E-marketing Test Paper

Multiple Choice1. E-marketing affects traditional marketing in which of the following ways? a. increases efficiency of traditional marketing functions b. technologically transforms marketing strategies c. marginalizes customer value but increases profitability d. both A and B (d; Moderate; LO2; Use of Information Technology)2. ________ is the subset of e-business focused on transactions that include buying/selling, digital value creation, and virtual marketplaces. a. E-commerce b. E-marketing c. Digital technology d. ESP (a; Easy; LO2; Use of Information Technology)3. Convenient, quick access to digital information has the ability to transform all of the following except ________. a. individuals b. ecosystems c. societies d. businesses (a; Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)4. The internet consists of all of the following except ________. a. computers with data b. users who send and receive data files, such as e-mail and text messages c. a technology infrastructure to create, m ove, share, and consume content d. a central mainframe (d; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)5. Data, such as digital coupons or customer complaints, exchanged between  companies and consumers typically travel via _____, while off-line electronic data collection, such as bar code scanners or databases, shared internally within an organization, travel via ________. a. internet; intranet b. extranet; internet c. extranet; intranet d. the Web; the social network (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)6. All of the following e-marketing technologies exist without the World Wide Web, except ________. a. electronic data interchange b. email c. text messaging d. hypertext navigation (a; Difficult; LO1; Use of Information Technology)7. In its technical performance, the internet supports the following roles except ________. a. human users and computers that access content and send e-mail b. technology infrastructure to move, create, and view content c. content provider s that create information, entertainment, and so forth d. none; all of the above roles are supported by the internet. (d; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)8. The internet can deliver content to all the following except _________. a. televisions sets b. refrigerators c. video cassette recorders d. automobiles (c ; Easy; LO4; Use of Information Technology)9. According to the text, ________ is the region with largest percentage of internet users. a. Africa b. Asia c. North America d. Europe (b; Moderate; LO5; Multicultural and Diversity Understanding)10. Which of the following outcomes has been cited as a negative one in terms of the world becoming a globally networked world? a. growing class divisions due to digital divide b. removing cultural differences c. efficient markets driven by more workaholism d. all of the above (d; Difficult; LO5; Analytic Skills)11. During the â€Å"first wave of internet disruption† companies essentially offered _________. a. high-end p roducts for mass markets b. tangible products that can be compared easily and purchased at relatively low prices c. commodities available in bulk quantity d. real estate (b; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)12. In the era of the Plateau of Profitability, marketers focused more deliberately on _________. a. their traditional return-on-performance roots and well-grounded strategies b. diversified unique product mixes c. disintermediation of the marketing channel d. product benefits (a; Difficult; p. 11; LO5; Analytic Skills)13. Charles Schwab pitted their online business vs. their established brick and mortar business. Which of the following is not a result of this competition? a. faster growing accounts and assets b. lower prices c. more sales of treasury bonds and less sales of private securities d. incorporation of successful e-marketing strategies (c; Difficult; LO1; Analytic Skills)14. Internet properties, or characteristics, that impact marketing include________. a. global reach b . market deconstruction c. scalable capacity d. all of the above (d; Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)15. As consumers become more demanding the internet is a good way to deliver customer value because ________. a. most products on the internet are less expensive than on other marketing channels b. broadband allows marketers to put more cookies on computers c. marketers can send digital coupons to millions of customers instantly d. customers gain ability to create, share, and access information and entertainment at will (d; Moderate; LO3; Reflective Thinking Skills)16. According to the text, ________ predicted that the ‘e’ would drop from e-marketing, suggesting that traditional marketing would evolve and integrate e-marketing principles and practices. a. Levitt Inc. b. Friedman Inc. c. Gartner Inc. d. Jones Inc. (c; Moderate; LO5; Use of Information Technology)17. ________ is leading to a large increase in wireless networks. a. Integration of information techno logy and personal digital assistants (PDA’s) b. Acceptance and usage of mobile phones and other devices by individuals worldwide c. The World Wide Web d. Increasing adoption of high bandwidth (b; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)18. The internet has the power to do all of the following except ________. a. create global communities based on interests b. decrease cultural and language differences c. prevent the upward mobility of people and countries at lower socioeconomic levels d. discourage workaholism (d; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)19. Following the boom and bust of the first wave of the internet era, industrialized countries entered the ________. a. boom b. bust c. trough of disillusion d. plateau of profitability (d; Difficult; LO5; Analytic Skills)20. ________ are specific measures designed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the e-business and e-marketing operations. a. Segmentation variables b. Metrics c. Bench systems d. Site stickiness (b; Easy; LO2; Analytic Skills)True/False21. Individuals can be both users and content providers on the internet. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)22. According to the text, nowadays the internet should be regarded more as a channel than a place. a. True b. False (b; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)23. E-marketing refers to the result of information technology applied to traditional marketing. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO2; Use of Information Technology)24. The internet provides individual users abilities to access information, entertainment, and communication. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO4; Use of Information Technology)25. The term blog refers to online diaries, or journals, that are updated and shared on Web pages. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)26. More than 40 percent of global internet users are based in Asia. a. True b. False (a; Difficult; LO5; Multicultural and Diversity Understanding)27. Un solicited communications, such as spam, represent a threat to the positive impact of e-marketing practices. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)28. Electronic marketing relies exclusively upon web-based technology. a. True b. False (b; Difficult; LO5; Use of Information Technology)29. The internet has shifted the balance of power from sellers to buyers. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO3; Reflective Thinking Skills)30. Gartner Inc. forecasted that the ‘e’ in e-business and e-marketing will eventually be dropped, as electronic practices become more standard. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)31. The internet is largely the product of ARPANET, a project commissioned by the United States’ Department of Defense. a. True b. False (a; Difficult; LO5; Use of Information Technology)32. Co-creation occurs when consumers /users help marketers develop products or promotional materials. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO3; Reflective Th inking Skills)Essay Questions33. What is the difference between the internet, an extranet and an intranet?The internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Access to the internet is very broad and open. An extranet is two or more proprietary or company owned networks that are joined to share information. Access to this network is limited. An intranet is an internal network for a company that uses internet standards. Access is limited to internal company use only. (Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)34. What is a content provider on the internet?Content providers are individuals and organizations that create digital text, video, audio, and graphics to be sent over the internet to users who receive it as information, entertainment or communications.(Moderate; LO1; Analytic Skills)35. Define what community means for the internet and give examples.Communities for the internet are groups of users who come together to share information, hold discussions and exchange data . Examples include blogs or web logs, auctions, and peer-to peer networking. (Easy; LO1; Analytic Skills)36. Concerning internet usage, what is the digital divide?Internet adoption is affected by money, literacy, and education. This creates a divide between those who have access to the internet and those who don’t. It impairs the upward mobility of those on the lower socioeconomic level, who don’t have access to the internet and the information that comes with it. This impacts individuals on the lower socioeconomic levels and those living in less developed countries. (Moderate; LO5; Reflective Thinking Skills)37. Why did some manufacturers such as Levis stop selling on the internet?Channel Conflict with retail accounts Cannibalization Inefficiency (Moderate; LO1; Analytic Skills)38. The strength of the internet has affected traditional marketing in several ways. List five of them and how they affected marketing.Power shift from sellers to buyers (focus on customer rela tionship management) Market Fragmentation (more focus on small target markets and 1 to 1 marketing) Death of distance or geographic location affect (less focus on place for marketing) Time Compression (24/7 availability)Knowledge management is key (Track results in real time and focus on database analysis) Interdisciplinary focus (Marketers must understand technology and use it wisely) Intellectual Capital rules (focus on creativity and imagination) (Difficult; LO5; Reflective Thinking Skills)39. Marketers face new challenges with the advent of streaming, on-demand, and other digital video recorders. What is the main challenge and what have companies like TIVO or Hulu done to alleviate some of the concerns of marketers?The main challenge is the ability of consumers to speed through and skip commercials that advertisers have paid for based on their ability to communicate with consumers. TIVO (Hulu) has setup content with advertising included that viewers can watch at their leisure an d TIVO (Hulu) can provide specific metrics to the advertisers on these programs. (Difficult; LO4; Reflective Thinking Skills)

Brechtian Performance- Second Reflection Essay

1. What Brechtian techniques did you use in your group? Myself and my fellow group members used many different Brechtian techniques in our peace of Epic Theatre. Firstly, we decided on a social issue to base our peice of theatre on, our final being the issue of gay marriage. We then set this issue based on the story of The Three Muskateers, and changed the name to Three Muskaqueers.This word play and the theme of gay marraige continued on throughout our peice of theatre. Also, to continue the theme of homosexuality, we used Brechts idea of introducing Gods who pass jugdment on the play and the characters, Hamzah was our God of Gays. We also used a popular song the YMCA and changed the words according to our social issue and story. Other Brechtian techniques we used were scene cross cutting, gestus and greeze frames and we also had a narrator who introduced our play. 2. How well did you think you used them (Popular audince reaction/engagement/understanding. Critical; opinions of other practitioners & Self; personal targets you may have set yourself) I think that our group used most of the techniques very well. We were able to explicitly use the Brechtian techniques we chose, such as using a God to pass judgement and using a narrator, however i feel we could have improved on other aspects of Brechtian theatre; such as including the characters saying stage directions. If we had added more of these techniques our peice would have become more Brechtian and would have been more obvious to the audience that our performance was a peice of theatre. I think we used our social issue and story well as we cleverly created a play on words from the original story of the Three Muskateers to the Three Muskaqueers. I feel that overall, from the reaction that we got from the audience and how i feel about our peice of theatre from the targets i first set myself that we used the techniques very well. 3. How well did you ‘synthesis’ your content (what you were saying) with the form (how you were saying it) What did you think was effective and why? I think that we had quite a fair amount of synthesis in our production as we kept the theme of â€Å"homosexuality† and â€Å"gay marraige† running throughout the peice. We incorporated this theme into our chosen theme song, and into puns and jokes we made throughout the peice of theatre. I feel that we could have, towards the end of the peice kept the theme running more as we changed the story by making one of the main characters turn straight, and our teacher and fellow students did not fully understand this choice, so i feel that we could have made this mroe obvious or changed this. 4. If you were not happy with aspects of your work then what alternative approaches might you have pursued? Mention at least 2 aspects of your peers work that you thought was effective and why, as you consider alternatives. 1) I feel that we could have used the use of stage directions more because we did not include this as much as we could have, and this part of Epic Theatre is a very important part of Brechts work as he uses it to break the â€Å"fourth wall† between the actors, the play and the audience. 2) I feel that we also could have used either mime or mask in our theatre. Although none of the other groups did this, it is a very well known Brechtian technique, and would have made our peice of theatre stand out much more through the use of nboth Mime and masks.

Culture Barriers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Culture Barriers - Research Paper Example They have a unique attachment with the animals. These peasants do not allow the unused houses to be taken down because they think that their ancestors are connected to these houses and the abolishment of these houses would mean abolishing the memories of their ancestors. Others view them as signs of fertility. All these cultural beliefs combine to contribute towards the spread of the Chagas disease. (Bastien, The Kiss of Death) A common factor observed in the Guaranis is the lack of awareness. One way to prevent this barrier towards improving their health conditions is by making them aware. This can be done by sending awareness teams from house to house to educate the people of the harmful effects of this disease and ask for their corporation in the prevention of this disease. The most important obstacle that can be faced by a public health professional is the lack of awareness amongst the Guaranis. Lack of awareness can come with several other obstacles like conflicts and resistance from the population of that region. Due to incorporation from the people the public health professional would be unable to carry on his/her projects which can be a downside to the prevention of Chagas. TCM is completely different from Western Medicine. The Traditional Chinese Medicine has five main components for treatment: herbal remedies, acupuncture, massage, exercise, and nutrition. However, the Western Medicine is based on components like drug intake, surgery, supplements, radiation, and other quick remedifying treatments. (2007, October 17).   The approach used to measure the efficacy of TCM tends to use multiple interactive measures, and the result of which depends on the criteria that whether the internal harmony is restored in the body or not which makes the evaluation of TCM difficult. TCM has much to offer but it cannot completely replace the modern scientific based medicine either. According to the traditional Chinese’s view the human body is the smaller version

TQM Impact on Company Performance Research Paper

TQM Impact on Company Performance - Research Paper Example This research paper evaluates the effectiveness of tactical strategies, such as Total Quality Management (TQM) used for operations management on overall business performance. Tactical Strategies and Operations Management Overall business performance are assessed based on main corporate priorities such as service, employee performance and motivation, competitive advantage, and growth and profits (Milgate, 2004). It is at the tactical management level that various methods, plans, policies, and techniques are designed and are implemented in operations; these will help in achieving the corporate-level strategies and organizational objectives (Lowson, 2002). In fact, strategies at operations level aid in setting short-term objectives for long-term organizational objectives through tactical operations aspirations that will assist in planning resources, technologies, capabilities for routine operations. It is at this level that strategies and their practices for continuous improvement, lear ning and knowledge management, quality focus etc can be entwined with operational methods and practices meant to achieve overall organizational evolution and growth. Role of TQM in Operations Management: Tactical strategies and plans are meant for functional areas, which need to be implemented by the operations managers. Moreover, tactical plans would require modification or reformulation to suit respective functional areas (Smit, 2007). From this perspective, Kumar et al (2009) have highlighted that many researchers emphasize the role of tactical strategies like the TQM on company’s performance; however, their study actually assesses the role of TQM on various different aspects of company’s performance such as financial, operations, employee performance, customer satisfaction, etc. In actual sense, this study attempts to assess the impact of TQM practices on overall company performance and on achieving the overall corporate strategy. Many argue that modified strategie s fail to produce the desired outcome, or are not implemented as required because of incongruence with functional processes, training and understanding issues, inappropriate approaches and inefficient involvement. Advantages and Limitations of TQM: Kumar et al’s (2009) study clearly indicated that tactical strategies such as TQM actually help in improving company performance in terms of employee relations and motivation, products and service quality, customer satisfaction and growth as well as profitability. However, pieces of evidence exist that indicate inefficient outcomes of TQM procedures. For example, Brown, Hitchcock, and Willard (1994) highlighted that when TQM principles are applied for short-term gains, it cannot produce desired outcomes because TQM process is long-term and is time-consuming (Belasen, 2000). Adaptation of TQM is a dynamic process and requires the constant substitution of challenging standards and values. TQM places high expectations on people and re quires highest involvement and ownership form them. Even well-known organizations that adopted TQM have not sustained the results for the longer time.  Ã‚  

The aim of this assignment is to develop your planning and analytical Essay

The aim of this assignment is to develop your planning and analytical skills in the context of a complex project orientated environment. (MS project software required) - Essay Example EVM is one of the widely used techniques by project managers in order to analyse and keep an eye on the status of the project. EVM can be used by the project manager to analyse the project’s progress. There are three important factors that are used in measuring the performance of the project and EVM analyses the performance of the project on these three basis: So, using EVM a project manager is able to track the performance and make sure whether project is going in the right direction or not and whether the project will be completed within the deadline and within the cost. If the project is right on track then the project manager needs to make sure that same pattern is continued or followed so that it is completed appropriately. If the project is not on the right track, then he needs to analyse the problems and take corrective actions. The project in this report has been evaluated using EMV and PERT analysis techniques. EMV tool has been used by project managers in order to evaluate the progress of the project on the basis of time, cost and scope or quality. EMV has been an important tool for the project managers in not only analysing and identifying the project progress (Hamilton, 2004) but it is also an important for the project manager in order to evaluate the cost that has already been incurred in the project and thus, the project managers can also evaluate the cost that has already been incurred and the cost that would be incurred even in between the project duration. Before EMV, project managers used to face many problems in analyzing the progress of the projects however the problem has been solved to a great extent with the introduction of EMV. On the other hand, PERT analysis is the other technique that has been used. The word PERT is the abbreviation of Program Evaluation and Review Technique and this tool

The Snows of Kilimanjaro Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Research Paper Example "The Snows of Kilimanjaro† reveal that pursuing a life filled with materialism leads to regret, depression, obsession, and ultimately, death. It was also Hemingway who said that all fiction is autobiographical, in the sense that it is difficult for a writer to totally invent the materials for a story; it has to come from somewhere such as things that have actually happened, and the writer subconsciously utilizes the materials in his life experiences. Many of Hemingway's stories have a strong biographical background in them, because he had actually experienced all this in his frequent travels and adventures like big-game hunting, deep-sea fishing, and bullfighting. His prior training as a newspaper reporter and journalist also honed his writing style. It is not surprising this darker side of life may have influenced him to take his own life. But his suicide does not in any way detract from his iconic accomplishment as one of the most brilliant American writers. Discussion Mount Kilimanjaro is a mountain peak found in the African country of Tanzania. It is actually a dormant volcanic mountain that has three cones, namely Shira, Kibo, and Mawenzi. Tanzania is located on the eastern part of Africa, bordered by the countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Zambia, and Mozambique. The capital city of Dar es Salaam that faces the Indian Ocean to the east is the main commercial and political hub of this country. Its name was derived from the union of its two big states, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. But since 1996, the government moved its seat to the city of Dodoma, although Dar es Salaam is still its chief gateway to sea trade and also of its landlocked neighbors to the north, west, and south. A key attraction of Mt. Kilimanjaro is its being the highest mountain in the African continent. It rises to a height of 19,340 feet and offers scenic views for miles around, as the roof of Africa. Kilimanjaro has a temperate climate comprising five zones, and has uni que fauna and flora in huge rain forests, in addition to fantastic volcanic lava formations, and also glaciers. To climb to the top and sleep on the volcano's crater floor is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The sheer majesty of Mt. Kilimanjaro attracts tourists from all over the world, paying substantial fees for a unique climb on this unique mountain. Its lofty heights invite all sorts of feelings, emotions, thoughts, and even contemplation on the meaning of life itself. This is the same mountain that Hemingway had immortalized in the title of his novel, having climbed it himself at a time when Africa was still largely unexplored during the period of empire and in the heyday of colonialism. The white settlers, adventurers, explorers, and administrators were looked up to by the black natives. Western academics studied the local cultures of the various tribes before these will disappear forever, tainted and influenced by the fast influx of Western civilization and gradually mo lded into the Western way of life and by propagation of religion. It was

People in Jails with Mental Illness Research Paper

People in Jails with Mental Illness - Research Paper Example The methodology for this paper will be dependent upon a processed based approach. According to Lechner, â€Å"Process research deals primarily with the actions that lead to and support strategy†. Through examining how actions lead to strategy, the nature of the research is concerned with the micro level, â€Å"the behavior of individuals, groups, or other actors within the organization†. Process based research is founded on six guiding principles: ï‚Ÿ embeddedness (studying processes across a number levels of analysis) ï‚Ÿ temporal interconnectedness (studying processes in the past present and future) ï‚Ÿ explaining context and action ï‚Ÿ searching for holistic rather than linear explanations ï‚Ÿ linking analysis to the location ï‚Ÿ balancing scientific distance and empirical closeness While not all research will embody all of these aspects, in searching for the truths about the proposed topic, the information will be discussed using these concepts. Research Questions The following questions will be used to frame the topic of research: 1. How many people in the Miami-Dade County Jail are mentally ill? 2. What services are provided in the Miami-Dade County Jail program? 3. What is the police procedure concerning citizens who have broken the law but appear to be suffering from a mental illness? 4. What is the legal criteria to determine if someone is afforded mental illness care within the Miami-Dade County Jail system? Through secondary research, the Miami-Dade County Jail system will be assessed and reviewed in relationship to the research questions. Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department The most recent statistics, from June 11, 2011, show that there are 6,218 inmates in the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. Of those inmates, 5,743 are male and 475 are female. The largest percentage of the population are between the age of 18 and 34, representing 3,603 of the inmates. Of the inmates, 4,226 are there for felony charges with 4,455 of those inmates are at the partial sentence portion of their process. Miami-Dade County, at least by present statistics, seems to be primarily defined by male inmates who are still waiting for the full measure of their punishment to be sentenced. Mentally Ill Citizens in Prison In 2004, an undertaking was given to the grand jury to determine the state of the jail system in regard to mental illness. The task was taken up by the district attorney’s office to investigate the state of mental illness as it has been experienced within

Compare and Contrast early Ford Model T and Late model Ford Crown Essay

Compare and Contrast early Ford Model T and Late model Ford Crown Victoria - Essay Example With a front-mounted, 2.9 L, 4 cylinder motor in a block producing 20 horsepower for a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h), the Model T had many qualities which would today be considered vintage, and yet ironically also had features that would be considered state of the art amongst the vehicles in the modern day. One such feature is that it had no clutch pedal, and shifting was instead accomplished by means of floor pedals with no clutching required. The Early Ford Model T was particularly light at only about 1 200 pounds, and yet incredibly powerful with such an engine under the hood. "Simple, sturdy, and versatile, the little car would excite the public imagination." ("Forbes"). By removing the twelve bolts on the top of the car off, the entire hood pulls away, exposing all four cylinders, all four pistons and all eight valves. "The crank case is oil tight and in addition to enclosing the crank shaft, forms the lower half of the housing of the transmission, fly-wheel, magneto and flexible joint, all of which are enclosed and operated in an oil bath. This form of construction makes dripping of oil impossible as all working parts are enclosed." ("Ford"). The Model T had high and low control speeds and an emergency brake by hand levers at the left of the driver. Spark and throttle gave it all speeds from 3 to 40 miles per hour. Ford reduction gear system, two sets of brakes: a service band brake on the transmission, and internal expanding brakes in the rear hub drums, artillery wood wheels, pneumatic tires, seating for four adults, and for a price of $850, the Ford Model T was classed as - and in fact still is - "The Car of the Century". It quickly became "one of the biggest-selling automobiles of all time." ("Encarta"). There are many similarities and certainly many more differences in the comparison of The Ford Model T to an automobile such as the Late Model Ford Crown Victoria. This model, also known as the "Crown Vic", was first produced in 1955, and did not outlast the 1950s. The Crown Victoria is often referred to as the "Dodge Monaco" of the 1990s and beyond, and is a universally popular automobile. "Some 90% of police cars in the US and Canada are Crown Victorias, since Ford was the only automaker still making sedans for police after the Chevrolet Caprice was phased out after 1996." ("Wikipedia"). "The Crown Vic is heavy, almost SUV-like heavy. It depends on this bulk to run suspects off the road should the need arise." ("Modern"). The Crown Victorias are popular for their impressive safety ratings, easily accessible entry and exit, quiet interior, and optional power-adjustable pedals - over 80 000 Crown Vics are sold in a single year. This luxury sedan is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 that produces 224 horsepower. "The base Crown Victoria ($23 620) comes standard with air conditioning, ABS, power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, an eight-way power adjustable driver's seat, tilt steering wheel,

MARKETING ISSUE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MARKETING ISSUE - Essay Example These products cut an edge over the competitors in the value of technology used. Apple Company identifies whether or not it is effective in developing new products, and what impacts they have on the market. For example, this has been done through the inclusion of improvised features that the competitors have yet to develop. An example is the use of iMessage, and iCloud, which allows the users to save data through its cloud computing services. The data may include music files and video footage for download to multiple devices (Fifield, 2007). This innovative feature gives them an edge over rivals such as Motorola, Nokia, and BlackBerry. Moreover, the company has gone ahead to use intellectual rights on the product. This includes patent rights. It right protects the product from being used by other competitors or from competitors developing a similar product. For the company to acquire a large market share and increase their sales, the company has emphasized on the use of this technique of innovation to its current market status (Schnaars,

ex Education Should be Implemented to Grade-schoolers Position Essay Example for Free

ex Education Should be Implemented to Grade-schoolers Position Essay Ladies and gentleman good morning, today we will be debating about sex education. Sex education taught in the school system has long been debated as right or wrong. There are some who believe it is wholly wrong for the school to get involved in such a sensitive topic. They may believe this because they feel parents should do the talking or it may be down to religious reasons. First let’s define sex education so what is sex education. Sex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual activity, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, and birth control. Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, formal school programs, and public health campaigns. The word sex, it is one of the few words that catch our attention. Whenever we see the word â€Å"sex† in magazines, newspapers and other print materials, we tend to stop at some point and become interested to read the article where it is written. It’s not because we simply feel the urge to read about sex but perhaps the â€Å"questioning self† wants to clarify and discover the truth about this matter. In liberal democracies, sex is viewed as a normal activity for both adults and teenagers. In the Philippines, it’s very different. Whenever we say the word â€Å"sex†, we are labeled as â€Å"rude†. No wonder why if we heard of â€Å"sex† we directly associate it to â€Å"vulgarity†. We cannot blame ourselves because we are living in a society with a stronghold of moral standards and conservatism. As a representative of the opposition we strongly oppose the implementation of sex education to grade-schoolers. Those grade school pupil who have pure mind and still immature we cannot afford to change the way of thinking of these innocent grade school pupil. It is still early for them to learn about sex education. Teaching sex education to grade-schooler at early age can greatly affect their way of thinking. A person who is 7-11 years old is still immature, they have a imaginative mind and curious to different things specially one that they still haven’t tried, so introducing them about sex education is very risky. Theres no guarantee that the person teaching it has a healthy attitude about sex, or that the teacher really knows anymore about sex that the students do. Sex education brings the information to the front, possibly giving kids ideas of things that they had never thought of before. Instead of just letting things goes by and take their natural course, kids begin thinking about it. They begin to wonder what its like and may make poor choices that they never would have if they hadnt heard about it in the first place. There is also a possibility that they do what couples because of curiosity and immaturity. For teens and young adult are in the transitional stage or the experimental years wherein they are curious about many things and they are very impulsive to try something new, they always seek their selves from other, teaching them how to use contraceptives is a big no, once they learn about birth control and safe sex. The chances for having unplanned teen pregnancies are possible for they are not yet matured to handle such stuff. There’s a tendency that they might have multiple partners. Students may still also suffer from embarrassment or get excitable by the topic matter. Student curiosity will be set high and their urge to try it will be greater. This will cause them to engage in early sex, sex Education program is not the answer to any sex related problems of young teens and minors that have been undergoing at the moment. the schools responsibility is to teach reading, math, science, social studies, etc. Instead of teaching them sex education program, school should concentrate more in moral values, that sex is responsibility, that once done, you must ready to face the consequences and any challenges in life. That sex is sacred it’s not just for fun and pleasure but, it should only be done by couples for procreation. There is a right time for everything, so just like the sex education there is right time to learn about it. Sex education can be compared to a knife – it is useful to those who understand how to use it, but dangerous for those who do not. As parents, would you leave it to someone else to explain something potentially damaging to your children? If they will pursue with it, isn’t it awkward hearing kids say â€Å"Hey mama, can you review me with this condom, pills etc.

Evolution of Investment Banking

Evolution of Investment Banking INTRODUCTION At a very macro level, ‘Investment Banking as term suggests, is concerned with the primary function of assisting the capital market in its function of capital intermediation, i.e., the movement of financial resources from those who have them (the Investors), to those who need to make use of them for generating GDP (the Issuers). Banking and financial institution on the one hand and the capital market on the other are the two broad platforms of institutional that investment for capital flows in economy. Therefore, it could be inferred that investment banks are those institutions that are counterparts of banks in the capital markets in the function of intermediation in the resource allocation. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to conclude so, as that would confine investment banking to very narrow sphere of its activities in the modern world of high finance. Over the decades, backed by evolution and also fuelled by recent technologies developments, an investment banking has transf ormed repeatedly to suit the needs of the finance community and thus become one of the most vibrant and exciting segment of financial services. Investment bankers have always enjoyed celebrity status, but at times, they have paid the price for the price for excessive flamboyance as well. To continue from the above words of John F. Marshall and M.E. Eills, ‘investment banking is what investment banks do . This definition can be explained in the context of how investment banks have evolved in their functionality and how history and regulatory intervention have shaped such an evolution. Much of investment banking in its present form, thus owes its origins to the financial markets in USA, due o which, American investment banks have banks have been leaders in the American and Euro markets as well. Therefore, the term ‘investment banking can arguably be said to be of American origin. Their counterparts in UK were termed as ‘merchants banks since they had confined themselves to capital market intermediation until the US investments banks entered the UK and European markets and extended the scope of such businesses. Investment banks help companies and governments and their agencies to raise money by issuing and selling acquisitions and other types of financial transactions. Investment banks also act as intermediaries in trading for clients. Investment banks differ from stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. However some firms operate as both brokerages and investment banks; this includes some of the best known financial services firms in the world. More commonly used today to characterize what was traditionally termed† investment banking† is â€Å"sells side. This is trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e. underwriting,research, etc.). The buy side constitutes the hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment. Many firms have both buy and sell side components. Definition An individual or institution, which acts as an underwriter or agent for corporations and municipalities issuing securities. Most also maintain broker/dealer operations, maintain markets for previously issued securities, and offer advisory services to investors. Investment banks also have a large role in facilitating mergers and acquisitions, private equity placements and corporate restructuring. Unlike traditional banks, investment banks do not accept deposits from and provide loans to individuals. Also called investment banker. Who needs an Investment Bank? Any firm contemplating a significant transaction can benefit from the advice of an investment bank. Although large corporations often have sophisticated finance and corporate development departments provide objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment banking firm can provide the services required to initiate and execute a major transaction, thereby empowering small to medium sized companies with financial and transaction experience without the addition of permanent overhead, an investment bank provides objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment-banking firm can provide the services The main activities and units The primary function of an investment bank is buying and selling products both on behalf of the banks clients and also for the bank itself. Banks undertake risk through proprietary trading, done by a special set of traders who do not interface with clients and through Principal Risk, risk undertaken by a trader after he or she buys or sells a product to a client and does not hedge his or her total exposure. Banks seek to maximize profitability for a given amount of risk on their balance sheet An investment bank is split into the so-called Front Office Middle Office and Back Office. The individual activities are described below: Front Office Investment Banking is the traditional aspect of investment banks which involves helping customers raise Corporate Finance (often pronounced corpfin). mutual funds) . Research and Structuring. Sales desks then communicate their clients orders to the appropriate trading desks, which can price and execute trades, or structure new products that fit a specific need. Research is the division which reviews companies and writes reports about their prospects, often with buy or sell ratings. While the research division generates no revenue, its resources are used to assist traders in trading, the sales force in suggesting ideas to customers, and investment bankers by covering their clients. In recent years the relationship between investment banking and research has become highly regulated, reducing its importance to the investment bank. Structuring has been a relatively recent division as derivatives have come into play, with highly technical and numerate employees working on creating complex structured products which typically offer much greater margins and returns than underlying cash securities. Middle Office * operational risk and the assurance Middle Offices provide now include measures to address this risk. When this assurance is not in place, market and credit risk analysis can be unreliable and open to deliberate manipulation. Back Office Operations involve data-checking trades that have been conducted, ensuring that they are not erroneous, and transacting the required transfers. While it provides the greatest job security of the divisions within an investment bank, it is a critical part of the bank that involves managing the financial information of the bank and ensures efficient capital markets through the financial reporting function. The staff in these areas are often highly qualified and need to understand in depth the deals and transactions that occur across all the divisions of the bank. New products Investment banking is one of the most global industries and is hence continuously challenged to respond to new developments and innovation in the global financial markets. Throughout the history of investment banking, many have theorized that all investment banking products and services would be copyrighted, they are very often copied quickly by competing banks, pushing down trading margins. For example, OTC contract has to be uniquely structured and could involve complex pay-off and risk profiles. Listed option contracts are traded through major exchanges, such as the CBOE, and are almost as commoditized as general equity securities. In addition, while many products have been commoditized, an increasing amount of profit within investment banks has come from proprietary trading, where size creates a positive network benefit (since the more trades an investment bank does, the more it knows about the market flow, allowing it to theoretically make better trades and pass on better guidance to clients). Potential conflicts of interest may arise between different parts of a bank, creating the potential for financial movements that could be market manipulation. Authorities that regulate investment banking (the Chinese wall which prohibits communication between investment banking on one side and research and equities on the other. Some of the conflicts of interest that can be found in investment banking are listed here: Historically, equity research firms were founded and owned by investment banks. One common practice is for equity analysts to initiate coverage on a company in order to develop relationships that lead to highly profitable investment banking business. In the 1990s, many equity researchers allegedly traded positive stock ratings directly for investment banking business. On the flip side of the coin: companies would threaten to divert investment banking business to competitors unless their stock was rated favorably. Politicians acted to pass laws to criminalize such acts. Increased pressure from regulators and a series of lawsuits, settlements, and prosecutions curbed this business to a large extent following the 2001 stock market tumble Many investment banks also own retail brokerages. Also during the 1990s, some retail brokerages sold consumers securities which did not meet their stated risk profile. This behavior may have led to investment banking business or even sales of surplus shares during a public offering to keep public perception of the stock favorable. Since investment banks engage heavily in trading for their own account, there is always the temptation or possibility that they might engage in some form of front running. Types of investment banks underwrite (guarantee the sale of) stock and bond issues, trade for their own accounts, make markets, and advise corporations on capital markets activities such as mergers and acquisitions Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provide capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture ca pital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies. Investment banks provide four primary types of services: Raising capital, advising in mergers and acquisitions, executing securities sales and trading, and performing general advisory services. Most of the major Wall Street firms are active in each of these categories. Smaller investment banks may specialize in two or three of these categories. Raising Capital An investment bank can assist a firm in raising funds to achieve a variety of objectives, such as to acquire another company, reduce its debt load, expand existing operations, or for specific project financing. Capital can include some combination of debt, common equity, preferred equity, and hybrid securities such as convertible debt or debt with warrants. Although many people associate raising capital with public stock offerings, a great deal of capital is actually raised through private placements with institutions, specialized investment funds, and private individuals. The investment bank will work with the client to structure the transaction to meet specific objectives while being attractive to investors. Mergers and Acquisitions Investment banks often represent firms in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Example projects include the acquisition of a specific firm, the sale of a company or a subsidiary of the company, and assistance in identifying, structuring, and executing a merger or joint venture. In each case, the investment bank should provide a thorough analysis of the entity bought or sold, as well as a valuation range and recommended structure. Sales and Trading These services are primarily relevant only to publicly traded firms, or firms, which plan to go public in the near future. Specific functions include making a market in a stock, placing new offerings, and publishing research reports. General Advisory Services: Advisory services include assignments such as strategic planning, business valuations, assisting in financial restructurings, and providing an opinion as to the fairness of a proposed transaction. Terms Related To Investment Bank Buying and Selling Buying Deciding on the proper time to purchase a security that you would like to add to your holdings can be a daunting task. If the price drops immediately after you buy, it may seem as if you missed out on a better buying opportunity. If the price jumps right before you make your move, you may feel as if you paid too much. As it turns out, you should not let these small fluctuations influence your decision too much. As long as the fundamentals that led you to decide on the purchase have not changed, a few points in either direction should not have a large impact on the long-term value of your investment. Similarly, the fact that an investment has been increasing in value of late is not a sufficient reason for you to purchase it. Momentum can be very fickle, and recent movement is not necessarily an indicator of future movement. Therefore, buying decisions should be based on sound and thorough research geared toward discerning the future value of a security relative to its current price. This analysis will probably not touch upon price movement in the very recent past. As you learn more about investing youll get better at deciding when to buy, but most experts recommend that beginners avoid trying to time the market, and just get in as soon as they can and stay in for the long haul. The proper time to buy a security is quite simply when it is available for less than its actual value. These undervalued securities are actually not as rare as they sound. However, the problem is simply that they are never sure bets. The value of a security includes estimates of the future performance of factors underlying the value of the security. For stocks, these factors include things like earnings growth and market share. Changes can be predicted to a degree, but they are subject to fluctuation due to forces both within and beyond the control of the company. The overall economic climate, changes in the industry or even bad decisions by management can all cause a security poised to ascend in value to become an under performer. Therefore, it is essential to practice your analysis before putting your money into action. Make some mock purchases based on your personal analysis technique and track the results. Not all of your decisions will lead to the results you were expecting, but if most of your choices turn out to be good and there are mitigating factors that you can learn from to explain your missteps, then you may be ready to put your analysis technique and investing strategy into action. At this point, the need to continuously monitor your investments does not disappear. Both under performers and overachievers should be studied carefully to fine-tune your strategy. You should also regularly look at your securities to make sure that the fundamentals for success that led you to buy in the first place are intact. If not, you may need to prepare to cash in and start looking for the next opportunity. One way to avoid the hassles of deciding when to buy altogether is to practice dollar-cost averaging. This strategy advocates investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals. The price when you first invest is relatively unimportant (as long as the fundamentals are sound) because you will be purchasing shares at a different price each time you buy. The success of your investment then lies not with short-term fluctuations, but with the long-term movement of the value of the security. Selling: There comes a time when investments must be liquidated and converted back into cash. In a perfect world, selling would only be necessary when investment goals have been reached or time horizons have expired, but, in reality, decisions about selling can be much more difficult. For one thing, it can be just as hard to decide when to sell as it can be to decide when to buy. No one wishes to miss out on gains by selling too soon, but, at the same time, no one wishes to watch an investment peak in value and then begin to decline. Investors often seek to sell investments that have dropped in value in the short-term. However, if conditions have not changed significantly, drops in price may actually represent an opportunity to buy at a better price. If the initial research, which led to the purchase, was sound, a temporary decline does not preclude the success that was originally predicted. Of course, things change, and if the security no longer meets the criteria that led to its purchase, selling may in fact be the best option. Selling may also become necessary if investment goals change over time. You may need to reduce the amount of risk in your portfolio or you may have the opportunity to seek out greater returns. Additionally, a security may have increased in value to the point that it is overvalued. This creates an excellent opportunity to cash in and seek out new undervalued investments. Often you will need to make this type of sale in the course of rebalancing a portfolio necessitated by gains and losses in different areas. Selling can be especially difficult when an under performing stock must be dumped. Some investors let their emotions dictate their actions and hold on to stocks that have fallen in value rather than to sell, thinking that selling at a loss is like admitting that they made a mistake. However, realizing the loss and moving on to better investments is often preferable to continuing to hold onto a loser in the hopes that it will somehow rebound. When considering any sale, you must factor in the costs of the sale itself. Fees and taxes will eat into profits, so they must be subtracted from any increases in value to understand the true impact of the transaction. Capital gains taxes are higher for gains on investments held less than one year, so its often wise to invest for the long term rather than to buy and sell quickly. On the other hand, it can be dangerous to hold an investment longer than you want to, simply to reduce the tax burden. It is essential to remember that just because an investment increases in value after it has been sold does not necessarily mean that it was sold prematurely. Managing risk and diversification are often more important than capitalizing on short-term gains in a particular security. Keeping in mind the initial goals for the investment and adjusting them to fit your present goals will allow you to make smarter decisions about selling. Principles of Investing 1. Start Investing Now We say this not just to discourage procrastination, but because an early start can make all the difference. In general, every six years you wait doubles the required monthly savings to reach the same level of retirement income. Another motivational statistic: If you contributed some amount each month for the next nine years, and then nothing afterwards, or if you contributed nothing for the first nine years, then contributed the same amount each month for the next 41 years, you would have about the same amount. Compounding is a beautiful thing. 2. Know Yourself The right course of action depends on your current situation, your future goals, and your personality. If you dont take a close look at these, and make them explicit, you might be headed in the wrong direction. Current Situation: How healthy are you, financially? Whats your net worth right now? Whats your monthly income? What are your expenses (and where could they be reduced)? How much debt are you carrying? At what rate of interest? How much are you saving? How are you investing it? What are your returns? What are your expenses? Goals: What are your financial goals? How much will you need to achieve them? Are you on the right track? Risk Tolerance: How much risk are you willing and able to accept in pursuit of your objectives? The appropriate level of risk is determined by your personality, age, job security, health, net worth, amount of cash you have to cover emergencies, and the length of your investing horizon. 3. Get Your Financial House In Order Even though investing may be more fun than personal finance, it makes more sense to get started on them in the reverse order. If you dont know where the money goes each month, you shouldnt be thinking about investing yet. Tracking your spending habits is the first step toward improving them. If youre carrying debt at a high rate of interest (especially credit card debt), you should unburden yourself before you begin investing. If you dont know how much you save each month and how much youll need to save to reach your goals, theres no way to know what investments are right for you. If youve transitioned from a debt situation to paycheck-to-paycheck situation to a saving some money every month situation, youre ready to begin investing what you save. You should start by amassing enough to cover three to six months of expenses, and keep this money in a very safe investment like a money market account, so youre prepared in the event of an emergency. Once youve saved up this emergency reserve, you can progress to higher risk (and higher return) investments: bonds for money that you expect to need in the next few years, and stocks or stock mutual funds for the rest. Use dollar cost averaging, by investing about the same amount each month. This is always a good idea, but even more so with the dramatic fluctuations in the market in the past 10 years. Dollar cost averaging will make it easier to stomach the inevitable dips. And remember; never invest in anything you dont understand. 4. Develop A Long Term Plan Now that you know your current situation, goals, and personality, you should have a pretty good idea of what your long-term plan should be. It should detail where the money will go: cars, houses, college, and retirement. It should also detail where the money will come from. Hopefully the numbers will be about the same. Dont try to time the market. Get in and stay in. We dont know what direction the next 10% move will be, but we do know what direction the next100% move will be. Review your plan periodically, and whenever your needs or circumstances change. If you are not confident that your plan makes sense, talk to an investment advisor or someone you trust. 5. Buy Stocks Now that youve got a long term view, you can more safely invest in riskier investments, which the market rewards (in general). This requires patience and discipline, but it increases returns. This approach reduces the entire universe of investment vehicles to two choices: stocks and stock mutual funds. In the long run, theyre the winners: In this century, stocks beat bonds 8 out of 9 decades, and theyre well in the lead again. According to Ibbotsons Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation 1995 Yearbook, here are the average annual returns from 1926 to 1994 (before inflation): Stocks: 10.2% (and small company stocks were 12.1%) Intermediate term treasury bonds: 5.1% 30-day T-bills: 3.7% But is it really worth the additional risk just for a few percentage points? The answer is yes. 10% a year for 20 years is 570%, but 7% a year for 20 years is only 280%. Compounding is Gods gift to long-term planners. If you buy outstanding companies, and hold them through the markets gyrations, you will be rewarded. If you arent good at selecting stocks, select some mutual funds. If you arent good at selecting mutual funds, go with an index fund (like the Vanguard SP 500). 6. Investigate Before You Invest Always do your homework. The more you know, the better off you are. This requires that you keep learning, and pay attention to events that might affect you. Understand personal finance matters that could affect you (for example, proposed tax changes). Understand how each of your investments fits in with the rest of your portfolio and with your overall strategy. Understand the risks associated with each investment. Gather unbiased, objective information. Get a second opinion, a third opinion, etc. Be cautious when evaluating the advice of anyone with a vested interest. If youre going to invest in stocks, learn as much as you can about the companies youre considering. Understand before you invest. Research, research, Read books. Consider joining an investment club or an organization like the American Association of Individual Investors. Experiment with various strategies before you put your own money on the line. Examine historical data or participate in a stock market simulation. Try a momentum portfolio, a technical analysis portfolio, a bottom fisher portfolio, a dividend portfolio, a price/earnings growth portfolio, an intuition portfolio, a mega trends portfolio, and any others you think of. In the process youll find out which ones work best for you. Learn from your own mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others. If you dont have time for all this work consider mutual funds, especially index funds. 7. Develop the Right Attitude The following personality traits will help you achieve financial success: Discipline: Develop a plan, and stick with it. As you continue to learn, youll become more confident that youre on the right track. Alter your asset allocation based on changes in your personal situation, not because of some short-term market fluctuation. Confidence: Let your intelligence, not your emotions; make your decisions for you. Understand that you will make mistakes and take losses; even the best investors do. Re-evaluate your strategy from time to time, but dont second-guess it. Patience: Dont let your emotions be ruled by todays performance. In most cases, you shouldnt even be watching the day-to-day performance, unless you like to. Also, dont ever feel like its now or never. Dont be pressured into an investment you dont yet understand or feel comfortable with. The following personality traits will hurt your chances of financial success: Fear: If you are unwilling to take any risk, you will be stuck with investments that barely beat inflation. Greed: As an investment class, get rich quick schemes have the worst returns. If your expectations are unrealistically high, youll go for the big scores, which usually dont work. It is generally a good idea to avoid making financial decisions based on emotional factors. 8. Get Help If You Need It The do-it-yourself approach isnt for everyone. If you try it and its not working, or youre afraid to try it at all, or you just dont have the time or desire, theres nothing wrong with seeking professional assistance. If you want others to handle your financial affairs for you, you will nevertheless want to remain involved to some degree, to make sure your money is being spent wisely. Initial Public Offerings Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are the first time a company sells its stock to the public. Sometimes IPOs are associated with huge first-day gains; other times, when the market is cold, they flop. Its often difficult for an individual investor to realize the huge gains, since in most cases only institutional investors have access to the stock at the offering price. By the time the general public can trade the stock, most of its first-day gains have already been made. However, a savvy and informed investor should still watch the IPO market, because this is the first opportunity to buy these stocks. Reasons for an IPO When a privately held corporation needs to raise additional capital, it can either take on debt or sell partial ownership. If the corporation chooses to sell ownership to the public, it engages in an IPO. Corporations choose to go public instead of issuing debt securities for several reasons. The most common reason is that capital raised through an IPO does not have to be repaid, whereas debt securities such as bonds must be repaid with interest. Despite this apparent benefit, there are also many drawbacks to an IPO. A large drawback to going public is that the current owners of the privately held corporation lose a part of their ownership. Corporations weigh the costs and benefits of an IPO carefully before performing an IPO. Going Public If a corporation decides that it is going to perform an IPO, it will first hire an investment bank to facilitate the sale of its shares to the public. This process is commonly called underwriting; the banks role as the underwriter varies according to the method of underwriting agreed upon, but its primary function remains the same. In accordance with the Securities Act of 1933, the corporation will file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The registration statement must fully disclose all material information to the SEC, including a description of the corporation, detailed financial statements, biographical information on insiders, and the number of shares owned by each insider. After filing, the corporation must wait for the SEC to investigate the registration statement and approve of the full disclosure. During this period while the SEC investigates the corporations filings, the underwriter will try to increase demand for the corporations stock. Many investment banks will print tombstone advertisements that offer bare-bones information to prospective investors. The underwriter will also issue a preliminary prospectus, or red herring, to potential investors. These red herrings include much of the information contained in the registration statement, but are incomplete and subject to change. An official summary of the corporation, or prospectus, must be issued either before or along with the actual stock offering. After the SEC approves of the corporations full disclosure, the corporation and the underwriter decide on the price and date of the IPO; the IPO is then conducted on the determined date. IPOs are sometimes postponed or even withdrawn in poor market conditions. Performance The aftermarket performance of an IPO is how the stock price behaves after the day of its offering on the secondary market (such as the NYSE or the NASDAQ). Investors can use this information to judge the likelihood that an IPO in a specific industry or from a specific lead underwriter will perform well in the days (or months) following its offering. The first-day gains of some IPOs have made investors all too aware of the money to be had in IPO investing. Unfortunately, for the small individual investor, realizing those much-publicized gains is nearly impossible. The crux of the problem is that individual investors are just too small to get in on the IPO market before the jump. Those large first-day returns are made over the offering price of the stock, at which only large, institutional investors can buy in. The system is one o

Essay examples --

In March 2010 the Congress of USA passed the President Obama health care plan which is widely known as obamacare. The bill largely focuses issues related to health care of American citizens such as the health insurance treatment of elderly and young ones. The bill includes Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and The Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act along with many other rules all signed as laws by President Obama. It is the aim of these bills to help American Nurses association and will also impose some challenges for the future nurses. The Obama health care plan is a health care reform in the US and is known as one of the major achievements of President Obama. Obama care has aided millions of Americans to afford a better quality health insurance, helped reform the health insurance industry and has widened the horizons of American health care rights. It is also an objective of the bill to reduce wasteful spending all over the country in health care department. The bill has been signed as the health care law aiming to improve the entire health care system of the United States by expanding coverage to more Americans as well as protecting the existing insurance policy holders of America. Obama Administration claims that a huge population of America will be benefitted by this new plan in various ways. According to the administration, insurance companies will not be able to cancel coverage if people get sick, all out of pocket costs shall be covered for proven preventive and screening services such as mammograms and other preventive tests. The plan is to diagnose chronic and potentially serious diseases as early as possible in order to make further treatments more effective. As a result of this... ...egard Obama care for a healthy New York. Keeping the current ambiguous and unreliable web services in view it is risky to recommend sites to patients for health insurance purposes. However some sites are reliable and have earned a good name through good work and satisfied users. These sites, which can also provide telemedicine facilities are very convenient and save a lot of effort and time which is spent on travelling and waiting for the appointments. Obama’s health care plan has opened new gateways for a lot of insurance providers and websites are used to provide insurance online. However reliability and validity of websites to patients requiring insurance still remains risky and faulty. A lot of effort still needs to be put in the technicality of catering a large population of insurance seekers online to ensure a smooth and transparent health care administration.

Gender and Power in The Arabian Nights Essay -- The 1001 Arabian Night

Gender and Power in The Arabian Nights Works Cited Not Included Contemplating the relationship between gender and power, one undoubtedly notices that tradition regards men as the holders of official office and power. Historically, men have also always been the leaders of their families, and turned to in times of trouble or need. Making generalizations is normally a weak approach to any task; in this case however, it is necessary to do so in order to illustrate how drastically opposite the situations prove in various selections from "1001 Arabian Nights." Rather than men taking critical roles of power, the women characters, especially at crucial moments in the plot, empower themselves far beyond the male figures, and, consequently, prove much more important to their respective plots. The stories offer a different perspective on the gender-power relationship and, consequently, ask readers to reconsider their notions of the traditional relationship between gender and power. In "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", Aladdin's character is that of a lazy vagabond lacking motivation to pursue anything in life. In fact, Aladdin's idleness is so grave that he causes his own father's death. The gender-power relationship is introduced almost immediately with Aladdin's father's death; because of the death, Aladdin's mother is forced to provide for the family and care for her only child. Traditionally, the father in a family has been the one to work, while the mother cared for the children. Thus, Aladdin's mother is empowered almost immediately in the story as she is forced to take on both the role of matriarch and patriarch. Aladdin's mother is again empowered by her desire to help her pathetically useless son. Aladdin, who "fell helplessly ... ...tory, and indeed has more impact on the story than any of the men. Through her striking empowerment, Scheherazade even saves her own life, as well as those of any other virgins the king may have taken. Ultimately, the stories of "1001 Arabian Nights" indeed leave readers no choice but to re-evaluate their classic perceptions of the gender-power relationship. In the stories discussed above, there is simply no question that the action of the stories and the important moments in each revolve entirely around the women. Those who regarded the gender-power relationship as a non-issue must now think again. It is difficult to disprove a widely spread notion such as the one at hand here, but one can always try. It seems clear, however, through these examples, that perhaps classic perceptions that the male is more powerful than the female really should be reconsidered.

Shakespeare on Machiavelli: The Prince in Richard III Essay -- Richa

Shakespeare on Machiavelli:   The Prince in Richard III   Ã‚  Ã‚   According to many, Shakespeare intentionally portrays Richard III in ways that would have the world hail him as the ultimate Machiavel.   This build up only serves to further the dramatic irony when Richard falls from his throne.   The nature of Richard's character is key to discovering the commentary Shakespeare is delivering on the nature of tyrants.   By setting up Richard to be seen as the ultimate Machiavel, only to have him utterly destroyed, Shakespeare makes a dramatic commentary on the frailty of tyranny and such men as would aspire to tyrannical rule.    From the outset of the play, it is obvious that Richard subscribes to the majority of the Machiavellian principles.   Certainly, he is not ashamed or afraid to plot heinous murder, and he does so with an ever-present false front.   "I do mistake my person all this while,"1 he muses, plotting Anne's death minutes after having won her hand.   He will not even entertain the ideas in public, demanding they "Dive...down to [his] soul."2 He knows that he must be cunning and soulless to succeed in his tasks.   Richard also knows it is essential to guard against the hatred of the populace, as Machiavelli warned.      He breeds anger in Clarence and the populace, not of himself, but of Edward and the rightful heirs.   "We are not safe, Clarence, we are not safe,"3 he exclaims as his brother is hauled away to the tower. He preys on the "hateful luxury And bestial appetite"4 of the citizenry, catapulting himself to the thrown over a heap of bodies: deaths that hang on his head.   But, it is Richard's attitude that his end goal of the crown justifies the murderous means that so closely links ... ...t meet Shakespeare's demands the chances are slim.   He must be a paradox: amoral and god fearing.    1 Act I. Sc. II. Ln. 257 2 Act I. Sc. I. Ln. 40 3 Act I. Sc. I. Ln. 70 4 Act III. Sc. V. Ln. 79-80 5 Act IV. Sc. II. Ln. 60-5 6 Act I. Sc. II. Ln. 125-8 7 Act IV. Sc. IV. Ln. 51-2 8 Act IV. Sc. IV. Ln. 397-400 9 Act V. Sc. III. Ln. 179 10 Act V. Sc. III. Ln. 201-2 11 Act I. Sc. I. Ln. 1 12 Act I. Sc. I. Ln. 20 13 Act I. Sc. I. Ln. 28, 30    Works Cited and Consulted: Nicole Machiavelli,   The Prince, pp. 359-386.   Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998. Ornstein, Richard.   "Richard III."   Richard III.   New York: Signet Classic, 1988.   239-264. Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997), 515-600.

Shatterer of Worlds

Kildare Dobbs Before that morning in 1945 only a few conventional bombs, none of which did any great damage, had fallen on the city. Fleets of U. S. bombers had, however, devastated many cities round about, and Hiroshima had begun a program of evacuation which had reduced its population from 380,000 to some 245,000. Among the evacuees were Emiko and her family. â€Å"We were moved out to Otake, a town about an hour's train-ride out of the city,† Emiko told me. She had been a fifteen-year-old student in 1945. Fragile and vivacious, versed in the gentle traditions of the tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Emiko still had an air of the frail school-child when I talked with her. Every day, she and her sister Hideko used to commute into Hiroshima to school. Hideko was thirteen. Their father was an antique dealer and he owned a house in the city, although it was empty now. Tetsuro, Emiko's thirteen-year-old brother, was at the Manchurian front with the Imperial Army. Her mother was kept busy looking after the children, for her youngest daughter Eiko was sick with heart trouble, and rations were scarce. All of them were undernourished. The night of August 5, 1945, little Eiko was dangerously ill. She was not expected to live. Everybody took turns watching by her bed, soothing her by massaging her arms and legs. Emiko retired at 8:30 (most Japanese people go to bed early) and at midnight was roused to take her turn with the sick girl. At 2 A. M. she went back to sleep. While Emiko slept, the Enola Gay, a U. S. B-29 carrying the world's first operational atom bomb, was already in the air. She had taken off from the Pacific island of Iwo Jima at 1:45 A. M. , and now Captain William Parsons, U. S. N. ordnance expert, was busy in her bomb-hold with the final assembly of Little Boy. Little Boy looked much like an outsize T. N. T. block-buster but the crew knew there was something different about him. Only Parsons and the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, knew exactly in what manner Little Boy was different. Course was set for Hiroshima. Emiko slept. On board the Enola Gay co-pilot Captain Robe rt Lewis was writing up his personal log. â€Å"After leaving Iwo,† he recorded, â€Å"we began to pick up some low stratus and before very long we were flying on top of an undercast. Outside of a thin, high cirrus and the low stuff, it's a very beautiful day. † Emiko and Hideko were up at six in the morning. They dressed in the uniform of their women's college-white blouse, quilted hat, and black skirt-breakfasted and packed their aluminum lunch-boxes with white rice and eggs. These they stuffed into their shoulder bags as they hurried for the seven-o'clock train to Hiroshima. Today there would be no classes. Along with many women's groups, high school students, and others, the sisters were going to work on demolition. You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire† The city had begun a project of clearance to make fire-breaks in its downtown huddle of wood and paper buildings. It was a lovely morning. While the two young girls were at breakfast, Captain Lewis, over the Pacific, had made an entry in his log. â€Å"We are loaded. The bomb is now alive, and it's a funny feeling 1 From Reading the Time (1968). knowing it's right in back of you. Knock wood! † In the train Hideko suddenly said she was hungry. She wanted to eat her lunch. Emiko dissuaded her: she'd be much hungrier later on. The two sisters argued, but Hideko at last agreed to keep her lunch till later. They decided to meet at the main station that afternoon and catch the five-o'clock train home. By now they had arrived at the first of Hiroshima's three stations. This was where Hideko got off, for she was to work in a different area from her sister. â€Å"Sayonara! † she called. â€Å"Goodbye. † Emiko never saw her again. There had been an air-raid at 7 A. M. , but before Emiko arrived at Hiroshima's main station, two stops farther on, the sirens had sounded the all clear. Just after eight, Emiko stepped off the train, walked through the station, and waited in the morning sunshine for her streetcar. At about the same moment Lewis was writing in his log. â€Å"There'll be a short intermission while we bomb our target. † It was hot in the sun; Emiko saw a class-mate and greeted her. Together they moved hack into the shade of a high concrete wall to chat. Emiko looked tip at the sky and saw, far up in the cloudless blue, a single B-29. It was exactly 8:10 A. M. The other people waiting for the streetcar saw it too and began to discuss it anxiously. Emiko felt scared. She felt that at all costs she must go on talking to her friend. Just as she was thinking this, there was a tremendous greenish-white flash in the sky. It was far brighter than the sun. Emiko afterwards remembered vaguely that there was a roaring or a rushing sound as well, but she was not sure, for just at that moment she lost consciousness. â€Å"About 15 seconds after the flash,† noted Lewis, 30,000 feet high and several miles away, â€Å"there were two very distinct slaps on the ship from the blast and the shock wave. That was all the physical effect we felt. We turned the ship so that we could observe the results. † When Emiko came to, she was lying on her face about forty feet away from where she had been standing. She was not aware of any pain. Her first thought was: â€Å"I'm alive! † She lifted her head slowly and looked about her. It was growing dark. The air was seething with dust and black smoke. There was a smell of burning. Emiko felt something trickle into her eyes, tested it in her mouth. Gingerly she put a hand to her head, then looked at it. She saw with a shock that it was covered with blood. She did not give a thought to Hideko. It did not occur to her that her sister who was in another part of the city could possibly have been in danger. Like most of the survivors, Emiko assumed she had been close to a direct hit by a conventional bomb. She thought it had fallen on the post-office next to the station. With a hurt child's panic, Emiko, streaming with blood from gashes in her scalp, ran blindly in search of her mother and father. The people standing in front of the station had been burned to death instantly (a shadow had saved Emiko from the flash). The people inside the station had been crushed by falling masonry. Emiko heard their faint cries, saw hands scrabbling weakly from under the collapsed platform. All around her the maimed survivors were running and stumbling away from the roaring furnace that had been a city. She ran with them toward the mountains that ring the landward side of Hiroshima. From the Enola Gay, the strangers from North America looked down at their handiwork. â€Å"There, in front of our eyes,† wrote Lewis, â€Å"was without a doubt the greatest explosion man had ever witnessed. The city was nine-tenths covered with smoke of a boiling nature, which seemed to indicate buildings blowing up, and a large white cloud which in less than three minutes reached 30,000 feet, then went to at least 50,000 feet. Far below, on the edge of this cauldron of smoke, at a distance of some 2,500 yards from the blast's epicenter, Emiko ran with the rest of the living. Some who could not run limped or dragged themselves along. Others were carried. Many, hideously burned, were screaming with pain; when they tripped they lay where they had fallen. There was a man whose face had been ripped open from mouth to ear, another whose forehead was a gaping wound. A young soldier was running with a foot-long splinter of bamboo protruding from one eye. But these, like Emiko, were the lightly wounded. Some of the burned people had been literally roasted. Skin hung from their flesh like sodden tissue paper. They did not bleed but plasma dripped from their seared limbs. The Enola Gay, mission completed, was returning to base. Lewis sought words to express his feelings, the feelings of all the crew. â€Å"I might say,† he wrote, â€Å"I might say `My God! What have we done? ‘† Emiko ran. When she had reached the safety of the mountain she remembered that she still had her shoulder bag. There was a small first-aid kit in it and she applied ointment to her wounds and to a small cut in her left hand. She bandaged her head. Emiko looked back at the city. It was a lake of fire. All around her the burned fugitives cried out in pain. Some were scorched on one side only. Others, naked and flayed, were burned all over. They were too many to help and most of them were dying. Emiko followed the walking wounded along a back road, still delirious, expecting suddenly to meet her father and mother. The thousands dying by the roadside called feebly for help or water. Some of the more lightly injured were already walking in the other direction, back towards the flames. Others, with hardly any visible wounds, stopped, turned ashy pale, and died within minutes. No one knew then that they were victims of radiation. Emiko reached the suburb of Nakayama. Far off in the Enola Gay, Lewis, who had seen none of this, had been writing, â€Å"If I live a hundred years, I'll never get those few minutes out of my mind. Looking at Captain Parsons, why he is as confounded as the rest, and he is supposed to have known everything and expected this to happen At Nakayama, Emiko stood in line at a depot where rice-balls were being distributed. Though it distressed her that the badly maimed could hardly feed themselves, the child found she was hungry. It was about 6 P. M. now. A little farther on, at Gion, a farmer called her by name. She did not recognize him, but it seemed he came monthly to her home to collect manure. The farmer took Emiko by the hand, led her to his own house, where his wife bathed her and fed her a meal of white rice. Then the child continued on her way. She passed another town where there were hundreds of injured. The dead were being hauled away in trucks. Among the injured a woman of about fortyfive was waving frantically and muttering to herself. Emiko brought this woman a little water in a pumpkin leaf. She felt guilty about it; the schoolgirls had been warned not to give water to the seriously wounded. Emiko comforted herself with the thought that the woman would die soon anyway. At Koi, she found standing-room in a train. It was heading for Otake with a full load of wounded. Many were put off at Ono, where there was a hospital; and two hours later the train rolled into Otake station. It was around 10 P. M. A great crowd had gathered to look for their relations. It was a nightmare, Emiko remembered years afterwards; people were calling their dear kinfolk by name, searching frantically. It was necessary to call them by name, since most were so disfigured as to be unrecognizable. Doctors in the town council offices stitched Emiko's head-wounds. The place was crowded with casualties lying on the floor. Many died as Emiko watched. The town council authorities made a strange announcement. They said a new and mysterious kind of bomb had fallen in Hiroshima. People were advised to stay away from the ruins. Home at midnight, Emiko found her parents so happy to see her that they could not even cry. They could only give thanks that she was safe. Then they asked, â€Å"Where is your sister? † For ten long days, while Emiko walked daily one and a half miles to have her wounds dressed with fresh gauze, her father searched the rubble of Hiroshima for his lost child. He could not have hoped to find her alive. All, as far as the eye could see, was a desolation of charred ashes and wreckage, relieved only by a few jagged ruins and by the seven estuarial rivers that flowed through the waste delta. The banks of these rivers were covered with the dead and in the rising tidal waters floated thousands of corpses. On one broad street in the Hakushima district the crowds who had been thronging there were all naked and scorched cadavers. Of thousands of others there was no trace at all. A fire several times hotter than the surface of the sun had turned them instantly to vapor. On August 11 came the news that Nagasaki had suffered the same fate as Hiroshima; it was whispered that Japan had attacked the United States mainland with similar mysterious weapons. With the lavish circumstantiality of rumor, it was said that two out of a fleet of six-engined trans-Pacific bombers had failed to return. But on August 15, speaking for the first time over the radio to his people, the Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender. Emiko heard him. No more bombs! she thought. No more fear! The family did not learn till June the following year that this very day young Tetsuro had been killed in action in Manchuria. Emiko's wounds healed slowly. In mid-September they had closed with a thin layer of pinkish skin. There had been a shortage of antiseptics and Emiko was happy to be getting well. Her satisfaction was short-lived. Mysteriously she came down with diarrhea and high fever. The fever continued for a month. Then one day she started to bleed from the gums, her mouth and throat became acutely inflamed, and her hair started to fall out. Through her delirium the child heard the doctors whisper by her pillow that she could not live. By now the doctors must have known that ionizing radiation caused such destruction of the blood's white cells that victims were left with little or no resistance against infection. Yet Emiko recovered. The wound on her hand, however, was particularly troublesome and did not heal for a long time. As she got better, Emiko began to acquire some notion of the fearful scale of the disaster. Few of her friends and acquaintances were still alive. But no one knew precisely how many had died in Hiroshima. To this day the claims of various agencies conflict. According to General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters, there were 78,150 dead and 13,083 missing. 2 The United States Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission claims there were 79,000 dead. Both sets of figures are probably far too low. There's reason to believe that at the time of the surrender Japanese authorities lied about the number of survivors, exaggerating it to get extra medical supplies. The Japanese welfare ministry's figures of 260,000 dead and 163,263 missing may well be too high. But the very order of such discrepancies speaks volumes about the scale of the catastrophe. The dead were literally uncountable. This appalling toll of human life had been exacted from a city that had been prepared for air attack in a state of full wartime readiness. All civil defense services had been overwhelmed from the first moment and it was many hours before any sort of organized rescue and relief could be put into effect. It's true that single raids using so-called conventional weapons on other cities such as Tokyo and Dresden inflicted far greater casualties. And that it could not matter much to a victim whether he was burnt alive by a firestorm caused by phosphorus, or by napalm or by nuclear fission. Yet in the whole of human history so savage a massacre had never before been inflicted with a single blow. And modern thermonuclear weapons are upwards of 1,000 times more powerful and deadly than the Hiroshima bomb. The white scar I saw on Emiko's small, fine-boned hand was a tiny metaphor, a faint but eloquent reminder of the scar on humanity's conscience.

International Business Environment Essay

Venturing into new business and market frontiers like Malaysia requires extensive understanding of the environment in terms of the political establishment, business potential, legal and regulatory framework, and availability of resources, socio-cultural aspects and to an extent geographical position and infrastructural development of the country. The research and analysis of these key and crucial factors are important in analysing the potential and business environment of Malaysia. Malaysia possesses unique features and characteristics which are different from any other nation and it’s therefore essential to scan and research the market. Geographically located in Eastern Asia, Malaysia has been one of Asia fastest developing markets in the last half century. Malaysia is among the â€Å"Asian Tigers† a terminology given to the Asian economies which transformed from third world nation status to middle income nations within a short span thanks to sound and effective economic policies. It has a sizeable population of around 28. 3 million with diverse ethnic composition largely comprising the Ethnic Malays, Indians and Chinese population (CIA fact book, 2010). Similarly Malaysia is a developing nation with growing high per capita income making it a potential market for introduction of any business. The nation has well established and developed financial markets and excellent world class infrastructure in transport air and sea and moreover it’s known worldwide for the technology superiority and advancements. It’s highly developed commercial and manufacture sectors makes it a target for many international business. Malaysia has enjoyed a relative stable political stability which has been instrumental in spurring its economy and attracting foreign firms. It’s also a competitive business environment with flexible legal and regulatory framework making it easy to operate business. Therefore it’s very important to explore and understand these aspects and others in detail to ensure conclusion and market analysis of Malaysia is obtained through in depth understanding of the market. This would enable the company to undertake its strategies and plans effectively and efficiently in Malaysia. The paper tries to look some of the aspects mentioned above in more detail. Conclusively, In order to expand business to other countries, many factors should be put into consideration so as to ensure there is professional development of the business. Critical analysis, exploring and report writing is therefore important considering these issue and thus should be undertaken respectively. Introduction In business, the understanding of a given culture in which business is to be done and be based is very critical and thus important. With connection to these some aspects have to be considered so as to know where and which country qualifies better for allocation of such business. These can be well achieved through exploring and analysing the business environment of a prospective country. For instance, Culture and cultural practices are very important and have to be understood in order to make sure all the selling strategies have been able to offer good fruits in the business (Sandra, 2001, p 58). This paper thus comes up with the choosing of Malaysia as an example of a country on which as the Business Development Manager of Australia have chosen with the aim of expanding business. Therefore this paper discusses the critical analysis and the report obtained from exploring and analysing business environment of Malaysia which in return helps in determining where the country fits in the complexity of international business environment. Many factors should be put into consideration so as to decide whether the business will effectively run smoothly (Dunning, 1998, p 98). Country Profile Situated in Eastern Asia Geographically Malaysia covers approximately area of 392,748 square Kms, this is lightly larger than New Mexico in United States and a population of 26 Million people (C.  I. A fact book, 2010) this is a sizeable population which can be viable for any target market and introduction of business ventures. In Malaysia Islam is the pre-dominant and largest religion practised by the ethnic Malays but the nation is a multi-ethnic society and has other religious beliefs like Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Taoism practised by the minority ethnic population of Indians, Chinese and a small proportion of immigrant labour force. Ethnic Composition of Malaysia has around 53. 3% ethnic Malays, Chinese 26%, Indigenous 11. 8%, Indians 7. 7% others 1. % and Islamic religion has 60. 4% followers, Buddhism 9. 2%, Christianity 9. 1%, Hinduism 6. 3% ( CIA fact book ,2010) Its essential to know the ethnic and religious composition in order to understand the fabric of the society properly. Bahasa Melayu is the official language along with Chinese , English and Tamil are the languages used pre-dominantly in Malaysia and it’s a plus to have English as one of the languages as it makes it easy for transactions and communication when the business and corporations aspiring to penetrate Malaysian market are from English speaking nations. The country is contained of two distinct parts which are separated by the South China Sea whereby, the parts, the east and west share similar landscape in that they have coastal plains which rise due to densely forested hill and mountains. Malaysia neighbours Indonesia and thus the two countries share some cultures (Carsrud & Brannback 2007, p, 54). This is due to the Indians ethnic community which is quite well represented in Malaysia and also it borders countries like Singapore and China. The nation is well endowed with natural resources, good infrastructural development in communications technology and transport and a good coast line with proximity to major sea routes. Economy Malaysia transformed from a third world economy to middle income economy within a duration of around three decades and the nation shifted from being a primarily agricultural economic based to an industrial and commercial economic hub. The country actively participates in international trade which has been enhanced by the shipping routes around its coastline and has well established manufacturing sector. Malaysia produces top exporter of manufactured goods, palm oil, rubber, petroleum and liquefied natural gas. Malaysia is considered as a newly industrialized country although not a developed one but on the way to become one and research shows its GPD per capita ( of around $14000) in the year 2008 was recorded high thus ranking the country 48th in the world and 2nd in Southeast Asia (Drucker, 2007, p , 23). The nation has a GDP of $313 billion and an average GDP annual growth rate of 5. 9 %( Ibp USA, 2008, p. 7 ) The GDP growth rate has been consistent over a long period of time and the economy has shown resiliency during the wake of economic crisis like the Asian economic crisis and recent global recession. It’s known for the developed commercial sector producing and exporting electronic products and other advanced technological goods. Export market is $158 billion and its currency Malaysian currency (ringgit) exchanges at $3 (Ibp US, 2008 p. 18) The exchange rate of ringgit against major currencies has been consistent and stable avoiding currency fluctuations. Malaysia has a floating exchange rate although it has pegged its currency to the dollar. Similarly the nation is a member of almost all major trading blocs around the region and Asia, from WTO to regional economic trade blocs making it an open and very competitive market. Political System  Since Malaysia gained independence its economic performance has been high in comparison with other Asian nations due to its stability and has avoided military coups ( Nayland,2001,p. 164) Another critical factor to consider is the political system of the country. Politics and economy are intertwined and interrelated and political stability determines the environment which economy and business operates. The political stability of the democratic nation like Malaysia makes it an attractive place for investment. Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy having a head of state is referred as the king of the nation who is elected to a five year term and a parliamentary system of government headed by prime minister and has a healthy democratic space with opposition parties Parliamentary elections are held after every five years and thus only registered voters of age 21 and above are allowed to vote for the members of the House of Representatives (Ahmad & Seymour, 2008, p, 76). Legal and Regulatory Framework MIDA (Malaysian Industrial Development Authority) is a body charged with promoting investments activities both local and foreign, and to helped and guided investments in the business environment (Cheang Lo, 1997, p. 57) This is one of the bodies created by the government to eliminate the bureaucracy in obtaining legal documentation in the country by simplifying the licensing and regulatory process of businesses which wish venture in that country. Although any business needs to go through the required government process in obtaining licences the government has created an environment where restrictions and licensing red tape has been reduced significantly. Socio- Cultural Environment The socio-cultural environment in Malaysia is well defined by its ethnic composition and religious diversity. Malaysia is pluralistic society with Malays being the majority and the other significant minority group like the Chinese, Indians and Tamils each with different religion. With such a rich cultural heritage, acquiring the relevant skills and cultural knowledge in order to conduct business in Malaysia is crucial to your success (Communicaid, n. d) the socio-cultural environment settings in Malaysia although comprising different ethnic groups and religious affiliations is a conservative society and thus it’s important for people to understand how to address the people. Each particular ethnic group has its own mode of communication and interaction and it’s critical to ensure you understand the culture and behaviour of each ethnic group in Malaysia. Generalizations of the all Malaysians while conducting business may be costly to the business as it may be viewed negatively by other ethnic groups. For instance â€Å"the Chinese for example expect punctuality, whereas both ethnic Malays and Indian business people have a more relaxed attitude towards time (Communicaid, n. ) In regard to the consumer attitudes towards products and goods there is a general tendencies among Malays of regarding goods produced locally to be somehow inferior to the goods made by the developed nations which are advanced more than them and hence produce quality products. Quality is sensitive to Malays consumers. â€Å" Malaysian local products are regarded with skepticism compared to south Korea products but are believed to be of high quality in comparison with goods fr om India ,china, Mexico and Thailand. (Ghazali et al,2008, p. 7) Resources  The country is well endowed with natural resources and enough raw materials which it has continued to exploit in its quest to develop its economy. During most of the 1970’s and 1980’s Malaysia was the largest producer and exporter of tin, tropical timber, palm oil and natural rubber (Vincent, 2005, p. 10) Although Currently, Malaysia is not a major producer of some of the raw materials like natural rubber it still has abundant supply of tin, timber palm oil and natural rubber which has been used effectively by the government in exploring and developing its economy. Malaysia has transformed itself from primarily agricultural based economy to an industrial, technological and commercial giant due to the availability of human resources in the country. Malaysia has been known to be open in attracting foreign labour in its economy to make it competitive and potent. However there have been slight problems in obtaining and retaining skilled labour from Malaysia. â€Å"In contrast to this 44% of Australians firms reported difficulty in maintaining skilled labour in Malaysia (Nayland, 2001, p. 0) Ethical and Social Responsibility â€Å"More than 60% of managers in Malaysia were supportive of the view that that to improve market share and public image their firms would have to show there are social responsible (Harrison, 2005, p. 208) Malaysian socio-cultural structure is based on conservative setting like Islamic religious dimension on the Malay population which actually sees the aspect of giving back to them community is a responsibility rather than f avour. Corporations and business doing business in Malaysia are therefore obligated to be active in supporting projects in communities to uplift their image of sharing with the community the profits obtained from them. Conclusion and Recommendations Having noted some of the major findings and factors affecting the level of entrepreneurial activities from research that has been done, it will be necessary to agree on the need of making Malaysia one of the key standards of venturing into any fast developing markets. Also, it is necessary to note that, some of the factors that affect the level of business and entrepreneurship in this country tend to have direct impacts on other economic activities and performances and they have been identified as positive and potent. Once all the factors have been keenly identified and outlined, it becomes quite easy to address them respectively so as to attain overall economic performance and development (Datamonitor, 2009, p, 31). From the analysis and research based on political stability, economic performance and availability or resources the general picture can be concluded that Malaysia is a potential and viable environment to conduct any business of any nature. Although it may have some challenges and obstacles, the business environment and its market potential makes it a conducive environment to establish business ventures and has a potential market for growth. The nation is also strategically placed to penetrate other markets in Asia.