Quality managment techniques and their relationship to revenue Research Paper

Quality managment techniques and their relationship to revenue managment - Research Paper Example All of the information connectivity devices are exchanging data. As a consequence, the Internet has evolved into an efficient and effective means of commercial marketing and data exchange. This is applicable as e- commerce . This new phenomenon of e- commerce allows greater free market trade. Smaller suppliers can vie for commerce in the same manner as larger firms, simply by providing a website representing their products and services. By the same means, the consumer who purchases services online has access to a greater selection of products and services. The Internet facilitates communication between buyers and sellers by means of electronic data exchange (EDI). E- commerce is known as the free trade of products and services by suppliers and consumers through the Internet. Consumers and producers are enabled with an opportunity through the free exchange of information and the ability to effect purchases online- to be better informed, in order to acquire the correct product or servi ce at the correct time. Trend setting business people and small to medium sized concerns are leading the way to e- commerce. Research has demonstrated that 90% of all business people are applying the case of data exchange over the Internet, to either promote their products or services and/ or to create new opportunities (Hallin & Marnburg, 2008). The purpose of this research paper is the following: To demonstrate how Internet based services may facilitate the travel and hospitality industry in increased sales and revenue. To demonstrate how the coordination of this procedure can help vacationers receive efficient customer service by means of the Internet. To demonstrate how the introduction of web... The research tells that the travel and hospitality industry is composed of a number of enterprises which are involved in supplying travel services to vacationers, business executives and entrepreneurs. These services may include hotel packages or bed and breakfasts, airline travel packages or services such as guided tours and automobile rentals. An important element is the travel representative, who is the intermediary between the vacationers, business executives, entrepreneurs and the purveyors of travel based services. The expertise of the travel consultant is desired and required by the travel and hospitality consumer. Many individuals select a travel consultant in order to look for the best vacation packages and to establish the travel and hospitality reservation. The travel consultant coordinates a number of travel and hospitality elements and combines them into a single hospitality and travel package. In some instances, government based tourist organizations provide the service s of the travel consultant, disseminating information and pamphlets for the travel and hospitality purveyors in their vicinity. The main function of the travel consultant in all of these instances, is to enable the interchange of information and to facilitate the consumer decision making process. In order to achieve this result, the travel and hospitality suppliers, airline passenger carriers, automobile rental enterprises, hotel and tour guides must all provide the correct information to the travel consultant in an attractive presentation, in order to enable the generation of revenues in the travel and hospitality industry.

Bureaucracy and self-government Essay Example for Free

Bureaucracy and self-government Essay When a government creates policies, regulations, laws and guidelines, it rigorously and astutely applies them through what is called an act and service of public administration. Public administration is then implemented within an organizational structure. The bureaucracy that this structure operates illustrate the various operatives and/or personnel and/or leaders that makes the decision and leads the methodologies, tactics and strategies to implement the said policies, regulations, laws and guidelines. The bureaucracy is likewise responsible in ensuring the efficient and effective ways and means for such act and service. In executing its mandate, public administration must be dynamic. It must have a natural course of evolution and appropriate change and improvements that responds to the multifarious and complex demands of public service; constituent needs and demands and expectations. â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is a book that gives enlightenment and on how concepts of public administration renders its appropriate service to the American people. The Book’s Insights Bureaucracy in its principle is the rational and academic structure of the organizational process in rendering service and implementing policies and procedures of any institution – like the government. The positive principle of bureaucracy has however evolved into a negative context in the modern time wherein red tape and other forms of inadequacies. It is because the bureaucracy in rendering public administration operates within two types of concepts. It is therefore very important and interesting that Dr. Cook laid out in his book that public administration in American politics is operated both within the instrumental concept and in the constitutive concept. The instrumental concept believes that the job of bureaucracy in public administration is to execute the instructions of public officials. Within the simplicity of this concept there lies the insufficiency of complete rendering of public service. That is the reason why Dr. Cook has outlined that the past two centuries of America is a struggle to create life and meaning and expectations of the instrumental concept of public administration and service. The constitutive concept believes that the job of bureaucracy in public administration is to shape and characterize public policy and political community. This concept allows formative methods that bring shape and structure to laws and policies of government. Creativity and dynamic insights and foresights of government officials and public administrators are exercised in using this concept. The concluding insight of Dr. Cook in â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government†¦Ã¢â‚¬  outlines principles of responsible public administration. Firstly, with proper responsibility in governing and administering comes along an unlimited ability. A complete and consummate commitment to adherence to the law must be characterized in the proponents of public administration. Government leaders and officials must take the rule of law as their way of life. Secondly, within the rule of law â€Å"an adequate sphere of constitutionally legitimate independence must be carved†. (Cook, 1996, page 177). This principle is coherent with what government administrators have sworn to in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities. It is important that discretion of the law is carried out with integrity. The Book’s Presentation The book is presented in a very scholarly format. He extensive experience of Dr. Brian J. Cook in the study of politics and public administration render authority on the subject matter. The book is seemingly passionate in pursuing ways and means for public administration to still attain its ideals. The book traced well established historical background that served the impetus on how American government administration and management has evolved – thus providing the foundation of the conduct and manner of public administration of modern day. Whatever the course of history and evolution American politics and public administration may have tracked and traced, the book offers confidence and hope that the better of valor shall surface in public administration in America. The Book’s Author Dr. Brian J. Cook is presently a Professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs of Virginia Tech. He earned his BA degree in Political Science in 1977 from Cleveland State University with magna cum laude honors. His further education in government and politics earned him is masters in 1982 and doctorate in 1984 – both from the University of Maryland. He has taught; lectured and done research on politics and government since 1979. Dr. Cook has been endowed with numerous foundation and university grants and government sponsored research. He has written and published three books: â€Å"Bureaucratic Politics and Regulatory Reform: The EPA and Emissions Trading† (1988); â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government: Reconsidering the Role of Public Administration in American Politics† (1996) and â€Å"Democracy and Administration: Woodrow Wilson’s Ideas and the Challenges of Public Management† (2007). In addition he has written and published numerous book chapters; peer reviewed and non-reviewed articles; book reviews; conference papers and reports covering a very wide array of thoughts, principles and theories in American politics, government, administration policies. (Brian J. Cook Curriculum Vitae, 2008, pages 1-2) Works Cited: Cook, Brian J. Bureaucracy and Self-Government: Reconsidering the Role of Public Administration in American Politics John Hopkins University Press, 1996 Brian J. Cook Curriculum Vitae, September 2008 http://www. cpap. vt. edu/doc/BJC_Curriculum_Vitae_09-08. pdf [accessed 2 June 2009]

Masculine and Feminine Norms and Gender Identity Essay examples -- Gen

Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the â€Å"norm† that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question â€Å"am I a true man or woman?† After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s. Norms in society do not just come about randomly in one’s life, they start once a child is born. To emphasize, directly from infancy, children are being guided to norms due to their parents’ preferences and choices they create for them, whether it is playing with legos, or a doll house; gender classification begins in the womb. A prime example comes from a female author, Ev’Yan, of the book â€Å"Sex, love,Liberation,† who strongly expresses her feelings for feminism and the constant pressure to conform to gender. She stated that â€Å"From a very young age, I was taught consistently & subliminally about what it means to be a girl, to the point where it became second nature. The Disney films, fairy tales, & depictions of women in the media gave me a good definition of what femininity was. It also showed me what femininity wasn’t (Ev’Yan).She felt that society puts so much pressure on ourselves to be as close to our gender identities as possi ble, with no confusion; to prevent confusion, her mother always forced her to wear dresses. In her book, she expressed her opinion that her parents already knew her gender before she was born, allowing them t... ... Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 10 Dec. 2011. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. . Lever, Janet, David A. Frederick, and Letitia Anne Peplau. "Does Size Matter? Men's and Women's Views on Penis Size across the Lifespan." APAPsychNET 7.3 (2006). Google Scholar. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. Myabaker. "SEX RULES OF A MAN." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. . Myerson, Marilyn, and Steven Walfish. "Sex Role Identity and Attitudes toward Sexuality." Springerlink 9.3 (1980): 199-203. Google Scholar. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. Pool, G., A. Schwegler, B. Theodore, and P. Fuchs. "Role of Gender Norms and Group Identification on Hypothetical and Experimental Pain Tolerance." Pain 129.1-2 (2007): 122-29. University of Florida Libraries. Science Direct. EBSCOhost. Web. 26 Jan. 2012.

Energy drink Essay

Energy drinks are beverages that can be used to supplement energy and concentration. It contains several ingredients, some good others bad. They contain ingredients such as caffeine, guarana, taurine and many more. Usually they are beneficial, but when taken in large amounts; some ingredients can cause unwelcome side effects. Many people consume energy drinks for enjoyment and the extra kick of energy for the day, but they are not aware of the hidden ingredients that can cause illness. In my opinion I believe that energy drinks are dangerous because they can cause illness, children and teenagers will be affected by the drink and the horrible side effects. The packaging of energy drink might convince you that it is are fine to drink but most of us are unaware of the hidden dangers. Those dangers can put anyone at risk of illness. Energy drinks contain high amounts of sugar similar to soft drink but energy drinks also contain high amounts of caffeine and taurine. Taurine is an amino acid that your body naturally produces. It helps regulate heartbeat, muscle contractions, and energy levels. But when there is too much taurine in our bodies, it can make some body parts overactive, like platelets. Platelets are found in the blood stream and they are very important to the body. They help to clot blood when there is a cut. The sugar makes the platelets overactive which makes them stick together and cause blood clots. This increase risk of heart related disease. In the US a small was conducted, they found that there is a link between the consumption of energy drinks and heart disease or high blood pressure. The researchers found healthy adults who drank two cans of a popular energy drink a day had above normal blood pressure and heart rate. Not only does it affect us both physical and mentally, it can affect children and teens who consume energy drinks. Children and teenagers don’t know what they are consuming and the affect it has on the body. You may see children or teens consuming energy drinks at sporting events instead of sport drinks, to boost energy levels. We may think that energy drinks and sports drinks are the same, but they’re not. Sport drinks provide only carbohydrate and salts to replace those lost in sweat, whilst energy drinks give temporary boost of energy. This may not sound bad but it will affect them over the long term. Like a child suffering with diabetes should not continue drinking energy drinks because the sugars in them can cause an imbalance of insulin. Even the Daily Telegraph thinks that energy drinks are unsafe because it can link to severe illness. The Daily Telegraph has reported â€Å"Energy drinks could be dangerous for children and teenagers,† The newspaper said that the use of high-caffeine drinks has been linked to â€Å"seizures, mania, stroke and sudden death†. Energy drinks can effect children and teenagers and also give people terrible side effects. Some people are not aware that energy drinks can give awful side effects after consumption. There are many side effects that can occur after drinking like vomiting, nausea, and hallucinations. Many ingredients inside energy drinks cause some people allergy reactions. There are many effects that can make people gain weight like people who don’t exercise. The mayo clinic says â€Å"that sugar intake has a direct correlation with weight gain, especially for people who don’t exercise. † But it can get worse, if energy drinks are drank with alcohol, it can make you pass out or get seriously hurt. Energy can drinks can make people sick from the dreadful side effects. However energy drinks create enjoyment among people, it has good taste and contains some good vitamins and herbs like vitamin B, ginseng, ginkgo Biloba and Antioxidants which are good for the body. To finish like to say that we should reconsider drinking energy because they can cause illness, young people will be affected and they can give people terrible side effects.

Learning Team Reflection: Chase Strategy Essay

Chase strategy is when production meets the demand and capacity from one period to the next. This strategy is mostly used when demand is unpredictable and there is no inventory. Many cases when using this strategy result in a hire turnover rate when it comes to employment which can lead to insecure and unhappy employees. Problems with labor unions may arise as well. Other results of this strategy include increased inventory costs and erratic use of factories and equipment. This allows factories to have a large amount of flexibility. A major advantage of the strategy is that inventory is allowed at its lowest level which can provide a savings to some companies. The just-in concept firms utilize the chase strategy to aggregate planning. There are many companies that prefer to use a combination of the level and chase strategy. The combination enables optimization of goals and lower costs more so than independently. Companies and businesses within the service industry that use this strategy are demand matching which means that the workforce must match the demand. Another example of an industry that uses the chase strategy is the auto industry. Companies like Ford, GM, and Hyundai have automobiles that depreciate quickly and the cost of warehousing, insurance, and taxes are high. Automobiles cannot be stockpiled for too long so therefore, only so many are made based on demand of the consumer. Another example would be the fast food industry. For example, Chik-Fil-A would only produce a meal once an order is taken which meets the demand of the customer. When companies in the service industry use Chase Strategy, they tend to hire hourly employees, part time employees and allow overtime in order to meet the demand of customers. Some disadvantages of using the Chase Strategy would be a high turnover rate which can cause low employee morale as well as problems with labor unions and a possible increase in labor costs. The use of the Chase Strategy could also mean higher hiring and training costs.

KU GPA Calculator Essays

KU GPA Calculator Essays KU GPA Calculator Paper KU GPA Calculator Paper KU GPA calculator is an instrument helping potential students to measure their chances to become a member of the University. KU is one of the largest state universities in the USA. It is one of the most advanced and progressive public research and teaching institutions in the country. There is a possibility to study various subjects and gain an education in many spheres. The facilities of the university impress. There are five campuses, library and small research centers enabling students to conduct their research projects. Here there is the National Cancer Institute located. Various educational programs and student exchange projects support and enforce the knowledge students of the KU. The diverse elements are interrelated with the aim to educate students. The University brings up leaders able to contribute to the development of science and society. The educational institution has gained a prestigious status as it brings up specialists in various fields of activity. If you have a de sire to become a member of progressive and innovative University, you have to be able to use college GPA calculator KU. This handy instrument will become an indispensable tool for every potential student trying to evaluate the proximity of getting the place in the higher educational institution of his or her dream. College GPA calculator KU GPA calculator KU is an app, which will help to decide on a place of study, which you can enter. This online program will help you to make a prognosis for future and focus on the University, which will correspond to the academic achievements. The purpose of the program is to calculate the average number based on the grades that you will probably receive. The calculator is useful both for graduate and undergraduate students, as it allows to trace the progress. For potential students, it serves as an app helping to calculate the average grade, which it is necessary to strive for, to get the opportunity to study at a particular institution. The option of calculating allows evaluating the current progress. It is possible to compare the â€Å"what if† GPA with a mark of recent year and determines what the chances to enter are. Use the cumulative GPA calculator KU, if you want to know whether you can become a student of this higher education institution. The University of Kansas KU GPA Calculator The University of Kansas KU GPA Calculator will help you to see, whether you need to put more efforts and study harder, or you are already good enough and should just keep on going. As is often the case, students plan their entering procedure and compile a list of potential places of studies. They monitor the last year ratings to discover what the average GPA is. The next step is to evaluate their potential GPA number to single out, whether their achievements match with the standards and demands of the admission committee. You can see whether there is a need to pay more efforts, or you can enter the University anyway. Be sure to receive mostly A’s and several B’s to be on the list of finalists. The instructions for the users of the app are simple. You need to fill in the places, mentioning the name, of course, credit hours and the â€Å"what if† grades. The program will make all the calculation and deliver the result. Be sure to be persistent and dedicated, and all your plans and expectation will come true!

This essay provides a paragraph and explains the critiqueing for the example. Explains Cultural differences within the paragraph.

This essay provides a paragraph and explains the critiqueing for the example. Explains Cultural differences within the paragraph. "I wanted to welcome you ASAP to our little family here in the States. It's high time we shook hands in person and not just across the sea. I'm pleased as punch about getting to know you all, and I for one will do my level best to sell you on America."After critiquing the paragraph for the email, I found it to be very unclear in relaying the intended message. The paragraph contained statements that may not be properly translated to the intended audience, such as "It's high time" and "pleased as punch." This risks confusion and could cause an unwanted reaction. The email uses the phrase "high time", which means the appropriate time. The phrase originated from Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, Antipholus of Syracuse."There's none but witches do inhabit here;And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence."Unless the audience is familiar with Shakespeare's work, they may mistake the meaning.2011-06-22-Marlene-Williams-Memorial-Bench-Flowers..."Pleased as punch" is another example. It origi nated from the Punch and Judy slapstick puppet character. In Punch and Judy performances the Punch character is depicted as self-satisfied and pleased with his evil deeds, therefore the phrase became common to express how pleased someone is regarding an object, action, etc. Because the group is not originally from the United States, these are phrases I would refrain from using. According to Business Communication Today, "When speaking to people less fluent in your language, try to choose words carefully to convey only their most specific denotative meaning." (Page 66 Para. 4) Although they do speak English, there are things they may not be aware of.Forse 3I would also eliminate the use of contractions and abbreviations within the email, It's, I'm, and ASAP. Although it is an email, the use can be considered unprofessional by...

Nutraceutical Definition

Nutraceutical Definition Nutraceutical Definition The term nutraceutical was coined in the 1990s by Dr. Stephen DeFelice. He defined nutraceutical as follows: A nutraceutical is any substance that is a food or a part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. Such products may range from isolated nutrients, dietary supplements and specific diets to genetically engineered designer foods, herbal products, and processed foods such as cereals, soups and beverages. It is important to note that this definition applies to all categories of food and parts of food, ranging from dietary supplements such as folic acid, used for the prevention of spina bifida, to chicken soup, taken to lessen the discomfort of the common cold. This definition also includes a bio-engineered designer vegetable food, rich in antioxidant ingredients, and a stimulant functional food or pharmafood. Since the term was coined, its meaning has been modified. Health Canada defines nutraceutical as follows: A Nutraceutical is a product isolated or purified from foods, and generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food and demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease. Examples of Nutraceuticals: beta-carotene, lycopene

Discussion Questions Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Discussion Questions - Term Paper Example Those doing public opinion are guided by questions depending on the issue they are studying. Some of the questions that they may use when focusing n a study can be how strongly is a given opinion by the public held? In which geographical area, age group, religion, society and sector of the economy are the opinion intense? Or even what other relating opinions does the public has? Measurement of quantitative opinion has helped in generalization of opinions and cementing of public opinion is a good thing. Secondly is a thorough investigation of individual and small group opinion that when gathered make up public opinion. This is an important element since individual opinions relate in a way, and individual aggregated judgments are inseparable. It is through individual opinions that an opinion that will be later referred as the public is conceived after studying multiple individuals and analyzing and grouping their responses and drawing up a relationship between them. Lastly a good analy sis of public’s responsibility of the opinion is another very important element. The public has an imperative role to play on public opinions simply because most of the issues to be addressed through the opinion affect them. An analysis is very important to check the public commitment in the process, and through this, the success of the process will be determined. The media as we know it is the most influential tool in the creation and enhancement of public opinion in modern days. It takes the form of print media (magazines, reports, newspapers among others), the radio, television and the internet. Speaking of media is like referring to a way of shaping and influencing people perceptions and opinions. The media are so powerful that it has helped shrink the entire world into a small society where people from a great distance can access, influence and hear other people opinions despite them being very far from them. One of the biggest roles of media is to enhance participation in a public opinion; this can be possible through advertising and opinions posted directly to media house. With its power, media can influence individual judgment by focusing on the issues that they feel will greatly affect public view on an issue. The role that the media have played is without doubt positive, the much influence it has brought, and the much it has helped change the world are phenomenon. Thanks to the media influence on public opinion we have seen democracy find a way in dictatorial nations, refugees get international help and sympathy, witnessed social economic growth in the world among other many good things. 2 Presidents Washington, Polk, Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy and Reagan i would refer to them as good politicians who knew a thing or two about politics, played good politics and had a dream for the American people. They are some of the greatest presidents that the united States have had. It is through their commitment and zeal that saw U.S.A â€Å"grow† to be the most powerful nation in the entire universe. President George Washington was the first president of the United States who acted consciously yet so carefully since he knew the importance a well build nation with a well established executive arm of Government that could be house future presidents. He is celebrated for setting many precedents that are still applicable and use in the office of the president. For his entire time, he is celebrated for

Service and Relationship Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Service and Relationship Marketing - Essay Example Changes have to be brought in with a strategic marketing approach on the basis of the service and relationship marketing. "Relationship marketing is not only a new or improved way of communicating with customer it is much more than that." (Gronroos 2007, p. 43). Werribee Park is situated in Australia. It is one of the oldest parks with a past tale of love and betrayal. It was a part of older England that situated in the centre of Victoria and also Werribee Park hall is the largest personal house ever constructed in Victoria. Park envelops 40,500 hectares and the homes have 60 quarters. "The Ministry of Tourism adopts many policies to counteract hurdles and obstacles which come in the way of the development of Tourism in a country. Policies adopted by Ministry of Tourism are aimed at enhancing services and tourism tools to attract as many tourists as possible." (Tourism industry growth, n.d.). The Victorian government has formed a scheme of almost13 Maritime Nationwide Parks and 11 minute Maritime Sanctuaries. All these recreational areas and sanctuaries at present guard almost 5.3% of Victoria's waters protect significant maritime territory and genus, important normal features, artistic tradition and artistic values. Visitors of the Park ca n take pleasure in an idle setting. Proper customer relationship must be maintained in every service industry to attract more visitors. Almost 10 hectares of land and beautifully manicured ceremonial gardens are enclosed by the Werribee hall "a recent addition to the grounds is the Werribee Park Sculpture Walk. Winding through the original farm and riverine, the Sculpture Walk features 29 works by Australia's leading sculptors, including selected winners of the national Helen Lempriere Sculpture Award." (Werribee park, 2009). Through efficient ecological and guest organization we can see that, Parks Victoria's greatest commitment is to protect the resources. Parks Victoria utilizes employee's crossways in the State in a broad variety of functions. Just about 70 per cent of the employees are experts with formal training in park and preserve administration, ecological administration and leisure. This extremely capable and knowledgeable team contains experts from all the business schemes. In addition to that, proper service and customer relationship must be maintained to increase profit as well as revenue. The mansion in the Werribee Park has been said to be the biggest private dwelling ever in Victoria. It was built more than hundred years back for a popular family of those days. The building is rich with its pictures and other artistic reserves which prove that it is almost similar to an English noble residence. Target market: The target market is any place where the product is to be sold. In the case of park taget is to implement the environment to attract the visitors who are about to visit them. The market place is found by mutual analysis and evaluation on the demand for the product. The target marketing actually divides the market into different category, these allows the organization to concentrate on the only product they deal with. There should be interested places for the kids, students, teens, and the adult. The target marketing also helps to find the right pricing for the parks in the locality. It also helps in keeping a record on the dealer's

Final exam essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Final exam - Essay Example The linkage between these rights is necessary because they provide indispensable support to already justified civil rights, and without these other rights civil rights cannot be fully enjoyed. It is, therefore, imperative that the full realization of civil rights without economic, political, and social rights is impossible and as such these rights are significant in the realization of civil rights. In this context, political rights are rights which include freedom of expression, the right to take part in the government, the right to vote and freedom of association and assembly. Economic rights, on the other hand, are those rights which an individual freely accepts or chooses and include the right to work, right to property, the right to join a trade union, fair wages. Social rights are those rights which are essential for a satisfactory standard of living, and these rights include the rights to shelter, health, social care, food, and education (Abadinsky, 78). These types of civil rights were treated differently by the US legal system during the struggle over civil rights as they are currently treated. During the struggle over civil rights, the emphasis on civil rights was on liberty and political participation. This leaning meant that the rights were political in nature and served to protect the citizens from the excess of the state. Consequently, when political rights were achieved the system shifted to encompass equality which is mostly economic and social rights. The recognition of these rights in the United States legal system shifted progressively from the most fundamental rights to the less basic ones after the achievement of the former. The reason these rights were treated differently in the US legal system is because their realization was progressive. Civil rights were not realized at the same time, and the circumstances requiring the adoption of these rights were also different. Some rights were

Information systems role in Ernest and Young's on-line consulting Essay

Information systems role in Ernest and Young's on-line consulting service - Essay Example It was later converted in to a pay and use to web users for accessing all the consulting strength of E&Y (Webizus 2003). Business models have taken on greater importance recently as a form of intellectual property that can be protected with a patent registration (Rappa 2006). In this case, the tax-payer (the consumer) is helped by the model called 'Consumer Direct'- transactions involving products, services, or information between businesses and consumers, here the expert consultants enrolled with Ernest & Young, and the client company's employees; the product - tax-management solutions (Adapted from IBM 1996). The tool used here are the Decision-support systems - interactive computer-based tools used since the 1960s by decision-makers to help answer questions, solve problems and support or refute conclusions (Hall 2005). The advantages of 'Distance Consulting' involved in this model, in this case study of Ernst & Young may be listed as follows: a) The cost: They are more economical. b) A large resource base like panel of direct access to E&Y's national network of tax specialists, FAQs, self-educating information tools to decide on the right solution. c) The guaranteed rapid turnaround and the get-back time. d) Ernie's email consulting helps clients' articulate problems when they write to consulting firms thus leading to faster solutions. Disadvantages include a) May be perceived as too impersonal in a business based on relationship and trust. b) Developed to answer technical tax questions with a limited scope. c) Some large-scale consultations which involve handling large data-base systems, still require on-site assessments for best results. d) Possibility of servicing unknown clients, and risk of oversight of information leading to inappropriate conclusions, very high (Millard 1999). Discuss Knowledge management systems and decision support systems. How are these ideas related to Ernie and Tax Advisor The definition of Knowledge is given as "a function of information, culture, and skills" (Rampersad, 2002).The storing and sharing of such information and acquired knowledge to benefit all the members of the organization paved way for Knowledge Management. In the 1990s, E&Y created three knowledge centers, with three goals: the Center for Business Innovation for creating new knowledge through research, the Center for Business Technology for the use of existing knowledge to create predefined methods and automated tools, and the Center for Business Knowledge for gathering and storing E&Y's internal and external knowledge and information resources. The services included a library, a call centre for answering consultant requests, and a database of consultant skills (NHS 2005). Interactive information systems using data and models to help managers analyze semi-structured problems were developed in the 1970s. These diverse systems were all called Decision Support Systems. In the 80s Executive Information Systems (EIS) was born, from single user model-driven Decision Support systems and improved relational database products (Power 2003). And in the 1990s, data warehousing and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) started expanding the domain of EIS and defined a broader category of Data-Driven DSS (cf., Dhar and Stein, 1997). E&Y started in 1996 On-Line

Impact on labour law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Impact on labour law - Essay Example John Barrett who was a suspicious schizophrenic patient absconded immediately after his release by Gill Mezey. John Barrett reportedly killed one Dennis Finnegan aged about 50 when he was cycling through Richmond Park in South West London in the day after Barrett’s release. A domestic inquiry was held by the Trust and two reports had reprimanded Mezey’s clinical management of John Barrett. .Hospital authorities suspended Gill Mezey with full pay for her negligence from all her duties. On manslaughter charges, John Barrett was sentenced to life. Hospital authorities relied on their hospital’s disciplinary procedure and policy which, it pleaded that equivalent to a contractual authority. In the mean time, Mezey had at her own free will absolved from her clinical duties following the episode as she felt that it would facilitate her from the chance of suspension. Mezey voluntarily undertook non-clinical duties like research and teaching mainly to avoid suspension. Both St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust and South West London administration were sued by Dr. Gill Mezey for suspending her on full pay. She claimed that she incurred pecuniary losses due to her illegal suspension as she could not practice her profession. Immediately after the incident, the trust perused a series of in-house probes which culminated in disciplinary action initiated against Mezey. Earlier, she was suspended on full pay from teaching and clinical duties pending the result of the punitive hearings. Aggrieved by her suspension, Mezey brought before UK High Court a breach of contract proceedings claiming that her suspension was against the Trust’s policy which stated that no employee could be suspended until there was enough concrete proof warranting the suspension. She also preyed that there was no incorporation of disciplinary proceedings in her contract of employment and in any case, her suspension was not

Information systems role in Ernest and Young's on-line consulting Essay

Information systems role in Ernest and Young's on-line consulting service - Essay Example It was later converted in to a pay and use to web users for accessing all the consulting strength of E&Y (Webizus 2003). Business models have taken on greater importance recently as a form of intellectual property that can be protected with a patent registration (Rappa 2006). In this case, the tax-payer (the consumer) is helped by the model called 'Consumer Direct'- transactions involving products, services, or information between businesses and consumers, here the expert consultants enrolled with Ernest & Young, and the client company's employees; the product - tax-management solutions (Adapted from IBM 1996). The tool used here are the Decision-support systems - interactive computer-based tools used since the 1960s by decision-makers to help answer questions, solve problems and support or refute conclusions (Hall 2005). The advantages of 'Distance Consulting' involved in this model, in this case study of Ernst & Young may be listed as follows: a) The cost: They are more economical. b) A large resource base like panel of direct access to E&Y's national network of tax specialists, FAQs, self-educating information tools to decide on the right solution. c) The guaranteed rapid turnaround and the get-back time. d) Ernie's email consulting helps clients' articulate problems when they write to consulting firms thus leading to faster solutions. Disadvantages include a) May be perceived as too impersonal in a business based on relationship and trust. b) Developed to answer technical tax questions with a limited scope. c) Some large-scale consultations which involve handling large data-base systems, still require on-site assessments for best results. d) Possibility of servicing unknown clients, and risk of oversight of information leading to inappropriate conclusions, very high (Millard 1999). Discuss Knowledge management systems and decision support systems. How are these ideas related to Ernie and Tax Advisor The definition of Knowledge is given as "a function of information, culture, and skills" (Rampersad, 2002).The storing and sharing of such information and acquired knowledge to benefit all the members of the organization paved way for Knowledge Management. In the 1990s, E&Y created three knowledge centers, with three goals: the Center for Business Innovation for creating new knowledge through research, the Center for Business Technology for the use of existing knowledge to create predefined methods and automated tools, and the Center for Business Knowledge for gathering and storing E&Y's internal and external knowledge and information resources. The services included a library, a call centre for answering consultant requests, and a database of consultant skills (NHS 2005). Interactive information systems using data and models to help managers analyze semi-structured problems were developed in the 1970s. These diverse systems were all called Decision Support Systems. In the 80s Executive Information Systems (EIS) was born, from single user model-driven Decision Support systems and improved relational database products (Power 2003). And in the 1990s, data warehousing and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) started expanding the domain of EIS and defined a broader category of Data-Driven DSS (cf., Dhar and Stein, 1997). E&Y started in 1996 On-Line

Week5 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week5 - Article Example In this article, the author argues that public representation is a worthwhile aim of public policy because public service has always been a driver of social mobility for groups that have been excluded in labor market. Further, it means a symbolic commitment equal access to authority or power. In addition, the author argues that bureaucracy should be more reflective of the economic status of citizens than elected officials since it has an influential role in the policy making process. Active representation is also significant because the operations and policies of diverse institutions will appear distinctively from what they would be if the institution’s employee were homogeneous (Selden, 2006). The United States has always been on the forefront in search of a diverse workforce via an emphasis on affirmative action policies and equal opportunity. To some proponents, moving away from affirmative action as the main tool for bringing both active and passive representation in the U.S would go against the constitutional principles of the U.S constitution. They argue that it is irrational to ignore the ugly remnants of ethnicity, race, and gender in the recruitment, promotion and retention decisions in the private, non-profit and public agencies of the U.S. Research conducted by Gallup in 2005 showed that through affirmative action, minority rights and relations were defended since affirmative action calls for the rights of racial minorities. To some opponents, affirmative action is viewed as an equally division model of reverse biasness or discrimination that is not required because of the progress that has been made in the antidiscrimination area. I agree that to some extent, affirmative action has at least tried to address the issues of ethnicity and race based on the ethnic composition of modern population (Selden, 2006). In sum, from the article, it can

Assignment Essay Example for Free

Assignment Essay 1) By creating a new position between the CEO and the location managers the position can deal with the day to day tasks and operations needed for the store to operate properly. This will allow Dalman and Lei to spend less time assisting the location managers. By Dalman and Lei efficiently delegating the work, they will be able to spend more time on the strategic aspect of building and growing the business. 2) Both hiring within as well as seeking someone from the outside have their advantages and disadvantages. By hiring within the person who moves up is already working for the company as well as be familiar with some the needs and goals of the business. The negative aspect of hiring within would be possible issue with jealousy among co-workers. The advantage to hiring from outside you get the advantage of a fresh set of eyes coming in and seeing things from different perspectives. The disadvantage would be that they would not be familiar with the company and how it works. 3) Both Dalman and Lei should make the decisions. As the owners of the business they should be the ones deciding how they want their business ran. Dalman is currently playing and active role in this position as is, this should help them determine what they may want to change about how it is currently being ran. This would allow for a nice transition in to the change. Weather Dalman and Lei decide to hire from within in or find someone from the outside; it should be a joint decision that takes the growth of the business into full consideration when making the choice. 4) The levels of authority that Sandwich Blitz Inc have including the new position would be: CEO, CFO, Staff accountant, Operation manager, Site Managers, Team supervisor, Customer associate.

Systematized Integration of Credit Reference Agencies

Systematized Integration of Credit Reference Agencies Table of Contents (Jump to) Abstract Introduction The Problem Case Studies/Examples Nigeria Tanzania Kenya Uganda Solutions/Synthesis Conclusion With unprecedented growth and an increasingly competitive global community on the horizon, Africa’s economic revolution is intimately linked to their fiscal capabilities. It is within this broad spectrum of economic expansion that businesses and individuals are directly linked to their capacity to borrow and reinvest capital into sustainable endeavors. African nationals have endured centuries of political and economic turmoil, finally reaching a precipice from which to launch a reformative program which supports internal growth and global competition. Credit reference agencies play an intricate role in this restructuring, as provision of finance is entirely dependent on their historic records and the collaborative efforts of the loosely knit African banking community. This paper explores examples of internal frailties within the credit system and proposes solutions towards overcoming inadequate resources through systematized integration of credit reference agencies. As the British and French colonists sailed away from Africa’s northern shore, they left behind their legacy, one of tumult and uncertainty. The development of Africa’s political and economic structure in the wake of colonial oppression has been a difficult and war-stricken path, one which remains uncertain and ambiguous today. Ultimately, however, in order to support some of the world’s most populated regions, the foundation for economic security and opportunity must be laid and supported. Recognizing that the incidence of poverty throughout Africa is unacceptable and consistently counterproductive, the inefficiencies within the African conglomerate system demand revision; and through dramatic reform mechanisms, sustainable industry and globally directed participation will ensure that African nationals are given an opportunity to escape their impoverished existence. Yet there remain a wide range of conflicting solutions, many of which are directly related to the very colonial heritage which placed African countries in this predicament to begin with. The future of economic growth for these citizens is directly linked to the available funding which can be proffered for development of business and expansion of industry. Currently, funding methods are limited to informal requisition stemming from the family and friends of entrepreneurs seeking materials and startup capital. As banks hoard their capital in light of the extremely high number of historic defaults which they have endured, the industry must turn to more strategic methods of evaluating the potential recipient and continue to expand their lending operations. There is a pervasive lack of credit reference agencies throughout the African continent which continues to detract from bank confidence levels and the availability of funding for activation of economic growth. Given the competitive nat ure of the global environment, inspiring industrial advances should be at the forefront of governmental strategy as in order to maintain the recent financial successes which have sustained incremental poverty reduction, participation on a global scale is becoming a necessity. In spite of the hesitation and challenges which surrounds the creation of translatable credit reference agencies, the future of the African national depends on the wealth of information which they will come to retain. As enterprise is directly dependent on available investment funds, participants continue to seek methods of revenue generation, and through well-informed credit outlets, the participative nature of expanding economics will enable entrepreneurs and businesses to expand their berth and actively compete on a much more even playing field. As Africa as a whole continues to struggle against rampant economic instability, popular theories recognize a variety of insufficiencies, including lack of available infrastructure, inadequate educational facilities and programs, and limited health care opportunities as main failures within the collaborative regime. There is, however, another piece of the African economic puzzle which has yet to evolve to meet modern competitive expectations, and that is the systematized inclusion of credit reference agencies and their foundation support mechanisms in the development of commerce and private finance. From a historic perspective, the early development of credit initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa was entirely localized to a protective function of selective credit allocation. It was within this framework that central banks and government controlled credit mechanisms were strictly regulated, leading to substantial economic decline in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s (McDonald and Schumacher, 2007). Ultimately, banking institutions were used as a domestic funding mechanism for government programs and initiatives; however, this reduction of financial resources meant a limited availability of capital for private borrowers and desirous businesses. As developing economies evolve rapidly through a structure of industry generation, perhaps the most important component is found within the definitive walls of small to medium enterprise (SME’s), and their inclusion in growth and capital contribution is essential to stabilize a burgeoning economy (Quintyn, 2008). African economies developed in spite of lackluster credit programs, as government borrowing reformed dramatically to include the much more liquid and readily available foreign capital market in addition to foreign aid. Beraho (2007) cites the colonial legacy as a direct determinant of the modern economic frailties of Sub-Saharan Africa. Ultimately, the influence of colonial overseers was immediately entrenched in the assumed economic structure during periods of instability following the post-colonial independence. The extreme poverty which accompanied post-colonial activity left African nations rich in natural resources but limited in capacity for export and financial generation. In response, domestic debt, a form of government sustenance, has been credited with substantial reduction of available capital for lending purposes. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the ratio of debt to broad money has held constant at 40%, dramatically reducing available financial resources for financing and supp orting private initiatives (Christensen, 2004). Escaping the confines of such imbalances has been a slow and difficult process; however, as foreign aid programs and the World Bank become increasingly involved, reform is slowly achieved. Mylenko (2008) notes that given the stabilization of the African macroeconomy as well as lower inflation and improved government treasury monitoring and regulation, banks have been increasingly able to turn towards lending opportunities. Africa is represented by the world’s most rapidly growing, yet equitably expiring population, and is limited by inefficiencies in their structural systems as they are characterized as â€Å"the world’s hardest working yet least productive† people (Kolo, 2006, p. 596). It is from this inefficient system that severe poverty has overwhelmed a diverse and frustrated people and continued limitations spawn from inappropriate fiscal programs and activities. There is a sustained movement towards more supportive programs, and much of the fiscal evolution over the past decades in Sub-Saharan Africa has been regulated and guided by intra-national monetary unions. Participants in the WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. Other monetary unions include the WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone) represented by Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, as well as the CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Union of Central Africa) inclusive of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is extremely important to recognize these collaborative monetary efforts given the expanding nature of modern credit reference agencies, as bank collaboration intra-monetarily is a direct representation of the expansionary reality which demonstrates potential for additional corroboration. Analysis of performance in dicators over the history of these African Monetary Unions offers substantial implications for other developing nations. Comparatively, the average inflation differential equates to between 8 and 10 percentage points lower in comparison to other low to medium income nations (Gosh et al., 2006). Interestingly, researchers equate the majority of this reduction to monetary discipline, while approximately twenty percent is relative to international confidence levels given the combinative national participation (Gosh et al., 2006). The development of private finance over the past decade has occurred as a direct result of revised fiscal policies throughout the African continent including the combined efforts of multi-national partnerships. There remains, however, a significant piece of the credit market puzzle which has yet to evolve into a supportive and extensively viable practice, and that is the creation and practice of credit reference agencies. The nature of such entities is one from which both consumer and lender confidence is fully integrated into the business cycle and default is directly undermined by the framework of the system itself. Data demonstrates that the issuance of private sector credit in Sub-Saharan Africa declined in a period between 1980 and 2004 from 15.6 percent of GDP to 15.1; comparatively, growth rates in Asia more than doubled, elevating private sector credit levels to over 40 percent of GDP, and in Latin America, incidence grew by over 50 percent, elevating levels to over 20 percen t of GDP (â€Å"Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa,† 2008). There exists a pitfall of significant registry deficiency which continues to detract from the participative efforts of banks and credit reference agencies. Given the nature of Africa’s structural evolution, emphasis has slowly begun to shift towards national registries which incorporate accurate reference for mortgages and property data so as to accurately integrate collateral data into the developing structure of credit agencies (Sacerdoti, 2005). Ultimately, these registries are essential to establishing a standardized framework of collateral and credit reform. McDonald and Schumacher (2007) have determined that there is a complimentary relationship between credit issuance and the strength of creditor rights, namely the culpability and recoup potential given the incidence of default. As much of African credit heritage is characterized by default, there is little room for modern programs to allow continued systematic failures. The nature of credit reference agencies opportune an evolve structure from which to ensure compliance and stabilize a deviant legacy of poor payment history. The challenges which face Africa begin with its current lack of structural capacity, namely registration, standardized policy and legislation, and the volatile nature of government organizations. To overcome the credit crisis and define an effective program, evolution of African economic structures including opportunities for entrepreneurs and SME’s will be essential parts of the rehabilitiation. One method which has already generated support and shown long term successes is that of microenterprise and microfinance loans. Rhyne and Otero (1994) recognize that in spite of the arbitrary nature of its definition, that microenterprise is generally accepted as a company with less than ten employees and is relegated to the non-agricultural sector of the business community. Additionally, these businesses are oftentimes a source of income which arise where no alternative method for financial gain is available. Given the extreme impoverishment within the African borders, implementing s upportive programs is an essential tactic, one which will offer long term stability and positive reform mechanisms for a needy and desirous population. This paper seeks to identify some of the more prominent systematic failures within specific African infrastructures through specific case studies and devise strategy for evading, manipulating, and evolving such systems to meet financial demand and overcome the credit dilemma. Ultimately, the solutions herein recognize the necessity of credit reference agencies and through the integration of such programs, solutions can be drawn from which to prioritize their sustainability. As integrating credit bureaus and agencies into a frail infrastructure is a long term goal, identifying the key areas of potential failure prior to inception is essential to prudent and productive creation. Ultimately, the findings of this paper determine that given the nature of globalized capitalism, credit reference agencies offer a singular solution from which to pull Africa from the depths of poverty and define its prosperous multinational future. While foreign aid and government reform will assist to waylay many of Africa’s social problems, the only true option for overcoming extreme economic difficulties is through supportive initiatives which redistribute opportunities for wealth among the people who truly need sustainable financial sustenance. In order to ensure that such distribution is appropriately allocated, the historic nature of the credit reference agency will ensure that banks and credit corporations have adequate reference from which to offer the necessary funds for generation of commerce and industry. The following section represents a sample set of a diverse grouping of African participants. Each of these nations has undergone periods of remarkable recovery yet remains limited in this credit reference agency participation. While developmentally exploiting both natural and human resources to overcome the throes of poverty, these nations have yet to fully extract their legacy from the limiting factors which have undermined social and economic efforts for the past decades. Nigeria Nigeria represents a nation of over 144,700 million inhabitants of which over 54 percent currently live in abject poverty (World Bank, 2008). Endeavoring to stabilize their vacillating economy, government leaders have embarked upon a process of economic reform and consolidation over the past decade with decidedly positive results. Much of the evolution of this economy owes its legacy to the rising oil prices and increased exports in this area as demand continues to pay dividend to a resource rich Nigerian population. Unfortunately, there are other limiting constraints which continue to undermine rapid economic evolution on a broad scale, and as the population continues to grow at an annual rate of over 2.4%, there remains significant opportunity for developing internal modes of sustenance and advanced and sustainable industries to push the Nigerian economy forward (World Bank, 2008). Exemplary of the limiting factors now facing the Nigerian people, the lack of a substantial credit system, and importantly, credit reference agency, has historically undermined entrepreneurial efforts and small to medium enterprise, the keys to sustained economic growth. Before the 2005 consolidation period, over 20% of loans made by Nigerian banks were non-performing, as opposed to the remarkable decline of this negative incidence to just over 8.4% in 2007 (Corbett, 2008). It is a direct result of this negative outlook towards loan participants that the Credit Reference Company of Nigeria has been created in past years which utilizes a network of 11 banks to standardize the systematic handling of customer information and credit history. Pre-consolidation Nigerian banks could not fund long term projects due to their short term capital capabilities, in recent years, this process has now evolved to include 10-20 year loans, thereby enabling infrastructural development and social reform (Corbett 2008). As the majority of Nigerian nationals have limited desire to trust their savings to the banking system, much of the evolution over the past years has required significant adjustment in public perspective and a necessary increase in consumer confidence. In Nigeria, private sector credit and banking deposits have doubled since the 2005 banking consolidation and the number of banking branches have increased by over one third (IMF Country Report, 2008). As a testament to the efforts at financial modernization, the expansion of this banking network is a direct indication of a necessitated communication network, one which has the capacity to share consumer information and at the same time, retain the privacy of these participants. Indicative of the evolving perception regarding credit and modern purchasing methods, in 2004, Nigeria recorded less than 50,000 credit card transactions per month as opposed to the remarkable growth to over 51,000,000 per month that were recorded in March of 200 8 (â€Å"Nigeria; The Rise of the Card Payment System,† 2008). Yet these charges are not representative of an extension of credit and simply attest to the acceptance of electronic payment processing as inhabitants continue to support alternate modes of payment. Unfortunately, in spite of bank and economic reform, poverty levels are holding at approximately 55 percent of the Nigerian population, further exacerbated by limited resources available given the rising population and under capitalized infrastructural reform (IMF Country Report, 2008). It is within the incapacitated growth mechanisms that Nigerian credit reference agencies are most needed, as funding unprecedented reform requires the capabilities which can only be imbued through finance and bank funding mechanisms. Recognizing the SME’s hold a key to Nigerian development, there is continued support for credit based initiatives from which to extend financial opportunities to these developing industries. The IFC (International Finance Corporation), a World Bank affiliate continues offer its partnership as Nigeria strives to develop and maintain consumer data, their efforts intimately linked with the economic future of the nation. Tanzania Tanzania, a much smaller nation than Nigeria, is represented by a population of over 39.5 million inhabitants, over 36 percent of whom live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2008). Equally representative of the reformation efforts of developing African countries, Tanzania has endeavored to undergo structural evolution in the past few decades, actively pursuing economic opportunity for its population who continues to expand by around 2.6 percent annually. One of the most significant failures within the Tanzanian system has been the lack of property registry. The World Bank (2005) reported that 90 percent of nationals could not be located through property registry and only had six national offices at their disposal for registry purposes, each fraught with unnecessary and â€Å"irrelevant red tape.† Given this lack of registry foundation, there is little collateral leverage to be gained by participating in government registration programs, therefore, citizens do not find overwh elming motivation or desire to legalize their claims to land. Additionally, the World Bank (2005) notes that there is limited liquidity of property rights for similar reasons of registration difficulties and obscure transference policies, therefore, entrepreneurs have limited opportunity to leverage their properties and gain the initial financing needed for startup capital. Characteristic of more widespread African credit issues, only 4 percent of respondents in a recent survey claimed access to trade credit as a source of start-up finances, thereby placing all required resources directly at the informal level and limited to a partnered initiative between friends and private investors (Sharma and Upneja, 2005). This failure within the credit system is directly related to the lack of credit reference agencies and the supportive information they could provide; however, given the state of the Tanzanian recording structure, there seems to be a much more pressing issue of registry and records to overcome before such projects can become a reality. In addition to the failure to support corporate trade credit, there is an overall limitation which is obvious when considering the widespread state of Tanzanian credit. More formal data recognized private credit initiatives at 8 percent of GDP in 2005; however, comparatively Kenya’s private credit in the same period was over 23 percent of GDP (World Bank, 2005). The lack of lending directly correlates to the lack of creditor rights and available, traceable collateral for loans. As default rates continue to undermine any efforts towards credit system evolution, there remains a substantial field of doubt which overwhelms banks and their lending efforts. Given the disconnect between small businesses and reception of credit from Tanzanian banks, the ability to start and maintain a business in the modern environment is extremely limited and continues to be undermined by a lack of capital. Most concerning is that given the lack of external funding, disposable income or working capital is thereby reintegrated into the business and utilized for daily refurbishments as available. Tanzanian business owners are therefore limited by both the economic factors which drive the success of their business, and their own personal integration into the business operations through consummation of personal finance, lack of new equipment and materials, and inability to improve upon current models to evolve standards to more modern efficiencies (Sharma and Upneja, 2005). These failures are a direct result of the Tanzanian credit crisis and requite the inclusion of a well positioned credit reporting agency in order to ensure that SME’s have sustaine d opportunities for generating much needed investment capital. One of the most remarkable advances which has sustained the fleeting, but evolving stability that is becoming visible within the Tanzanian infrastructure is the adjustment of government funding from domestic lending to foreign sources and foreign aid (Sharma and Upneja, 2005; World Bank, 2005). Eliminating this form of consequential taxation on bank reserves has expanded the Tanzanian opportunity for investment and greater private funding. Unfortunately, characteristic of other African nations, a lack of any form of credit reference agency prevents broad based credit dispersion among citizens and thereby limits loans to corporations and larger scale economic participants. Tanzania currently has plans to develop and establish an operational credit reference databank by the end of June, 2009 in order to extend credit into the private sector. The extension of private credit is currently projected to increase around 22 percent per year yet is entirely linked to governmental stability and internal mechanisms of fiscal policies (â€Å"United Republic of Tanzania: Third Review Under the Policy Support Instrument,† 2008). The nature of finance is derived from available resources which can be distributed for a nominal return. Given the current state of government spending, this opportunity is more realistic today than it has ever been; however, the Tanzanian government must evade the pitfalls of internal borrowing in order to enable these funds to be distributed among industrial participants, thereby facilitating the expansion of industry and inclusion of additional commerce in the resource limited business sector. Kenya Kenya is a nation of similar size to Tanzania, boasting a population of just over 36.6 million people, yet over 55.5 percent of these inhabitants live below the poverty line (Population Reference Bureau, 2008). Most significant in Kenya’s modern history, political unrest and lacking economic growth have continued to undermine efforts of reform and population support mechanisms. Credit considerations are simply another indication of the limited capabilities which a tumultuous nation has to overcome its financial and social deficits. In 2003, over one third of all bank loans were considered non-performing (NPL’s), directly undermining the lending power of institutions, as well as enhancing the proclivity for default among participants (â€Å"Kenya: Bankers Unveil Plan to Keep Tabs on Borrowers,† 2007). In spite of the frail political economy, currently the development of a credit reference bureau is in its advanced stages, as recognizing the merits of such collabor ative information sharing, Kenyan banks actively seek to minimize risk and improve their loan to repayment ratios. Remarkably, in Kenya, over recent decades exceptional opportunities have evolved for entrepreneurial credit extension as startup capital and materials costs represent a substantial portion of business success ratios. Kenyan extension of credit is significantly higher than other African regions as over 85 percent of businesses currently have opportunity to borrow from their providers (World Bank, 2004). These surveyed corporations, while a representation of Kenyan businesses, offer an optimistic perspective on the future of industry and finance. Given the relative youth of the Kenyan population with 4 out of every 10 citizens being under the age of 15, there is substantial opportunity to ensure that financial resources are available for these growing future business owners (Population reference Bureau, 2008). Ultimately, Kenya presents a fairly optimistic outlook for the future of credit extension and opportunities for broad scale industrial financing; however, the completion and full integration of their credit reference bureau stands to offer the most reliable statistics after its inception later this year. Uganda Uganda, a nation of 29.9 million citizens, has continued to experience substantial population growth over the past decade, holding near 3.2 percent, a number significantly advanced from other referenced African nations (World Bank, 2008). Of significant concern to the development of a progressive Ugandan infrastructure, trade credit plays an intricate part in sustaining emerging business and defining industrial evolution. Current statistics demonstrate that only 60 percent of firms have access to this capital as material providers must, themselves, be supplied with the external financial means from banking institutions to extend such credit (World Bank, 2004). When firms are afforded the opportunity to borrow directly from banking institutions, the interest fees associated with such loans are oftentimes overwhelmingly costly and therefore, detract from the efficacy of such endeavors. Overwhelmingly, the inadequacies within the Ugandan credit structure can be directly attributed to a lack of credit tracking mechanisms, and thereby, the capacity for benchmarking and substantiation of creditworthiness. Researchers note that over 40 percent of all loans held in Uganda have a maturity date of one year or less; and of those firms who to receive loans, over 60 percent of all participants are required to post collateral as a loan prerequisite (World Bank, 2004). Essentially, this extreme precedence of default aversion represents an obvious inadequacy in the Ugandan credit reporting system, as given more stringent standards and a confluence of bank participants, protection mechanisms would become fully integrated with the reporting system, providing a deterrence net to reduce defaults through natural and appropriate fiscal processes. Characteristic of many African nations, the pervasive nation of credit doubt in terms of default and repayment potential is an indication of the necessity for credit reference agency construction. As lenders seek to develop new streams of available capital, Ugandan SME’s represent an expanding opportunity, however, they will require support from struc tural evolution in order to ensure their continued operation. There are extreme challenges presented by the African credit woes, most of which will not be overcome through foreign aid or current infrastructure development programs. Indicated by the nations herein, there is substantial need for integration of credit reference agencies into the structure of these modernizing nations; specifically, there is a need for support of small to medium enterprise and the merits of developing an economy through advanced and evolving industry. Ultimately, determining a singular solution to the credit crisis is impossible, however, by coupling several key zones of evolution into a targeted plan of action, the potential for sustained advancement becomes a much more plausible reality. Quintyn (2008) noted that other developing nations who have evolved through similar credit challenges have utilized a form of hub and spoke credit agency system from which to operate these units with limited startup capital required for each branch. In its â€Å"Regional Economic Outlook† (2008), the IMF recognizes that there is a need for leveraged reference agencies, specifically those who are sustained by a technologically advanced central hub yet localize their economy of scale operations in areas of public access. Given the limited nature of credit agencies, a hub and spoke system would reduced the cost of a credit report by $ 2-5 and allow firms the opportunity to extend credit more freely given the support base of their regional offices. The IMF (2008) also recognizes that current credit offerings are only 200,000 people out of every 15 million, a direct result of a lack of credit data and agency interaction within the modern banking structure. In order to overcome the geographical, political, and economic constraints which undermine the constructs of a successful African credit program, the continuity of credit reporting policies across geographic lines must be maintained. While banking unions have taken the initiative to link participants, there remain additional opportunities for broad scale communication expansion and technically advanced sharing techniques which protect both the consumer and the bank from fraud. In spite of the banking cooperatives which are integrated into the Western and Central African economic structures, there remains a difficult framework for monetary exchange outside of these conglomerates. Pervasive in widespread Sub-Saharan fiscal analysis, the necessity of a central banking structure continues to challenge unorganized methods of bank-dominated financial systems. The application of such a combinative operation is one which would assist in the integration of regional credit reference agencies with centralized control mechanisms. This transformation of the informal structure into a more systematized and coordinated pragmatism would generate synergies between monetary policy and banking oversight, thereby establishing a supervisory committee while propagating a bank dominated industry (Quintyn, 2008). The central oversight which is lacking in terms of African banks is basically a function of communicable objectives, a framework which is essential when considering the n ature of investing in economic futures. African capacity for growth is readily foreseeable, however, there must be an active pursuit of this evolution, one which directly integrates the unique partnerships of a banking network and captures communicative data which is readily available across geographic lines. There is a continued deficit within the African lending structure, one which demands reform and challenges banks to contin

A Comparison of Computer Graphics Cards :: Compare Contrast Video

A Comparison of Computer Graphics Cards In today’s world of advanced computer games, the requirements that computers must meet to run these games are very, very steep ones. A major requirement of almost all high tech computer games is a decent graphics card. With most of the games today being developed in 3-D, unlike the games a decade ago which were almost always 2-D, an advanced graphics card is a must to get any amount of fun from these games. Two companies that are heavyweights in the ring of computer graphics are ATI and NVIDIA. ATI and NVIDIA are two main suppliers of almost all computer graphics cards in the U.S. and abroad, and while they supply cards for many different clients (engineers, graphic designers, architects), they’re main consumers are computer gamers. Computer gamers want to have the best performing computer possible to run these new advanced games. What this translates into is a need to have the best graphics card, and since the latest graphics cards don’t come cheap ($250-$550), computer gamers always do their homework when it comes to shopping for the latest graphics card. And when it comes to ATI’s and NVIDIA’s latest graphics cards, there is no end to how much analyzing and comparison their latest graphics cards will go through. ATI’s most recently released graphics card is the X800 and NVIDIA’s newest graphics card is the 6800. These two cards are in direct competition with each other and face a never ending comparison. When comparing these cards there are a number of technical specifications to draw upon, but there are a certain few detailed specifications which most gamers will look at in depth. The tech specs that most computer gamers will look at are the AGP speed supported by the card, the DirectX version supported by the card, and the speed of the core and memory processors. Now although gamers look at those specifications in detail, there are a few other issues that most will look at before even getting that far into researching a graphics card. One of the prime concerns about these next generation cards is how much power the draw.

Web Calculator Exercise 2

Question 1 a. Mean age = 960/20=48 b. Standard Deviation = 10. 74832 Web address: http://easycalculation. com/statistics/standard-deviation. php Frequency distribution table for denomination. Score f(frequency) 1 1 2 2 4 2 5 1 6 3 7 3 8 1 9 3 10 3 12 1 N=30 c. What is the percentage of people who identify themselves as Baptist? 3/20 = . 15 x 100 = 15% What is the mode of church attendance? 5 Question 2 a. What is the Z score for a car with a price of $33,000? Z=2. 85714286 b. What is the Z score for a car with a price of $30,000? Z=2 Web address for calculator: http://www. danielsoper. com/statcalc3/calc. spx? id=22 c. At what percentile rank is a car that sold for $30,000? 97. 72% Web calculator used: http://easycalculation. com/statistics/zscore-to-percentile. php 3. One student’s Math score was 70 and the same individual’s English score was 84. On which exam did the student do better? Math: +3 points divided by 9. 58 SD = . 3132 English: + 6 points divided by 12. 45 SD = . 482 The student did better on the English test. 4. Suppose you administered an anxiety test to a large sample of people and obtained normally distributed scores with a mean of 45 and standard deviation of 4. Do not use web-calculator to answer the following questions.Instead, you need to use the Z distribution table in Appendix A in Jackson’s book. a. If Andrew scored 45 on this test. What is the Z score? Z=45-45 z=0 4 b. If Anna scored 30 oh this test. What is her Z score? Z=30-45 Z=-3. 75 4 c. If Bill’s Z score was 1. 5, what is his real score on this test? 1. 5 = x-45 X=51 4 d. There are 200 students in a sample. How many of these students will have scores that fall under the score of 41? Z=41-45 Z= -1 According to Appendix A . 159 x 200 Answer = 31. 8 fall under 41 4 5. Obtain the Persaon’s r and coefficient of determination for the following relationships. . Between the IQ and psychology scores. r=. 59231 Determination= . 35084 WEB: http://easycalcul ation. com/statistics/r-squared. php b. Between the IQ and statistics score. r= . 73667 Determination= . 54268 WEB: http://easycalculation. com/statistics/r-squared. php c. Between the psychology scores and statistics scores. r= . 71050 Determination = . 50480 WEB: http://easycalculation. com/statistics/r-squared. php 6. Using a web-calculator, obtain the appropriate correlation coefficients. r= . 85190 http://easycalculation. com/statistics/r-squared. php

Modelling and Forecasting Electricity Consumption of the Philippines Essay

In the Philippines, electric power is becoming the main energy form relied upon in all economic sectors of the country. As time goes by, while different establishments and properties were built and developed, the demand for domestic electricity consumption within the country accelerates. Energy consumption is an important index of the economic development of a country. Rapid changes in industry and the economy strongly affect energy consumption. According to the International Energy Annual (IEA) in the year 2004, the Philippines had total installed electricity generating capacity of 15.1 gigawatts (GW). The country produced 53.1 billion kilowatt-hours (Bkwh) of electricity in 2004, while consuming 49.4 Bkwh. Conventional thermal sources make up the largest share of Philippine electricity supply, comprising more than 65 percent of the total in 2004. However, the Philippines is also the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy. Despite several electricity sources, there are still bunch of problems that occur such as electricity shortage and high price somewhat due to increase of demand and company expenses. The Philippines is not just the sole country that experiences these specific dilemmas but the other countries in Asia like Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and the entire world too. This pushes researchers and experts to study the consumption movement from the past years in order for them to learn its behavior and suggest a method to help prepare the power companies and to prevent uncertainties that might happen in the near future. Through the years, there are many ways and methods developed by the experts and one of them is modeling and forecasting. Modelling electric energy consumption is useful in planning and distribution by power utilities. Modeling is a process of generating abstract, conceptual,graphical and/or mathematical models. Models are typically used when it is either impossible or impractical to create experimental conditions in which scientists can directly measure outcomes. In the field of energy use direct to electricity, modelling is a very important factor in forecasting the next set of electricity consumption. There are plenty of techniques and mathematical methods which are already used and proven effective in determining the energy consumption such as Multivariate regression –analysis, neural networks, autoregressive, and many more. Nowadays, time-series analysis was also used in the electric energy consumption modeling and forecasting. In statistics, signal processing, and mathematical finance, a time series is a sequence of data points, measured typically at successive time instants spaced at uniform time intervals. Based on Investopedia (2012) it provides another modeling approach which requires only data on the modeled variable, thus saving the user the trouble of determining influential variables and suggesting a form for the relation between them. For instance, measuring the value of retail sales each month of the year would comprise a time series. This is because sales revenue is well defined, and consistently measured at equally spaced intervals. Data collected irregularly or only once are not time series. Also, according to Austrilian Bureau of Statistics (2005) an observed time series can be decomposed into three components: the trend (long term direction), the seasonal (systematic, calendar related movements) and the irregular (unsystematic, short term fluctuations). Models for time series data can have many forms and represent different stochastic processes. Some other applications of time-series analysis are in macroeconomics and finance. As of now, modelling and forecasting is of its highest peak of achievement and significance of the modern society especially in aiding certain dilemmas in electric consumption. Objectives 1. To formulate a mathematical model for the electricity consumption of the Philippines. 2. To forecast the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. To evaluate the formulated model in forecasting the electricity consumption. Significance of the Study The goal of this study is to be able to forecast the electrical energy consumption of the Philippines for the next three years through formulating a model acquired from the data by using time-series. This information can contribute much to the power supply companies of the Philippines in order for them to determine the set of electricity consumption for the coming years. The forecasted result will help them plan and prepare for whatever might happen in the future years specifically in addressing the electricity shortage. Scope and Limitation The study focuses primarily in modelling the electricity use of the Philippines by using the time-series analysis. The study is narrowed to the forecasting of the monthly electricity consumption for the next three years of the entire Philippines. The data used in modelling is based on the 1999-2011 record. Review of Related Literature Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills This study attempts to model and forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. It attempts to combine both the top-down and bottom-up approaches to forecast the daily and annual maximum demand of the steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual amount of electricity consumption of the steel mills. The bottom-up approach uses the Model for Analysis of Electric Demand Electric Load (MAED_EL) to convert the annual steel mills electricity consumption (which was earlier obtained from the regression model) into hourly load of the steel mills. The proposed method shows good forecasting accuracy, with weekly Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 2.3%. This study propose combination of the top-down and bottom-up methods to forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual electricity consumption of these large steel mills, based on its relationship with annual steel production and GDP. The projected annual electricity consumption from regression analysis was then integrated into the bottom-up model using MAED_EL to construct the hourly load curves. From the hourly load curves, the daily and annual maximum demands of the steel mills are determined. This model has the ability to forecast accurately the daily maximum of the large steel mills, with MAPE of less than 3%. The proposed method however, is purely based on the assumption that the future trend of daily consumption follows the base year. Although this is a slight drawback, nevertheless the proposed method has provided the utility with a better means to forecast steel mills’ load, despite the unavailability of daily production data which is vital in forecasting. The outcome of this study will benefit the utility in ensuring reliable and economic operation of the national grid, and is also useful for analysis pertaining to development of future optimal generation and transmission expansion plans. Findings of this study also give a valuable contribution to the utility in determining load management strategies and designing of tariff structures. A possible approach to improve the forecast performance is by combining the model with a time series method such as ARIMA. This will enable the model to take into account the most recent behaviour of steel mills load, and thus increase the accuracy of the forecast. The best approach however, would still be the one that is able to take into account the daily production data of the steel mills. With the availability of this particular data, many other complex and more effective methods can be explored such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and fuzzy linear regression. These methods will have the ability to capture the factors that highly influence steel mills daily load such as daily production plan and maintenance schedule, and hence improve the accuracy of the forecast. (S. Aman et.al, 2011 ) Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming Managing electrical energy supply is a complex task. The most important part of electric utility resource planning is forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area. This is usually achieved by constructing models on relative information, such as climate and previous load demand data. In this paper, a genetic programming approach is proposed to forecast long term electrical power consumption in the area covered by a utility situated in the southeast of Turkey. The empirical results demonstrate successful load forecast with a low error rate. In this paper, a genetic programming approach on the forecasting of long term electrical power consumption of a moderate city in Turkey was presented. It uses the genetic programming method to forecast future usage through symbolic regression using annual data of the previous years. In conventional regression, one has to decide on the approximation function (can be an n-degree polynomial, non-polynomial, or a combination of both) and try to find the coefficients of this selected function. Constructing an approximation function can be a difficult task. There is another form of regression called â€Å"symbolic regression†. In the symbolic regression problem, the aim is to search a symbolic representation of a model, instead of only searching for coefficients of a predefined model. Genetic programming (GP) method introduced by Koza can be used for the symbolic regression problem. GP searches for the model and coefficients of the model at the same time. In this study, power consumption data is processed with both conventional analysis and genetic programming techniques. Long term power consumption forecasting can provide important information for power distribution centers. Power consumption in this city is rapidly growing; therefore accurate forecasts can help authorities to make reliable plans. In this work, a genetic programming based forecasting method is presented. Two other curve fitting methods are also presented for comparison with this technique. Data used in all three models are not preprocessed. Genetic programming technique is used to form a model and evaluate the parameters for the model. The goodness of the fit produced by the genetic programming method is evaluated using sum of squared errors (SSE) method, which is better than the other two methods of regression. It was proved that the genetic programming can be used for electric utility resource planning and forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area effectively. (K. Karabulot et. al, 2008) Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models The influence of economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in Italy has been investigated with the intention to develop a long-term consumption forecasting model. The time period considered for the historical data is from 1970 to 2007. Different regression models were developed, using historical electricity consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita) and population. A first part of the paper considers the estimation of GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption. The domestic and non-domestic short run price elasticities are found to be both approximately equal to 0.06, while long run elasticities are equal to 0.24 and 0.09, respectively. On the contrary, the elasticities of GDP and GDP per capita present higher values. In the second part of the paper, different regression model s, based on co-integrated or stationary data, are presented. Different statistical tests are employed to check the validity of the proposed models. A comparison with national forecasts, based on complex econometric models, such as Markal-Time, was performed, showing that the developed regressions are congruent with the official projections, with deviations of 1% for the best case and 11% for the worst. These deviations are to be considered acceptable in relation to the time span taken into account. This paper aims to estimate GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption in Italy. Also this paper wants to forecast the future growth of these consumptions using different regression models and compare our results with other available projections. The elasticity analysis showed that the price elasticity of domestic and non-domestic consumption is quite limited, confirming some results presented in previous studies. Through the findings, conclusions have been acquired. First, there is no need to consider electricity price as explaining variable in forecasting models for Italian electricity consumption. Second, pricing policies cannot be used to promote the efficient use of electricity in Italy. The estimation of GDP and GDP per capita elasticities showed higher values with respect to price elasticities, demonstrating that the consumption response to GDP and GDP per capita changes is relevant. Therefore, there is the need to assure an appropriate level of electricity supply to sustain the economic growth in Italy. According to the second target of the paper, different long-term forecasting models were developed and they substantially lead to similar results. Therefore, in the next years, an increase in the total electricity consumption, driven by both domestic and nondomestic consumptions, should be expected in Italy with an average rate equal to about 2% per year. Assuming that the data reported represent the reference benchmark, it can guarantee the most accurate projections for total, domestic and non-domestic electricity consumptions respectively, because they fit the data. It is believed that the elasticities, forecasts and comments presented in this paper would be helpful to energy planners and policy makers to build future scenarios about the Italian electricity consumption. (V. Bianco et. al., 2009) Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables The inï ¬â€šuence of selected economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in New Zealand has been investigated. The study uses gross domestic product, average price of electricity and population of New Zealand during the period 1965–1999. Models are developed using multiple linear regression analysis. It was found that the electricity consumption correlated effectively with all variables. Forecasts made using these models were compared with some available national forecasts. The forecasts are also compared with the forecasts of the previously developed Logistic model. Electricity consumption forecasting models based on economic factors for Domestic and NonDomestic sectors and Total consumption for New Zealand using multiple linear regression have been proposed. The models performed effectively in the statistical tests conducted, implying their signiï ¬ cance in forecasting electricity consumption using the explaining variables considered. Comparisons of these models have been made with the national forecasts available in New Zealand. The comparison revealed that the forecasts made by the regression models are very comparable with the national forecasts. The accuracy of the forecasts made by these models depends strongly on the accuracy of forecasts made for the explaining variables. In this paper, simple regression had been used to model these variables. (Z. Mohamed & Pat Bodger, 2003) Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Demand in the Philippines The Philippine government has deregulated electricity generation markets to encourage private investors and actively courted independent power producers (IPPs). This has been done to promote efficiency and reduce government financial debt obligations. Until the mid-1980s, the power sector in the Philippines was mostly state-owned through the National Power Corporation (NPC). After the debt crisis in the early 1980s, the Philippines’ government tightened fiscal policy, and capital expenditure for additional electricity capacity was significantly reduced. This led to a slowdown in the electricity generating facilities. At the same time, electricity demand continued to increase. This resulted in tight electricity supply and demand conditions by the middle of the 1980s. There continue to be periods of generating capacity constraints. This may be the result of difficulties in forecasting electricity consumption. The residential and industrial electricity demand in the Philippines is modeled. The analysis follows Johansen’s vector error correction approach to estimate the price and income elasticity in both long and short run. The results indicate a long run cointegrating relationship is found among residential electricity consumption, income, and the stock of electric appliances. In the industrial sector there appears to be a long-run relationship holds for industrial electricity consumption and GDP. The lack of significant price responses appears to be the result of government development policies. The estimated models are used in forecasting total electricity consumption suggest that the government’s official forecast for electricity demand would be on the upper bound of the forecast range. (K. Ishi & F. Joutz, 2009) Methodology 1. Collect data of the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption from the year 1999 to 2011 in National Statistics Coordination Board to be used for constructing a time-series model for the electricity consumption. 2. Using the formulated model, forecast the Philippines’ electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. Through the acquired forecasted consumption, evaluate the performance of the model. References Clough, L. (2008). Energy profile of Philippines. The encyclopedia of earth. Aman, S., Ping, H. , & Mubin, M (2011). Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills. Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 6 (8), pp. 1817-1830. ISSN 1992-2248. Karabulut, K., Alkan, A., & Yilmaz, A. (2008). Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming. Mathematical and Computational Applications, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 71-80. Bianco, V., Manca, O., & Nardini, S. (2009). Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 34 (2009) 1413-1421. Mohamed, Z. & Bodger, P. (2003). Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 50 (2004) 1833-1843.