Thursday, October 31, 2019

4.Is the process of globalization undermining the authority of the Essay

4.Is the process of globalization undermining the authority of the state and removing it from its central role in International Relations - Essay Example (McGrew, 1998, p 219-243) Gilpin (1987, p19) argues that the process of globalisation is characterised by the interaction of economic and political issues between sovereign states. However, this [process of globalisation has been intensified because of the introduction of technology, better communication and better modes of travel between these countries. Liberal economists believe that globalisation assists in the process of building peace in the world. It encourages economic growth and also institutes order in the international arena. Kennedy (1993, p 12) also adds that the process of globalisation has shown how states no longer take up the central role in their individual economic process. This argument can be verified by the existence of a global economy. The forces affecting the global economy have very little to do with what is prevalent in specific countries. Additionally, the rate of flow on capital from the international arena into and out of specific countries also indicates how nations are loosing their central role. Because of globalisation in the business sector, politics in individual countries has to change to accommodate this new phenomenon,. Some of the arguments for against the denationalisation of states will be examined inn the essay below. These arguments will be based on their effect on state authority in international relations. Jackson and James (1999, p 34) describe the state as a community of persons that have the sole authority to exert physical force within a certain territory. This means that there are certain features that are distinct to states. If these features are eliminated then that particular state will not have a central role. These factors include; ONeill (2006, p13) says that the issue of globalisation has not undermined the states’ role because it has not hampered the issue of central political relations. A case in point is the European Union, where member states from various parts

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Marketing Mix Recommendations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Mix Recommendations - Essay Example Hygiene is one of the important factors within the food industry and consumers give highest priority to it. Therefore it is highly recommended that the company should only sell hygienic and fresh foods. The pricing should be done on the basis of cost plus pricing method and market penetration strategy can be followed to grab more market share. Regarding the promotional aspect, the company can effectively use television and newspaper advertisement as both the media have mass reach. Finally regarding the distribution, the company can appoint distributors and target food marts to distribute and sell their products. Memorandum Date: 18th October, 2012. Subject: Organic Food for the family Unit To: The Big Boss From: Consumer Research Department To maintain sustainability of a business, it is extremely important to keep hold on the present market share. However after a certain point of time it becomes essential to focus on the ways by which market share can be increased. Greater market sh are helps in increasing the brand recognition. There are some interesting facts about increasing market share. Increasing market share is important only when the company is earning more profits. However it does not have any importance when the market share has increased but the company is losing money. Now in the context of project, Mintel can increase the market share for organic foods and drinks market by considering modifications in their marketing mix. Hence following are the recommendations to Mintel for the primary rationale of attaining more market share. Product Recommendation For an organization to get success in the market place it is imperative to give highest priority to its product stagey (Mcgrath 1-5). Similarly for food industry product is the ultimate element for which a customer pays to the company. Study reveals that among 2000 people, 30 % of the respondents are highly concerned about the safety of foods. Hence for Mintel product strategy should be considered as t he central business strategy. Also the product strategy of an organic food company plays an important role in managing and handling the competition. Furthermore a sound product strategy will be responsible for exemplifying the path of success for Mintel. Now in the context of the study the target group of the company is the family unit, thus in order to cater to that segment the product strategy is vital. The study also reveals that among 181 people, who are living with a partner, 33 % respondents are highly aware of food security. Similarly among the married people 31% of them have high concerns and 47 % have average concern over the food hygiene. Therefore based on the available data, it is highly recommended that the company should only sell hygiene and fresh foods, which will also help them to build an unique selling proposition (USP). Price Recommendation In simple words price is the amount paid by the customer for gaining the ownership of a product from the seller (Kotler and Armstrong 282). Although the concept of price is very simple, but when it comes to actually value a product or service the notion does not exactly remain the same. A pricing strategy is defined as a course of action or an approach in order to achieve the marketing objectives of the company (Pride and Ferrell 318). Hence pricing strategy is crucial towards the acceptance of the product or service in the market plac

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Indias Financial Markets

Indias Financial Markets As all the Financial Markets in India together form the Indian Financial Markets, all the Financial Markets of Asia together form the Asian Financial Markets; likewise all the Financial Markets of all the countries of the world together form the Global Financial Markets. Financial Markets deal with trading (buying and selling) of financial securities (stocks and bonds), commodities (valuable metals or food grains), and other exchangeable and valuable items at minimum transaction costs and market efficient prices. Financial Markets can be domestic or international. The Global Financial Markets work as a significant instrument for improved liquidity. Financial Markets can be categorized into six types: Capital Markets: Stock markets and Bond markets Commodity Markets Money Markets Derivatives Markets: Futures Markets Insurance Markets Foreign Exchange Markets The Financial Markets play a major role in the Global Economy because it helps businesses to raise capital (in capital markets), they facilitate transferring of risk (in derivative markets), and they help international trade (in currency markets) to prosper. The International Stock Markets form a major part of the Global Financial Markets. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange, which started operating in continuous trade in the earlier part of the 17th Century. Some of the Important Stock Exchanges of the world are: The New York Stock Exchange (merged with Euro next): The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is a stock exchange based in New York City, USA that was incorporated in 1817. In terms of dollar volume, it is the largest stock exchange in the world, and in terms of the number of companies listed it is the second largest stock exchange in the world. The NYSE is also known as the Big Board. The indexes used in the NYSE are the NYSE Composite Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index. The NYSE functions under NYSE Euro next, the formation of which was the result of NYSEs merger with Archipelago Holdings and Euro next. Tokyo Stock Exchange: The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), incorporated in 1949, is located in Tokyo, Japan. In terms of monetary volume, The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest stock exchange in the world, only next to New York Stock Exchange. The indexes used in the TSE are Nikkei 225, Topix, and J30. NASDAQ: The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or NASDAQ, is an electronic stock market based in New York City, USA that was incorporated in 1971. The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. is the owner and regulator of NASDAQ. The main index used in NASDAQ is the NASDAQ Composite. London Stock Exchange: Established in 1801, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is one of the oldest and largest stock exchanges in the world. In terms of market capitalization, the London Stock Exchange was ranked 4th among all the other important stock exchanges in the world in March 2007. The London Stock Exchange is located in Paternoster Square near St. Pauls Cathedral, London. The stock market index of London Stock Exchange is the Footsie (FTSE). Euro next (merged with NYSE): Founded in 2000, Euro next N.V. is a pan-European Stock Exchange, which is based in Paris. In terms of market capitalization, Euro next ranks as the fifth largest stock exchange in the world. There was a merger of Euro next with the NYSE Group, which led to the formation of NYSE Euro next and it is the first global stock exchange. The main indexes used in Euro next are the Euro next 100 Index and the Next 150 Index. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE): Located in Mumbai, India and founded in 1875, the Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange of Asia. The main index of BSE is called the BSE Sensex (Sensitive Index) or the BSE 30. In terms of volume of transactions, the BSE was ranked as one of the top five stock exchanges in the world in 2005. Some terms that are used in the Global Financial Markets are: Geek, a Quant Grim Nerd, a Quant Quant Big Swinging Dick Rocket Scientist White Knight Today equity research has become a specialized activity, although confined to a very small segment of the market. It would be a little early to consider equity research as an independent business segment, but at the same time it must be appreciated that the value of equity research is being felt by the market. This is an interesting stage in the growth and development of equity research, especially in a situation where the traditional individual investor is unwilling to pay for vital stock related information while the institutional investor is already paying for research reports. The phenomenal growth of the financial markets over the last quarter of a century has meant that the very character of investment has changed with ever larger scales of market capitalization. The emergence of the Fund Manager as a new value addition in investment related financial services is actually a part of the growth and development of the institutional investor. The fund managers sole objective is to ensure maximum returns for his clients whose money he invests working in tandem with research inputs. The fund manager and his client are a vital part of the institutional investment process sustained by an advanced and research driven approach to capital market investment. Equity research still has some time to develop as a sustainable business model, but like any other research activity it has its limitations in developing into a booming business. Institutional investors are willing to pay ever higher amounts for in-depth and precise research in accordance with their requirements. Some of the modes of equity research are: Fundamental Analysis Technical Analysis Securities Market Analysis Index Momentum Analysis Securities Momentum Analysis Securities Chart Analysis India n Financial Market India Financial market is one of the oldest in the world and is considered to be the fastest growing and best among all the markets of the emerging economies. The history of Indian capital markets dates back 200 years toward the end of the 18th century when India was under the rule of the East India Company. The financial market in India today is more developed than many other sectors because it was organized long before with the securities exchanges of Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Kolkata were established as early as the 19th century. By the early 1960s the total number of securities exchanges in India rose to eight, including Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Kolkata apart from Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. Today there are 21 regional securities exchanges in India in addition to the centralized NSE (National Stock Exchange) and OTCEI (Over the Counter Exchange of India). The corporate sector wasnt allowed into many industry segments, which were dominated by the state controlled public se ctor resulting in stagnation of the economy right up to the early 1990s. Thereafter when the Indian economy began liberalizing and the controls began to be dismantled or eased out, the securities markets witnessed a flurry of IPOs that were launched. This resulted in many new companies across different industry segments to come up with newer products and services. A remarkable feature of the growth of the Indian economy in recent years has been the role played by its securities markets in assisting and fuelling that growth with money rose within the economy. This was in marked contrast to the initial phase of growth in many of the fast growing economies of East Asia that witnessed huge doses of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) spurring growth in their initial days of market decontrol. During this phase in India much of the organized sector has been affected by high growth as the financial markets played an all-inclusive role in sustaining financial resource mobilization. Many PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) that decided to offload part of their equity were also helped by the well-organized securities market in India. The launch of the NSE (National Stock Exchange) and the OTCEI (Over the Counter Exchange of India) during the mid 1990s by the government of India was meant to usher in an easier and more transparent form of trading in securities . The NSE was conceived as the market for trading in the securities of companies from the large-scale sector and the OTCEI for those from the small-scale sector. While the NSE has not just done well to grow and evolve into the virtual backbone of capital markets in India the OTCEI struggled and is yet to show any sign of growth and development. The integration of IT into the capital market infrastructure has been particularly smooth in India due to the countrys world class IT industry. This has pushed up the operational efficiency of the Indian stock market to global standards and as a result the country has been able to capitalize on its high growth and attract foreign capital like never before. Potential of India Financial Market India Financial Market helps in promoting the savings of the economy helping to adopt an effective channel to transmit various financial policies. The Indian financial sector is well-developed, competitive, efficient and integrated to face all shocks. In the India financial market there are various types of financial products whose prices are determined by the numerous buyers and sellers in the market. The other determinant factor of the prices of the financial products is the market forces of demand and supply. The various other types of Indian markets help in the functioning of the wide India financial sector. Features OF FINANCIAL Market in India: India Financial Indices BSE 30 Index, various sector indexes, stock quotes, Sensex charts, bond prices, foreign exchange, Rupee Dollar Chart Indian Financial market news Stock News Bombay Stock Exchange, BSE Sensex 30 index, SP CNX-Nifty, company information, issues on market capitalization, corporate earnings statements Fixed Income Corporate Bond Prices, Corporate Debt details, Debt trading activities, Interest Rates, Money Market, Government Securities, Public Sector Debt, External Debt Service Foreign Investment Foreign Debt Database composed by BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank, Investments in India Abroad Global Equity Indexes Dow Jones Global indexes, Morgan Stanley Equity Indexes Currency Indexes FX Gold Chart Plotter, J. P. Morgan Currency Indexes National and Global Market Relations Mutual Funds Insurance Loans Forex and Bullion Indian money market AS PER RBI DEFINITIONS A market for short terms financial assets that are close substitute for money, facilitates the exchange of money in primary and secondary market. Indian money market was highly regulated and was characterized by limited number of participants. The limited variety and instruments were available. Interest rate on the instruments was under the regulation of Reserve Bank of India. The sincere efforts for developing the money market were made when the financial sector reforms were started by the government. Money markets are the markets for short-term, highly liquid debt securities. Examples of these include bankers acceptances, repos, negotiable certificates of deposit, and Treasury Bills with maturity of one year or less and often 30 days or less. Money market securities are generally very safe investments, which return relatively; low interest rate that is most appropriate for temporary cash storage or short term time needs. The National Stock Exchange, where the stocks of the largest Indian. Corporations are traded, is a prime example of a capital primary market. Regarding timing, there is no hard and fast rule on this, but when describing debt markets, short term generally means less than one year, intermediate term means one to five years, and long term means more than five years. THE NATURE OF MONEY MARKETS In this we define money markets broadly to include all financial instruments easily converted to means of payment that are used by governments, financial institutions and nonfinancial institutions for short-term funding or placements. By convention, we limit our scope to instruments of less than one year maturity. The most important function of a money market is to provide a means whereby economic units can quickly adjust through cash positions. For all economic units (business, households financial institutions or governments) the timing of cash inflows is rarely perfectly synchronized or predictable in the short run. In addition to facilitating the liquidity management of economic actors, money markets fulfill a number of additional economic functions: Interest rates on money market instruments serve as reference rates for pricing all debt instruments; Governments or central banks use money market instruments as tools at monetary policy; Short-term interbank markets, finance longer-term lending when financial intermediaries transform maturities. Features of Money Market It is a market purely for short-terms funds or financial assets called near money. It deals with financial assets having a maturity period less than one year only. In Money Market transaction cannot take place formal like stock exchange, only through oral communication, relevant document and written communication transaction can be done. Transaction has to be conducted without the help of brokers. It is not a single homogeneous market, it comprises of several submarket like call money market, acceptance bill market. The components of Money Market are the commercial banks, acceptance houses NBFC (Non-banking financial companies). It is not a single market but a collection of markets for several instruments. It is a need-based market wherein the demand supply of money shape the market. Money market is basically over-the-phone market. Dealing in money market may be conductive with or without the help of brokers. It is a market for short-term financial assets that are close substitutes for money. Financial assets which can be converted into money with ease, speed, without loss with minimum transaction cost are regarded as close substitutes for money. The major players of money market Reserve Bank of India SBI DFHI Ltd (Amalgamation of Discount Finance House in India and SBI in 2004) Acceptance Houses Commercial Banks, Co-operative Banks and Primary Dealers are allowed to borrow and lend. Specified All-India Financial Institutions, Mutual Funds, and certain specified entities are allowed to access to Call/Notice money market only as lenders Individuals, firms, companies, corporate bodies, trusts and institutions can purchase the treasury bills, CPs and CDs. Money market instruments Money market instruments take care of the borrowers short-term needs and render the required liquidity to the lenders. The varied types of India money market instruments are treasury bills, repurchase agreements, commercial papers, certificate of deposit, and bankers acceptance. Treasury Bills (T-Bills) Treasury bills were first issued by the Indian government in 1917. Treasury bills are short-term financial instruments that are issued by the Central Bank of the country. It is one of the safest money market instruments as it is void of market risks, though the return on investments is not that huge. Treasury bills are circulated by the primary as well as the secondary markets. The maturity periods for treasury bills are respectively 3-month, 6-month and 1-year. The price with which treasury bills are issued comes separate from that of the face value, and the face value is achieved upon maturity. On maturity, one gets the interest on the buy value as well. To be specific, the buy value is determined by a bidding process, that too in auctions. Repurchase Agreements Repurchase agreements are also called repos. Repos are short-term loans that buyers and sellers agree upon for selling and repurchasing. Repo transactions are allowed only among RBI-approved securities like state and central government securities, T-bills, PSU bonds, FI bonds and corporate bonds. Repurchase agreements, on the other hand, are sold off by sellers, held back with a promise to purchase them back at a certain price and that too would happen on a specific date. The same is the procedure with that of the buyer, who purchases the securities and other instruments and promises to sell them back to the seller at the same time. Commercial Papers Commercial papers are usually known as promissory notes which are unsecured and are generally issued by companies and financial institutions, at a discounted rate from their face value. The fixed maturity for commercial papers is 1 to 270 days. The purposes with which they are issued are for financing of inventories, accounts receivables, and settling short-term liabilities or loans. The return on commercial papers is always higher than that of T-bills. Companies which have a strong credit rating, usually issue CPs as they are not backed by collateral securities. Corporations issue CPs for raising working capital and they participate in active trade in the secondary market. It was in 1990 that Commercial papers were first issued in the Indian money market. Certificate of Deposit A certificate of deposit is a borrowing note for the short-term just similar to that of a promissory note. The bearer of a certificate of deposit receives interest. The maturity date, fixed rate of interest and a fixed value are the three components of a certificate of deposit. The term is generally between 3 months to 5 years. The funds cannot be withdrawn instantaneously on demand, but has the facility of being liquidated, if a certain amount of penalty is paid. The risk associated with certificate of deposit is higher and so is the return (compared to T-bills). It was in 1989 that the certificate of deposit was first brought into the Indian money market. Bankers Acceptance A bankers acceptance is also a short-term investment plan that comes from a company or a firm backed by a guarantee from the bank. This guarantee states that the buyer will pay the seller at a future date. One who draws the bill should have a sound credit rating. 90 days is the usual term for these instruments. The term for these instruments can also vary between 30 and 180 days. It is used as time draft to finance imports, exports. It depends on the economic trends and market situation that RBI takes a step forward to ease out the disparities in the market. Whenever there is a liquidity crunch, the RBI opts either to reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) or infuse more money in the economic system. In a recent initiative, for overcoming the liquidity crunch in the Indian money market, the RBI infused more than Rs 75,000 crore along with reductions in the CRR. Call money market The call money market consists of overnight money and money at short notice for periods up to 14 days. It essentially serves the purpose of equilibrating the short-term liquidity position of banks. The call money market as a significant component of the money market possesses a few special characteristics:- Call money is an instrument for ultra-short period management of funds and is easily reversible. It is primarily a telephone market and is therefore, administratively convenient to manage for both borrowers and lender. Being an instrument of liability management, it provides incremental funds and adds to the size of balance sheet of banks. From the macro-side, developed call money market helps to smoothen the fluctuations in the reserve-deposit rations of banks thereby contributing to the stability of the money-multiplier process. A stable money multiplier in turn serves as a reliable means of monetary regulation and policy guide. From the micro angle, short-run borrowing by banks improves the efficiency of funds management in two ways. One way, it enables banks to hold higher reserve-deposit ratio than would be possible otherwise. In another way, it allows some banks to permanently increase their pool of investible funds. Hence, active well-organized call money market improves the funds management practices of banks which in turn further their overall efficiency and profitability. The money market continued to remain orderly during Q2 of 2009-10. Reflecting the surplus liquidity conditions, the call rate hovered around the lower bound of the informal LAF corridor during the Q2 of 2009-10). The call rate averaged 3.25 per cent in Q2, which was marginally higher than 3.22 per cent in Q1.Interest rates in the collateralized segments of the money market the market repo and the collateralized borrowing and lending obligation moved in tandem with the call rate during Q2 but remained below the call rate. The weighted average interest rate in the collateralized segment of the money market marginally increased to 2.7 per cent during Q2 of 2009-10 from 2.4 per cent during Q1. Transaction volumes in CBLO and market repo segments continued to remain high during Q2 of 2009-10 reflecting the easy liquidity and active market conditions. Banks as a group are the major borrowers in the collateralized segment whereas mutual funds (MFs) continue to remain the single largest len der of funds in that segment. In fact, more than 75 per cent of the lending in the collateralized segment was contributed by the MFs in Q2, reflecting their continued enhanced lending capacity. The collateralized market remained the predominant segment of the money market, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the total volume in the money market in Q2. Source = http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_ViewBulletin.aspx?Id=10690#t56 Objective of call Money Market To provide a parking place to employ short term surplus funds. To provide room for overcoming short term deficits. To enable the central bank to influence and regulate liquidity in the economy through its intervention in this market. To provide a reasonable access to users of short-term funds to meet their requirement quickly, adequately at reasonable cost. Importance of call Money Market Development of trade industry. Development of capital market. Smooth functioning of commercial banks. Effective central bank control. Formulation of suitable monetary policy. Non inflationary source of finance to government. To provide help to the industry and trade. Some practical aspect of call money market v Number of Participants in Call/Notice Money Market:- (As on March 31, 2008) Category Bank PD FI MF Corporate Total I. Borrower 154 15 169 II. Lender 154 15 20 35 50 274 v Market Shares of Constituents in Call/Notice Money Market (In Percent) Borrowings Lendings Year Banks PDs Banks PDs Others 2007 68 32 52 11 37 2008 66 34 45 11 44 v Shares of Select Participants in Call Money Market: Lending (In Percent) Year Banks FIs Total 2007 20 18 38 (15) 2008 17 14 31 (13) Banks: Canara Bank, Central Bank, PNB and SBI FIs: ICICI, IDBI, LIC, SIDBI and UTI. Parenthetic figures relate to those of the SBI. v Shares of Select Banks in Call Money Market: Borrowings (In Percent) Year Banks 2007 36 2008 39 Select banks include ABN-AMRO Bank, Centurion Bank, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank; Grind lays Bank, HDFC Bank, Hongkong Bank, IDBI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. Some guidelines regarding call money market by r.b.i It may be recalled that in the annual policy Statement of April 2008, the intention to move towards a pure inter-bank call/notice money market by gradually phasing out non-bank participation was highlighted. Accordingly, in stage I, non-bank participants are allowed to lend, on average in a reporting fortnight, up to 85 per cent of their average daily lending during 2007-08. Subsequently, in the annual policy Statement of April 2008, it was stated that RBI would announce the date of effectiveness of stage II, wherein non-bank participants would be allowed to lend, on average in a reporting fortnight, up to 75 per cent of their average daily lending in call/notice market during 2007-08, depending on the date when NDS/CCIL becomes fully operational. In view of the encouraging developments in the functioning of NDS/CCIL, it is desirable to accelerate the progress of moving towards a pure inter-bank call/notice money market and facilitate further deepening of repo/term money market. Accordingly, it has been decided that effective from the fortnight beginning June 14, 2007, under stage II, non-bank participants would be allowed to lend, on average in a reporting fortnight, up to 75 per cent of their average daily lending in call/notice money market during 2007-08. However, in case a particular non-bank institution has genuine difficulty in deploying its excess liquidity, RBI may consider providing temporary permission to lend a higher amount in call/notice money market for a specific period on a case by case basis. To facilitate monitoring of your operations in call/notice money market on a daily basis, you are requested to continue to submit the daily return in time to the Principal Monetary Policy Adviser, MPD, RBI as per the extant practice. Current market rate = 2.10% 3.30% Commercial Bill market Bills of exchange are negotiable instruments, drawn by the seller (drawer) of the goods on the buyer (drawee) of the goods for the value of the goods delivered. These bills are known as trade bills. Trade bills are called commercial bills when they are accepted by commercial banks. If the bill is payable at a future date and the seller needs money during the currency of the bill, he may approach his bank to discount the bill. The maturity proceeds or face value of a discounted bill from the drawee is received by the bank. If the bank needs funds during the currency of bill, it can rediscount the bill that has been already discounted by it in the commercial bill rediscount market at the available market discount rate. The RBI introduced the Bills Market scheme (BMS) in 1952 and the scheme was later modified into the New Bills Market Scheme (NBMS) in 1970. Under the scheme, commercial banks can rediscount the bills, which were originally discounted by them, with approved institutions. With the intention of reducing paper movements and in a bid to facilitate multiple rediscounting, the RBI introduced an instrument called Derivative Usance Promissory Notes (DUPN). Consequently, the need for the physical transfer of bills has been waived and the bank that originally discounts the bills only draws DUPN. These DUPNs are sold to investors in convenient lots of maturities (from 15 days up to 90 days) on the basis of genuine trade bills, discounted by the discounting bank. Commercial bill is a short term, negotiable, and self-liquidating instrument with low risk. It enhances he liability to make payment in a fixed date when goods are bought on credit. According to the Indian Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, bill or exchange is a written instrument containing an unconditional order, signed by the maker, directing to pay a certain amount of money only to a particular person, or to the bearer of the instrument. Bills of exchange are negotiable instruments drawn by the seller (drawer) on the buyer (drawee) or the value of the goods delivered to him. Such bills are called trade bills. When trade bills are accepted by commercial banks, they are called commercial bills. The bank discounts this bill by keeping a certain margin and credits the proceeds. Banks, when in need of money, can also get such bills rediscounted by financial institutions such as LIC, UTI, GIC, ICICI and IRBI. The maturity period of the bills varies from 30 days, 60 days or 90 days, depe nding on the credit extended in the industry. Characteristics of Commercial bill Securities offered to the public must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission according to the Securities Act of 1933. Registration requires extensive public disclosure, including issuing a prospectus on the offering. It is a time-consuming and expensive process. Most commercial paper is issued under Section 3(a) (3) of the 1933 Act which exempts from registration requirements short-term securities as long as they have certain characteristics. Commercial paper is typically a discount security (like Treasury bills): the investor purchases notes at less than face value and receives the face value at maturity. The difference between the purchase price and the face value, called the discount, is the interest received on the investment. Commercial paper is, occasionally, issued as an interest-bearing note (by request of investors). The investor pays the face value and, at maturity, receives the face value and accrued interest. All commercial paper interest rates are quoted on a discount basis. The exemption requirements have been a factor shaping the characteristics of the commercial paper market. The following are requirements for exemption: The maturity of commercial paper must be less than 270 days. In practice, most commercial paper has a maturity of between 5 and 45 days, with 30-35 days being the average maturity. Many issuers continuously roll over their commercial paper, financing a more-or-less constant amount of their assets using commercial paper. The nine-month maturity limit is not violated by the continuous rollover of notes, as long as the rollover is not automatic but is at the discretion of the issuer and the dealer. Many issuers will adjust the maturity of commercial paper to suit the requirements of an investor. That proceeds from commercial paper issues be used to finance current transactions, which include the funding of operating expenses and the funding of current assets such as receivables and inventories. Proceeds cannot be used to finance fixed assets, such as plant and equipment, on a permanent basis. A safekeeping agent hired by the investor held the certificates, until presented for payment at maturity. The settling of the transaction, (the exchange of funds for commercial paper first at issuance and then at redemption, occur in one day. On the day the commercial paper is issued and sold, the investor receives and pays for the notes and the issuer receives the proceeds. On the day of maturity, the investor presents the notes and receives payment. Commercial banks, in their role as issuing, paying, and clearing agents, facilitate the settling of commercial paper by carrying out the exchanges between issuer, investor, and dealer required to transfer commercial paper for funds. Types of Commercial Bills: Commercial bill is an important tool finance credit sales. It may be a demand bill or a usance bill. A demand bill is payable on demand, that is immediately at sight or on presentation by the drawee. A usance bill is payable after a specified time. If the seller wishes to give sometime for payment, the bill would be payable at a future date. These bills can either be clean bil

Friday, October 25, 2019

Heart of Darkness - Summary Essay -- essays research papers

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is based on Conrad’s firsthand experience of the Congo region of West Africa. Conrad was actually sent up the Congo River to an inner station to rescue a company agent who died a few days later aboard ship. The story is told by a seaman named Charlie Marlow and is rearranged through the thoughts of an unidentified listening narrator. This story, on level, is simply about a voyage into the heart of the Congo. On another level, it is about the journey into the soul of mankind. On a boat anchored in the Thames River outside London, a sailor named Marlow remarks to his friends that the land they’re standing on was once a place of darkness and an uncivilized wilderness. This contemplation leads him to remember an incident in his past when he commanded a steamboat on the Congo River. When retelling his story, Marlow is a young man anxious to see the unexplored African jungles. An influential aunt in obtains an position as captain of a Congo steamer for Marlow. But when he arrives at the Company's Outer Station in Africa, he's faced with a horrible display of black slavery and white greed and hostility. In a shady grove he discovers a crew of sickly African workers that have crawled away to die. He also meets the Company's chief accountant, who mentions a man named Kurtz who is a remarkable agent that has sent more ivory from the jungle than the other agents combined. Marlow's interest is perked in Kurtz and will eventually grow into an unhealthy obsession and become the focus of the story. After a difficult journey, Marlow arrives at the Company's Central Station where he learns that the steamer he was supposed to command has been destroyed in a wreck. He meets the local manager, who mentions Kurtz and says that Kurtz is assumed to be ill at his station up the river and that it's necessary to get to him as quickly as humanly possible. One night Marlow talks with one of the agents at the station, who speaks of Kurtz with great esteem and admiration but also with resentment at the talents that make him a likely candidate for a job promotion. He says that Kurtz is one of those types of men that have come to Africa not only to gain wealth, but with the notion of spreading enlightenment to the uneducated people. On another occasion, while na... ...ach his minion’s camp. Marlow and Kurtz make an intense departure the next day, surrounded by warriors who seem ready to attack under the leadership of a barbaric looking woman. But Marlow, again, sounds the whistle and frightens them away. As they sail back down the river on the vessel, Kurtz's life slowly slips away and on his deathbed he has a moment of enlightenment or a vision, and he cries out, "The horror! The horror!" before he dies. Marlow is also stricken by the fever that claimed Kurtz’ life and nearly dies. He survives the fever and returns to Brussels. Upon arriving in Brussels, he decides to visit Kurtz’s fiancà ©e to inform her of her intended’s passing. In mourning, she is heartbreakingly devoted to the memory of Kurtz, whom she thinks was noble and generous until the end of his life. She pleads with Marlow to relay to her Kurtz’s last words and Marlow simply cannot bear to tell her of Kurtz’s true nature or what really happened. And so, sparing her emotions and not finding it within himself to shatter her illusions: "The last word he pronounced was- your name," he says to her and she shrieks and collapses in tears.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

American Horror Story: the Affects of Sex and Violence in Media

Media Analysis: American Horror Story American Horror Story is an FX horror-drama television show, as well as an anthology series; each season of the show has a different cast and storyline. The show was created by Ryan Murphy (creator of the FOX show Glee) and Brad Falchuk (producer of Nip/Tuck), and premiered on October 5, 2011. The first season of the show follows the Harmon family as they settle into their new home in Los Angeles. They are unaware, however, that the mansion is haunted by its many former owners. The two main topics in which we covered in class that are utilized in the show are frightening and sexual content in media.The focus of the first season is on infidelity and temptation. Ben and Vivien Harmon moved to Los Angeles from Boston with their daughter Violet in an attempt to start over and save their fragile marriage, after Ben had an affair with one of his students. Although they think the move will help, it only worsens their situation. The cable series is full of as much violence and sexual content as the writers and producers can get away with. With multiple instances of violence, sex, and nudity in every episode, the show draws a very large audience.American Horror Story is FX’s most viewed series, with the pilot of the first season bringing in 3. 2 million viewers. The show gained viewers as it progressed, and the premiere of the second season had 3. 85 million viewers. In an interview by AfterElton. com contributor Brian Juergens, when asked about what he wanted to bring to the horror genre, producer Brad Falchuk said â€Å"In the case of the horror genre, your main goal is to scare people. You want people to be a little bit off balance afterwards. You want people to have their friends sleep over that night.And you want to deliver iconic images that stay with people. † The writers of American Horror Story make use of many of the subjects from chapter 13 of our textbook. There are many realistic scenarios that occur in th e series, such as a home invasion and multiple murders. This is an example of stimulus generalization. Because many of the scenes are highly realistic, the generalization stimulus is very high, which consequently increases the fearful or emotional response. American Horror Story is rated TV-MA, which means that it is intended for mature audiences, and not children (usually age 17 or older).It also has a sub rating of LSV (offensive language, strong sexual content, and violence and gore). R-rated videos and magazines contain far more profane and explicit sexual content than network television shows, but sexual remarks and suggestions are becoming ever more frequent in public media today. In American Horror Story there are elements of the four major themes of sexuality in media. Sexual scenes in the show include examples of domination (sexual control of a person), exploitation (coercion of one person by way of power or status), reciprocity (consensual sex), and autoeroticism (self-sti mulation, such as masturbation).In the pilot of the first season Ben walks in on the housekeeper, Moira, masturbating. She tries to get him to sleep with her but he goes to another room and masturbates as well. Yet another storyline consists of Ben’s former student, Hayden, in which he had an affair with, who shows up and tries to convince him to stay with her. These scenes, along with many others throughout the season, go back to the theme of infidelity and temptation. The trailer for the first season of American Horror Story gives the basic plot of the show. It also makes use of frightening music and sounds to get the attention of fans of the horror genre.The season two trailer also highlights each character’s traits and occupations briefly (Leo’s photography, Shelley’s sensuality, Lana Winters’ love for her partner, Wendy, etc. ). These short advertisements appeal to viewers by the use of catharsis. The audience of American Horror Story wants to be scared. It’s a way for them to escape, or animate, their own violent predispositions or inclinations; to purge themselves of their personal worries and apprehensions. Personally speaking, I find the sadistic and erotic nature of the show enjoyable.It allows me and other viewers to gain vicious pleasure by identifying with the immoral and shady personalities of the characters in the show. The intent of the show can be pretty well summed up by the theories of scholar and professor, Dolf Zillmann, in Fundamentals of Media Effects (Bryant and Thompson): â€Å"Zillmann (1991a, 1991b) described horror as frightening because it releases empathetic responses toward victims and makes viewers apprehensive about becoming victims themselves. In other words, viewers identify with the victims and experience their terror vicariously.Horror also frightens viewers because of their apprehensions; they fear being victims themselves. Finally, horror usually features a satisfying ending that viewers enjoy. † American Horror Story has had its share of controversy with viewers already. Erin Brown, contributor for the Culture and Media Institute at the Media Research Center, writes: â€Å"The premiere of â€Å"American Horror Story† wasn't just sexually and physically repulsive. Flashback scenes also featured a large dose of verbal and mental cruelty toward a Down syndrome girl – including her mother, played by Jessica Lange, wishing she'd aborted her.To add to the violence, sex and abuse, there were 13 versions of the word â€Å"s**t,† and such delightful terms as â€Å"p***y† and â€Å"c**ksucker. † With all this objectionable content, Entertainment Weekly still named American Horror Story one of its â€Å"Top Ten Things We Love this Week† putting it on their famous â€Å"Must List† in the October 7 issue. â€Å"This show has a potential to literally be shattering to all of the things that we consider to be normal ,† one of the actors said during production. † Many parental reviews of the show describe it as disturbing, terrifying, and even repulsive.The three main age groups discussed in the Reactions to Disturbing or Frightening Media Content chapter of Fundamentals of Media Effects, 3-8, 9-12, and 12-17, are all thought to be too young for most parents. Some critics also consider American Horror Story to be a strained and overexcited mess. Though there are many frightening elements to the show, most of them are written off as cliche. The fact that in society today we are so used to seeing violence and sexual content in media, these happenings in the show are not as disconcerting as they would have been in the decades prior to the twenty-first century.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

How Attitude Roles in Decision Making Essay

Before I can talk about the play role between attitude and buying decision process, let’s look at the definition of attitude first. Attitude is a relationship link between feeling and believes or a consumer’s thoughts and the response action. We can say that attitude is something that is in the people’s mind and the thought of a consumer’s openness towards the information received by each individual. The information received can be both positive and negative. As we can all see that attitude comprise of consumer’s thought which has an effect on the feeling and that feeling will express through the consumer’s acting. Now let’s see what it is means by decision making process. It is a process of choosing one or another way from all of the alternatives that a consumer has considered with. Normally, the final decision making would be the best and the most suitable alternative which helps consumer reaches their objective. Attitude is the important internal factor that shapes an individual choice. In addition, there are three factors that will lead to consumer’s behavior, which are predisposing factors, enabling factors and reinforcing factors. Predisposing factors comprise of knowledge, beliefs, values, cultures and, of course, attitude, which I will focus on. Moreover, attitude can be form by many ways. It may be through the learning process, the ability to distinguish the differences (which one is good or bad), imitate from others and experienced for each individual. These three factors influence a consumer’s behavior and it also effect the decision making of that particular consumer. For example, consumer has experienced that the expensive things always come together with the better quality products. And he believed in what is actually has happened to him in the past, called the cognitive component. So whenever he recognized the problem, like he want to buy a new bag (an opportunity recognition) and try to search for all the alternatives he is willing to buy or interested in, you will find out that all the alternatives are all the brand name bags with the high price. In another situation, a consumer may imitate an attitude of â€Å"being fat means ugly† from friends and society around her. So it may leads to the decision making by she is starting to recognize the problem by thinking that she is too fat and will classify herself as ugly person, called an affective component. Then what she will try to do next is the information search, both internal and external, about how she can reduce her weight and so on. So you can see that an attitude of a consumer, even though it comes from your society around you, can influence an individual’s decision making process easily. The function of attitudes may also role in the decision making process because it helps consumes to cope with their environments. One of the five functional theories of attitudes is social-adjustment function, which is a function occur when a society make an adjustment about something and it leads an individual consumer to develop the attitude toward it. For example, nowadays people are more concerned about the environmental in our society

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Battle of Plattsburgh - War of 1812 - Thomas MacDonough

Battle of Plattsburgh - War of 1812 - Thomas MacDonough Battle of Plattsburgh - Conflict Dates: The Battle of Plattsburgh was fought September 6-11, 1814, during the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Forces Commanders United States Master Commandant Thomas MacDonoughBrigadier General Alexander Macomb14 warships3,400 men Great Britain Captain George DownieLieutenant General Sir George Prà ©vost14 warshipsapprox. 10,000 men Battle of Plattsburgh - Background: With the abdication of Napoleon I and the apparent end of the Napoleonic Wars in April 1814, large numbers of British troops became available for service against the United States in the War of 1812. In an effort to break the deadlock in North America, around 16,000 men were dispatched to Canada to aid in an offensive against American forces. These came under the command of Lieutenant General Sir George Prà ©vost, the Commander-in-Chief in Canada and Governor General of the Canadas. Though London preferred an attack on Lake Ontario, the naval and logistical situation led Prà ©vost to advance up Lake Champlain. Battle of Plattsburgh - The Naval Situation: As in previous conflicts such as the French Indian War and American Revolution, land operations around Lake Champlain required control of the water for success. Having lost control of the lake to Commander Daniel Pring in June 1813, Master Commandant Thomas MacDonough embarked on a naval building program at Otter Creek, VT. This yard produced the corvette USS Saratoga (26 guns), the schooner USS Ticonderoga (14), and several gunboats by late spring 1814. Along with the sloop USS Preble (7), MacDonough used these vessels to reassert American dominance on Lake Champlain. Battle of Plattsburgh - Preparations: To counter MacDonoughs new vessels, the British began construction of the frigate HMS Confiance (36) at Ile aux Noix. In August, Major General George Izard, the senior American commander in the region, received orders from Washington, DC to take the bulk of his forces to reinforce Sackets Harbor, NY on Lake Ontario. With Izards departure, the land defense of Lake Champlain fell to Brigadier General Alexander Macomb and a mixed force of around 3,400 regulars and militia. Operating on the west shore of the lake, Macombs small army occupied a fortified ridge along the Saranac River just south of Plattsburgh, NY. Battle of Plattsburgh - The British Advance: Eager to begin the campaign south before the weather turned, Prà ©vost became increasingly frustrated with Prings replacement, Captain George Downie, over construction issues on Confiance. As Prà ©vost chafed over the delays, MacDonough added the brig USS Eagle (20) to his squadron. On August 31, Prà ©vosts army of around 11,000 men began moving south. To slow the British advance, Macomb sent a small force forward to block roads and destroy bridges. These efforts failed to hinder the British and they arrived in Plattsburgh on September 6. The next day minor British attacks were turned back by Macombs men. Despite the massive numerical advantage enjoyed by the British, they were hampered by friction in their command structure as the veterans of the Duke of Wellingtons campaigns were frustrated by the cautiousness and unpreparedness of Prà ©vost. Scouting west, the British located a ford across the Saranac that would allow them to assault the left flank of the American line. Intending to attack on September 10, Prà ©vost desired to make a feint against Macombs front while striking his flank. These efforts were to coincide with Downie attacking MacDonough on the lake. Battle of Plattsburgh - On the Lake: Possessing fewer long guns than Downie, MacDonough assumed a position in Plattsburgh Bay where he believed his heavier, but shorter range carronades would be most effective. Supported by ten small gunboats, he anchored Eagle, Saratoga, Ticonderoga, and Preble in a north-south line. In each case, two anchors were used along with spring lines to allow the vessels to turn while at anchor. Delayed by unfavorable winds, Downie was unable to attack on September 10 forcing the entire British operation to be pushed back a day. Nearing Plattsburgh, he scouted the American squadron on the morning of September 11. Rounding Cumberland Head at 9:00 AM, Downies fleet consisted of Confiance, the brig HMS Linnet (16), the sloops HMS Chubb (11) and HMS Finch, and twelve gunboats. Entering the bay, Downie initially desired to place Confiance across the head of the American line, but variable winds prevented this and he instead assumed a position opposite Saratoga. As the two flagships began battering each other, Pring succeeded in crossing in front of Eagle with Linnet while Chubb was quickly disabled and captured. Finch attempted to assume a position across the tail of MacDonoughs line but drifted south and grounded on Crab Island. Battle of Plattsburgh - MacDonoughs Victory: While Confiances initial broadside did heavy damage to Saratoga, the two ships continued to trade blows with Downie being struck down. To the north, Pring began pounding Eagle with the American brig unable to turn to counter. At the opposite end of the line, Preble was forced from the fight by Downies gunboats. These were finally checked by determined fire from Ticonderoga. Under heavy fire, Eagle cut its anchor lines and began to drift down the American line allowing Linnet to rake Saratoga. With most of his starboard guns out of action, MacDonough used his spring lines to turn his flagship. Bringing his undamaged portside guns to bear, he opened fire on Confiance. The survivors aboard the British flagship attempted a similar turn but became stuck with the frigates undefended stern presented to Saratoga. Unable to resist, Confiance struck its colors. Again pivoting, MacDonough brought Saratoga to bear on Linnet. With his ship outmatched and seeing that resistance was futile, Pring also surrendered. As at the Battle of Lake Erie a year before, the US Navy had succeeded in capturing an entire British squadron. Battle of Plattsburgh - On Land: Beginning around 10:00 AM, the feint against the Saranac bridges on Macombs front was easily repulsed by the American defenders. To the west, Major General Frederick Brisbanes brigade missed the ford and was forced to backtrack. Learning of Downies defeat, Prà ©vost decided that any victory would be meaningless as American control of the lake would prevent him from being able to resupply his army. Though late, Robinsons men went into action and were having success when they received orders from Prà ©vost to fall back. Though his commanders protested the decision, Prà ©vosts army began retreating north to Canada that night. Battle of Plattsburgh - Aftermath: In the fighting at Plattsburgh, American forces sustained 104 killed and 116 wounded. British losses totaled 168 killed, 220 wounded, and 317 captured. In addition, MacDonoughs squadron captured Confiance, Linnet, Chubb, and Finch. For his failure and due to complaints from his subordinates, Prà ©vost was relieved of command and recalled to Britain. The American victory at Plattsburgh along with the successful Defense of Fort McHenry, aided American peace negotiators at Ghent, Belgium who were attempting to end the war on a favorable note. The two victories helped offset the defeat at Bladensburg and subsequent Burning of Washington the previous month. In recognition of his efforts, MacDonough was promoted to captain and received a Congressional gold medal. Selected Sources Historic Lakes: Battle of Plattsburgh Battle of Plattsburgh Association

Monday, October 21, 2019

Today I Choose Me Professor Ramos Blog

Today I Choose Me Apart of love is wondering where you belong and where you fit in. Sometimes that is looking for love in the places we think are right for us and it could be us looking in the wrong places. What attracts us to someone? Is it in the tone of their voice when we listen to them speak? The feeling of their touch the minute they lay a single hand on you? Is it how their laugh makes you smile? Or is it them introducing you to the most important people in their life? We never truly know what it is that a person may see in us that makes them attracted to us. Because we dont truly know these things it often leads us to insecurities, depression, self-doubt, and sometimes death. In â€Å"Bien Pretty† by Sandra Cisneros, Lupe points out â€Å"What kills me is your silence. So certain, so solid. Not a note, nor postcard. Not a phone call, no number I could reach you at. No address I could write to. Neither yes nor no. Just the void. The days raw and wide as this drought-blue sky. Just the n othingness. That’s what hurts† (Cisneros 157). A man that she fell in love with just vanished as if everything they done was meaningless. Lupe was devastated and heartbroken when Flavio left, it took her weeks to pull herself up from this pain. During the time that Flavio was modeling for Lupe they began telling stories about each others lives. â€Å"What I liked best about working with Flavio were the stories† (Cisneros 148). How could this poor Mexican man that had very little take so much from her? Lupe began looking at Flavio a different way, she then imagined how â€Å"With skin sweet as burnt-milk candy, smooth as river water. He made you bien pretty even if I didn’t always know it. Yes he did† (Cisneros 152). Would that have been love for Lupe or was she just feeling that way because of the time they spent together? Lupe begins to ask herself â€Å"What’s happened to me? Flavio was just Flavio, a man I wouldn’t’ve looked at twice before† (Cisneros154). Everything around Lupe would remind her of all the little things of Flavio, In the beginning of the story Lupe points out â€Å"I’m to blame. Flavio Munguia was just an ordinary Flavio until he met me†¦ On ce you tell a man he’s pretty, there’s no taking it back† (Cisneros 137). Lupe chose to believe that she was the reason for Flavio being the way he was, that she turned him into this man that was selfish. After the ongoing relationship that Flavio and Lupe had, the truth was finally spoken. Flavio told Lupe that he had to go back to Mexico to take care of things back home. However, never once did he tell Lupe that he had children from another marriage. By the pain that Lupe was in the only words that could come out â€Å"I think you better go now. I gotta get my clothes out of the dryer before they get wrinkled† (Cisneros 157). Lupe tried to find peace, but because she was still broken all she could think of was anger and how much she wanted to hurt Flavio for hurting her. All that time you spend getting to know someone, loving their insecurities, and loving their biggest flaws for them to just hurt you and leave. Lupe was blinded by Flavio’s love that she forgot who she was. â€Å" Just the way I use to believe I was pretty. Before Flavio Munguia wore all my prettiness away† (Cisneros 137). Everything Lupe felt had turned away and made her feel less, â€Å" When I look in the mirror, Im ugly. How come I never noticed before?†(Cisneros 160). Lupe was in pain. Flavio made her feel like she was the weak one. She was too busy trying to make him feel special she forgot about her own self-worth. To The Girls Who Need To Love Themselves by Madison Sonnier writer from Thought Catalog, explains â€Å"I understand how you must be feeling – desperate for closure, envious of those living a fulfilling single life and loving it, and clueless about where to start on your journey to letting go of the person who haunts you and has consistently failed to give your rare and beautiful heart what it needs.† Lupe regretted two things; not telling Flavio she was in love with him and to ask for forgiveness. Lupe didn’t know what was going to happen next, what she did know was that this would be the last feeling he took from her. It took weeks before Lupe could pick herself back up, she would avoid going to work, painting, and being out in public. Lupe grabbed everything of Flavio and burned them â€Å" I didn’t expect paper to take so long to burn, but it was a lot of layers† (Cisneros 160-161). Later during that time Lupe sat herself in front of a t.v watching a telenovela show where she was then inspired. She would think of the words from Daniela Romo singing â€Å" Ya no. Es verdad que te adoro, pero mas me adoro yo† (I love you, honey, but I love me more)(Cisneros 163). Lupe was done feeling sorry for herself, she picked herself up and remembered who she was. She took a hold of her life, â€Å" The First Step† by Najwa Zebian states â€Å"In order to achieve greatness, you have to be willing to take the right steps towards it† (113). And that is exactly what Lupe chose to do, she chose to take her life back. â€Å"Everywhere I go, It’s me and me. Half of me liv ing my life, the other half watching me live it† ( Cisneros 163). Instead of hurting Flavio any way that she could have Lupe guided herself through the pain and turned it into something greater. We all want to know what it is that makes us feel as much pain when getting hurt. â€Å" Sexology† by Samuel Aun Weor writes â€Å" When human beings are truly in love, they become intuitive, mystical. In such moments they forebode their future, afraid of what might happen to them† (4). Lupe was in love with a man that she didn’t at first even see herself with or even would have noticed him. Even with all the stories they shared with each other, there could have been moments he could have told her the truth. Was it fear of losing her? Or was it that he took advantage of her? We aren’t sure why people don’t always speak up and just really say how they feel. We end up being the ones who are clueless. Lupe could have given up and let Flavio ruin her life, but she chose to become a strong woman and choose her. Love is costful, sometimes that is taking all of someone’s love or worse, someone can go beyond just being depressed but hurting themselve s or another. Love is complicated. Love is beyond us. But it does not take away who we are. Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek and other stories. New York, Vintage, 1991. â€Å"To The Girls Who Need To Learn To Love Themselves First.† Thought Catalog, 25 Dec. 2016, thoughtcatalog.com/madison-sonnier/2016/05/to-the-girls-who-need-to-learn-to-love-themselves-first/. WEOR, SAMAEL AUN. SEXOLOGY: the Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology. GLORIAN PUB, 2016. Zebian, Najwa. Mind Platter. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Can Give Rise To Psychological Issues

Explain Can Give Rise To Psychological Issues? Withholding of the truth about Amy can give rise to psychological issues and have an impact on her quality of life. Her physical inabilities as difficulty to find words and repetition during a conversation and lack of concentration are contributing to her psychological distress, as she is unable to understand the reason of her sudden change in behaviour and memory. Withholding the information can have a negative impact on the patient’s attitude. It would reduce her coping ability, cause mood disturbances and anxiety and reduces her ability to prepare for the future(Kelley & Morrison, 2015). The withholding of life limiting illness about Amy also has serious negative impact on her family. Her mother is in her 80’s and witnessing such a change in behaviour and mood in Amy can have psychological impact and extremely painful. Her son Erik finds it difficult to conceal the truth of her life limiting illness from Amy and that might affect her end-of-life care and her compliance with the treatment and medication. This puts her family members in a hard situation and her family members face ethical dilemma whether to inform her or not. This situation raises ethical dilemma for me. Although, Amy and her family members wants to withhold her life limiting illness as posed by the family, the primary concern is to disclose the illness to her in culturally sensitive manner. This ethical dilemma can affect her end-of-life care and response to treatment. As she has limited English speaking ability, it is important to convey through family members or interpreters. The considerations include using of plain language, addressing of one piece of information at a time and ask about Amy’s worries, thoughts and understandings after illness disclosure through culture centred communication (Katz & Johnson, 2013). The care provided to Amy should include her cultural practices and spiritual needs and directed towards culture-centred care. It is important for the staffs to learn about her beliefs, cultural attitudes meanings of illness, health and symptoms. As she is diagnosed with life-limiting illness, it is important to recognize the unique cultural aspects of the care provision at the end-of-life (Wittenberg, et al., 2015). Knowing about cultural values of Amy would help the staffs to understand, grapple and navigate through the limiting illness. Integration of Amy’s cultural needs would help staffs in delivering her end-of-life care. Staffs need to understand that cultural factors and their integration into healthcare would influence her healthcare seeking behaviour, medical and clinical decision-making and finally health outcomes. Therefore, culture-centred end-of-life care act as driving factor in delivering culturally competent healthcare to Amy. By providing culture-centred, care to Amy would help her and family to respond to the end-of-life care and have a positive impact on their psychological well-being. The cultural consideration and specific spiritual needs of Amy would be fulfilled in her terminal diagnosis, as the staffs would provide culturally appropriate care that improves her and family situation. As a graduate health professional, I would like to spend time to develop an understanding of her feelings and specific needs to address anxiety and point of disagreement in providing end-of-life care. I will try to develop an empathetic relationship with Amy and her family in providing culture-centred care. For this culture-centred communication, principles are important through interpreters to understand Amy’s true preferences for receiving illness information. As she has limited English speaking ability, it is important to be cognizant about how her cultural factors and beliefs might affect her end-of-life care. This sensitivity to Amy’s individual and cultural preferences would help to avoid stereotyping and in making incorrect assessments in providing her end-of-life care (Moir, Roberts, Martz, Perry, & Tivis, 2015).   Katz, R. S., & Johnson, T. G. (2013). When professionals weep: Emotional and countertransference responses in end-of-life care. Routledge. Kelley, A. S., & Morrison, R. S. (2015). Palliative care for the seriously ill . New England Journal of Medicine,  373(8), , 747-755. Moir, C., Roberts, R., Martz, K., Perry, J., & Tivis, L. J. (2015). Communicating with Patients and their Families about Palliative and End of Life: Comfort and Educational Needs of Staff RNs. International journal of palliative nursing,  21(3), , 109. Wittenberg, E., Ferrell, B., Goldsmith, J., Smith, T., Glajchen, M., Handzo, G., & Ragan, S. L. (2015). Textbook of Palliative Care Communicaiton. Oxford University Press.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Law and state coursework 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law and state coursework 1 - Essay Example Thus in theory, a strong Parliament keeps the government in check. Whether this is true or not, however, has been the subject of lively, sometimes contentious, debate for more than a century. Marshall (1989 pp. 2-4) was of the opinion that the phrase â€Å"Collective responsibility† invokes in the first place that the Crown is advised by a collectivity. Collective responsibility is generally represented as one of the major conventions of the constitution. It involves three sets of practices. The first is the Confidence principle, which requires governments to resign or advise dissolution in case of defeats in the House of Commons (understandably, only defeats on specific motions of no confidence are now thought to compel this consequence). The second, the Unanimity principle, states that all members of the administration speak and vote together and as one in the House of Commons; and the third is the Confidentiality principle, which asserts that members of the administration are entitled to the ministerial prerogative to resist disclosure of information. This last principle has consistently been pleaded as the ground for restricting information that can be given b y civil servants to Parliamentary Select Committees, the press, and the public in general. According to Morley (1889, Marshall e. pp. 17-19), the doctrine of collective responsibility is the most important of four principal features of the British system of Cabinet government. The second principal feature is that the Cabinet is held answerable immediately to the majority of the House of Commons, and through them to the electorate. Thirdly, the Cabinet is selected exclusively from one party, which is the general rule, and which identifies the British Parliament as a ‘strong party’ system. Occasionally this rule is breached, but only on the occasion of some ‘uncommon, peculiar, and transitory

Training development program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Training development program - Essay Example hat results from development through education and training usually are important in determining the long term profitability of a business or an organization which is this case is home depot. Training should not only be conducted on new employees but also on current employees to help adjust them to the rapidly changing job requirements. A selection of the final model or design of a new product that is to be introduced in the market is a very critical step in the new product development process. The selection needs to consider three factors of importance: anticipated market demand, designer’s preferences, and uncertainty in achieving predicted design attributes levels under different usage conditions. A good purchasing model is build upon the fundamental principals of decision theory, decision --based design: Integrating consumer preferences into the design. Home depot should emphasize on growing and developing employees because of the following reasons: training and development ensures that there is adequate pool of human resources for expansion into new programs; it improves employee morale and enhances the companys competitive position by building highly motivated, and more effective and efficient team; creates a more knowledgeable staff which are able to adopt and use advanced technology; and lastly create a large pool of readily available staffs to replace the personnel that may leave or move up the organization. The training and development process may be initiated as an intra-organization activity (on the job) based on a clear and concise schedule to effectively guide the staff under training with key areas of concern. It may also be carried out as a function referred to as out of the job training program. Training and developing employees has the following benefits to the home depot organization: decrease in need for supervision, reduction in employee turnover rate, and increase in efficiency leading to financial gains and lastly increased

There have been many barriers in the success of theMNC but they have Essay

There have been many barriers in the success of theMNC but they have managed to set back - Essay Example Changes in the policies and economic system in the developing countries have lead to a shift the way governments had perceived their interest. Hence there has been a wide range of attitudes of government towards the multinationals. Economic globalization has lead to the widening and extent of international transactions. One of the consequences of globalization is the growing convergence of the level of income, consumption pattern and also institutional structure among the industrialized countries and developing countries. To most important determinants of globalization includes fast and extensive implementation of new technologies mainly computer technologies and information, organizational cost and also cross border communications and secondly, liberalization of domestic and also of international markets. But it can also be said that globalization has not affected all the countries and also regions in some way or the other. It has resulted in widening the assets and also income gaps between the developing countries and industrialized countries (Dunning & Narula, 2004, p.39). The globalization has emerged as one of the going concern and has forced the multinationals to excel in its respective industry by way of expansion and creating a brand name all over the globe. Body Growth of Multinationals Post war period has witnessed the unprecedented and sustained growth in the multinational corporations. There has been a growth of international business which has been financed by the foreign direct investment (FDI) which further has been accompanied by variety in its source of geographical distribution (Tolentino & Tolentino, 2004, p.1). The subject that has raised maximum interest in relation to the promising economies is the rise of multinationals. The framework which is designed to explain the growth of multinationals are hence not adequate enough to understand the growth of emerging multinationals as in today’s date (Dolfsma, et.al, 2009, p.146). With the e xpansion of world economy it promoted a recovery in the rate of FDI in the global scenario. By the year 1960, the global stock of FDI has reached about $60 billion and by 1980 it stood at about $500billion. It was during these decades that the term multinational were invented and the economic theorist has turned their attention in explaining the existence of international firms. During 1960’s US have accounted nearly 85% of all new FDIs flows. By 1980 it held about 40% of the stock in total. Today the German have managed to surpass Netherland. In 1980 there was no multinational investment made in neither China nor India and Japan accounted for only 1% of the FDI stock. 1980 was the phase when globalization got intensified. Japan share of manufacturing increased from merely 55 to about 20% thirty years later the inception of globalization. The most striking changes took place with the emerging countries. Multinationals were seen as a means to develop new products, technologies and also skills. Chain adopted the market oriented policy is an example of starting point of new global economy. Deregulation and also privatization has further opened up new opportunities with respect to globalization and includes services such as tourism, transport, telecommunications and other services. Multinational faces risk of expropriation but the rules of international property

Thursday, October 17, 2019

MGT-4530 exam 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGT-4530 exam 2 - Assignment Example the task of dividing both the issues, SWOT analysis tends to identify if the information obtained is vital to help the firm in achieving the objectives or if it indicates a barrier that needs to be overcome or lessen for the purpose of accomplishing the required results. It is the SWOT analysis that assists the firms in evaluating the industry and therefore prepares strategies in order to gain competitive advantage. It is the strengths possessed by companies that assist them in achieving strong competitive positions. With the help of the SWOT model an entrepreneur is capable of making new strategies and the companies are capable of framing the short-term as well as long-term missions of the organizations (Kumar, â€Å"Entrepreneurship Development†). The main challenges faced by the researchers in conducting the SWOT analysis are the lack of sufficient data available with them. The task becomes easier if there is sufficient data available with respect to the competitors. The other challenge faced is related to the identification of the opportunities in the near future. It can be mentioned that in order to comprehend the favorite flavor of Aggie Ice-cream of USU students any form of scale can be used. However, the data obtained from all the three scales i.e., ordinal, nominal and interval scale would be different. Taking into consideration the statistical point of view, the shortest level of measurement that can be utilized is known as nominal scale. In case of nominal scale the data are placed into categories and there is no structure or order. The data obtained from nominal scale can be divided into certain categories. In case of ordinal scale, there is ranking of the â€Å"individuals†, â€Å"attitudes† as well as â€Å"items† according to the range of the features that is being scaled. In case of interval scale, the distance that exists among the numerous categories tends to be equal that remains distinct in nominal scale and ordinal scale. Interval scale

Risk Management Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk Management Paper - Assignment Example In each case, the old age benefits reflect the retirement benefits as they  attain  a certain age when working while that of  disability  benefit refers to inability to  do  work properly due to  sickness, accidents and age. Survivor benefits gets issued to the  dependent  either spouse or children in case of death of the insurer. To qualify for old-age benefits and guarantee pension, the  right  age  is 65. A Swedish resident is at least 3 years while receiving  low  or no income from earnings-related pensions. Pensions get paid  abroad  within the European Union and European Economic Area with certain conditions. Earnings-related to old-age, old  system  gives to  age  65 covering at least 3 years. The  complete  pension  requires at least 30 years of  coverage  while early pension becomes reduced and may be paid from  age  61 to 64 while deferred pension, may be deferred until  age  70. In earnings-related old-age pension at the new system, retirement age is flexible, starting at age 61. This  pension  is based  on lifetime earnings detailed in the system. The insured person should have annual earnings in exceeding of 17,935 kronor. Premium pension in the new system, its retirement age, is  flexible  beginning at age 61 and gets paid  abroad. Disability pension and sickness compensation, the insured persons, must have assessed work capacity oft 25% and then gets covered when the disability began. The disability pension comprises of a guarantee and an earnings-related pension. Guarantee pension of the insured should have at least 3 years of coverage. The  pension  is based  on  residence  and gets paid  abroad  within the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Canada. Earnings-related pension to the insured should have at least 1 year of income in Sweden within a given period. Constant-attendance supplement get paid when the insured requires a

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

There have been many barriers in the success of theMNC but they have Essay

There have been many barriers in the success of theMNC but they have managed to set back - Essay Example Changes in the policies and economic system in the developing countries have lead to a shift the way governments had perceived their interest. Hence there has been a wide range of attitudes of government towards the multinationals. Economic globalization has lead to the widening and extent of international transactions. One of the consequences of globalization is the growing convergence of the level of income, consumption pattern and also institutional structure among the industrialized countries and developing countries. To most important determinants of globalization includes fast and extensive implementation of new technologies mainly computer technologies and information, organizational cost and also cross border communications and secondly, liberalization of domestic and also of international markets. But it can also be said that globalization has not affected all the countries and also regions in some way or the other. It has resulted in widening the assets and also income gaps between the developing countries and industrialized countries (Dunning & Narula, 2004, p.39). The globalization has emerged as one of the going concern and has forced the multinationals to excel in its respective industry by way of expansion and creating a brand name all over the globe. Body Growth of Multinationals Post war period has witnessed the unprecedented and sustained growth in the multinational corporations. There has been a growth of international business which has been financed by the foreign direct investment (FDI) which further has been accompanied by variety in its source of geographical distribution (Tolentino & Tolentino, 2004, p.1). The subject that has raised maximum interest in relation to the promising economies is the rise of multinationals. The framework which is designed to explain the growth of multinationals are hence not adequate enough to understand the growth of emerging multinationals as in today’s date (Dolfsma, et.al, 2009, p.146). With the e xpansion of world economy it promoted a recovery in the rate of FDI in the global scenario. By the year 1960, the global stock of FDI has reached about $60 billion and by 1980 it stood at about $500billion. It was during these decades that the term multinational were invented and the economic theorist has turned their attention in explaining the existence of international firms. During 1960’s US have accounted nearly 85% of all new FDIs flows. By 1980 it held about 40% of the stock in total. Today the German have managed to surpass Netherland. In 1980 there was no multinational investment made in neither China nor India and Japan accounted for only 1% of the FDI stock. 1980 was the phase when globalization got intensified. Japan share of manufacturing increased from merely 55 to about 20% thirty years later the inception of globalization. The most striking changes took place with the emerging countries. Multinationals were seen as a means to develop new products, technologies and also skills. Chain adopted the market oriented policy is an example of starting point of new global economy. Deregulation and also privatization has further opened up new opportunities with respect to globalization and includes services such as tourism, transport, telecommunications and other services. Multinational faces risk of expropriation but the rules of international property

Risk Management Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk Management Paper - Assignment Example In each case, the old age benefits reflect the retirement benefits as they  attain  a certain age when working while that of  disability  benefit refers to inability to  do  work properly due to  sickness, accidents and age. Survivor benefits gets issued to the  dependent  either spouse or children in case of death of the insurer. To qualify for old-age benefits and guarantee pension, the  right  age  is 65. A Swedish resident is at least 3 years while receiving  low  or no income from earnings-related pensions. Pensions get paid  abroad  within the European Union and European Economic Area with certain conditions. Earnings-related to old-age, old  system  gives to  age  65 covering at least 3 years. The  complete  pension  requires at least 30 years of  coverage  while early pension becomes reduced and may be paid from  age  61 to 64 while deferred pension, may be deferred until  age  70. In earnings-related old-age pension at the new system, retirement age is flexible, starting at age 61. This  pension  is based  on lifetime earnings detailed in the system. The insured person should have annual earnings in exceeding of 17,935 kronor. Premium pension in the new system, its retirement age, is  flexible  beginning at age 61 and gets paid  abroad. Disability pension and sickness compensation, the insured persons, must have assessed work capacity oft 25% and then gets covered when the disability began. The disability pension comprises of a guarantee and an earnings-related pension. Guarantee pension of the insured should have at least 3 years of coverage. The  pension  is based  on  residence  and gets paid  abroad  within the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Canada. Earnings-related pension to the insured should have at least 1 year of income in Sweden within a given period. Constant-attendance supplement get paid when the insured requires a

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Death Penalty Essay Example for Free

Death Penalty Essay Capital punishment or also known as death penalty is the killing of an individual by a state which serves as punishment for committing unlawful actions and retribution on behalf of the victims. Several countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States have retained this process of executing criminal. Different views regarding this issue have arisen but most people especially those governed by religious sectors have went up against the idea of death penalty. Death penalty has already gained its popularity worldwide. In fact, it was often the theme in any debate or even the usual conversation, thus lead to the emergence of several arguments which are in favor and against death penalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implementation of death penalty has several advantages. Death penalty provides closure to the victim’s families. It was very hard for family members of the victim to forget the traumatic experience and recover form the loss of a loved one. In fact there are cases that the relatives of the victim do not recover at all. This sort of closure is a great help for the recovery of the relatives. Life in prison is not enough punishment compare to death sentence which gives finality to the horrifying experience felt by the members of the family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In death penalty, justice is better served. The primary principle of justice is that a crime deserves an equivalent punishment. Hence, when someone brutally murders another person, he deserves to be put into death. Just like what the code of Hammurabi have stated, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implementation of death penalty prevents the crime from happening again. If criminals are not put into death, we are not assured that this kind of person would not do such crimes again. On the other hand, death penalty can execute all criminals but there are cases that implementation of death penalty may include execution of an innocent man. Do you mind an innocent individual will suffer from death? Implementation of death penalty is a good way of obtaining â€Å"justice† but can we call it justice—killing an innocent. Another argument against death penalty is that it is arbitrary and capricious. Implementation of death penalty often favours well-off individuals or people who have money. How about the poor ones? Only the rich are able to afford a highly competent lawyer, thus makes the process unfair. Those accused people who are struggling from poverty cannot pay good attorneys thus making their chances of being acquitted very little. See how unfair it was? Even appealing to court was not possible. There are even cases that convicted wealthy persons pay the judge with a very big amount of money in order to become free of death penalty. Death penalty is geographically contingent which that it depends on state to sate. Maybe for this place, death penalty is not implemented but on others it is strictly performed. Death penalty also is racist and classist in nature. Race really makes a big difference when it comes to the implementation of death execution. For an instance, a black murdered a white victim. The black will executed 4 times than any other races. Still racial discrimination is dominant. That becomes a big problem of implementation of death penalty. One cannot avoid looking at races. Everyone is created equally by a supreme being God; hence one must receive equal rights and equal opportunities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some will surely say that implementation of death penalty can reduce crimes because of the fear of death. That belief is not true. It is not true due to the fact that some people commit crimes when they are not on the good state of mind. How can they think of fear of death if they cannot think rationally?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We have presented both the pros and cons of death penalty. Death penalty is good in some ways but also awful in some other manner. Every human has different perspective regarding this social issue. Death penalty may be good for some but some would surely disagree with it. What is important is we respect everybody’s opinion. Work Cited Gregory, David L. â€Å"2000.Legal Arguments Against the Death Penalty. 2 April 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.vincenter.org/95/gregory.html. Messerli, Joe. â€Å"November 11, 2007. Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment?†. 2 April 2008 http://www.balancedpolitics.org/death_penalty.htm.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Has The Federal Emergency Response Improved 9 11 Criminology Essay

Has The Federal Emergency Response Improved 9 11 Criminology Essay The United States is confronted by many kinds of emergencies every day, emergencies which require prompt actions from emergency responders. These responders may come from different parts of the same local authorities or may come from other authorities. They may come from State or Federal agencies. Nevertheless, despite having come from different authorities and agencies, they need to effectively communicate and work together to get their desired results. The failures of the Federal government during the 9/11 attack serves as an awakening call to all. The 9/11 attack which has struck the whole country emphasizes that there is a need to continuously improve incident management. The history of Federal response procedures indicates that Federal planning concentrates too much on how Federal agencies communicate to one another during such emergencies. However, it did not completely concentrate on incorporating the different levels of government to manage incidents. It did not plan on appro priate working relationships prior to, subsequent to, and all throughout the crisis. Subsequent to the 9/11 attack, endeavoring to provide better incident responses, incident management principles must be revisited to develop a better response framework. This paper will provide a review on how the Federal Response Framework was implemented during the 9/11 attack. In doing so, the paper will explore the history of Federal response procedures, the Federal response to terrorism and the National Response Framework. This paper will also discuss the lessons learned from the 9/11 attack and the improvements made since the terrorist attack. History of Federal Response Procedures The current National Response Framework is a product of a long history of natural and man-made disasters, where existing response procedures were revisited and reassessed consequently following a disaster. The federal governments role in emergency response dates back following the event in 1802 when a Portsmouth, New Hampshire was raged by a large uncontrolled fire. Immediately in 1803, the federal government launched the federal role with The Congressional Act of 1803 (Foster, 2005). A century followed characterized by many natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, to which the federal government attended to. During the 1960s to the early 1970s, United States faced massive disasters which required major federal response and recovery operations. Thus, legislation were increased to address the concerns that natural disasters bring forth, such as the National Flood Insurance Act in 1968 and the Disaster Relief Act in 1974, to name a few (FEMA, 2009). At this point, however, emergency response procedures were still fragmented. There were more than a hundred federal agencies involved in providing assistance to state to local governments in the event of a disaster. Moreover, many programs and policies within the state and local level were too similar resulting to redundancy as well as compounding the complexity of the federal governments efforts in responding to disasters. The National Governors Association considered cutting the number of agencies to which the state and local government needed to coordinate with. They approached President Jimmy Carter to centralize federal emergency functions (Foster, 2005). With an attempt to improve and streamline federal emergency functions, President Carter signed an Executive Order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA became responsible for coordinat[ing] the federal governments role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror (FEMA, 2009). In 1988, the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was passed, which launched a system wherein a Presidential disaster declaration of an emergency prompted federal financial and material assistance to be released to state and local governments. This act became known as the Federal Response Plan and FEMA has t he primary responsibility of coordinating at least 25 government and non-government agencies. The first few years of FEMA emphasized the complexity of emergency management as FEMA faced many unusual disasters and emergencies such as the contamination of Love Canal, Cuban refugee crisis and disaster at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (FEMA, 2009). Other disasters it faced were the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. When James Witt became the new FEMA director in 1993, Witt instigated reforms within the agency that reorganized disaster relief and recovery operations to an all-hazards model to make it more efficient, emphasizing on preparedness and mitigation and customer service. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed, which required the consolidation of existing federal government emergency response plans into a single, coordinated national response plan (U.S. Congress, Cited from Lindsay, 2008, p. 3). The act also created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) merging at least 20 agencies into a single department, including FEMA. FEMA, despite being under DHS, still maintained its authority to administer the provisions of the Stafford Act as well as its designation as the forefront agency for the countrys response plan. In December 2004, DHS issued a successor to the Federal Response Plan, entitled the National Response Plan (NRP). The NRP attempts to incorporate all levels of government in a common incident management framework (US Government Printing Office, 2009). Implemented during Hurricane Katrina, the NRP still proved to be inadequate. Nine months after Katrinas landfall, several changes were made to the NRP, which integrated the preliminary lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, DHS published the National Response Framework (NRF) as a guide to how the nation conducts emergency and disaster responses. The NRF replaces the 2004 NRP and revised 2006 NRP (US Government Printing Office, 2009). Federal Response to Terrorism Responding to a terrorist act, whether it involves a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agent or weapon, entails a wide array of complexities to state and local responders. The current system requires that local police, fire and emergency personnel first respond to the disaster (Haddow, Bullock Coppola, 2006). If the incident overpowers the capabilities of the local responders, they may turn to the state government for assistance and when it becomes too immense for the local and state responders, eventually, they turn to the federal government for assistance. Accordingly, federal agencies may assist through deployment of various teams (GAO, 2000). Figure 1: Relationship between crisis management and consequence management (Larson and Peters, 2001, p. 258) The Federal Response Plan and Terrorism Incident Annex states that the Terrorism Incident Annex endeavors to improve the nations ability to respond rapidly and decisively to terrorism directed against Americans wherever it occurs, arrest or defeat the perpetrators using all appropriate instruments against the sponsoring organizations and governments, and provide recovery relief to victims, as permitted by law (Larson Peters, 2001, p. 259) The Terrorism Incident Annex visualizes a possible flow from crisis management activities to consequence management (See figure 1). Larson and Peters (2001) indicated that the difference between crisis management and consequence management is that crisis management involves measures to identify, acquire, and plan the use of resources needed to anticipate, prevent, and/or resolve a threat or act of terrorism whereas consequence management, on the other hand, includes measures to protect public health and safety, restore essential government services , and provide emergency relief to governments, businesses, and individuals affected by the consequences of terrorism (Larson Peters, 2001, p. 257). National Response Framework Effective March 22, 2008, the National Response Framework superseded the National Response Plan. The NRF lays out the guiding principles which facilitate all response associates to prepare for and provide an integrated emergency response towards disasters and other emergencies. It institutes an all-inclusive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The NRF defines the key principles, roles and structures that systematize how the country responds as one nation. The NRF is built upon the National Incident Management System (NIMS) which provides a standard command and management structure that directly applies to response activities. Accordingly, this system presents a reliable, national template that allows Federal, State, tribal and local governments as well as the private sector and NGOs to collaborate in the preparation, prevention, response, recovery and mitigation of the effects of the incidents regardless of its size, cause, location and/or complexity (US Go vernment Printing Office, 2009). This NRF is needed by, and incorporates under, the larger National Strategy for Homeland Security or Strategy which serves to lead, systematize and unite the countrys homeland security efforts. This strategy mirrors an improved understanding of the threats and challenges facing the United States. It integrates the different lessons learned from exercises and actual disasters. In addition, it expresses how our nation can ensure enduring success through strengthening homeland security. Furthermore, it presents a general framework through which the entire nation should direct its homeland security efforts in achieving the following goals: Prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks. Protect the American people and our critical infrastructure and key resources. Respond to and recover from incidents that do occur. Continue to strengthen the foundation to ensure our long-term success (US Government Printing Office, 2009, p. 12). The NRF is primarily concerned with the third goal which aims to respond to and recover from incidents that do occur. The Strategy necessitates an NRF that facilitates the strengthening of the foundation built for an effective national response, which swiftly evaluate rising incidents, take preliminary actions, develop operations as needed and instigate recovery actions in stabilizing the area. Furthermore, the Strategy also necessitates that the NRF be clearly written, easy to understand and designed to encompass a national scope as it meets the needs of State, local, and tribal governments and the private sector and NGOs, as well as the Federal Government. The Framework is designed to answer and support the Strategy, which must work together impeccably to national, State, tribal, and local preparedness activities. The 9/11 Attack and Emergency Procedures Implemented According to the 9/11 Commission Report (2004), the emergency response at the Pentagon was, in general, effective. The response constituted a combination of local, state and federal jurisdictions. The Arlington County Fire Department served as the incident commander, for obvious reasons on the nature of the event, whereas other agencies involved had different roles. The Department of Justice, on the other hand, became the lead federal agency in charge. Moreover, Arlington County and all bordering and surrounding jurisdictions became involved one way or another during the response procedure. The series of events of the terrorist attack started around 9:37 am when the west wall of the Pentagon was hit by a hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757. Immediately, the building and the airplane was damaged, killing all 64 people in the plane and 125 people inside the Pentagon. Additionally, there were six people also seriously injured and mobilized to area hospitals. The 9/11 Commission Report justifies the success of the emergency response for three reasons. Firstly, emergency responders were able to build strong professional relationships with one another. Secondly, the Incident Command System was appropriately implemented. And lastly, there was a pursuit of a regional approach to response. Accordingly, many of the fire and police agencies involved had extensive previous experience when it came to collaborating on regional events and training exercises (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004). Several local, regional, state and federal agencies immediately responded to the incident. Along with the county fire, police and sheriffs departments, there was the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Fire Department, Fort Myer Fire Department, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the FBI, FEMA, National Medical Response Team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a number of military personnel from the Military District of Washington. Arlington County Emergency Communications Center also communicated with other fire departments from Fairfax County, Alexandria and the District of Columbia for further assistance with the incident. By 9:41, command was already established and the incident command post has already presented a clear picture of the crash site and how to access it. By 9:55, there was an evacuation order of the Pentagon by the incident commander because of the preliminary assessment of a collapse of the building. By 9:57, the building partially collapsed; nevertheless, no first responders were injured. By 10:15, the incident commander ordered a full evacuation of the command post because of warning that another hijacked plane is fast-approaching to the site. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) noted that the evacuation order was well communicated and well coordinated. In fact, the 9/11 Commission Report stated that a vast number of civilians below the impact zone were able to evacuate the towers. This evacuation was facilitated significantly by the amendments made by the Port Authority in response to the 1993 bombing as well as the training of both Authority personnel and civilians after that incident. The stairwells of unaffected floors remained lighted, whereas other stairwells had glow strips to the handrails and stairs. General evacuation time was approximately less than one hour on September 11 for those who were not trapped or suffering physical disabilities, compared to almost four hours during the 1993 bombing. Nevertheless, there were many problems that arose from the incident. Challenges to which are considered as failures and lessons learned during the 9/11 attack are outlined in the succeeding section: The Challenge of Incident Command The Incident Commander is responsible for the management of the Citys response to emergency; If the incident is so multifaceted that no one agency immediately stands out as the Incident Commander, OEM will assign the role of Incident Commander to an agency as the situation demands (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004, p. 319). To some extent, the Mayors directive for incident command was implemented during the incident response as the FDNY became the lead response agency during the incident. However, the problem was that response operations lacked the type of integrated communications and unified command contemplated in the directive. According to one of the experiences of the first responders to the 9/11 attack, Almost all aspects of communication continue to be problematic, from initial notification to tactical operations. Cellular telephones were of little valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Radio channels were initially oversaturatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ pagers seemed to be the most reliable means of notification when available and used, but most firefighters are not issued pagers (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004, p. 314). Command and Control within First Responder Agencies In any kind of unified incident management system, all participants must possess command and control over its own units and sufficient internal communications. However, during the 9/11 incident, first responder agencies lacked command and control over its own unit and adequate internal communications. FDNY, for example, lacked the experience in responding to an incident like the 9/11 terrorist attack. FDNY was incompetent in organizing the number of units dispatch within the complex (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004). This may be partly caused by the breakdown of internal communications wherein their radios had limited capabilities in a high-rise environment such as that of the WTC. Moreover, there was confusion over the assignation of the different frequencies to the personnel involved. Finally, the FDNY command post died down when the South Tower collapsed, compromising the departments capability to comprehend the status of the incident response. Another example is the Port Authoritys insufficient standard operating procedures and efficient radios to facilitate multiple commands to respond effectively. Many officials while under the tunnels and airports reported that they were not able to understand instructions issued. Moreover, command and control was further complicated when senior Port Authority Police officials decided to participate in frontline rescue operations (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004). NYPD also faced some, although relatively fewer, command and control and communication issues. The department, with its extensive experience in mobilizing thousands of officers during key events necessitating crowd control, was able to adapt more easily to an immense devastating event such as that of the 9/11. However, it is unclear whether NYPD officers were fully well coordinated (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004). Lack of Coordination and Collaboration among First Responder Agencies The Commission reported that there was insufficient comprehensive coordination between NYPD, FDNY and PAPD personnel as they ascended the towers. Information sharing became a critical issue during the 9/11 attack. FDNY officials reported their difficulties in their decision-making due to insufficient information given by the NYPD aviation. NYPD aviation, prior to the collapse of the tower, had already warned at 9:51 that large pieces from the South Tower seemed to fall, which could pose considerable danger to people below. It was only after the towers collapse where FDNY received this message due to internal breakdowns in commnication. This lack of real-time intelligence resulted to more lives lost. The lack of coordination between NYPD, FDNY and PAPD was also evident in terms of searching the complex for civilians as there was redundancy in searching specific floors and areas. Radio Communication Challenges Mentioned earlier, FDNY had significant deficiencies in terms of radio communication. Three factors attributed to the ineffectiveness of communication. First, the effectiveness of communication through the radios were significantly reduced due to the high-rise environment. Second, too many units attempted to communicate to tactical channel 1 at 10:00, overwhelming the frequency. Lastly, many firefigters were on the wrong frequency whereas others simply lacked radios in general (The 9/11 Commission Report, 2004). Protective Technologies The experiences of the first responders during the 9/11 rescue operation illustrated the significant deficit in terms of protection. The responders reported that their personal protective equipments (PPE) hindered their ability to do their jobs. Their overall PPE proved to be incapable of protecting them such that other equipments performed better than others. Head protection as well as high-visibility suits performed well, whereas protective clothing and respirators were not very effective. Protective clothing did not provide enough protection against biological and infectious disease hazards, heat from the fire and demanding physical environment. Moreover, the material used was not light and flexible enough to move through and fro confined spaces. Eye protection, although offering protection against direct impact, did not provide any protection to persistent dust at the site (Jackson, et al., 2002). Improvements since 9/11 Attack Perhaps one of the most significant improvements made since the 9/11 terrorist attack is the issue on airport security which involves preparation to mitigate the risks of terrorism. Airport security has become much tighter than ever (Dempsey, 2007). Travelling has become more secured as access has now been rigorously restricted. One can no longer go straight to the gates and fly. Passengers have to wait in long lines before one can actually go in, whether flying domestically or internationally. Appropriate documents must be presented and authenticated as well (i.e. passports, government issued IDs, and plane tickets). Aside from documents, people as well as their belongings have to undergo vigorous scrutiny and inspection through security screeners and X-ray machines. Dangerous items such as guns, knives, corkscrews and other sharp objects are no longer allowed to be brought inside the airports. Baggages are more frequently searched in random, whereas passengers are performed pat dow ns (Dempsey, 2007). Airplanes are also made more secure than ever, with their hardened cockpits and federal air marshals to ensure the safety of the passengers and guard terrorist acts. Endeavoring to identify possible terrorists and smugglers and prevent them and their baggage from entering the secured parts of the airport and the airplanes, airport officials conduct profiling of passengers. This system develops a personality profile of the traits of terrorists and smugglers and attempts to match the passengers to the profile. Once a passenger matched a certain terrorist or smuggler profile, he or she is detained and subjected to appropriate search and questioning (Dempsey, 2007). Furthermore, all passengers now undergo explosive detections through conducting profiling, visual and physical inspections and canine inspection wherein trained dogs are used in recognizing explosive vapors. Airports now also use different kinds of state-of-the-art x-ray machines and explosive-odor detection devices (Dempsey, 2007). Assessment of the Federal Response Framework after the 9/11 One of the major disasters that hit the country, subsequent to the 9/11 attack, was Hurricane Katrina during 2005. Four years after the terrorist attack of 9/11, the country was hit by a major hurricane. Despite efforts made on equipping the country to minimize the risks of terrorist plots, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina illustrated how unprepared the country still is. Federal response procedures at the time, even after the 9/11 attack still proved to be inadequate and ineffective. There was lack of preparation within all levels of government (Sellnow, Ulmer, Seeger, Littlefield, 2008). In addition, there was also a lack of coordination and collaboration among the different agencies involved in the incident (Sellnow, et al., 2008). During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA was incapable to streamlining the agencies involved and produce timely response and results (Sellnow, et al., 2008). Furthermore, there was a lack of communications and situational awareness (Sellnow, et al., 2008). Farber and Chen (2006) asserted that the problems encountered during the Hurricane Katrina response were not born and/or ended during and after Hurricane Katrina. The failures during the incident response indicate that local, state and federal government still need to work together to continuously improve the system. Conclusions The challenges of different kinds of disasters confront our country every now and then. These challenges continue to test the character and perseverance of American people. History illustrates a long line of failures in emergency management. Nevertheless, as we fail to respond appropriately towards it, we constantly learn from our mistakes and attempt to continuously improve. The 9/11 attack and Hurricane Katrina was an awakening call telling the country to be more prepared to incidents such as these. To answer whether the federal response procedures have improved since the 9/11 attack, there are certainly improvements especially in terms of securing the country from terrorist attacks. Significant changes in airport security proved to be effective in mitigating the risks of terrorism within the country. However, it should be noted that this is not enough. Further planning and training still need to be done for the country to be fully prepared.