical conductor normally conductor electricity (Horsfall, 2002). Combustion is halted by removing the fuel supply through switching off electrical power and solid fuel. All the three process are mainly treated by carbon dioxide as the main

Why Do Small Businesses Fail Analysing the Reasons for their High Rate Essay

Why Do Small Businesses Fail Analysing the Reasons for their High Rate of Failure in the UK - Essay Example Studies show that by the third year of starting up, at least half of them close down. While there are external factors such as inadequate funding that leads to this, part of the reason is also internal - such as the work culture, the marketing being poor, the location not being right, the product being ahead or behind its times, and so on. Therefore, for an entrepreneur to succeed, it is essential that they come with not only a product/service plan but also its business plan and a back up in case the first one does not work. In the first place, there is a lot of concern that not many innovative ideas find the light of the day in the UK. According to a study commissioned by NESTA, an early stage investor in innovative and creative businesses, 80% of innovative ideas do not see the light of the day as knowledge of how to go about it, lack of funds and lack of time. However, the biggest concern was the fear of failure - what if the venture failed According to a Cambridge University's Centre for Business Research study (Fielding2, 2006) based on three surveys of more than 1,000 SMEs conducted in 1991, 1997 and 2004, SME survival rates fell from 59% to 54% over the same period. Between 1991 and 1997, 28% of the companies in the survey failed; between 1997 and 2004, that proportion rose to 32%. Among its more worrying findings, the research reveals a significant decline since 1997 in the proportion of SMEs carrying out research and development activities - from 52% to 38% - even though R&D investment is considered vital to this sector of the UK economy. Such statistics would clearly deter anyone from venturing into setting up a new business. Supporting this is the CBR finding that, since 1997, research and development activities of the small and medium enterprises fell from 52% to 38% despite it being considered important by the UK government. According to Finfacts Ireland3 website: The decline in the UK's early stage entrepreneurship rate, from 6.2 per cent to 5.8 per cent, was partly attributed to the growth in jobs in the financial services sector, where the lure of high wages was attracting many would-be entrepreneurs. According to a press release on the Small Business Service4 website: In 2005, there were 177,900 registrations and 152,900 de-registrations, resulting in an increase of 25,000 (1.4 per cent) in the stock of VAT-registered enterprises during 2005. Chapter 2 Why Start-Up The industry is already filled with businesses - large, medium and small - offering products and services right from a safety pin to aeroplane. Then why another company Is it merely the entrepreneurial spirit or is there truly something new on offer Unless the entrepreneur can truly answer this question, there may really be no point in starting a new business. For, several times, it may be the same idea in an old bottle. For instance, an idea may be approached from