Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Psychology - Essay Example On the other hand, the human needs are classified by McClelland into three and these involve achievement, affiliation and power. These needs are what motivate people in their jobs and in areas where they are in. McClelland’s theory is also known as ‘three need theory’ or ‘learned needs theory’. In my workplace where power seems to motivate the higher rank, there is no reason to believe that McClelland was not right about his theory. Finally, Herzberg’s motivation theory is widely known as motivation-hygiene theory or two-factor theory. For Herzberg, there must be two essential factors that affect people’s performance especially in their jobs. Those factors that lead them to satisfaction are called motivation factors and those that cause them dissatisfaction are hygiene factors. Herzberg identified six top factors that will lead to dissatisfaction: company policy, supervision, relationship with boss, work conditions, salary and relationsh ip with peers. On the other hand, the identified top six factors that will lead to satisfaction among people are achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth. These are specific factors but in reality, this is real and existing in my work place because many employees were actually dissatisfied with the management due to poor company policy and low standard supervision. When these three theories are to be compared, there is one single commonality that can be identified in them. These three try to consider the human needs. These needs are assumed to be what will motivate human in the most possible way. The three theories are all able to pinpoint the basic and general human needs in life and they all imply satisfaction when experience to the fullest. This satisfaction in general results to motivation to work and continue doing things that fulfill satisfaction. In short, the three theories do not eliminate the possibility of experience as tantamount to i dentifying what seems to be pleasing and ensure satisfaction. What differentiates these three theories from each other is their level of identification of the human needs. The identification of Maslow seems to be specific and hierarchical while the idea of Herzberg is two dimensional and involves great deal of clustering human needs. Finally, the idea of McClelland seems quite general but it still encompasses the all level of human needs. It is therefore clear that the difference lies on how these three theorists try to substantiate the issue of satisfaction and motivation. Figure 1. The three theories develop and overlap in my work Part II. Cultural dimension of motivation definition When humans arrived in the planet, everything did not start in an instant. Man required to understand his experience in order to perfectly create a series of normal pattern on how to live. It is also through experience he was able to understand his needs. It is clear therefore that the development of c ulture is based on the idea that experience has to exist prior to the creation of lifestyle, food to eat, occasions to celebrate, language to use and more. Amazingly, all of these are encompassed by culture. By looking at it from the perspective of Maslow, apart from self esteem and self-actualization, other needs are substantially defined and influenced by culture. These needs are all externally defined

Enviromental problems in Haiti Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Enviromental problems in Haiti - Essay Example e, flooding in Mapou and Fond-Verettes caused the death of over 2,000 Haitians in May 2004 and only 4 months later, in September 2004, 3,000 people died after Tropical Storm Jeanne / Forum on the Environmental Crisis in Haiti, 2004 /. Haiti is an island, which constitutes 1/3 of Hispaniola, and occupies 1,770 km of coastline. Due to the climate and geographical situation the island had extremely rich flora and fauna, but in the last century great climate changes occurred, which caused the change of the whole general view of the island. One of the greatest problems of Haiti is deforestation of major territory of the island. Over 98% of all forests covering the island were destroyed, which entailed serious consequences like massive land erosion and sedimentation, which in its turn had the gravest possible effect on marine resources / Haiti and San Andrà ©s Join COSALC, 2006 /. Now when we look at the natural picture of the Haiti island we would see a grave picture: of previously rich forests only 1.5 % survived, 15,000 hectares of arable land become unsuitable every year, almost all water sources are seriously contaminated, rich biodiversity of Haiti was greatly influenced and destroyed /Paryski, 1996 /. The worse is that that the biological problems of Haiti go beyond the problems of the single island but threatens the environment of neighboring islands. For example, the same environmental problems are now also experienced in the Dominican Republic. The whole Hispaniola felt that the population of wintering and breeding birds reduced sharply and coral reefs disappear sharply /Paryski, 1996 /. Now let us dwell in more detail on the problems of the environment of Haiti. It should be also remembered that these problems are for the most part common with the other small island developing states. The first problem concerns land resources, which decrease considerably due to the bad-considered land use policy, great number and density of the population and the influence

Asset and liability management

Asset and liability management ASSET AND LIABILITY MANAGEMENT In banking, asset and liability management (ALM) is used to manage the risks that arise due to mismatches between the assets and liabilities (debts and assets) of the bank. Banks face several risks like the liquidity risk, market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and operational risk. Asset Liability management (ALM) is a strategic management tool to manage interest rate risk and liquidity risk faced by banks, other financial services companies and corporations. Banks manage the risks of Asset liability mismatch by matching the assets and liabilities according to the maturity pattern or the matching the duration, by hedging and by securitization. Asset and liability management remain high-priority areas for bank regulators, with an emphasis on management of market risk, liquidity risk, and credit risk. Asset/liability managers face the challenge of keeping pace with industry changes as new areas of risk are identified and new tools and models are developed to help measure and manage risk. In other words Asset-Liability Management (ALM) can be known as a risk management technique designed to earn an adequate return while maintaining a comfortable surplus of assets beyond liabilities. It takes into consideration interest rates, earning power, and degree of willingness to take on debt and hence is also known as Surplus Management. But in the last decade the meaning of asset liability management has evolved. It is now used in many different ways under different contexts. ALM, which was actually pioneered by financial institutions and banks, are now widely being used in industries too. The Society of Actuaries Task Force on ALM Principles, Canada, offers the following definition for ALM: Asset Liability Management is the on-going process of formulating, implementing, monitoring, and revising strategies related to assets and liabilities in an attempt to achieve financial objectives for a given set of risk tolerances and constraints. Basis of Asset-Liability Management Traditionally, banks and insurance companies used accrual system of accounting for all their assets and liabilities. They would take on liabilities such as deposits, life insurance policies or annuities. They would then invest the proceeds from these liabilities in assets such as loans, bonds or real estate. All these assets and liabilities were held at book value. Doing so disguised possible risks arising from how the assets and liabilities were structured. Consider a bank that borrows 1 Crore (100 Lakhs) at 6 % for a year and lends the same money at 7 % to a highly rated borrower for 5 years. The net transaction appears profitable the bank is earning a 100 basis point spread but it entails considerable risk. At the end of a year, the bank will have to find new financing for the loan, which will have 4 more years before it matures. If interest rates have risen, the bank may have to pay a higher rate of interest on the new financing than the fixed 7 % it is earning on its loan. Suppose, at the end of a year, an applicable 4-year interest rate is 8 %. The bank is in serious trouble. It is going to earn 7 % on its loan but would have to pay 8 % on its financing. Accrual accounting does not recognize this problem. Based upon accrual accounting, the bank would earn Rs 100,000 in the first year although in the preceding years it is going to incur a loss. The problem in this example was caused by a mismatch between assets and liabilities. Prior to the 1970s, such mismatches tended not to be a significant problem. Interest rates in developed countries experienced only modest fluctuations, so losses due to asset-liability mismatches were small or trivial. Many firms intentionally mismatched their balance sheets and as yield curves were generally upward sloping, banks could earn a spread by borrowing short and lending long. Things started to change in the 1970s, which ushered in a period of volatile interest rates that continued till the early 1980s. US regulations which had capped the interest rates so that banks could pay depositors, was abandoned which led to a migration of dollar deposit overseas. Managers of many firms, who were accustomed to thinking in terms of accrual accounting, were slow to recognize this emerging risk. Some firms suffered staggering losses. Because the firms used accrual accounting, it resulted in more of crippled balance sheets than bankruptcies. Firms had no options but to accrue the losses over a subsequent period of 5 to 10 years. One example, which drew attention, was that of US mutual life insurance company The Equitable. During the early 1980s, as the USD yield curve was inverted with short-term interest rates sky rocketing, the company sold a number of long-term Guaranteed Interest Contracts (GICs) guaranteeing rates of around 16% for periods up to 10 years.Equitable then invested the assets short-term to earn the high interest rates guaranteed on the contracts. But short-term interest rates soon came down. When the Equitable had to reinvest, it couldnt get even close to the interest rates it was paying on the GICs. The firm was crippled. Eventually, it had to demutualize and was acquired by the Axa Group. Increasingly banks and asset management companies started to focus on Asset-Liability Risk.The problem was not that the value of assets might fall or that the value of liabilities might rise. It was that capital might be depleted by narrowing of the difference between assets and liabilities and that the values of assets and liabilities might fail to move in tandem. Asset-liability risk is predominantly a leveraged form of risk. The capital of most financial institutions is small relative to the firms assets or liabilities, and so small percentage changes in assets or liabilities can translate into large percentage changes in capital. Accrual accounting could disguise the problem by deferring losses into the future, but it could not solve the problem.Firms responded by forming asset-liability management (ALM) departments to assess these asset-liability risk. Techniques for assessing Asset-Liability Risk Techniques for assessing asset-liability risk came to include Gap Analysis and Duration Analysis. These facilitated techniques of managing gaps and matching duration of assets and liabilities. Both approaches worked well if assets and liabilities comprised fixed cash flows. But cases of callable debts, home loans and mortgages which included optio.ns of prepayment and floating rates, posed problems that gap analysis could not address. Duration analysis could address these in theory, but implementing sufficiently sophisticated duration measures was problematic Accordingly, banks and insurance companies started using Scenario Analysis. Under this technique assumptions were made on various conditions, for example: * Several interest rate scenarios were specified for the next 5 or 10 years. These specified conditions like declining rates, rising rates, a gradual decrease in rates followed by a sudden rise, etc. Ten or twenty scenarios could be specified in all. * Assumptions were made about the performance of assets and liabilities under each scenario. They included prepayment rates on mortgages or surrender rates on insurance products. * Assumptions were also made about the firms performance-the rates at which new business would be acquired for various products, demand for the product. * Market conditions and economic factors like inflation rates and industrial cycles were also included. * Based upon these assumptions, the performance of the firms balance sheet could be projected under each scenario. If projected performance was poor under specific scenarios, the ALM committee would adjust assets or liabilities to address the indicated exposure. Let us consider the procedure for sanctioning a commercial loan. The borrower, who approaches the bank, has to appraise the banks credit department on various parameters like industry prospects, operational efficiency, financial efficiency, management qualities and other things, which would influence the working of the company. On the basis of this appraisal, the banks would then prepare a credit-grading sheet after covering all the aspects of the company and the business in which the company is in. Then the borrower would then be charged a certain rate of interest, which would cover the risk of lending. * But the main shortcoming of scenario analysis was that, it was highly dependent on the choice of scenarios. It also required that many assumptions were to be made about how specific assets or liabilities will perform under specific scenario. Gradually the firms recognized a potential for different type of risks, which was overlooked in ALM analyses. Also the deregulation of the interest rates in US in mid 70 s compelled the banks to undertake active planning for the structure of the balance sheet. The uncertainty of interest rate movements gave rise to Interest Rate Risk thereby causing banks to look for processes to manage this risk. In the wake of interest rate risk came Liquidity Risk and Credit Risk, which became inherent components of risk for banks. The recognition of these risks brought Asset Liability Management to the centre-stage of financial intermediation. Today even Equity Risk, which until a few years ago was given only honorary mention in all but a few company ALM re ports, is now an indispensable part of ALM for most companies.. Some companies have gone even further to include Counterparty Credit Risk, Sovereign Risk, as well as Product Design and Pricing Risk as part of their overall ALM. * Now a days a company has different reasons for doing ALM. While some companies view ALM as a compliance and risk mitigation exercise, others have started using ALM as strategic framework to achieve the companys financial objectives. Some of the business reasons companies now state for implementing an effective ALM framework include gaining competitive advantage and increasing the value of the organization. Asset-Liability Management Approach ALM in its most apparent sense is based on funds management. Funds management represents the core of sound bank planning and financial management. Although funding practices, techniques, and norms have been revised substantially in recent years, it is not a new concept. Funds management is the process of managing the spread between interest earned and interest paid while ensuring adequate liquidity. Therefore, funds management has following three components, which have been discussed briefly. A. Liquidity Management Liquidity represents the ability to accommodate decreases in liabilities and to fund increases in assets. An organization has adequate liquidity when it can obtain sufficient funds, either by increasing liabilities or by converting assets, promptly and at a reasonable cost. Liquidity is essential in all organizations to compensate for expected and unexpected balance sheet fluctuations and to provide funds for growth. The price of liquidity is a function of market conditions and market perception of the risks, both interest rate and credit risks, reflected in the balance sheet and off-balance sheet activities in the case of a bank. If liquidity needs are not met through liquid asset holdings, a bank may be forced to restructure or acquire additional liabilities under adverse market conditions. Liquidity exposure can stem from both internally (institution-specific) and externally generated factors. Sound liquidity risk management should address both types of exposure. External liquidit y risks can be geographic, systemic or instrument-specific. Internal liquidity risk relates largely to the perception of an institution in its various markets: local, regional, national or international. Determination of the adequacy of a banks liquidity position depends upon an analysis of its: * Historical funding requirements * Current liquidity position * Anticipated future funding needs * Sources of funds * Present and anticipated asset quality * Present and future earnings capacity * Present and planned capital position As all banks are affected by changes in the economic climate, the monitoring of economic and money market trends is key to liquidity planning. Sound financial management can minimize the negative effects of these trends while accentuating the positive ones. Management must also have an effective contingency plan that identifies minimum and maximum liquidity needs and weighs alternative courses of action designed to meet those needs. The cost of maintaining liquidity is another important prerogative. An institution that maintains a strong liquidity position may do so at the opportunity cost of generating higher earnings. The amount of liquid assets a bank should hold depends on the stability of its deposit structure and the potential for rapid expansion of its loan portfolio. If deposit accounts are composed primarily of small stable accounts, a relatively low allowance for liquidity is necessary. Additionally, management must consider the current ratings by regulatory and rating agencies when planning liquidity needs. Once liquidity needs have been determined, management must decide how to meet them through asset management, liability management, or a combination of both. B. Asset Management Many banks (primarily the smaller ones) tend to have little influence over the size of their total assets. Liquid assets enable a bank to provide funds to satisfy increased demand for loans. But banks, which rely solely on asset management, concentrate on adjusting the price and availability of credit and the level of liquid assets. However, assets that are often assumed to be liquid are sometimes difficult to liquidate. For example, investment securities may be pledged against public deposits or repurchase agreements, or may be heavily depreciated because of interest rate changes. Furthermore, the holding of liquid assets for liquidity purposes is less attractive because of thin profit spreads. Asset liquidity, or how salable the banks assets are in terms of both time and cost, is of primary importance in asset management. To maximize profitability, management must carefully weigh the full return on liquid assets (yield plus liquidity value) against the higher return associated with less liquid assets. Income derived from higher yielding assets may be offset if a forced sale, at less than book value, is necessary because of adverse balance sheet fluctuations. Seasonal, cyclical, or other factors may cause aggregate outstanding loans and deposits to move in opposite directions and result in loan demand, which exceeds available deposit funds. A bank relying strictly on asset management would restrict loan growth to that which could be supported by available deposits. The decision whether or not to use liability sources should be based on a complete analysis of seasonal, cyclical, and other factors, and the costs involved. In addition to supplementing asset liquidity, liability sources of liquidity may serve as an alternative even when asset sources are available. C. Liability Management Liquidity needs can be met through the discretionary acquisition of funds on the basis of interest rate competition. This does not preclude the option of selling assets to meet funding needs, and conceptually, the availability of asset and liability options should result in a lower liquidity maintenance cost. The alternative costs of available discretionary liabilities can be compared to the opportunity cost of selling various assets. The major difference between liquidity in larger banks and in smaller banks is that larger banks are better able to control the level and composition of their liabilities and assets. When funds are required, larger banks have a wider variety of options from which to select the least costly method of generating funds. The ability to obtain additional liabilities represents liquidity potential. The marginal cost of liquidity and the cost of incremental funds acquired are of paramount importance in evaluating liability sources of liquidity. Consideration m ust be given to such factors as the frequency with which the banks must regularly refinance maturing purchased liabilities, as well as an evaluation of the banks ongoing ability to obtain funds under normal market conditions. The obvious difficulty in estimating the latter is that, until the bank goes to the market to borrow, it cannot determine with complete certainty that funds will be available and/or at a price, which will maintain a positive yield spread. Changes in money market conditions may cause a rapid deterioration in a banks capacity to borrow at a favorable rate. In this context, liquidity represents the ability to attract funds in the market when needed, at a reasonable cost vis-Ã  -vis asset yield. The access to discretionary funding sources for a bank is always a function of its position and reputation in the money markets. Although the acquisition of funds at a competitive cost has enabled many banks to meet expanding customer loan demand, misuse or improper implementation of liability management can have severe consequences. Further, liability management is not riskless. This is because concentrations in funding sources increase liquidity risk. For example, a bank relying heavily on foreign interbank deposits will experience funding problems if overseas markets perceive instability in U.S. banks or the economy. Replacing foreign source funds might be difficult and costly because the domestic market may view the banks sudden need for funds negatively. Again over-reliance on liability management may cause a tendency to minimize holdings of short-term securities, relax asset liquidity standards, and result in a large concentration of short-term liabilities supporting assets of longer maturity. During times of tight money, this could cause an earnings squeeze and an illiquid condition. Also if rate competition develops in the money market, a bank may incur a high cost of funds and may elect to lower credit standards to book higher yielding loans and securities. If a bank is purchasing liabilities to support assets, which are already on its books, the higher cost of purchased funds may result in a negative yield spread. Preoccupation with obtaining funds at the lowest possible cost, without considering maturity distribution, greatly intensifies a banks exposure to the risk of interest rate fluctuations. That is why banks who particularly rely on wholesale funding sources, management must constantly be aware of the composition, characteristics, and diversification of its funding sources. Procedure for Examination of Asset Liability Management In order to determine the efficacy of Asset Liability Management one has to follow a comprehensive procedure of reviewing different aspects of internal control, funds management and financial ratio analysis. Below a step-by-step approach of ALM examination in case of a bank has been outlined. Step 1 The bank/ financial statements and internal management reports should be reviewed to assess the asset/liability mix with particular emphasis on. * Total liquidity position (Ratio of highly liquid assets to total assets) * Current liquidity position (Minimum ratio of highly liquid assets to demand liabilities/deposits) * Ratio of Non Performing Assets to Total Assets * Ratio of loans to deposits * Ratio of short-term demand deposits to total deposits * Ratio of long-term loans to short term demand deposits * Ratio of contingent liabilities for loans to total loans * Ratio of pledged securities to total securities Step 2 It is to be determined that whether bank management adequately assesses and plans its liquidity needs and whether the bank has short-term sources of funds. This should include * Review of internal management reports on liquidity needs and sources of satisfying these need.. * Assessing the banks ability to meet liquidity needs Step 3 The banks future development and expansion plans, with focus on funding and liquidity management aspects has to be looked into. This entails. * Determining whether bank management has effectively addressed the issue of need for liquid assets to funding sources on a long-term basis. * Reviewing the banks budget projections for a certain period of time in the future. * Determining whether the bank really needs to expand its activities. What are the sources of funding for such expansion and whether there are projections of changes in the banks asset and liability structure. * Assessing the banks development plans and determining whether the bank will be able to attract planned funds and achieve the projected asset growth. * Determining whether the bank has included sensitivity to interest rate risk in the development of its long term funding strategy. Step 4 Examining the banks internal audit report in regards to quality and effectiveness in terms of liquidity management. Step 5 Reviewing the banks plan of satisfying unanticipated liquidity needs by. * Determining whether the banks management assessed the potential expenses that the bank will have as a result of unanticipated financial or operational problems. * Determining the alternative sources of funding liquidity and/or assets subject to necessity. * Determining the impact of the banks liquidity management on net earnings position. Step 6 Preparing an Asset/Liability Management Internal Control Questionnaire which should include the following Whether the board of directors has been consistent with its duties and responsibilities and included o A line of authority for liquidity management decisions. o A mechanism to coordinate asset and liability management decisions. o A method to identify liquidity needs and the means to meet those needs. o Guidelines for the level of liquid assets and other sources of funds in relationship to needs. Does the planning and budgeting function consider liquidity requirements. Are the internal management reports for liquidity management adequate in terms of effective decision making and monitoring of decisions. Are internal management reports concerning liquidity needs prepared regularly and reviewed as appropriate by senior management and the board of directors. Whether the banks policy of asset and liability management prohibits or defines certain restrictions for attracting borrowed means from bank related persons (organizations) in order to satisfy liquidity needs. Does the banks policy of asset and liability management provide for an adequate control over the position of contingent liabilities of the bank. Is the foregoing information considered an adequate basis for evaluating internal control in that there are no significant deficiencies in areas not covered in this questionnaire that impair any controls. Guidelines on Asset-Liability Management (ALM) System -Amendments Reserve Bank had issued guidelines on ALM system vide Circular dated February 10, 1999, which covered, among others, interest rate risk and liquidity risk measurement / reporting framework and prudential limits. As a measure of liquidity management, banks are required to monitor their cumulative mismatches across all time buckets in their Statement of Structural Liquidity by establishing internal prudential limits with the approval of the Board / Management Committee. As per the guidelines, the mismatches (negative gap) during the time buckets of 1-14 days and 15-28 days in the normal course, are not to exceed 20 per cent of the cash outflows in the respective time buckets. 2. Having regard to the international practices, the level of sophistication of banks in India and the need for a sharper assessment of the efficacy of liquidity management, Reserve Bank of India has reviewed guidelines on 24th October 2007 and decided that : (a) the banks may adopt a more granular approach to measurement of liquidity risk by splitting the first time bucket (1-14 days at present) in the Statement of Structural Liquidity into three time buckets viz. Next day , 2-7 days and 8-14 days. (b) the Statement of Structural Liquidity may be compiled on best available data coverage, in due consideration of non-availability of a fully networked environment.Banks may, however, make concerted and requisite efforts to ensure coverage of 100 per cent data in a timely manner. (c) the net cumulative negative mismatches during the Next day, 2-7 days, 8-14 days and 15-28 days buckets should not exceed 5 % ,10%, 15 % and 20 % of the cumulative cash outflows in the respective time buckets in order to recognise the cumulative impact on liquidity. (d) banks may undertake dynamic liquidity management and should prepare the Statement of Structural Liquidity on daily basis. The Statement of Structural Liquidity, may, however, be reported to RBI, once a month, as on the third Wednesday of every month. 3. The format of Statement of Structural Liquidity has been revised suitably and is furnished. The guidance for slotting the future cash flows of banks in the revised time buckets has also been suitably modified and is furnished at Annex II. 4. To enable the banks to fine tune their existing MIS as per the modified guidelines, the revised norms as well as the supervisory reporting as per the revised format would commence with effect from the period beginning January 1, 2008 and the reporting frequency would continue to be monthly for the present. However, the frequency of supervisory reporting of the Structural Liquidity position shall be fortnightly, with effect from the fortnight beginning April 1, 2008. Asset Liability Management in Indian Context The post-reform banking scenario in India was marked by interest rate deregulation, entry of new private banks, and gamut of new products along with greater use of information technolog.To cope with these pressures banks were required to evolve strategies rather than ad hoc solutions. Recognising the need of Asset Liability management to develop a strong and sound banking.system, the RBI has come out with ALM guidelines for banks and FIs in April 1999.The Indian ALM framework rests on three pillars. Â · ALM Organisation (ALCO) The ALCO or the Asset Liability Management Committee consisting of the banks senior management including the CEO should be responsible for adhering to the limits set by the board as well as for deciding the business strategy of the bank in line with the banks budget and decided risk management objectives. ALCO is a decision-making unit responsible for balance sheet planning from a risk return perspective including strategic management of interest and liquidity risk. The banks may also authorise their Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) to fix interest rates on Deposits and Advances, subject to their reporting to the Board immediately thereafter. The banks should also fix maximum spread over the PLR with the approval of the ALCO/Board for all advances other than consumer credit. Â · ALM Information System The ALM Information System is required for the collection of information accurately, adequately and expeditiously. Information is the key to the ALM process. A good information system gives the bank management a complete picture of the banks balance sheet. Â · ALM Process The basic ALM processes involving identification, measurement and management of risk parameter.The RBI in its guidelines has asked Indian banks to use traditional techniques like Gap Analysis for monitoring interest rate and liquidity risk. However RBI is expecting Indian banks to move towards sophisticated techniques like Duration, Simulation, VaR in the future. For the accrued portfolio, most Indian Private Sector banks use Gap analysis, but are gradually moving towards duration analysis. Most of the foreign banks use duration analysis and are expected to move towards advanced methods like Value at Risk for the entire balance sheet.some foreign banks are already using VaR for the entire balance sheet. Conclusion ALM has evolved since the early 1980s.Today, financial firms are increasingly using market value accounting for certain business lines. This is true of universal banks that have trading operations.Techniques of ALM have also evolved.The growth of OTC derivatives markets has facilitated a variety of hedging strategies. A significant development has been securitization, which allows firms to directly address asset-liability risk by removing assets or liabilities from their balance sheets. This not only eliminates asset-liability risk; it also frees up the balance sheet for new business. Thus, the scope of ALM activities has widened. Today, ALM departments are addressing (non-trading) foreign exchange risks as well as other risks. Also, ALM has extended to non-financial firms. Corporations have adopted techniques of ALM to address interest-rate exposures, liquidity risk and foreign exchange risk. They are using related techniques to address commodities risks. For example, airlines hedging of fuel prices or manufacturers hedging of steel prices are often presented as ALM. Thus it can be safely said that Asset Liability Management will continue to grow in future and an efficient ALM technique will go a long way in managing volume, mix, maturity, rate sensitivity, quality and liquidity of the assets and liabilities so as to earn a sufficient and acceptable return on the portfolio.

Jarok as a Traitor :: Star Trek Defector Essays Papers

Jarok as a Traitor A creator of a web page has good intentions to display to the viewer the correct information, but there is no way to tell if the creator gives an accurate representation of the information. In the episode "The Defector", Jarok does not appear to be a traitor through his actions, but the way he represents himself clearly makes him a traitor. A traitor, as defined by Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, is one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty. A defector is defined as one who leaves a situation often to go over to a rival one. During the course of the episode, Jarok is a traitor to the Romulans, the Federation, and his daughter, although he is labeled in the title of the episode as a defector. During the episode, Jarok physically joins with the Federation, which can lead one to believe he is a defector. He may have crossed over for the good of everyone, but he betrayed his country at an ideological level. He gave information to the Federation, including details of the Romulan fleet, technology, and offensive. "Jarok said that he had seen reports, fee receipts, and work orders for the construction of a military base." (Smith 30 Jan. 1996) He, also, stole a ship and claimed he had no other option, but there were, most likely, other options he could have resorted to. Tomalak, the head of the Romulans remarked at the end of the episode, " You see, Picard, after we dissect your enterprise for every precious bit of information, I intend to display its broken hull in the center of the Romulan capitol as a symbol of our victory. It will inspire our armies for generations to come. And serve as a warning to any other traitor who would create ripples of disloyalty." ("The Defector" 1 4 Jan. 1990) The Romulans planted misinformation knowing Jarok might betray their trust. Jarok believed he had valid information, which placed even greater value on these top secrets he shouldn't have revealed to the Federation. When one obtains information from a web page, the information may not be the truth. After betraying his own country, he could have come over to the rival to act as a defector; instead he represented himself as a traitor to the Federation. By using a false name, it seemed he wanted to conceal his true identity to the Federation.

Energy Society Essay

The Kyoto Protocol The official name of the Protocol is The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an agreement by 165 countries for mandatory targets for the reduction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several fluorinated gases are believed to contribute significantly to global warming. The targets of the Protocol are primarily industrialized countries, which are expected to reduce their combined emissions to 95% of 1990 emission levels between 2008 and 2012. The Protocol was agreed on in 1997, although it only took effect in 2005. Between the years 1990 and 2000, the overall emissions of industrialized countries have been reduced by 3%, but largely because of the drastic reduction of emissions from former Soviet countries because of their failing economies. Other industrialized countries overall had an increase of 8% emissions. It is estmated that emissions from industrialized countries will be 10% above 1990 emission levels by the year 2010. For industrialized countries, the emission reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol is only around 5%, and many climate scientists are concerned that this is not enough to curb the effects of global warming. They believe that in order for the agreement to actually help solve the problem, the emission rates would be cut down by 60%. This has led to the opinion that the agreement lacks real value, more so without US backing. However, advocates believe that the Protocol lays out the groundwork for future negotiations. Emission reduction laws were already signed in many countries and would continue to take effect even when the Protocol itself has ceased to exist. â€Å"Happy Kyoto Day† – This site has an unusual approach to the problem of determining the Kyoto protocol’s merit. According to the author, â€Å"In and of itself, the Kyoto treaty won’t solve global warming or avert disastrous climate disruption.† The author states that the protocol is essentially a catalyst. It will put the world in an environmentally aware mindset—even if the Kyoto protocol fails, it will force the world to come up with something better. It will also encourage economic changes that strive towards greater efficiency and sustainability. Lastly, the protocol â€Å"is a symbol, a conscious step in the right direction for the planet. â€Å"Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?† – According to this site, â€Å"global warming alarmism† is indeed the â€Å"mother of all environmental scares.† The author states that it is definitely not settled whether human activity has had any significant effect on global warming; global warming is a theory, not a fact. Some effects of the Kyoto protocol would include â€Å"impoverishing the USA and creating intense disaffection within the ranks of the working classes.† Basic necessities would become very expensive. â€Å"Electricity would double in cost, fuel would skyrocket.† Lastly, the author claims that the Kyoto protocol is a political â€Å"device to lead the Social Communists closer to world dominion.† One of the worst effects that global warming could have would be the rise of sea levels, due to the melting of ice caps and to thermal expansion of the world’s waters. A hundred years from now, if the worst global warming predictions come true, millions of people will be displaced from their homes, which will be submerged. This will have drastic economic and cultural impacts. The effects of the mass displacement on the economy could reach far into the future. The loss of farmland, of business districts, etc. may spawn another (much worse) Great Depression in many areas. Forced cultural dispersion will be commonplace, making the ubiquitous problem of the generation gap much more considerable. Many people who would call themselves environmentalists would not necessarily have good knowledge of environmental issues. They may pay lip service to the environmentalist cause without inconveniencing themselves in any respect to protect it. But I would venture to say that a majority of those who call themselves environmentalists would be willing to go out of their way to ‘serve’ the world. However, it is certain that, as in other controversial issues, there would be much hypocrisy. If by ‘environmentalists’ we mean those who are—or claim to be—‘concerned’ about the environment, then certainly most of them would just be claiming belief in the cause, but be too lazy. In them would be an awareness of an ideal—the preservation of the environment—but a lack of initiative, probably because of the lack of any immediate incentives. References    Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Greenhouse Office, Available at: http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/international/kyoto/index.html The Kyoto Protocol, New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, Available at: http://www. climatechange.govt.nz/about/kyoto.html Cascio, Jamais, 2006, Happy Kyoto Day, Available at: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002119.html Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?, 2006, Available at: http://uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/e4978f31-0439-4b70-bbf3-f0ce93a09a42 Q&A: The Kyoto Protocol, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/ 4269921.stm The Kyoto Protocol – A brief summary, 2006, European Union, Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/climat/kyoto.htm Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Available at: http://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Kyoto_Protocol&oldid=80236719 Kyoto Protocol comes into force, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ science/nature/4267245.stm

Beauty is not so easily measured

While love is something that can be sensed as being palatable and felt directly within one’s self, beauty is not so easily measured—an aesthetic that is judged by each person according to his or her own likes or dislikes. Kawabata Yasunari’s classic short stories â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† and â€Å"Immorality† both look at love and beauty and how they are measured, each in a poetic and colorful way.â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† is a 1929 short story, or â€Å"palm of the hand story,† as Yasunari called them (Ljukkonen, online), about a film writer and his relationship to beauty via his movie that is being filmed, and via his relationship with his wife and children.   It is a story about beauty and this man’s relationship to beauty, and the psychological relationship he has to the idea of beauty and what is behind the idea of beauty.Yasunari wrote â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† as a first-person account from the film writer’s standpoint.   The man is on location for a film he has written about patients in a mental hospital, and is in the process of discovering a final scene for his film.   He finds it one morning while â€Å"gazing out on the Kamo River,† (Yasunari, 1929/1990, p. 128) upon waking, finding himself amid the memories of a previous day and recalling a mask that he had seen in a display window.   It is that image that gives him the idea for his final scene of the movie, â€Å"a daydream† (p. 129) filled with masks of smiling faces.The search for the masks to be used in the film becomes the central drama of the story—and the protagonist’s relationship to those masks once he takes them to his wife and children after the filming of the movie is complete.   The masks are delicate and the actors must handle them carefully.   Yet, there is some power within those masks.   The film writer decides to buy them so they can be handled with out fear of them being destroyed, and it is in the power of those masks that the protagonist realizes his own relationship with beauty.â€Å"Well then, I’ll buy them.   I did actually want them.   I daydreamed as if awaiting the future when the world would be in harmony and people would all wear the same gentle face as these masks.   (p. 131)His children love the masks, but he refuses to wear them.   His wife agrees to put one on, and it is in that moment that he discovers his true relationship to his wife’s beauty.   â€Å"The moment she removed the mask, my wife’s face somehow appeared ugly† (p. 131).   It is as though he is seeing her face for the first time—and his own idea of her beauty, or, in this case, the â€Å"ugliness of her own countenance† (p. 131).   As his wife lay in the hospital bed, he is faced not only with a new idea of beauty, but his own sense of self—one that might appear as â€Å"an ugly demonâ €  (p. 132) to his wife.   He would be exposed to his real self, his true nature.Psychologist C. G. Jung writes that the mask can be seen as the outer persona we show to the world, the way we want to be seen (Jung, 1929/1983, p. 96).   â€Å"The mask is the ad hoc adopted attitude, I have called the persona, which was the name for the masks worn by actors in antiquity† (Jung, 1921/1983, p. 98).   The narrator is forced to confront not only what lies behind his wife’s beauty/ugliness, but also his idea of his own beauty/ugliness.   The â€Å"beautiful mask† (p. 132) reveals another question, too:   whether or not the face he sees on his wife could be artificial, too, â€Å"just like the mask† (p. 132).   It’s a perplexing question, but one that reveals, like the mask, much about the filmmaker’s relationship to himself and his world.While the idea of beauty colors Yasunari’s 1963 â€Å"palm-of-the-hand† story †Å"Immortality,† the concept of eternal love is the central theme.   In this short story, two lovers have reunited after being apart for at least five decades—but their reunion comes in the afterlife, as they are now each dead.   Yasunari presents a portrait of an eighteen-year-old girl and a man sixty years her senior walking through some woods in a land they’d both known together while alive.   The scene is haunting as the girl is not aware the man has passed on into the afterlife until the end, when, upon that realization, the two â€Å"go into the tree and stay† (Yasunari, 1963/2005, p. 326).The love between the two has been eternal, in a sense—the girl killed herself because of her love for the man when they had to separate, and he wound up spending much of his life on the land overlooking that spot in the ocean where she died. The man has returned to the land where she died to reclaim her.   He wants to be with her forever.   However, he doesn’t know he is dead, and neither does she. Once she realizes he, too, is dead, they are able to reunite into eternity in nature, merging themselves into an old tree where they will live forever.Like â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile,† Yasunari uses the idea of beauty and the mask that we wear—Jung’s â€Å"persona†Ã¢â‚¬â€as an aspect of â€Å"Immortality.†Ã‚   The girl tells the old man, Shintaro, that she has lived in the afterlife with the image of him as a young man.   â€Å"You are eternally young to me,† (p. 325) she says, even though the man is now old.If I hadn’t drowned myself and you came to the village now to see me, I’d be an old woman. How disgusting.   I wouldn’t want you to see me like that.   (p. 325)For the girl, memories are important.   Her spirit carries them as she lives in the afterlife.   Scholar James Hillman says that memories are important for the soul, carrying with them e nergy that thrives for the departed person.   The girl realizes this, too, in a way:   â€Å"If you were to die, there wouldn’t be anyone on earth who would remember me,† she says (p. 325).The soul, they say, needs models for its mimesis in order to recollect eternal verities and primordial images.   If in its life on earth it does not meet these as mirrors of the soul’s core, mirrors in which the soul can recognize its truths, then its flame will die and its genius wither.   (p. 159)The girl imagines ugliness representing old age—that ancient mask we all wear once we have passed from the prime years of our life.   Even though the old man is wearing that mask, she doesn’t see it:   she has only her memories carried with her at the time of her death, so she sees him as an eighteen-year-old, also.   For the man, he never experienced his lover as an old woman; thus, her youth is indeed eternal for him.Yasunari uses few characters in both stories, keeping each â€Å"palm-of-the-hand† short and simple.   The narrator in â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† is joined by the mask buyer, his wife, and his children in the tale, while it is only Shintaro and his young lover in â€Å"Immortality.†Ã‚   We do not see deeply driven characterization in either story, as Yasunari essentially paints portraits of each actor through their thoughts and actions.   Like a beautiful painting of a sunset or sunrise, we must use our imagination amidst the texture and colors of the painting to grasp its deeper meaning.Indeed, Yasunari’s beautiful use of words shines in both stories in his colorful imagery.   It is simple:   â€Å"An old man and a young girl were walking together,† he writes to begin â€Å"Immortality.†Ã‚   He ends that story almost the same way he begins â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile†Ã¢â‚¬â€with the picture of the sky.The color at evening began to drift onto the smal l saplings behind the great trees.   The sky beyond turned a faint red where the ocean sounded.   (p. 326).â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile,† on the other hand, begins with the image of the sky as well.   â€Å"The sky had turned a deep shade; it looked like the surface of a beautiful celadon porcelain piece† (p. 128).   It is a daydream of sorts, a beautiful portrait into which Yasunari takes the reader as he moves through the inner world of the film writer.Both stories are magical.   It is the â€Å"magic of those trees† (p. 325) that captures the imagination of Shintaro and his young lover.   Those trees are part of land his family owned, and he later sold to the men who turned the land into a golfer’s driving range.   The trees are on land overseeing the ocean where the girl jumped to her death.   Trees are sacred and magical in many mythologies.   Buddha gained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and many myths use trees as the focus for rebirth (Anderson, 1990, p. 25).   In the same regard, the ocean, too, is a mythical place:   from where gods and goddess reside and in the Greek legend Odysseus sailed before being reuniting with his lover (Anderson, p. 25).The magic of â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† comes in the healing properties of the masks.   It is through the image of the mask that the film writer is able to create an ending for his story—a â€Å"beautiful daydream† (p. 128) to conclude the â€Å"dark story† (p. 129).   The masks represent his own distrust of himself and the world around him, covering with an artificial beauty the truth that lies behind them.   The masks magically hide what is true and meant to be revealed—whether it is an â€Å"ugly demon† (p. 132) or an â€Å"ever-smiling gentle face† (p. 132).What is also interesting about â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile† is in how the film writer’s screenplay is based on a sce ne inside a mental hospital.   We learn later that his wife is in a hospital of sorts—and we never learn the exact nature of her illness.   Could it be a mental hospital?   And might her hospitalization also be a reflection of his â€Å"gloomy† personality (p. 129)?   He’s afraid of what is hiding behind the masks—so much that his initial reaction to putting on the mask himself is fear.   â€Å"The mask is no good.   Art is no good† (p. 132).   Masks and art each reveal the hidden dimensions.   The film writer himself uses his films to balance his own â€Å"gloomy† personality.   Yet the shadows of life are revealed through film and art, and are experienced in hospitals.   Each is an aspect of â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile.†Yasunari gives much to think about regarding our relationship to each other and ourselves in â€Å"The Man Who Did Not Smile,† and to our relationship with the magic of eternal love in â€Å"Immortality.†Ã‚   Both reveal the hidden aspects of our existence on earth, offering us a short look at the feeling of living in a world of melancholy and loneliness amid what we call beauty.   Our own mortality rises from the depths of eternity through these stories, and it is in the hidden beauty of our daily lives that Yasunari’s works can be realized.BibliographyAnderson, William.   (1990).   Green man:   The archetype of our oneness with the earth.London:   HarperCollins.Hillman, James.   (1996).   The soul’s code.   New York:   Warner Books.Jung, C. G.   (1983). Definitions.   (R. F. C. Hull,Trans.). In   A. Storr (Ed.). The essentialJung:   Selected writings.   (V. S. de Laszlo, Ed.) (Pp. 97-105).   Princeton:   Princeton University Press.   (Original work published 1921).Jung, C. G.   (1983). The relations between the ego and the unconscious.   (R. F. C. Hull,Trans.). In   A. Storr (Ed.). The essential Jung:à ‚   Selected writings.   (V. S. deLaszlo, Ed.) (Pp. 94-97).   Princeton:   Princeton University Press.   (Original work published 1929).Ljukkonen, Petri.   (2005).   Yasunari Yasunari.   Retrieved November 19, 2005 fromhttp://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/Yasunari.htm.Yasunari, Yasunari.   (1990).   The man who did not smile.   (L. Dunlop, Trans.).   InPalm-of-the-hand Stories.   (J. Martin Holman, Trans.).   (Pp. 128-132).   San Francisco:   North Point Press.   (Original work published 1929).Yasunari, Yasunari.   (2005).   Immortality.   In (G. Dasgupta, J. Mei, Ed).   Stories aboutus.   (Pp. 323-325).   Nashville:   Thomas Nelson Publishers.   (Original work published 1963).

Analysis of La Haecidia Treatment Facility essays

Analysis of La Haecidia Treatment Facility essays Whether or not a person is genetically or bio-chemically predisposed to addiction is a controversy that has been debated over the years amongst the scientific community. The Disease Concept suggests that addiction is an inherited disease, where the addict is permanently ill at a genetic level. Another theory advocates that addiction is a blend of physical and mental dependency of drugs and a pre-existing mental disorder, such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder to name a few. Although there is scientific proof to support these claims, it still remains a fact that these are just theories. Defining drug dependency and the level of addiction is first and most important step one should take before attempting any sort of treatment. A teenager who smokes 4 joints of marijuana is at a different addiction level than the 35 year old who has smoked 5 joints daily for the past 10 years of his life. Similarly, amongst cocaine users there are those who use it in binge fashion once or twice a month, and then those who use it a couple of times a day. With different addiction levels, different treatment levels are required. This is primary reason most individuals entering treatment relapse after a certain amount of time. Relapse should not be viewed as failure or either the individual or the treatment program. Since there are so many diverse methods of treatment, it is almost impossible to decide which one will suit an individual the best. In general, the more treatment approaches one tries, the closer he gets towards finding one that is best suited and will work best for him or her. After discovering which method of treatment is appropriate, the individual can follow through with several activities to enhance recovery such as being part of a support group, a religious involvement, exercise, and eating healthy. It is failure to follow these steps that cause an individual to go back to their drug habits. The relapse rate for heroin add...

The El Nino Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction

The El Nino Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction Often blamed for any and all out-of-the ordinary weather, El Nià ±o is a naturally occurring climate event  and the warm phase of the El Nià ±o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during which sea surface temperatures in the eastern and equatorial Pacific Ocean are warmer than average. How much warmer? An increase of 0.5 C or more in average sea surface temperatures lasting 3 months in a row, suggest the onset of an El Nià ±o episode.   Meaning of the Name El Nià ±o means the boy, or male child, in Spanish and refers to Jesus, the Christ Child. It comes from South American sailors, who in the 1600s, observed the warming conditions off the Peruvian coast at Christmastime and named them after the Christ Child. El Nio Happens El Nià ±o conditions are caused by a weakening of the trade winds. Under normal circumstances, the trades drive surface waters towards the west; but when these die down, they allow the warmer waters of the western Pacific to seep eastward toward the Americas. Frequency, Length, and Strength of Episodes A major El Nià ±o event generally occurs every 3 to 7 years, and lasts for up to several months at a time. If El Nià ±o conditions will appear, these should begin to form sometime in the late summer, between June and August. Once they arrive, conditions typically reach peak strength from December to April, then subside from May to July of the following year. Events are categorized as either neutral, weak, moderate, or strong. The strongest El Nià ±o episodes occurred in 1997-1998 and 2015-2016. To date, the 1990-1995 episode is the longest-lasting on record. What El NioMeans For Your Weather Weve mentioned that El Nià ±o  is an ocean-atmosphere climate event, but how do warmer-than-average waters in the far-off tropical Pacific Ocean affect weather? Well, these warmer waters warm up the atmosphere above it. This leads to more rising air and convection.  This excess heating intensifies the Hadley circulation, which in turn, disrupts circulation patterns around the globe, including things like the position of the jet stream.   In this way, El Nià ±o  triggers a departure from our normal weather and rainfall patterns  including: Wetter-than-normal conditions along coastal Ecuador, northwestern Peru, southern Brazil, central Argentina, and equatorial eastern Africa (during the months of December, January, February); and over the inter-mountainous U.S. and central Chile (June, July, August). Drier-than-normal conditions over northern South America, Central America, and southern Africa (December, January, February); and over eastern Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines (June, July, August). Warmer-than-normal conditions in southeast Asia, southeast Africa, Japan, southern Alaska, and west/central Canada, SE Brazil, and SE Australia (December, January, February); and along South Americas west coast, and again SE Brazil (June, July, August). Cooler-than-normal conditions along the U.S. Gulf coast (December, January, February). Current El NioForecast As of Fall 2016, El Nià ±o is has weakened and ended and a La Nià ±a Watch  is now in effect. (This simply means that the ocean-atmosphere conditions look favorable for La Nià ±a to develop.)   To learn more about La Nià ±a (cooling of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific) read What is La Nià ±a.

Amadeus Film Citique

The director fashioned an experience for viewers to become familiar with historical aspects of Mozart life and career, but also created imagery that aided in the embellishment of the composers relationships. A variety of these historical events were romanticizes for the sake of entertainment (Robbins). The film begins In the setting of young Mozart prodigy years, depicts his career as a highly acclaimed composer within Europe. The narrator is competing composer, Antonio Saltier.Amadeus plot, essentially, is Galleries solemn account of his constant rivalry, jealousy, and persistence to cause Mozart ultimate demise. The accuracy of two key relationships or events have been widely criticized within the isotonic, musical, and entertainment community. Most obvious is the dynamic of the relationship between Mozart and Saltier. In the film, Mozart is depicted as the bane of Galleries existence. Jealousy, disdain, and an eventual hunger for revenge backfires on the angst ridden musician.Saltier uses his political standing to influence the courts to contract Mozart to be resident musician, essentially working him to death (Amadeus). It Is evidenced, In letters from Mozart memoir that Saltier did lad In getting him this position, but not out of spite or with In bad conscience. There Is also scene in which Saltier uses his position to keep Mozart from receiving the job of being a prestigious music instructor for a European princess, but in reality, Saltier actually filled the position as a result of having more experience than young musician (Bloom, peg 263).Shaffer is said to have capitalized on Alexander Pushpins poetic drama, Motorcars I Slayers, which describes Saltier poisoning Mozart to death (Mormon). Historically, it is recorded that in the last hours of his life, Mozart requested for a choir composed of his dearest friends to privately perform his final piece, Requiem (Exultant). Although he had been commissioned by a private messenger to compose Requiem for a patrons funeral, his own early demise kept It him from completing It.Letters show that Mozart requested former student, Franz Summary, to complete It If he passed (leaflets). Conversely, the film ends In a moment of utter irony. Saltier is seated at Mozart deathbed, taking cues and direction from the ill historically legitimate, the portrayal of Mozart wife, Constance, depicts her in shambles as she continuously monitors Mozart in his ill state (Exultant). Fact and film, like, both show that the composer was overworked, but obsessed with his mission, and struggled to keep up with an ideal standard of living.After the musicians death, Constants still strove to provide the same standard of living for her family, and contact ed Summary to finish the Requiem so she could receive the payment originally promised by the private commissioner (Exultant). Interviews have provided insight as to why Shaffer and Foreman claimed such freedom with creativity concerning the accuracies and untruths concerning the film: From the start we agreed upon one thing: we were not making an objective Life of Knolling Mozart. This cannot be stressed too strongly.Obviously Amadeus on stage Nas never intended to be a documentary biography of the composer, and the film is even less of one. Certainly we have incorporated many real elements, new as well as true But we are also blatantly claiming the grand license of the storyteller to embellish his tale with fictional ornament and, above all, to supply it with a climax Noose sole Justification need be that it enthrall his audience and emblazons his theme. I believe that we have created Just such a climax for the film of Amadeus . Peter Shaffer (Robbins). Culturally, the film has made a noted impact on the modern music scene.Fall Out Boy, a popular rock band in the early sasss, referenced a conversation between the character, Saltier, and God in their song titled, From Now on, Were Enemies. Several other heavy metal bands reference the agony and internal conflict between the jealous musician and God, in their lyrics. More recognizable scenes from Amadeus have been parodied by various sitcoms and cartoons such as Family Guy, The Simpson, 30 Rock, and How I Met Your Mother (Root). In 1985, contributors of the film were awarded with eight different Oscar awards, accompanied by thirteen nominations in total. It was nominated for eight Golden Globe awards and won four. Shaffer and Foremans Amadeus, has maintained a position in the top 250 movies of all time, on Minds website, at 88th place (Midi). Rhea film, rated R, stylistically similar to a dramatic musical, and having historical relevance, appeals to nearly legal through more aged adults who are also educated and have heightened musical inclinations. Although younger adults may perceive the film through slightly different vantage points than older adults, most could equally relate as a result of the subject matter being relatively dated to the even the elder of the viewers.

Culture Analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Culture Analysis paper - Essay Example Moreover, Bollywood has been considered audience-oriented, though they have more emphasis on generating wealth. Bollywood is a term that is also applied in description of a physical location with certain characteristics, which are common among the other films produced in the same region Ganti (2). In this case, these characteristics comprises of song and dance, melodrama, emphasising on stars and spectacle, values of lavish production (Ginta, 3). Moreover, there are other theatrical variables integrated in the filmmaking such as sublimating and romanticism. Bollywood differs from Nollywood, which is a term derived from Hollywood, and it is a generic name for the firm industry in Nigeria. One of the similarities between these generic is that their name were derived from the term Hollywood. However, these industries have different global attention, which differs in terms of the effort made to create their distinct film tradition. For instance, Bollywood has achieved a more prolific and legendary attention from different parts of the world compared to Nollywood. On the other hand, Nollywood experiences government intervention through contribution to provide a favourable environment for film making industry. However, Bollywood is run by private sector through their efforts to fund and offer dominant producers and marketers. Nevertheless, Nigerian film industry has been perceived as a cultural product by other nations, though unlike Bollywood they experience indifferences of the government towards their industry. For instance, Nollywood fac es problems of being denied a status of foreign exchange cultural currency that can enhance their industry. Indian cinema has a long and wealthy history, some of which is common to Western audiences (Ginta, 2004). Similarly, American moviegoers are increasing but still have inadequate exposure to different forms of Indian films. Asian films hinters developmental

The skills and attributes required to manage a hotel Assignment

The skills and attributes required to manage a hotel - Assignment Example It can be argued that the hospitality industry has transformed itself from a product-focused business to a customer-focused one and from a physical-asset intensive business to an experience-centric one. In order to understand the skills that are required by managers and employees in a hotel to perform better it is important to understand the concept of competencies. Competencies can be described as factors that improve the performance of individuals in jobs. According to the definition provided by Woodruffe (1993), competency provides â€Å"provide the dimension against which people should be assessed for readiness or potential to move into jobs against which they should be appraised and upon which they should be developed†. Skills has been defined as parameters that helps in achieving environmental goals by maximizing certainty of achievement by minimizing cost and time spent (Wadongo, Kambona and Odhuno, 2011). In the past three decades, large number of researchers has focused on the importance of skills and competencies required to run hotels. Skills and competencies are important for both managers and graduates who chose to enter in the hospitality industry. The ability to take initiative has been identified as one of the biggest skills needed to run hotels on the part of managers. This is because initiative can be identified as a parameter that is able to gain support and motivation from others. Hotels are visited by customers from all over the world and managers needs to guarantee satisfaction for the guests. In order to manage the guests and provide them proper satisfaction managers need to have three major types of skills namely conceptual skills, technical skills and human skills. Requirement of skills are further dependent on the hierarchy of the organization and the type of work of the employees. This implies

The Fallacy of the American Dream. The Reservation Cab Driver and Essay

The Fallacy of the American Dream. The Reservation Cab Driver and Mexicans Begin Jogging - Essay Example Of the 300 million American citizens, close to 50 million of them do not have basic health insurance. This is such a travesty in a country that is the sole superpower and the most prosperous. With the onset of the latest episode of economic recession, the unemployment rate has touched an alarming 10 percent. The main characters in the two poems have highly insecure jobs and barely scrap-by for a living. Living hand-to-mouth on a perennial basis, the attainment of American Dream is a distant and implausible reality for these people. The Reservation Cab Driver is a man of Native Indian origin, whose rickety Malibu 65 also doubles up as his house. His rights for a basic social security blanket are taken away by the same government agencies such as Bureau of Indian Affairs and HUD, that were meant to provide benefits. Living a nomadic life as a Reservation Cab Driver and working 24 hours a day he cannot yet earn a subsistence wage. His condition typifies the status of Native Indians as a whole. Once the rightful inhabitants of the vast American continent, the arrival of European colonizers put an end to their peaceful existence. Ever since, nearly the entire population of Native Indians have been wiped out, with few remaining descendants such as the Reservation Cab Driver still struggling for survival. (Alexie, 2011, p.173)

Aeorodynamic and Myoeslastic forces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aeorodynamic and Myoeslastic forces - Essay Example â€Å"The glottis is the opening in the larynx that exists anteriorly (to the front) between the vocal folds and posteriorly (to the back) between the arytenoid cartilages. The part of the glottis between the vocal folds is known as the membranous glottis and the part of the glottis between the arytenoid cartilages is known as the cartilaginous glottis† {Mannel 2005] The function of the vocal folds in terms of closing and opening depends on the air pressure that is developed below and above the glottis. The glottal flow or glottal pulse remains zero when the phonation is in the closed phase, and the glottal pulse slowly increases during the opening phase of the phonation process. â€Å"The nature of phonation is such that the glottal pulses occurs as a series of pulses. The vibration has involves the pulse rate of the glottis with the additional function of the myoelastic and the aerodynamic forces. The combination of the elastic and the aerodynamic forces sets up as an oscillatory opening and closing of the glottis, causing what would otherwise be a steady air stream leaving lungs to be broken into a series of puffs of air many times per second †¦The sound that results form these puffs is called as phonation.†[Sherman Fitch III 1986]. The myolelastic and aerodynamic force initiates the vibration of the vocal folds. This aerodynamic forces initiates the vibrations of the tissues†. [Courey [2003]

Value Risk Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Value Risk Management - Case Study Example TechWatt shall use it starting by doing our Value Study (this Study) during the Headquarters briefing stage preparations. Assuming the Value Study validates that it is a good idea to follow through and do our HQP, we shall carry out the Risk Management Study after awarding the architect-design contract, but before site set-up. The following advice is among RIBA guidelines. Architects (VRM professionals) and clients need to make and use a Plan of Work. They must work closely to form a good team for a successful project, and to be sure that all project team-mates know the information they must provide and their clearly-defined responsibilities. This VRM Study is our set of working ideas at TechWatt to use for a smart plan, to optimise value and minimise risk, to foresee some possible problems and consider ways to deal with them, and to lose no value to risks; or lose as little value as possible. Our business wants a new headquarters that is valuable to us now and in the future. First, we must consider many things including at least: future growth and financial stability, our company's needs, the location and costs of a new headquarters, and the monetary and non-monetary benefits we expect from moving into a new headquarters. To keep optimum value we must make and follow a Plan of Work with our architect. Our Plan must include and address negative situations or risks that can take away value. This Study leads to the following Plan of Work (in this order): - TechWatt's Strategic Briefing which states requirements for a Headquarters facility - a Project Briefing that has Outline Proposals by the Design Team (based on a review and further development of ideas in the Strategic Briefing) - Detailed Proposals that build on the ideas outlined in the Project Briefing Each step moves nearer to design and site development. The Risk Management part of this VRM Study suggests ways and back-up plans to minimise loss from risk. TechWatt's professional business is making hardware & software products. With no appreciable experience in facility construction, we will rely greatly on our architectural Design Team. Value Management We seek "value" at TechWatt, for the present and the future. We must clearly define what value is. RIBA makes clearly defining value a high priority in projects. It is the project vision so all on the project team work for the same goal. So, as early as possible and from the start, TechWatt must define "value" so the architect-design-construction team can work to achieve value. It becomes the centre of the Pre-Project Briefing, the Plan of Work and is designed into our headquarters. Value is the compass giving direction to all activity. Pre-Project Briefing: Do good appraisals (RIBA Work Stage A) We must carefully consider and appraise options to make Headquarters. We'll brainstorm the definition of value in the Pre-Project Briefing and put those ideas into our Strategic Brief to give to our architect-design team partners. Lacking experience in this area, we shall depend heavily on our design participants for expert advice during the Pre-Project Briefing (PPB). The PPB is a good starting point for all parties. TechWatt's key participants will include top management and other resident experts who should help appraise needs for a new facility and moving into it. We need similar participation by

The Fallacy of the American Dream. The Reservation Cab Driver and Essay

The Fallacy of the American Dream. The Reservation Cab Driver and Mexicans Begin Jogging - Essay Example Of the 300 million American citizens, close to 50 million of them do not have basic health insurance. This is such a travesty in a country that is the sole superpower and the most prosperous. With the onset of the latest episode of economic recession, the unemployment rate has touched an alarming 10 percent. The main characters in the two poems have highly insecure jobs and barely scrap-by for a living. Living hand-to-mouth on a perennial basis, the attainment of American Dream is a distant and implausible reality for these people. The Reservation Cab Driver is a man of Native Indian origin, whose rickety Malibu 65 also doubles up as his house. His rights for a basic social security blanket are taken away by the same government agencies such as Bureau of Indian Affairs and HUD, that were meant to provide benefits. Living a nomadic life as a Reservation Cab Driver and working 24 hours a day he cannot yet earn a subsistence wage. His condition typifies the status of Native Indians as a whole. Once the rightful inhabitants of the vast American continent, the arrival of European colonizers put an end to their peaceful existence. Ever since, nearly the entire population of Native Indians have been wiped out, with few remaining descendants such as the Reservation Cab Driver still struggling for survival. (Alexie, 2011, p.173)

Value Risk Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Value Risk Management - Case Study Example TechWatt shall use it starting by doing our Value Study (this Study) during the Headquarters briefing stage preparations. Assuming the Value Study validates that it is a good idea to follow through and do our HQP, we shall carry out the Risk Management Study after awarding the architect-design contract, but before site set-up. The following advice is among RIBA guidelines. Architects (VRM professionals) and clients need to make and use a Plan of Work. They must work closely to form a good team for a successful project, and to be sure that all project team-mates know the information they must provide and their clearly-defined responsibilities. This VRM Study is our set of working ideas at TechWatt to use for a smart plan, to optimise value and minimise risk, to foresee some possible problems and consider ways to deal with them, and to lose no value to risks; or lose as little value as possible. Our business wants a new headquarters that is valuable to us now and in the future. First, we must consider many things including at least: future growth and financial stability, our company's needs, the location and costs of a new headquarters, and the monetary and non-monetary benefits we expect from moving into a new headquarters. To keep optimum value we must make and follow a Plan of Work with our architect. Our Plan must include and address negative situations or risks that can take away value. This Study leads to the following Plan of Work (in this order): - TechWatt's Strategic Briefing which states requirements for a Headquarters facility - a Project Briefing that has Outline Proposals by the Design Team (based on a review and further development of ideas in the Strategic Briefing) - Detailed Proposals that build on the ideas outlined in the Project Briefing Each step moves nearer to design and site development. The Risk Management part of this VRM Study suggests ways and back-up plans to minimise loss from risk. TechWatt's professional business is making hardware & software products. With no appreciable experience in facility construction, we will rely greatly on our architectural Design Team. Value Management We seek "value" at TechWatt, for the present and the future. We must clearly define what value is. RIBA makes clearly defining value a high priority in projects. It is the project vision so all on the project team work for the same goal. So, as early as possible and from the start, TechWatt must define "value" so the architect-design-construction team can work to achieve value. It becomes the centre of the Pre-Project Briefing, the Plan of Work and is designed into our headquarters. Value is the compass giving direction to all activity. Pre-Project Briefing: Do good appraisals (RIBA Work Stage A) We must carefully consider and appraise options to make Headquarters. We'll brainstorm the definition of value in the Pre-Project Briefing and put those ideas into our Strategic Brief to give to our architect-design team partners. Lacking experience in this area, we shall depend heavily on our design participants for expert advice during the Pre-Project Briefing (PPB). The PPB is a good starting point for all parties. TechWatt's key participants will include top management and other resident experts who should help appraise needs for a new facility and moving into it. We need similar participation by

Meaning of life - Soul Essay Example for Free

Meaning of life Soul Essay Personhood Chart This chart contains a grid for different philosophical anthropologies that answer the question of personhood. Complete the following chart in the context of defining what it means to be human according to Christianity, Materialism, and your own Personal View. Refer to the assigned reading for explanation of characteristics listed on the left. Christianity Materialism Personal View Relational God created human beings to live in community. When people lose that sense of love and belonging, they lose their meaning and purpose in life. God created family and the neighbor to be provide the human with the relationship needed for hope and healing. In order to carry out production and exchange, people have to enter into very definite social relations, most fundamentally production relations. Relationships with others should be based off of the materials in which they can provide you with the benefit a person the most. I believe everyone steps into our lives for one reason or another- either good or bad and we need to be the ones to differentiate between the two. Each relationship provides us with a sense of love and understanding on the purpose of our life. Multidimensional There is a vibrant sense of the person in relationship to God and the world through the bodily senses and functions. The body, soul, mind, spirit and even the various body parts are expressions of the wholeness that is the human self. Humans are material objects. They are not immaterial things, or objects, or substances; neither do they contain as parts immaterial selves or souls or entelechies. Their parts are material: flesh and bones and blood, molecules, atoms, electrons. A human is more than a corpse. We are multidimensional and each dimension is important in who we are and how we act in society. Â © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Sexual Jesus showed us that we are sexual beings. Sexuality encompasses the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of our being. Man and women are supposed to stay faithful to each other and not commit adultery. It is believed to be a physical act between two individuals that creates energy and may result in the creation of a child through scientific means. Sexual behavior affects not only a person’s physical health but also self- image, interpersonal relationships and relationship with God and others. Moral We should choose to act based on good thinking, Scripture and prayer, and the Holy Spirit helps us discern the right alternatives. God knows our intentions are to please him and desire the best moral outcomes for all. The brain and body are a dynamic system interacting with the environment. There is no non- physical entity which could take credit or blame for the outcome of our actions. We learn our morals through trial and error as well as through the relationships we have with others. If we surround ourselves with ethically individuals we too with be ethical. Mortal We are mortals, but God has given us eternal life in Jesus Christ. We die, and yet we live. Poor stewardship of the life God has given us may well exacerbate the death and decay that surround us In order for human beings to survive and continue existence from generation to generation, it is necessary for them to produce and reproduce the material requirements of life Mortality is unavoidable yet difficult. Once someone dies their soul will either go to Heaven or to Hell. Destined for Eternal Life Destined for eternal life: Eternal life is the life one lives after death. By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul There is no such thing as eternal life. Life begins when the heart starts beating and ends with the heart stops beating. I believe that those who believe will live an eternal life and that those who do not will not. 2 References Plantinga, Alvin. (2010) Materialism and Christian Belief. Retrieved from http://www. andrewmbailey. com/ap/Materialism_Christian_Belief. pdf Shelly, J. , Miller, A. (2006). Called to care: A Christian worldview for nursing (2nd ed. ). Downers Grove, Ill. : IVP Academic/Intervarsity Press.

Working Capital Affect on Performance of Retail Industry

Working Capital Affect on Performance of Retail Industry 1.1 Introduction: The main aim of this dissertation is to study how working capital management affects the performance of retail industry. This dissertation concentrates on one of the important areas of finance the working capital management. Working capital management is the management of both the current assets and current liabilities. Management of working capital is considered as an important function for any kind of organization. Without proper management of working capital the company cant perform their day to day operations smoothly. So each organization in the industry performs several activities to manage their working capital as efficiently as possible in order to compete from each other. Companies in retail industry depends heavily on working capital for their daily operating activities and therefore it is essential for managing their working capital in order to gain profitability and also to avoid solvency. Improper management of working capital can also lead to bankrupt and there are also some retail companies in the past to explain this fact is true. The main problem and issue in working capital management it is to determine the optimum level to be maintained in the current assets and current liabilities and also to determine whether the firm should invest heavily in current assets or in fixed assets. These issues can seriously affect the profitability and liquidity of the organization and it should be carefully considered in order to compete in the industry. It is very necessary for the organization to know the level of funds to be invested in each component of the current assets such as cash, inventory, accounts receivable and marketable securities. Funds invested in current assets are generally turned back into cash in the end of the working capital cycle which is normally within one year. Therefore investing high or low in current assets affects the profitability and liquidity of the firm and it should be maintained in such a way which satisfies the exact needs of the business. It is also necessary to know how to investment these currents assets which are either by short term financing or by long term financing. For these decisions to be made efficient working capital management is essential. It has been discussed in many journals that working capital management has a direct relationship with the profitability and liquidity of the organization. Therefore managing the working capital components is very critical to maintain the firm profitability and liquidity. For example in the case of cash which the company holds if it holds more it is going to lose the profit which can be earned by investing the excess cash in current assets and if the company has low level of cash it is going to miss the business opportunities when they arrive. In the case of inventory investing more in inventory can reduce the profit if the company cant able to sell the goods quickly and also investing less in inventory can lead to loss of sales. Accounts receivable and account payable also has a huge impact on the profitability of the firm. The company credit policies have a great impact on the volume of good sold. If the firm grants a longer credit period for the customers it is going to encourage the sales which thereby increase the profit. On the other hand companys which delays the payments to their suppliers can use that cash for in some other asset and could earn from that investment. But delaying the payment should not exceed the granted period given by the suppliers otherwise the firm may lose the discounts provided by the supplier for early payments. The main objectives of this study is to, To measure the working capital management performed in retail companies and then analysing the performance of retail companies. To determine the working capital cycle for the retail company. To determine what kind of working capital policy is practiced in retail industry. To determine whether the working capital management practices really affects the profitability of the firm. The first chapter of this dissertation is the introduction which is a short description explaining the basic idea behind this research. It will give the problems and issues associated with the research topic and it also explains the aims and objectives accomplished by this research. The second chapter is the literature review which discussed the theoretical concepts in working capital management. This chapter explains the importance of working capital management, the working capital cycle and the different working capital approaches followed in different industries. It also explains the management of each of the working capital components such as cash, inventories, accounts receivable and marketable securities in detail and the objectives satisfied by managing these working capital components. In the end of this chapter the various sources which finance the working capital are discussed. The third chapter is the research methodology which explains the research methodology adopted for this dissertation. It explains what kind of research method followed in this dissertation and also shows the different data collection methods and tools used to complete the dissertation. The fourth chapter is the findings and analysis. In this chapter the performance of the retail industries is analysed and then the findings are discussed. The different analyses performed in this chapter are ratio analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. By ratio analysis the performance of the retail companies are analysed and then by correlation and regression analysis it is analysed to see whether the inventory holding days, accounts receivable days, accounts payable days and cash conversion cycle affects the return on capital employed. Finally the last chapter concludes and gives recommendation based on the results analysed. 1.0 Working Capital: Working capital is the capital which satisfies the short term financial requirements of any business enterprise. It is capital which is engaged in the operations of the business for not more than one year. Every organization whether it is profit oriented or not needs working capital for the day to day operations of the business. Managers when making investment decisions not only plans for the long term such as buying new building or machine but also considers the need to have additional current assets in the short term for any expansion of activity that the organization is planning to do. For example if the organization is planning to increase the level of production the organization needs to hold a greater level of raw materials similarly if the organization increases the sales there will be an increase in level of debtors. All these investment decisions can bring the organization to level of risk. So it is very necessary for an organization to manage this working capital effectivel y to avoid the company fall into risk (Mclaney 2006). 1.1 Importance of Working Capital Management: The management of working capital is very important for several reasons. According to Padachi (2006), working capital management is very important for the financial health of the business of any size. He also suggested that the funds invested in the working capital are high in proportion to the total assets employed. Therefore it should be managed in effective and efficient way. Also working capital management directly affects the liquidity and profitability of the firm. Therefore managing the working capital should be done in such a way that it should create a balance between the liquidity and profitability (Falope, I and Ajilote, T 2009). The main advantage of working capital management is the flexibility of it. That is it has the ability to change with the rise and fall in seasonal demands of the product or service, and with the rise and fall in economic and market conditions (Mathur, B 2003). Largay, A and Stickney, P (1980) studied the bankruptcy case of a large retail store in the year 1980. From their study they found that the bankruptcy should have occurred because of the poor cash flow from their operation during the last few years of their bankruptcy. So managing the working capital is very necessary for the survival of the business 1.2 Components of Working Capital: Working capital which is also called as current capital or circulating capital is the capital that the managers put it to work for the day to day operations of the organization. There are two important concepts in the working capital management that is the gross working capital and the net working capital. Gross working capital is the capital that includes only the current assets used in the day to day operations of the organization and net working capital is the capital which includes the current assets less the current liabilities. The components which comprise the current assets are the following, (Brigham, F and Houston. F 2007). Cash Marketable Securities Inventories Accounts Receivables These currents assets are financed using the following sources such as, Accruals Accounts Payable Short term bank loans Commercial paper etc. The degree to which an organization invests in current assets depends on several factors such as the type of business and products the organization do. For example retail companies mostly invest a lot of funds in their current assets such as inventory and they invest less in long term assets such as buying plant and equipment. But in the case of some manufacturing companies more is invested in long term assets such as machines and equipment as they are very necessary for the organization. The length of operating cycle also is an important factor. The longer the operating cycle the more is invested in the current assets. The level of uncertainty in the business also is one of the important factors. So depending upon the industry practices the organization invests more in current assets or in long term assets (Fabozzi, J 2003). . 2.0 Working capital cycle: Working capital cycle is the time taken for the capital invested by the organization turning back into cash. Generally the working capital cycle for a manufacturing business starts when the organization buys the raw materials on credit followed by working on these raw materials to produce the final goods, and selling of the finished goods. During this cycle the organization also needs to pay the creditors. As the organization sells the final product on credit, the debtors are increased and when the customers started to pay it will increase the amount of cash in the business (Myddelton, D 2000). Retailers Supplier Inventory Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Customers Payment Payment Payment Payment Figure1: Working capital cycle of a Retail Business (Reynolds, Cuthbertson and Bell 2004) The above figure shows the general working capital cycle of a retail business and it explains how the operating process is performed in a retail business. The first stage in the operating process is where the suppliers provide the merchandise to the retailers. Large retail companies manufacture their own products under their brand name. After all the merchandise is received from the suppliers the retailers makes the store ready, and other arrangements for the received products to be sold. The products which are available to be sold become the inventory. In the next stage the customers buys the products which generates cash into the company (Reynolds, Cuthbertson and Bell 2004). 2.1 Cash Conversion Cycle: An important cycle which is embedded in the working capital cycle is the cash conversion cycle. When the organization buys raw materials from their suppliers they dont pay them immediately. They usually have a credit period contracted by the supplier and before that they need to pay. This is known as the creditors payment period. Also not all customers pay the cash immediately when they buy a product. Some buy them on credit and they should pay the certain amount within a particular period. This period which is granted by the business to the customer is known as the debtors payment period. The gap between these two periods is known as the cash conversion cycle. It is the cycle where the invested cash that is the cash invested in the suppliers turns back into cash when the customers pay the money during the debtors collection period (Arnold 2005). Raw Material Stock Period Work-in Progress Period Finished goods inventory period Debtor Collection Period Creditor Payment Period Stock Conversion Period Cash Conversion Cycle Figure2: Cash Conversion Cycle (Arnold 2005) The above figure shows the cash conversion cycle. The length of the cash conversion cycle depends on three factors, Stock conversion period Debtor collection period Creditor payment period Stock conversion period is the period where the raw material bought from the supplier are processed and converted into finished goods. Therefore the duration of a cash conversion cycle is found by, Cash conversion cycle = Stock Conversion period + Debtors collection period – Creditors payment period In an article Jose, Lancaster and Stevens (1996) suggest the importance of cash conversion cycle in the profitability and liquidity of the organization. They explained that for an aggressive approach to liquidity management the organization should reduce the cash conversion cycle by reducing their inventories and debtor collection period while increasing their creditors payment period. Managing the cash conversion cycle this way may involve tradeoffs between liquidity and profitability. If the business reduces the inventory and the debtors collection period they will lose the sales because of stock running out so early and also losing customers who usually buys in credit. Also if the firm increases the creditor collection period they will lose the discounts available for early payments and also the flexibility of pay debts in the future. So cash conversion holds an important role in maintaining the liquidity and profitability of the organization. 3.0 Working capital policy: Working capital policy is the policy made by the organization for making decisions on two important things, which are how much should the firm invest in each component of current assets and how these investments should be financed. Any business for managing their working capital efficiently should make decisions on what level of cash they should hold, what level of inventory they should maintain, what level of accounts receivable can be allowed and they should also decide whether to finance these current assets either with short term funds or with long term funds. These decisions made by the organization together make up the working capital policy (Correia et al. 2007). According to Vishnani and Shah (2007) working capital policies had a great impact on the firms performance. They suggest the importance of working capital policies for maintaining the firms liquidity and profitability. An unnecessary investment in current assets can reduce the rate of return thereby affecting the prof itability. Also it is very necessary for maintaining the liquidity for a normal running of the business. If the firm holds too much liquidity it explains that the firm is not using its funds efficiently and on the other hand if they have inadequate liquidity it will affect their credit worthiness. So it is very essential to determine the optimal level of working capital. 3.1 Permanent and Temporary Working Capital: A working capital policy is affected because of the firms varying requirements of current assets. The working capital requirements of a firm do not always remain stable through out the year and it varies from time to time. Because of the seasonal demands of some product the firm changes their level of production and holdings of inventories. Due to these conditions the currents assets in the firm also varies. But a certain amount of current assets is always maintained regularly in the business to meet the minimum day to day operations of the business to continue without any difficulties. This minimum requirement of current assets is known as the permanent working capital. On the other hand the amount which is invested in current assets due to the varying seasonal requirements is known as the temporary working capital (Van Horne, C and Wachowicz, M 2008). Amount of working capital Permanent working capital Temporary working capital Time Figure 3: Permanent and Temporary working capital (Source: Van Horne, C and Wachowicz, M 2008) Generally permanent working capital remains the same for whole year and the temporary working capital is the one which varies over time. But for some growing business the permanent working capital also rises steadily over time to meet the expansion activities of the business which is described by the figure above. 3.2 Approaches in Working Capital Policies: There are three different approaches in working capital policies and they are moderate, aggressive and conservative approaches. A firm which follows a moderate approach uses both long term and short term financing to finance their assets. The main aim of this moderate approach is to create a balance between the risk and the return. The firm which follows an aggressive approach tends to use a more of short term funds and less of long term funds to finance its current assets. Even though short term interest rates are lower than long term interest rates short term financing is more risky than long term financing because they should be paid off in a short time period. Therefore following an aggressive approach increases the risk of liquidity and it also increases the possibility of higher profits. The firm which follows a conservative approach uses a less of short term funds and more of long term funds. Therefore it reduces the liquidity risk and also the possibility to achieve higher pr ofits (Gallagher, J and Andrew, D 2007). Weinraub, J and Visscher (1998) examined the relative relationship between the aggressive and conservative approach by studying on ten different industry groups and found that each of these industries were following a unique and different working capital management polices. From their research they also found that the relatively aggressive working capital management appear to be balanced by the relatively conservative working capital management. 3.3 Factors Determining the Working Capital Requirements: Financial managers should manage their working capital in such a way that it should not be surplus or excessive. For this the managers the managers need to know the working capital requirements of the organization to make sure to provide the perfect financing. The working capital requirements of any business depends among several factors and generally some of the factors which should be considered while determining the working capital requirements are the following (Banerjee 2005), Nature of the business: The general nature of the business itself affects the working capital requirements of the business. In the case of manufacturing industry they will invest significantly in both fixed and working capital. But in other industries such as trading and financing firms invest a small amount fixed assets and a large in working capital. Some firms needs to have a large amount of inventory and debtor balances because of their nature of business. Growth and Expansion of Business: The level of investments in working capital depends upon the size of the business. The more the business expands its activity the more working capital requirement is needed. Production Cycle: Production cycle is the period where the raw materials are converted into their finished product. The longer the period to convert these raw materials into finished product the larger is the working capital. Business Cycle: The business cycle is an important factor in considering the working capital requirement. The business has to pass through a period of good times and bad times such as recession. During the good times where the business is growing the business needs to increase their working capital requirements because of the increased sales and during the bad times the business needs to reduce their working capital because of reduced sales. Production Policy: The demands of certain products are seasonal in nature. So during the peak season the working capital requirements are higher while during the off-season the working capital is kept lower. Therefore depending upon the seasonal demands of the product or service the working capital requirements varies. Credit Policy: Credit policy has a direct impact on the working capital requirements. When the business reduces the credit period it will reduces the volume of sales which leads to the reduction of working capital requirements. But when the business grants a longer credit period it encourages the sales and there by needing to increase the working capital requirements. Price Level Changes: The varying price level also affects the working capital requirements. When the price level increases the business also needs to increase their working capital to maintain their same volume of activity. Operating Efficiency: Operating efficiency is an important factor to be considered by the business. The business can maintain their working capital to a minimum level only when they are able to manage or control their operating costs and utilise their working capital efficiently. 4.0 MANAGEMENT OF CURRENT ASSETS: As discussed before working capital management is the management of both current assets and the current liabilities. The main objective of working capital management it is to maintain an optimum balance of each of the working capital components and to develop the optimum level between the current assets and the current liabilities. The optimum level is the level where a balance is created between risk and efficiency (Filbeck and Krueger, M 2005). In the following paragraphs the management of currents assets such as cash, marketable securities, inventories and accounts receivables are discussed. 4.1 Cash Management: Cash management is defined as the management of cash inflows and cash outflows. The cash flows out of the firm when the business buys goods and services from its suppliers and cash flows into the firm when the customer pays for the product they purchased. The term cash refers the cash like assets like currency, bank balances etc. The cash is often considered as non earning assets because they do not provide earnings but the cash provides safety from insolvency. Cash is very important for the day to day operations of the business and to meet the liabilities when they are due (Besley and Brigham 2005). There are several reasons for a business to hold cash (Besley and Brigham 2005), Transaction balance: Cash balance is very essential for the operations of the business. Cash is used for paying their employees wages, buying raw materials, fixed assets, and also to pay their taxes. Compensating balance: It is the minimum bank balance that the firm should maintain for the services provided by the bank such as check clearing and cash management advice. Precautionary balance: It is the cash kept as reserve by the firm because the company cannot predict the future cash flow. The amount which is kept as reserve depends upon the predictability of the cash flow. The less cash predicted the more cash balance is maintained. Speculative balance: These are cash maintained by the firm to take advantage of any profit opportunity when arises in the business. Ferreira, A and Vilela, S (2004) suggest that the level of cash holdings is positively affected by the investment opportunity and cash flows of the firm and it is negatively affected by the liquid assets, leverage and size of the firm. Firms with high investment opportunity needs to hold a high level a cash to take the benefits of the immediate opportunities available to them and also if the firm has a unpredictable cash flow the firm holds a high levels of cash. On the other hand firms which has high level of liquid assets holds low level of cash because the firm convert the liquid assets into cash when they are needed. Also firms with higher leverage that is the ability of the firm to raise debts will hold less level of cash. And at last the size of the firm affects the level of cash holdings. Large firms hold less level of cash than smaller firms because borrowing funds by smaller funds is expensive when compared to larger firms. So smaller tend to hold more cash to avoid borrowin g funds. The two main goals of cash management practices is (Fabozzi, J 2003) To have adequate cash in hand to meet the immediate needs of the firms and To receive the cash from those to owe it as early as possible and to pay the cash which the business owes as late as possible. To determine the level of investment in cash is a very important function. The firm cannot hold too much cash because of the holding cost associated with it. Holding cost is the cost that the business would have earned if the cash is invested in some form of asset. The level of investment in the cash depends upon the firms liquid assets, debt levels, and rate of return and economic conditions. There are two models used by the firms to determine the adequate level of cash needed to be maintained. One is the Baumol model which assumes that the cash is used uniformly through the period and based on this assumption the amount of cash to be maintained is measured. But by the second model which is called as Miller model assumes that the cash flow varies in an unpredictable manner and based on this assumption the amount of cash to be invested is measured. These two models help in satisfying the first goal of cash management (Fabozzi, J 2003). To achieve the second goal of cash management which is to reduce the period cash inflow and to increase the period of cash outflow, several ways are being followed. The following techniques help reduce the period of cash inflow (Shim, K and Siegel, G 2000). Lockbox System- In this system the customer instead of mailing the check to the firm send their checks to a nearby post office box which is controlled by the firms bank. The firms bank then collects the check from the post office and deposits the check. Due to this process the time the check spends in the mail and also since the bank itself receives the check it avoids the time the check spends when received by the firm and thus saves the processing time of the checks in the firm. Pre-Authorised Debits- In this system the cash is collected from customers by obtaining permission from customers to have pre authorised debits automatically charged to their bank accounts. Thereby it eliminates the time the check spends in the mail and the processing time of the check. Wire Transfer- In this system the cash is transferred quickly between banks and thus eliminates the transferring time of the cash. Wire transfers are done though computer terminal and telephone. So far we have discussed the ways to reduce the period of cash inflow. Now lets discuss the ways to increase the period of cash outflow. Zero-balance account- Zero balance account as the name suggest it requires no balance. It is an arrangement between the bank and the firm to achieve controlled disbursement which is to pay exactly what the company owes. When the check is offered to the bank the bank just transfers the money from the firms account. By this system the firm can pay the exact amount which covers the check. This system also increases the period of cash flowing out (Bragg, M 2007). Payable through drafts- Payables through drafts is similar to the checks. But a draft works in a different way. When a draft is offered to the bank the bank sends to the firms which issued the draft and waits for its approval. Only after receiving the approval from the firm the bank deposits funds into the receivers account. Due to complex procedure when using drafts it takes a long time for the amount to be transferred in to the receiver account (Shim, K and Siegel, G 2000). 4.2 Management of Marketable Securities: Management of marketable securities is just a continuation of cash management. We know that cash does not earn any return so instead of holding these cash firms just invest these cash in marketable securities for a short period of time. When the firms feel that they need some they just convert these marketable securities back into cash. Depending upon the yield curve the security earns the return. When the yield curve rises the firm gains a higher return. For example if the firm invest in a security for one year period of time then the return it would be getting is measured by (Puxty, G and Dodds 1988) R = P2 P1 + I P1 Where R is the return, P2 is the maturity value of the security, P1 is the purchase price and I is the interest paid. There are several factors which the firms consider when investing on securities and they are as follows (Chandra 2005), Safety – The most important factor which the firm consider when investing in any kind of security is safety. The firm before investing in any security first checks whether they will get back the amount invested. T-bills or the treasury bills are considered as the safest investment because the obligation are promised by the government. But investing in other securities depends upon the type of security and the issuer. Liquidity- The liquidity refers to the ability of the investor to convert the security back into cash without acquiring any loss. For a traded security a large and active secondary market ensures liquidity while a non traded security liquidity risk is high. Yield- The yield represents the return which the security is going to gain by way of interest, dividend and capital gain. Maturity- Maturity represents the expiry time of the security. The longer the maturity period the higher will be the yield. But securities like t-bills provide a fixed return when they are matured. Some of the marketable securities where the firms generally invest are the following, (Fabozzi, J 2003) Treasury Bills- These are securities issued by the US government and as a maturity period of one, three and six months. Investing in this type of security is risk free but it provides a lower rate of return. Certificates of deposits- These are debts issued by the bank in large amounts and have a maturity period up to one year. Investing in this type of security is highly risky because some times the issuer will not pay the interest and principal as promised. Commercial paper- These are debts issued by firms in large amounts and have a maturity period generally up to thirty days. Investing in this security is also risky but this risk is minimized by the back up lines of credit offered by commercial banks. Commercial paper is very attractive because of the higher returns it provides than when compared to the return provided by t-bills. Holding cash and marketable securities offers both advantage and disadvantage for a firm. The advantage is, it reduces the transaction cost because there is no need to issue security or borrow cash and holding cash or marketable securities provides opportunities to take advantage of immediate growth opportunities. The disadvantage of holding cash and marketable security is the after tax return of both cash and marketable security is considerably very l