Gender Discrimination in the Workforce

Although there have been decades of hard won civil rights gains for women, we do not yet live in a gender blind society. Sexism perpetuates a cycle of unfulfilled aspirations among women. Public policies are being scrutinized under ever stricter legal microscopes, and an atmosphere of unease about the future pervades our national consciousness – â€Å"a future beset with economic challenges from abroad, technological innovation at home, a demographic revolution in our workforce, and a re-stratification of society. † Restrictions on women’s access to and participation in the workforce include the wage gap and the glass ceiling.We will discuss the following laws that have helped women make important strides in the workforce, cracking (but not breaking) the glass ceiling so they could climb up the corporate ladder: the 1963 Equal Pay Act, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Executive Orders 11246/11375, the 1968 Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. In addition, we will provide reasons for the continuing network discrimination against females, a recent case study of pervasive gender discrimination resulting in a 152. 5 million dollar ettlement by one well known employer who was sued, and steps women can take to continue making strides toward an equal opportunity workforce. Legislation requiring equal pay for women was first introduced in 1945 in acknowledgement of women’s war work. Business owners and labor organizations succeeded in thwarting the effort, in part because of the perceived need for women to leave the labor force to create vacancies for returning servicemen. By the end of the 1950’s, policymakers were becoming concerned about insufficient use of â€Å"womanpower†.In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to pay equal wages to men and women doing â€Å"equal work on jobs†¦which [re quire] equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions†. The Equal Pay Act was the first federal effort to bar discrimination by private employers on the basis of gender. The Equal Pay Act has limitations in its enforcement of protecting women – for full-time, year- round workers, the 2009 American Community Survey median earnings for women were 78. 2 ercent of men’s earnings – $35,549 compared with $45,485. Furthermore, women’s earnings were lower than men’s in all of the 50 states. One year after passing the Equal Pay Act, Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made it unlawful to discriminate based on a person’s race, religion, color, or sex. Title VII attacks sex discrimination more broadly than the Equal Pay Act extending not only to wages but to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.Thus with the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, an employer cannot deny women equal pay for equal work, deny women transfers, romotions, or wage increases, manipulate job evaluations to regulate women’s pay, or intentionally segregate men and women into jobs according to their gender. In 1971 Reed v. Reed became the first case that the Supreme Court would uphold Title VII to, thus protecting women from sex discrimination. One year following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 as a directive as to how the act should be interpreted and followed. Executive Order 11246 prohibited public and government sector employers from iscriminating based on race, color, religion, or national origin, but not sex. Executive Order 11246 was amended by Executive Order 11375 on October 13, 1967 after sexual harassment became an issue. Sex would now be included as a category that could not be discriminated against by an employer. Executive Order 11375 meant to ensure that women would not be exploited sexuall y to advance their careers. Women were to now be protected in the workplace from supervisors and coworkers who did not take into consideration the concept of personal space or offensive language and conduct.Legal regulations now banned these behaviors and legal action could be taken if they did occur. Executive Order 11375 meant women should no longer have to worry about being discriminated against in the workplace in terms of being hired or released. Executive Order 11375 meant that Affirmative Action (of Executive Order 11246) now applied to women as well. Affirmative Action is an organization’s active effort to find opportunities to hire or promote people in a particular group (in this instance, women). Affirmative Action plans must consist of an equal opportunity policy statement, an analysis of he current work force, identification of underrepresented areas, the establishment of reasonable, flexible goals and timetables for increasing employment opportunities, specific a ction-oriented programs to address problem areas, support for community action programs, and the establishment of an internal audit and reporting system. Contractors receiving more than $10,000 from the federal government must take affirmative action, and those exceeding $50,000 must develop a written affirmative action plan for each of their establishments. The plan must be in place within 120 days of the beginning of the contract.Employers whose contracts meet minimum size requirements must engage in affirmative action to ensure against discrimination. Employers must consider all qualified individuals for employment, must choose without regard to gender (now a protected category), and must engage in outreach to encourage the broadest possible group of qualified individuals to enter the supply or applicant pool. In 1967 Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The ADEA branches from the debate on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimina tion on the asis of race, color, national origin, or sex, but not age. President Lyndon Johnson strongly believed that age was a growing issue among Americans. This law prohibits discrimination of men and women employees over the age of 40 and forbids companies to base employment decisions solely on an applicant’s age. The Equal Opportunity Commission enforces this act but there are still many complaints filed yearly from workers who are experiencing discrimination because of their age. For many years, elderly workers have felt that they are losing out to their younger coworkers.The Age Discrimination in Employment Act attempts to eliminate the gap between younger and older employees. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act applies to businesses with 15 or more employees working 20 or more weeks per year including employees in state and local government, federal government, employment agencies, and labor organizations. The ADEA helps protect unlawful discrimination of older individuals that can occur when applying or interviewing for jobs. The Age Discrimination Act protects employees by prohibiting employers to include age preferences or limitations in job applications and advertisements.Under the ADEA it is not expressly forbidden to ask an applicant’s age, but it is closely examined to make sure the query was made for a legitimate purpose. Despite the Age Discrimination Act, The Supreme Court recently changed what qualifies as successfully proven age discrimination. Companies come up with multiple reasons why an employee is terminated without mentioning age, when in actuality the employee’s age is the only factor. Seniors are a growing population and many are planning to work past their retirement age. Discrimination against age is not only affecting individual employees but ociety as a whole. An employee now has to prove that their age was the sole reason for their employer’s actions, therefore older workers can barely fight or prosecute age discrimination. In 2007, 60-year-old Oklahoma City Teacher Judy Jones filed an age discrimination suit against the superintendant who eliminated her teaching position and reassigned her to an office job as a principal. Judy’s salary decreased and benefits were affected during her second year as principal, while school directors and the superintendant himself frequently commented on Judy’s age and retirement plans.The district court rejected her claim because she â€Å"could not show sufficient evidence† that her age was the sole reason for her relocated position and reduced pay. There have been successful outcomes to Age Discrimination lawsuits as the U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission recently charged two companies with age discrimination. A 70-year- old pharmacist at the Honolulu Kmart was awarded $120,000 after higher management habitually commented on, and wrote about, her elderly age, causing her humiliation and compelling her to retire. In a nother case, a 75-year-old qualified receptionist was fired based on ge after her second day at work at Red Rock Western Jeep Tours Inc. She filed a lawsuit and it was settled in a $35,000 payout. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 defines discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and childbirth or any other form of illegal sex discrimination. This act is meant to ensure that no woman will be subject to non-hire by an employer due to pregnancy. She is to be treated the same as any other individual and is to be guaranteed benefits and accommodations based on the same policies and procedures as any other employee with a disability.Pregnancy discrimination occurs when expectant mothers are fired, not hired, or otherwise discriminated against due to their pregnancy or intention to become pregnant. Common forms of pregnancy discrimination include not being hired due to visible pregnancy or likelihood of becoming pregnant, being fired after informing an employer of one’s pregn ancy, being fired during maternity leave, and receiving a pay dock due to one’s pregnancy. In 1978, the U. S. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment to the sex discrimination section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Pregnancy DiscriminationAct states that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. This clause covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. Title VII also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Women who are pregnant or affected by pregnancy-related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations. An employer may not single out pregnancy related conditions to determine an mployee’s ability to work. However, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor’s statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may require employees affected by pregnancy-related conditions to submit such statements. If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same way as any other temporarily disabled employee. Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs.If an employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition nd recovers, her employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby’s birth. An employer also may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth. Employers must hold open a position for a woman who has been absent due to pregnancy-related issues for the same length of time jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave. Any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy- related conditions on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. An employer need ot provide health insurance for expenses arising from abortion, except when the life of the mother is endangered. Pregnancy-related expenses should be reimbursed exactly as those incurred for other medical conditions, whether payment is on a fixed basis or a percentage of a specific amount. The amounts payable by the insurance provider can be limited only to the same extent of amounts payable for other conditions. No additional, increased, or larger deductible can be imposed. Employers must provide the same level of health benefits for spouses of female employees as they do for spouses of male employees.Pregnancy-related benefits cannot be limited to married employees. Benefits must be provided for pregnancy-related conditions to unmarried women if benefits are provided to employees for other medical conditions. If an employer provides any be nefits to workers on leave, the employer must provide the same benefits for those on leave for pregnancy-related conditions. Employees on leave because of pregnancy-related conditions must be treated the same as other temporarily disabled employees for accumulation and crediting of seniority, vacation calculation, pay increases, and temporary disability benefits.A case that was important to the creation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was Muller v. Oregon (1908). The Supreme Court upheld a decision limiting women to 10 hour workdays based on the idea that â€Å"performance of maternal functions† made women inherently incapable of the same work that men did. In the 1950s and 1960s, laws in several states prohibited women from working and others banned their hiring for some length of time before and after birth. Reasons for the continuing network discrimination against women include myths about female workers, conscious and unconscious stereotyping and biasing applied by ma ny white en who are desperate to keep their competitive edge over women, and inadequate reporting and dissemination of information pertaining to glass-ceiling issues. The following myths about female employees, despite being disproved, still exist: women executives refuse to work long hours or relocate, and many women executives take leave of absences (and that those who go on federally and state protected maternity leave have suddenly lost professional credibility upon becoming pregnant or taking temporary leave). Statistics show women executives work 56 hours per week on average – the same as their ale counterparts. Only 14 percent refused to relocate as compared to 20 percent of the men.Only one-third of female executives surveyed had ever taken a leave of absence and 82 percent of these were for maternity leave or other family reasons protected under FMLA. Finally, there can be a twisted perception that women executives lose their professional credibility upon becoming pr egnant or taking maternity leave – an â€Å"out of sight, out of mind† mantra held by their bosses. Furthermore, a pregnant woman obviously has priorities outside of work and a selfish mployer may have the unreasonable expectation of work being a sole priority. Research suggests that an underlying cause of the glass ceiling is the perception of many white males â€Å"that they as a group are losing – losing competitive advantage, losing control, and losing opportunity as a direct consequence of inclusion of women. † There is also a â€Å"difference† barrier â€Å"manifested through conscious and unconscious stereotyping and bias. † People who do hiring feel most comfortable hiring people who look like them. Recruiters for high-status jobs are predominately white males who then hire other white males from the same socio- conomic status, which helps perpetuate their over-representation in the best jobs. Governmental barriers include the collec tion and disaggregation of employment related data which make it difficult to ascertain the status of various groups at the managerial level. There also continues to be inadequate reporting and dissemination of information pertaining to glass ceiling issues. Most importantly, there needs to be consistent monitoring and enforcement of laws and policies already on the books. The following case demonstrates how costly illegal gender discrimination can be to employers:In May 2010, a jury in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York awarded a record $250 million in punitive damages to 5,600 female sales employees in a sexual discrimination case after Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (â€Å"Novartis†) took the lawsuit filed against them to court – and lost. In July 2010, the parties reached a $152 million settlement agreement of the plaintiffs’ claims of gender discrimination in the terms and conditions of their employment, including compensat ion, promotion/promotional opportunities, reviews, and pregnancy leave. The terms of this greement allow for full compensation of former and current female employees dating from 2002-2010, ensuring that every woman who worked at Novartis over the past 8 years was compensated fairly.As part of the settlement, Novartis must also spend an additional $22. 5 million over the next three years on anti-discrimination policies, programs, and training, as well as on strengthening its employee complaint process. Novartis was ordered to increase its Human Resource and Employment Relations staff within nine months of the effective state of the settlement agreement – ensuring that there would be ne Employment Relations Investigator for every 1,000 Novartis employees. A Compliance Master would be appointed as an external specialist for the New York Federal Court to monitor Novartis’s compliance with the settlement agreement’s terms and conditions. Steps that women can take to continue making strides toward an equal opportunity workforce are to show themselves as decision makers, risk-takers, and players. Furthermore, a female manager should do her best to remove gender biases from her own business practices by not comparing her employees to men at the top.In Conclusion, women are just a few steps closer to being looked at as equal to men due to these legal acts. Women now have fewer restrictions and more rights within the workforce. The 1963 Equal Pay Act and 1964 Title VII brought women higher pay and more equal opportunity. Women are now seeing the benefits of Executive Order 11375 which included protection from any sexual harassment. In 1967 the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was put into place to include age from discrimination, and women benefited from the insistence that age should not prevent a capable and qualified person from working.In 1978 the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was implemented so that pregnancy did not determine a womanâ€℠¢s ability to work; it also ensured that she received the same benefits as anyone else with a disability. Furthermore, even today women are fighting to have fair rights within the workplace. Even with the legal clauses, women are faced with stereotypes and glass-ceiling barriers. In order for women to overcome the problems they are tackling, to truly be protected and to have the rights that they deserve, there must be constant reinforcement of the laws that are currently in place.

Midwest Office Products

Questions for Midwest Office Products 1. Based on the interviews and data in the case, estimate: a. The cost of processing cartons through the facility 80000 total cartons Warehouse expenses = $2000000 Warehouse personnel expenses = $2570000-$250000 (truck driver expenses) = $2320000 Total warehouse processing expenses: $2000000 + $2320000 = $4,320,000 $4320000/80000= $54/carton b. The cost of entering electronic and manual customer orders Manual: . 15 hours setup time, . 075 hours to enter each line Electronic: . 1 hours to verify information on the electronic order 16 order entry operators 840000 in total compensation Each order entry operator worked 1750 hours per year but only 1500 hours per year of productivity 840000/16 = $52500 avg salary per operator $52500/1500hrs = $35 per hour Electronic orders: . 1hrs *$35/hr = $3. 5/electronic order Manual Orders: . 15*$35 +. 075*$35*number of lines= cost per order Input cost=. 15*35 = 5. 25 Cost per line = . 075*35 = 2. 63 c. The cost o f shipping cartons on commercial carriers 75000 cartons shipped $450000 spent on freight $450000/75000 cartons = $6 per carton d. The cost per hour for desktop deliveries vg delivery time=3 hours 5000 cartons shipped 2000 deliveries2. 5 cartons each delivery $250000 total compensation per year $200000 for delivery truck expenses Each driver worked 1500 hours per year $166. 67/hr Driver compensation: $250000/2000 = $125 per delivery Truck expenses: $200000/2000 = $100 per delivery Total cost for desktop deliveries: $225/3 hrs = $75/hr 2. Using this cost driver information, calculate the cost and profitability of the five orders in Exhibit 2. Compare these costs and profitability to those calculated by Midwest’s existing costing system? Exhibit 2| Five Orders| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Order| Â  | Â  | Â  | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| Price| | | | $ 610 | $ 634 | $ 6,100 | $ 6,340 | $ 6,100 | Acquisition cost| | | | 500| 500| 5000| 5000| 5000| No. cartons in order| | | | 1| 1| 10| 10| 10| No. cartons shipped| | | | 1| 0| 10| 0| 10| Desktop delivery time| | | | -| 4| -| 4| -| Manual order| | | | no| yes| no| yes| yes| No. line items in order| | | | 1| 1| 10| 10| 10| Electronic order| | | | yes| no| yes| no| no| Payment period (months)| | | | 1| 4| 1| 4| 4| | | | | | | | | Warehousing costs| | | | 54| 54| 540| 540| 540| Shipping costs| | | | 6| 0| 60| 0| 60| Desktop Delivery cost| | | | | 300| | 300| | Manual Order cost| | | | | 7. 875| | 31. 5| 31. 5| Electronic order cost| | | | 3. 5| | 3. 5| | | Payment period cost| | | | $ 6. 10 | $ 25. 36 | $ 61. 00 | $ 253. 60 | $ 244. 00 | Total Costs| | | | 569. 6| 887. 235| 5664. 5| 6125. 1| 5875. 5| Profits| | | | $ 40 | $ (253)| $ 436 | $ 215 | $ 225 | | | | | | | | | | Current system profits| | | | $ 110 | $ 134 | $ 1,100 | $ 1,340 | $ 1,100 | 3. Explain the difference in profitability of the five orders calculated by the ABC system and the company’s existing cost system. In the company’s existing system, they markup the acquisition costs by a certain percentage to determine the price that they charge their customers. Using this method, all of the sales appear profitable because only the acquisition cost is directly considered in determining their pricing. However, several other activities drive higher costs for the company and a standard percentage markup does not always capture that cost. In some instances, they could even lose money by making the sale. By using the ABC system, the company can have a more realistic view on how much each order costs them by considering the activities which go into the process (the number of cartons, shipping costs, delivery costs, and order processing costs) and charge for these services accordingly. 4. Based on your analysis above, what actions should John Malone take to improve Midwest’s profitability? John should switch to an ABC system as it provides the proper visibility and clarity into the company’s costs. They can then markup the products based on the total costs instead of applying a standard percentage, which does not properly assess the actual cost to the company, to the acquisition cost. This ability to price based on their actual costs would eliminate some potentially unprofitable transactions (like the desktop delivery where the items price did not cover the costs) .

Micro Teach

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector Unit 4 Using Inclusive Learning and Teaching Approaches in Lifelong Learning Individual Learning Record Delivery of a micro-teaching session on a new subject As part of your teacher training you are expected to give a micro-teach on a subject you have not delivered before. This could be a hobby or personal interest, the choice is yours. Topics chosen have included making cards, a favourite book or film, yoga†¦ However, what is important is that you have some knowledge and confidence with the topic, so that you can concentrate on the actual presenting, teaching and learning.The purpose of the micro-teaching are to: †¢Gain experience of time management, managing learning and learners †¢Use a range of teaching and learning activities in a safe environment †¢Allow for feedback from an experienced tutor and/or peers and †¢Provide an opportunity for reflection and evaluation of own practice and performance. Using t he micro-teaching for those with current teaching practice allows an opportunity to try something different as well as helping with time management.To teach effectively it is important to work through the stages of preparing and planning, delivering and evaluating in order to develop own professional practice. 1 Preparing and planning the 15 minute micro-teach sessionUse evidence gathered beforehand, informed by all PTLLS units, to identify your specific subject content and learners’ needs for your micro-teaching session. You MUST base your planning on appropriate time management within the time allowed so you do not try to do too much in the limited time. Setting up for the micro-teach = 5 minutes †¢Delivering the micro-teach = 15 minutes †¢Evaluation feedback from learners = 10 minutes †¢Micro-teaching session = 30 minutes total Use this information to decide the aim (what you want to achieve) and objectives (what you want your learners to be able to do) for your micro-teach session plan. Use your knowledge of you selected topic and your learners to select a number of appropriate teaching methods and learning activities for your micro-teach session plan.Identify on the plan at least one opportunity to use an appropriate assessment method to check learning, during the session. 2 Delivering the 15-minute micro-teach session Deliver you topic to your group using the prepared session plan – making sure to communicate effectively and appropriately with individual students and demonstrate good practice in giving feedback to learners. 3 Evaluating the micro-teach and developing own practice As soon as possible following the session completeThe session evaluation section of the lesson plan and use it when completing the Individual Learning Record evaluation – which should include a review of the session based on the observation feedback from the tutor-observer and learner feedback. 4 Evaluating the micro-teaching of others Complet e an observation form for each observed micro-teaching session, provide feedback to peers and use this information when evaluating your own approaches in order to identify possible ways to improve or develop your own practice.Evidence from the micro-teaching session should be put together as a portfolio and should include noes on: †¢An outline of the learning group – including issues of differentiation, specific considerations, e. g. health and safety †¢Session plan- indication topic/content, aims/ objectives, teaching methods, learning activities, resources, leaning checks †¢Samples of activities/resources used during the session †¢Samples of learning checks/assessment †¢Feedback from tutor/peers †¢Personal session evaluation (this should be brief notes to provide reminder for more detailed evaluations).

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 33

No topic - Essay Example I want you to convince Ted that repairing those machines is important to the buyer†. This is a clear evident that George is a dishonest person as he is making false claims so as to improving his economic status. Moreover, being deceitful is against the law as he involvers himself in financial Scandals by raising the money approximated to repair the machine from $100, 000 to $150,000 that is considered to be unethical. Additionally, George has also portrayed poor customer service since is taking the advantage of his position to double-deal his clients, and this practice is considered to be unethical. George is forgetting that it is a duty of any well business individuals to act as consultants who will ensure that they are giving sound guidance to their clients. In view of that, the facts of the situation that are relevant to the aforementioned unethical issues are common such as making deceitful claims during advertisement, poor or faulty products and failing to refund customers their purchase price. Therefore, individuals and the corporation should address the aforementioned unethical of dishonesty, poor customer service and financial Scandals by ethical training individuals as this is an essential component for corporate to run an effective workplace. Therefore, the franks options should involve training individuals to uphold the value of honest as this will help them act with integrity hence averting dishonesty that propagate poor customer service and financial Scandals. Conversely, moral philosophy such as normative ethics can be applied to avert the unethical dilemma facing George. Normative ethics will help companies like JSYK and individuals like George to comprehend that the consistent practice of wicked business ethics will make them face several problems such as poor reputation. For instance, if Ted and Reverend Smith came to realize about George’s conspiracy,

Western Australia economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Western Australia economy - Essay Example The economy of Western Australia is rich in resources.The development of economy of this State has been highly influenced by resources boom since 1890s.During the past few years,the industry of Western Australia’s resources had enjoyed excellent conditions instigated by its prevailing commodities’ demand in the international market The objective of this paper is to evaluate the probable effect of the commodity market boom in the Western Australian economy’s sector of the iron ore. The iron ore production in the Western Australian economy explicates 97% of total production in Australia. Most of the iron ore produced in Australia is predominantly exported to Asian market. Following the speedy growth during the last ten years in mainland China, Australian iron ore’s export market has significantly developed in China. This information is evident from the export amount in the year 2010 that amounted to 70 percent of the total iron ore in Australia. The followin g diagram represents the export figures of iron ore from Australia to the Asian market as compared to the rest of the world2. Source: 2. Effect of Increase in Demand for Iron-Ore in Western Australian Economy The production factor of iron ore in the Western Australian economy is primarily dependent on the demand prevailing in the Chinese market for iron ore. Development in the Chinese construction and industry sector is the major cause of increased demand of iron ore in China. As a result of the demand prevailing in China for iron ore with the expectations of even higher demand in the near future, the prices in the Australian iron ore will attain all time high this year, i.e., in 2011. According to the market expectations in Australia, the spot market price on an average for iron ore in the year 2011 would increase to US$153-US$154 from US$146 in the year 2010. The expected price increase for iron ore is generated by the steel output in higher amount due to increasing demand in the growing economy of China3. Source:4 The above figure illustrates the production of crude steel on a monthly basis in different countries. The illustration reveals that the steel production in China has been the highest compared to other countries of the world. From meeting up the demand for iron ore from the Asian market, especially China, Australian manufacturers are producing iron ore by utilizing their maximum capacity for exports. In this scenario, production of the optimum level of output for satisfying the international market’s demand is a matter of concern for the Australian manufacturers of iron ore. As the demand at present in the Asian market is expected to remain constant or even increase in the coming 15 years, the only concern for Australian market is to bank upon the amount of production5. The theory of isoquants and isocosts is applicable for this Australian scenario regarding the production of the optimum quality pertaining to the prevailing demand in the Asi an market. A clearer prospect of the theories can be evolved after explanation of the input requirements in the commodity production with reference to the input demand and prices. The most important inputs for production of iron-ore in Australia are capital and labor. As the concern for the Australian market is to produce maximum amount of iron ore through finding the optimum combination of the inputs required for production, implementation of the concept of isoquants would be most helpful for the economy. An isoquant is that curve which depicts all efficient combination of inputs such as capital and labor by considering their technological efficiency. The quantity to be produced remains constant, but the combinations of

Infrastructure Application and Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Infrastructure Application and Review - Essay Example Nevertheless, scientists and engineers continuously laboured to keep abreast of modern trends in highway administration and maintenance. As early as 1989, the maiden version of a digital road map database for land navigation has been completed. The database contains precise information on the road attributes all over Japan and may be used to strengthen highway management initiatives (Kamijo, Okumura and Kitamura, 1989, p. 319). It was, however, in 2003 when Japan introduced a road management mechanism in order to promote efficacy and transparency in road administration. The scheme is anchored on a system of measurements based on indices. Salient features of the road management system are performance plans, achievement reports and the Guidance for Road Administration Management (GRAM). A performance plan which delineates numerical targets, policies and projects are published yearly; while an achievement report which contains an assessment of the level of achievement of the numerical targets are also published at the end of each fiscal year. Meanwhile, to maximize the gains of the road administration management system as it is implemented in the countryside, the GRAM is prepared and disseminated. Figure 1 shows the typical flow of road administration management in Japan as practised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Road Bureau, 2008a). Over the years, the Japanese government and the concerned institutions struggled to encourage systematic management founded on existing circumstances and forecasts. Preventive maintenance is commonly implemented to extend the functionality of infrastructure like bridge systems. This approach is known to mitigate costs related to repair and rebuilding. To be able to capitalise on the benefits of preventive maintenance, Japanese road administrators also practiced competent defect identification and

The wrong girl Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The wrong girl - Assignment Example Matt is surprised that he feels so passionately about Anna considering that he only met her a few weeks ago. Matt is pleased with himself for expressing his thoughts, so he decides to take a break by walking away to get a bite to eat. Matt completely forgets about the email that he had written for Anna. It turns out there was nothing much to eat at home, so he went out to the local burger restaurant. Matt is stressed out from his long day, so when he gets back home he wants to just sit in his room and chill. However, as soon as he walks into his room he tries to save his email for Anna but accidentally clicks the â€Å"send† button. Matt is immediately horrified with himself for what he has done because he was not ready to tell Anna how her felt about her yet. Matt spends a long time at his computer trying to undo his mistake, but he realizes that there is now nothing he can do about it. Matt did want to express his true feelings to Anna, but not like this. He wanted to do it in a romantic way that truly showed he cared about her. His email was very direct, and Anna may not like that. After spending a couple of hours fretting about his mistake, Matt decides that he has no choice but to delete the email. However, that only means one thing: he must delete the email from Anna's email account. Matt immediately packs up his things and sets out for Anna's house. He has never been to her house before, but he has a fairly good idea of where it is. The street that Anna lives on is dimly lit, with only one flickering light way off in the distance providing any sort of path along the roadside. Matt finally comes to what he believes to be Anna's house. He sees that the gate is locked, so he attempts to climb the fence. However, he gets the fright of his life when a huge dog begins to bark so loud that all the neighbors can hear it. Matt is concerned that someone might mistake him for a burglar, so he backs off for a while. It seemed a shame to come all this way only to turn back now. Matt has a light bulb moment about how to distract the dog. He still has some leftover hamburger from before, so he tosses it far away from the fence, giving himself long enough to climb over and make his way through a window. Having conquered the dog, the challenges don't stop there for Matt. He guesses that Anna's bedroom must be upstairs. However, Anna's grandmother is sleeping in the living room just in front of the stairs. He cannot seem to get past without disturbing her. Matt decides to take his shoes off so he can be as quite as possible. He manages to tiptoe his way up the stairs without getting noticed. Once up the stairs, Matt quickly locates Anna's room and finds the computer switched on. Once Matt logs onto Anna's email account, he has little difficulty deleting the email. However, just as he is doing this, Matt hears Anna's voice coming up the stairs. This sends Matt into a panic, as he is not sure how to explain himself for being in Anna's house, le t alone her bedroom! There is no place to hide, so Matt has no choice but to stand there like a man and accept the consequences. As Anna opens the door, Matt has a look of shock and horror on his face because he thinks he is about to be exposed. To his surprise, Anna does not seem to mind he is there; in fact, she walks straight up to Matt and plants a kiss on his cheek. Matt is consumed by a mix of emotions, but most of all he cannot believe what is really happening.

The Colonialism in the Philippines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Colonialism in the Philippines - Essay Example One of the most significant contributions of Colonial Spain’s arrival in 1521 in the Philippines is the widespread of Christianism in the country today. Spain brought the Christian religion in the Philippines which started in Cebu as Ferdinand Magellan baptized Rajah Humabon and his wife with the Christian religion . The said ceremony made Humabon as the local chieftain or representative of the king of the Spain. About 800 Filipinos were baptized as Christians that day, April 14, 1521. However, Magellan’s entry into the country and for the hope to subjugate the whole nation under the name of the Spain was not that essentially smooth flowing knowing that other local leaders such as recalcitrant chief Lapu-lapu strongly opposed the presence of Spaniards in the country as far as the colonial threats, economic and political issues were concerned. Thus, on April 27, 1521, the battle in Mactan was set by Lapu-lapu against Magellan which killed the latter . This same scenario continued until the following years to come for the Philippines under the Spanish regime. Filipinos learned to fight for their rights and many were able to realize they had to fight for their right for their land and stood up to beat anything related with colonial oppression. Among of them were renowned and recognized Philippine heroes today such as Jose Rizal, Andress Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Aguinaldo and many more. These people fought for the Filipinos’ rights to experience independence from colonial rule and oppression.... This same scenario continued until the following years to come for the Philippines under the Spanish regime. Filipinos learned to fight for their rights and many were able to realize they had to fight for their right for their land and stood up to beat anything related with colonial oppression. Among of them were renowned and recognized Philippine heroes today such as Jose Rizal, Andress Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Aguinaldo and many more. These people fought for the Filipinos’ rights to experience independence from colonial rule and oppression. After forty four years of Magellan’s death, Christianism was reintroduced by another conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. This made it at present that 84 percent of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics, 10 percent Protestants and other related religious groups and about 4 percent Muslims5. Filipinos are Malayo-Polynesian in the Pacific Islands who compared to the Spaniards in the early time were not that advanced in polit ical and military supremacy. Filipinos then were gullible and not yet accustomed with the advanced economic and political thoughts compared with the Spaniards. The Spain was the first to take advantage of this, and they invaded the entire country, influenced them with certain religious beliefs and exploited the country’s bountiful resources. However, this unfairness did not take that long when Spaniards were defeated by the Americans in the Spanish-American war which end up in 1898. This means that the Philippines was then under the rule of Americans and become the loyal allies of the United States in Asia in the long run. In 1898, Philippine independence was declared and Emilio Aguinaldo became the first president of the country. However, months just passed after the

Hitler-Mussolini Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hitler-Mussolini - Essay Example He was considered the master of Europe because of the series of decisive victories which also convinced him that he was the greatest military commander of all time because of his infallible intuition. Instead of appealing to the intelligence of his audience, his speech was designed to appeal to the emotion. Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician, the leader of the National Fascist Party and one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He was an Italian dictator from 1922-1943 who founded the Fascist Party and was the editor of Avanti, the party’s organ. Being a socialist made him anti-clerical, antireligious, anti-imperialist, anti-monarchial and believed that to achieve a socialist society, direct action and violence must be achieved (Smyth, 1988) Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau, Austria-Hungary. His father, Alois, was the illegitimate son of Marianne Schickel-gruber who was a servant girl who had worked in a Jewish household. He later changed his name to Alois Hitler. Adolf was the son of his father’s third wife, Klara Poelzl Hitler, 23 years his junior. They were six children but only two reached the age of maturity, himself and a younger sister Paula, who died in 1960. Adolf’s adolescence was unusual because it lasted until his death. His intellectual, emotional, artistic and sexual development was not fully developed. He was famous for his temper tantrums. This is one aspect of Hitler’s state of mind. He seemed to have grown-up immaturely. (Waite, 1988) Benito Mussolini was born at Dovia on July 29, 1883. A devoutly Catholic mother and an anti-clerical father raised him. His mother had him baptized into the Roman Catholic and they attended mass on Sundays. His time at a religious boarding house was regarded as punishment by him comparing his experience to hell. He was once dragged by force to church when he refused

Does the current system of funding higher education support student Literature review

Does the current system of funding higher education support student academic learning - Literature review Example The authors have not shown the evidence of Universities that are struggling with issues of funding or the ones trying to cut their costs because of poor funding. One may not believe in the results of the study because the authors do not prove some of their claims such as the real reasons affecting universities funding and the level of investments other governments put in their universities (Connaway & Powell 2010, pp. 63-65). This may help in understanding whether indeed UK underinvests in their higher learning institutions compared to other countries. The data source is very reliable because the study has been carried out by a professional organization, Russell Group that entails several higher learning institutions. The group also contains academic professionals such as Professor Michael Arthur who is the chairman of the group (Russell Group 2010, pp. 45-50). There are also financial reports that have been used in carrying out the study. The sources used in the study are also relevant and are very reliable. The data used in the study are up to date because none of them is more than ten years old. Russell Group 2010, Staying on top: The challenge of sustaining world-class higher education in the UK, PP. 1-52, retrieved

Hedging Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hedging Strategies - Essay Example These payments must be made in Euros and hence, Virtual Books is exposed to potential exchange rate risk on these transactions. In order to mitigate and hedge this exchange rate risk, Virtual Books has various alternatives to eliminate this risk. The first alternative is that of Forward Contracts. A forward contract is an agreement between two parties to buy/sell a specified asset at a forward price at a specified date. Forward Contracts are just a commitment to deliver/take delivery of the said asset and at the time of agreement, there is no exchange. Hence the cost of entering into a forward contract is nothing. Other advantages of a forward contract include customization for the customer, and OTC trade. The major drawback is that this contract is an obligation which must be honored. In case it is not honored, the customer can go for or be taken to litigation. In the case of Virtual books, it can enter into a forward agreement with its bank to buy euros at a predetermined forward p rice. By doing so, they can eliminate the potential risk involved in taking a price on the day of the payment. There will obviously be an opportunity cost involved. Assuming that the market is above the forward price on the day of taking up the contract, the customer will be losing out on a potential gain.

Internationalization And Globalization Strategy Business Essay

Internationalization And Globalization Strategy Business Essay This paper attempts to explore the notion of regionalisation in the global context and critically analyse the theory and practice of regional strategy as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino analysis. Globalization, Regionalisation, Regional Strategy Theory. Executive Summary It is clear enough that in todays era it is extremely critical for firms to adopt global and regional business strategies in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage. But the question arises regarding classification of a MNE (Multinational Enterprise) as a global firm. This essay critically analyses the work on regional strategy as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino and attempts to cover the following aspects in detail. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy This section highlights the notion of globalization and way organizations today establish a global presence by adoption of unique business strategies. This part also details the three different kind of global strategies. Regional Strategy Analysis This part analyzes the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in todays era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs global MNEs (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Theory of the Regional Strategy This section explains the concept of regional strategy analysis and illustrates the various regional theories as explained by Osegowitsch and Sammartino. Introduction With the concept of globalization and internationalization gaining more and more momentum everyday, this essay attempts to critically analyse the work of Osegowitsch and Sammartino on regional strategy. It starts with explaining the concept of globalisation and global strategy and tries to justify that in todays era very few global firms exist. Secondly, it tries to establish that significant amount of international business literature and theory is demanded in order to draw conclusion on regional vs global MNEs strategy by exploring the theory of regional strategy. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy Globalization can be defined as a complex concept which enables firms to operate in various continents and countries across the globe in order to improve and maximise their profit margins, sustainability, worldwide existence and economies of scale (Blyton et al., 2001, p446). Globalization provides platform not only to consumers but also to organizations to help them satisfy their needs globally. According to Marquardt Berger (2003, p286), Trade, Travel, Technology and Television are the four major developments that have resulted in Globalization. The four Ts of global development are the outcome of human brain and its creative innovations. These advancements have further encouraged and made possible continuous exchange of ideas, information and knowledge between human resources by breaking the barriers of distance. Moving ahead, Bratton Gold (2007, p92) state that Globalization is a global process of political convergence, social economies and national sentiments, in which space, time and Government are not given much importance. The paragraph below will now highlight the three different views on global strategy. The First view states that the global strategy is one of the particular and specific forms of Multinational Enterprise (MNE) Strategy. Further, it highlights the fact that Globalization considers all the countries of the world alike (Levitt, 1983, p97). The Second view considers global strategy as International Strategic Management (Bruton et al., 2004, p418) which is no doubt wider concept than global strategy mentioned in the first view. Lastly, the third view describes global strategy in even broader term; The strategy of the firms that exist all over the globe and this can be concluded as the firms theory of how to become a successful competitor (Peng, 2006). Having discussed the various forms of global strategies which are adopted by firms today, this essay now moves ahead to analyse the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in todays era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs global MNEs (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Regional Strategy Theories According to Rugman and Verbeke (2007), recent literature on globalization suggests that a firm is categorised as global if maximum 50% of its total sales are in its home territory (EU) and minimum 20% of sales in each of the NAFTA zone and Asia. He adds to it by bringing to surface the outcome of survey based upon this theory that indicated only nine global firms in Fortune Global 500 and also the orientation of numerous firms towards the home-region. In response to the above mechanism for classifying the firm as global, Osegowitsch and Sammartino (OS) (2008) have provided three basic criteria and comments that can be helpful in future classification of firms according to their geographic sales dispersion. Firstly, OS suggest that it is not appropriate to classify statistical data straightaway. It should be realised that since this is a growing area of research, usage of any kind of classification tool is open to criticisms as it is not simply the categorization of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) following particular regional strategy theories. As an example, OS focus on building and having strong position in the region by illustrating that if the EU, NAFTA region and Asia represents 90% of the total world sales output, an absolute division would require all the three regional triads to have 30% sales each and not 33.3% in order to encourage the strategy of lower thresholds. In other words, a firm can be defined as global if it has at least 20% of the total sales in the two host-triad regions and without any kind of imposition on the maximum sales threshold in the home territory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007, p2). Additionally, it should also be noted that it is not at all relevant to cat egorize a firm as having strong position in the market if its threshold is lower than 20% of the total sales. OS even conducted a simulation using threshold value as 10% of the net sales in order to identify a string position in the host region as it would result to USD $1 billion even for the smallest of the Fortune Global 500 firms. But unfortunately, it didnt present a strong position and can by no means be considered as an essence for strategic decision making in the worlds largest organizations. OS clearly argues that using various thresholds is helpful in assessing the sensitivity of firms positions in the classification system but the main function should always be to provide an assessment of the Future Global 500 and to easily track firms whose thresholds are continuously changing from one category of threshold to another. A clear example of this is Nokia which encountered a 4% decline in sales in the year 2002. However, this change in sales pattern reflected a short term fa ilure in inter-regional growth but OS criticizes that it cannot be simply neglected. Movement of Nokia from a global organization in 2001 towards a home based firm in 2001 was a remarkable concern. In one line, it can be stated that having threshold below 20% simply leads to generation of more bi-regional firms and which cant be regarded as truly global organizations. Moving ahead, the second regional strategy criterion which OS highlights is that the sales variations are highly industry specific. According to OS, industry plays a significant role and all future researched should aim at exploring the regional vs global strategies at the industry specific levels and try to establish the difference. It is truism that a majority of firms are not properly internationalized and their sizes varies across regions but then its some of the worlds biggest MNEs that have constantly been regarded as capable of compensating for the weaknesses of the other sectors in different regions of the world. The main point to be considered is that our analysis are independent of differential size of numerous industries that exist across the region, as MNEs are able to establish regional markets and to further develop insufficient markets. Lastly, in third comment it is argued that it would be irrelevant to prefer regional strategy over global strategy. Regional strategies come into existence when it becomes very difficult or impossible to adopt conventional global strategies efficiently, or when they fail to function, keeping in mind that global strategies cannot be evaluated in isolation. Further, it can be said that heterogeneous geographic space beyond the home country border is essential for most of the companies now if not all of them. Moving ahead, this section of the essay will now make an attempt to tackle the criticism formed by OS concerning the contribution of regional strategy to the international business theory. According to (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007, p3), the regional strategy is structured around three simple but fundamental empirical observations which demand international business theory to be extended and enhanced. First of all, only a small number of MNEs have a balanced geographical sales distribution pattern across the global market, although it counts towards the risk diversification at the downstream end of the value chain. OS illustrate that a balanced and structured distribution of sales geographically would contribute towards enhanced global acceptance by the customers of the companys products and services. With only the exception of resource-based industries, the triad comprising the EU, NAFTA region and Asia demonstrates a first cut though not certainly a fixed one mechanism to identify the extent to which an MNEs net sales are distributed worldwide. Further, this triad has gained so much importance as it is the home of worlds most large MNEs as well as the locus for a number of outstanding innovations in most industrial sectors. The triad also demonstrates the world demand pattern for most knowledge intensive services and goods. But its unfortunate to mention that only a small number of MNEs in the Fortune Global 500 are capable of performing equally well in each of the three regions of the triad. It is often observed that a strong position in the home-triad region is not supported with an equally strong position in both the other two remaining triad environments. Classification tools are now irrelevant as among the firms with international operations only a small percentage are truly global i.e. may be even less than 5% (Ghemawat and Ghadar, 2006). They further add to it and state that different firms rule in different parts of the world. Second wing of the regional strategy focuses on the fact that several MNEs have regional features in the organizational structure such as geographic divisions and having individual divisions for different regions is supported mainly by the concept of regional heterogeneity demanding idiosyncratic management. In this case, the intra-regional institutional and economic distance is not just smaller but also very different from that of the interregional. It has been observed that for most MNEs, managing operations and work system in EU is very different from functioning system of the NAFTA region or as compared with the work cultural of Asian environment. These differences may further be enhanced if the work unit is further subdivided into smaller units. Fratiannin (2006) states that these differences in work system signal the importance of regional level in the business strategy and structure of MNEs. Today, almost all big firms such as Toyota, General Electric (GE) have embedded region al elements in their business and operational strategies and these companies are often wrongly referred to as global organizations not just because of lack of balanced geographic distribution but also because of their world wide global operations and manufacturing (Ghemawat, 2005, p102). Thirdly, it should be noted that more than fifty percent of the geographic area in terms of sales is normally the main source of the firms cash flows and the centre point of most of the firms both tangible and intangible assets. In the coming years, the concept of having more than 50% sales in the home territory would not be significant enough in EU and North America specifically but it would gain momentum in Asian region as intra-regional distance is minimizing and thereby driven by a reduction of investment barriers and trade. Competition among industries would be more prevalent at the regional level instead of the national level. OC highlight that attention should now be laid on the development of classification tool that will help bundle the home country sales with the sales in the remainder of the home territory rather than paying attention separately to the sales in the home region and remaining of the home region especially for MNEs based in Asia and EU. Moving ahead, the above discussed observations and theories clearly demonstrate the need for an extended international business theory. These observations are independent of specific categorization approaches to measure specific home-region vs rest-of-the-world market position of MNEs. A trend has always been seen that all the MNEs are much stronger in their home regions as compared to that in other triad regions. These top MNE firms have formulated their organizational structures around the regional component and a varying market position in each region raises call for a regional approach rather than a global strategy approach. The paragraph below now will bring to surface the three main components for the extension on mainstream international business theory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007, p3). Firstly, it is noticed that impact of country border does not provide strong basis for distinguishing between non- location bound (or internationally deployable/exploitable) and location bound. In todays period of excess regionalization, it is very easy for some companies to exploit and deploy their strengths throughout the home country border. Further, proxies for internationally transferable FSAs such as firms level predictors of internationalization like firms level of RD do not hold much importance in explaining intra-regional expansion occurring in home region, given the distance gap between the home country and rest of the home region is very less. As a result of well-functioning trans-European transport and logistics networks enabling fast response and just in time strategies covering the whole continent, the significance of geographic distance has decreased in EU. The EU integration process itself has let to decrease in Institutional distance. Further, Economic distance has l ost its relevance because of many reasons such as development of new services and products at par with European level, possibility of cross border shopping made possible by web based searches, continuous attempts made by many companies to gain scale and scope efficiencies at the European level and lastly, increased importance of EU as a geographic space to ascertain companys conduct, structure and importance. Finally, decreased significance of conventional measures of cultural distance mainly in the business to business area as it is easy to get labour in Europe, considerable increase in use of English as the lingua franca inside the region. On sharp contrast between past and present position of conventional location bound FSAs it can be clearly stated that previously they allowed firm expansion only upto country borders but now it can be easily upgraded, and made deployable and exploitable even beyond the home country borders and also in other home region countries. Secondly, their is a need to reconsider the fact that non-location-bound FSAs like technological knowledge or brand can be easily exploited and deployed nationwide. Today also it is necessary to complement existing FSA bundles with an additional FSA bundle in high distance environments which implies distance still plays an important role. According to Ghemawat (2005, p104), there are several ways to differentiate between low and high distance environments, one major distinction being that between home regions and host regions in a triad context. Moreover, it is clear that extension and scope of mainstream international theory is free from any scholars disagreeing with the concept of the triad region as the best proxy to discriminate between low-distance environments (in this case the home-triad region) and high-distance environment (in this case the two host-triad regions). High distance implies to making more substantial investments in order to complement its present FSA bundles, al so enabling maximum and profitable exploitation in the host region environment. Here, the apparent trade off becomes obvious: further the efforts to expand the high-distance environment may not be proved to be as successful and profitable as the expansion of low distance environment, even if it is suggested by macro-level parameters which measure the attractiveness of the high-distance environment that they have strong location advantages. As stated by Nachum and Wymbs (2007, p240) in regard to global cities that FSAs and location advantages are dependent on each other. High distance bundles also has many risk factors along with it like melding the extant FSA bundles with newly developed or accessed resources in the high distance environment may lead to burdened with several operational problems, decreased or disappointing sales, as exemplified by the retreat of some of the worlds largest MNEs from high-distance contexts, for example, Wal-Marts exit from Germany and Korea. . Thirdly, the theoretical difference between the two FSAs namely location bound and non-location bound FSAs assume conventionally easy developments and profitable exploitation of FSAs (like brand names or technological knowledge of proprietary) across borders. Moreover, it is very essential to acclimatize the brief contents of these two concepts to the authenticity of regionalization. More particularly, the factors that determine the extent of FSAs are, its distance accompanied by its geographic, institutional, economic and cultural components. The level at which a FSA should be called location-bound vs non-location bound is estimated by decay in value across a space. On the basis of terms like region bound nature of FSAs and the liability of inter regional foreignness it has been highlighted that for international business other geographic borders hold more importance than conventional country borders in our previous study. After studying the concepts and theories of regional strategy, we now try to establish the extent to which Procter Gamble could be categorized as a global firm in terms of its business and operational strategies. The Case of Procter Gamble Procter Gamble Co. One of the worlds leading consumer goods manufacturer such as Tide, Pantene, Ariel etc was established in 1837 from an original candle and soap company. The firm now operates in 180 nations with more than 138,000 employees. According to Lafley, A. G., Chairman of the Board and chief Executive Officer, PG, the firm has over 171 years of history and has always been driven by creativity and innovation. Additionally, improved sales and long term success have always been the strategic goals of this corporation. And it understands the fact that these goals can be attained by constantly appreciating changing consumers needs, innovation, branding and market needs. Depending entirely on skunk work such as acquisitions, internal RD and selective innovations has proved to be inefficient and insufficient for attaining the business target of $4 billion business in a time period of one year. It can be clearly seen that invent- it-ourselves model along with global research facilities and recruiting and holding of the best talent nationwide attained success till the year 2000 but nowadays satisfying high levels of top line growth has become a big challenge for an organization The approach through which the radical strategy of open innovation helped an organization attain its business mission and goal can be typified in the following lines. To face the challenge, PG adopted a brand new technique of innovation: Develop and Connect model in the year 2000 which lays great importance on searching good and new ideas and information outside and bringing them in, in order to give internal capabilities a boost and make most out of them. With the perspective of manufacturing improved and relatively cheaper products faster the business strategy involved in this model was to leverage assets of people, products and property available externally and applying it to their respective RD labs, purchasing, market capabilities and production. The foremost work of this strategy is to recognize top ten preferences and needs of the consumer. Moreover, it is very essential that the customers are fully satisfied by the products manufactured and which will finally result in increased sales and profit. Moving ahead, alike products or related technologies which already exist in the market and occupy good position are recognized. Lastly, analysing the influence of technological acquisition of one area over the other areas. Networking is the backbone of this approach. Along with having business collaborations with open networking companies such as InnoCentive and Ninesigma, the PG group has long chain of suppliers and technological entrepreneurs worldwide. They play a crucial role by finding solutions to PG internal problems in the outside world. Thus, by constructing such type of infrastructure PG has been able to reduce its investment in technology along with achieving stable top line growth and required sustainability. According to Huston, L. Sakkab, N., 2000, p.3 by shifting to Connect and Develop model their has been a remarkable increment in our RD production by 60% and the progress rate of innovation has undoubtedly doubled. The Procter Gamble figures out how an organization can maximize its profitability levels by switching to new and annovative The Procter Gamble examples mirrors the way how switching to new and innovative approaches of using information and technology can help maximise profit margins. It is one of the organisations which has developed enabling infrastructure fabricated around innovation with a huge world wide network combining human capital, ideas and technology. Conclusion This essay has brought to surface a number of strategies which can help firms to establish strong positions globally like having a threshold of 20% etc. The main aim which was to justify that a firm cannot be simply categorized as global based upon statistical data has been justified. A number of measures have also been illustrated which can help differentiate the firms regional strategy from the global strategy.

Analysis of the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange

Analysis of the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange 3.0 Chapter Three 3.1 Research Methodology This chapter aims at explaining the methodology which has been adopted in this study. Research approaches or style have been categorized into mainly two groups, the phenomenological approach and positivist approach. The phenomenological approach studies the phenomenon through observation, no theory at outset while the positivist approach use an existing theory or develop a new theory and test its validity. Since this study has used the existing theory on market efficiency therefore positivist approach have been adopted with this study, the rationale behind the choice of this approach is due to the nature of the study. 3.2 Research Design Research design can be broadly classified as exploratory research and Conclusive research .This study is conclusive research design because it involves the testing of specific hypothesis and examination of relationships as well as the data analysis is quantitative and research process is formal. 3.3 Data types and sources Two types of data that has been used in this study, the daily closing stock of market index(Dar es salaam Stock Exchange Index-DSEI) and the weekly share prices for a sample of five listed companies from Dar es salaam Stock Exchange. The daily closing stock for market index has covered the period from July 2007 to August 2008 making total number of observation to be 280, excluding public holidays and non trading days. The daily data prior to July 2007 were not found therefore the study had to use the available data . The second type of data that has been used in this study are weekly share prices of the five companies/securities included in the study .The weekly data runs from Jan 2002 to August 2008, which makes the total number of observation to be between 90 and 266. The final date is the same for the all companies but the initial date differs depend on when the company joined the stock market. The weekly data refers to the Wednesdays closing stock price, however if Wednesdays data were not available then Thursday closing price were used, in absence of Thursday data , Tuesday was taken instead, but when both Tuesday and Thursday were not available as well , the data for that week was regarded as a missing data. The use of weekly data is appropriate for this kind of studies as Humphrey and Lont (2005) asserted that weekly data helped to mitigate any non-trading effects and also reduced the effects of noise trading. Even though the stock price was collected for the purpose of performing statistical tests, the actual test was conducted using natural logarithmic of the relative price. The stock return (denoted by R) was calculated by natural logarithmic difference of the weekly stock price given by the following equation = [- )] (1) Where: Rt = Return at time t P = Price at time t The reasons why change in log price was used instead of the normal change in price, has been explain by Fama (1965), he mentioned that logarithms neutralize price level effects as well as producing a series of continuously compounded returns. The daily closing stock for market index (DSEI) was used in performing the parametric serial correlation test and the weekly share prices for five listed companies was used to perform the non parametric runs test .In additional to the primary data (Stock prices) collected from Dar es salaam Stock Exchange, the study has also used the secondary source of data. The secondary data includes academic books, journals and other publications. 3.3.1 Thin Trading As discussed earlier in literature review section, infrequency trading or thin trading is big problem in most of emerging stock market and failure to take into account can results into serious biasness of statistical results. In this study this problem has been taken into account and the weekly data were collected from infrequency trading. The first step taken in controlling the infrequency trading was to eliminate the mostly thin traded securities / companies as Shanken (1987) depicted that some of researchers controls the thin trading problem by eliminating some of thin traded stocks. Initially the study was meant to include all ten companies listed in Dar es salaam Stock Exchange, however five companies were found to be very much affected by infrequency trading therefore were eliminated from the study. The actual correction of weekly data from thin trading for the five companies included in this study was based on approach by Atchison et al (1987) as adjusted by Milambo et al (2003;cited in Mabhunu 2004). They suggested correcting thin trading problem by adjusting approach by Atchison at el (1987) who used uniform process which allocates returns equally over the days in multi -days interval where security not traded. According to Mlambo et al (2003 ;cited in Mabhunu 2004), if a stock is not traded for example after 14 days of non trading, then a single entry given by the following equation (2) should be used as an oppose to 15 entries of equal value. Where: = Length of time between a trade in a period t and previous successive trade = Price of stock at time t = Dividend at time t Therefore the infrequency problem in this study have been controlled by applying equation 2 without taking into account the dividend adjustment as it has been suggested that adjustments of dividend does not have much effects.Also the use of weekly data instead of daily data for individual companies has helped to control this problem. 3.3.1 Test of goodness -of-fit One of the hypothesis in which the random walk has based on is about price changes to conform to some probability distribution. Therefore in testing the efficiency of stock market it is essential to identify the pattern and determine which known statistical distribution the pattern follows. In this study the Jarque-Bera test has beeen employed to test the normality of the stock return. This techniques has been used in several studies, includes the recent study of Market Return and Weak Form Efficiency: The case of Ghana by Frimpong and Oteng (2007). The Jarque-Bera test statistic is given by JB = T(+ ) (3) Where: JB = Test Statistic T = Number of observation S = Sample Skewness K = Sample Kurtosis. Kurtosis which denoted by (K) in equation (3) measures the sharpness / peakness or flatness of the distribution of a series and is given by the following equation K = (4) A normal distributed series has kurtosis of 3, therefore whenever kurtosis of a series exceeds 3, the distribution of that series is regarded as leptokurtic relative to normal and if the kurtosis is less than 3, then the distribution is regarded as platykurtic(flat) relative to normal. The skewness which denoted by (S) and computed by the following equation S = (5) Measures the asymmetric distribution of the series from its mean. A normal distributed series has skewness of zero, therefore if the skewness of the series is positive then the series is concluded to have a heavier right tail and if the skewness is negative the distribution is regarded as having a heavier left tail relative to normal. The results of the Jarque-Bera test together with the skewness and kurtosis of the return series employed in this study have been reported in table 1. 3.4 Methods employed As mentioned earlier this study aimed at achieving three main objectives, first to find empirical evidence of weak form efficiency hypothesis for Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, secondly to identify the main barriers for the development of the Dar es salaam Stock Exchange i.e. the factors that hampers the growth of DSE and lastly to identify the quality of information available to investors at Dar es salaam Stock Exchange. Therefore in this chapter the methods used in achieving each objective have been explained in detail, starting with the first objective. 3.4.1 Objective 1: Empirical evidence for weak form efficiency hypothesis. In achieving the first objective, the study intended to answer the following two specific questions Is the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange weak-form efficient? Do the stock prices in Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange follow the random walk? The study was guided by the following hypothesis Dar es salaam Stock Exchange is weak form market efficient. Stock price follows a random walk Various techniques have been used so far in testing for weak form hypothesis by different researcher as depicted in literature review section, the techniques includes the statistical test of independence and trading rules. In determining whether a stock market is a weak form or not using statistical test, the correlation / relationship between stock price and return over the successive time interval is identified. If no significant correlation found then the market is regarded as weak form market as past return can not be used to determine future return. The market will be regarded as weak form inefficient if significant correlation will be found. In testing our first null hypothesis, one statistical test of independence have been employed, the serial correlation test . The non parametric runs test was employed to test our second null hypothesis, the random walk hypothesis. The following is the explanation of each statistical test employed in this study. Serial correlation test It is among the widely used test of independence .The serial correlation test measures the correlation of a variable over consecutive time interval e.g. at time t and time t-1.The reasons why this approach have been chosen to be used in this study is because of its familiarity in this kind of study. Several studies have employed this technique for example Vaidyanathan (1994) in the study of efficiency of the Indian capital market employed this approach. Similarly, Baral and Shrestha (2006) studying the daily stock behavior of commercial banks in Nepal, used the same approach. In testing the weak form efficiency of the stock market using this approach, the correlation of log price/return series is determined, if autocorrelation is found the assumptions will be that the series does not follow the random walk, meaning that the stock price are not independent, past return can be used to determine the future return and hence the market is weak form inefficient. The test statistic for the serial correlation coefficient for lag p can be express as p = (5) Similarly written as P = (6) In determining the autocorrelation of the return in this study, the Ljung-Box test was used. This is a portmanteau test which measures the autocorrelation of the variable. The Ljung-Box test statistic is given by =T(T+2) (7) Where by: = Test Statistic T = Number of observations = Is the jth autocorrelation or autocorrelation coefficient (for lag j) K = Number of coefficients to test autocorrelation, in other words the number of lag to be Tested. Given the value of obtained from the test, the conclusion on the randomness of the log price/return can be reached if > , K at significance level ÃŽ ±, where by , K means the ÃŽ ±-quantile of the Chi-square distribution with K degrees of freedom. Alternatively if the p-value obtained from the statistical test is less than 0.05,then the test is significant at 95% level of confidence and therefore the null hypothesis of zero auto correction can be rejected. The results for this test have been reported in figure 1in the next chapter. Runs test This is the second test that had been employed in this study to test for the second null hypothesis. Unlike parametric tests such as serial correlation, a runs test is a non-parametric test which means that it does not require the normal distribution of the series. This is one of the advantage of using this approach and it is also the reason why this technique has been adopted in our study. A run can be define as a set of identical (or related) symbols contained between two different symbols or no symbol (such as at the beginning or end of the sequence)Spiegel et al (2000.p366). In performing this test, each change in return/price is classified as positive (+), negative (-) and zero change (0). Alternatively change in return could be classified alphabetically for example A ,could be each return that equal or exceeds the mean value and B could be each return that are below mean value. The test can be executed to obtained the actual number of runs (denoted by V), and then the actual number of runs (V) can be compared with the expected number of runs () which is given by the following equation = (8) Where = Expected number of runs N = Total number of return observations = Sample size of each category of price change If actual number of runs will be greater than expected runs, it will be indications of negative serial correlation and if actual runs fall below expected return it will indicate the positive serial correlation of the return. Alternatively the p-value obtained can be used to conclude on the results of this test, if p-value is less than 0.05, then the test is significant at 95% level of confidence and therefore the null hypothesis of randomness can be rejected. For a large sample i.e (N>30), the sampling distribution of V is approximately corresponds to a normal distribution and thus Z = (9) Where: Z = Z-Test Statistic V = Actual return = Expected return = Standard deviation given by the following equation = [{+ N (N+1)} 2N (10) Therefore at appropriate level of significance, the Z-statistic can be used to test for independence of return series. The reason why the randomness tests such as non parametric runs test are used to test for the efficiency of the stock market is because efficiency of the stock market is determined by the way information are incorporated in current stock price. For a well efficient market , new information is incorporated instantaneously and spontaneously and therefore no arbitrage opportunity can exist. Since new information is incorporated instantaneously and spontaneously in current stock price then stock price/returns will be generated in random fashion i.e there will be no any pattern. In relation to the weak form efficient market all past information is expected to be incorporated in current stock price in such a way that a positive change in returns is not expected to be followed by positive change in return or negative to be followed by negative as the returns generated randomly. However, for the weak inefficient market all past information are not incorporated instantaneously and spontaneously as the results the change in returns is generated in a pattern which can lead to opportunity of making fortune. Therefore testing of randomness helps to reveal the how new information is incorporated in current stock price and the way returns are generated, if its in a random fashion or with pattern. This helps in drawing conclusion regarding the efficiency of a stock market. The results for this non parametric runs test are shown in table 2 3 and discussed in the next chapter. Objective 2:Factors affecting the growth/ development of Dar es salaam Stock Exchange Despite aim of finding empirical evidence of weak form hypothesis, also the second objective of this study was to identify and discuss major factors/ challenges that have been affecting the development and progress of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. April 2008, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange celebrated its tenth years anniversary, however for the period of its ten years of operations; we have witness the slow growth / development of the stock market, only few companies have been listed so far. But what are the main causes of this slow growth? in terms of listing of companies?, what are the challenges faced by the stock market?. Further more the numbers of individuals participating in the market as investors is not so impressive, in a speech by the minister of finance and economic affairs on 10th anniversary of DSE , he said the market so far DSE has enable more than 116,651 Tanzanians to own shares. This is small figure to be as a minimum figure for the country with population of approximately 39.4 million people, we would expect a good number of individual to be aware of operations of the stock market and hence participating and a minimum figure could have been a million and above, however the situation is different then what is the real problem?, are there any efforts by the market authority to ensure the general public is aware of the stock market operations and hence increase the number of investors in the market?. Despite of the barriers and challenges for its growth, what measures have been and will be taken to ensure the stock market is growing? .What are the future prospects of the market? . In achieving our second objective the above mentioned questions will be addressed and discussed. This was done through reviewing and studying of the existing literature and publications regarding Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and African stock markets in general, since most of the emerging African stock markets share the same kind of the obstacle/ challenges. The findings and discussion of these issues have been presented the following chapter. Objective 3: The quality of information to investor and other stakeholders at DSE. The last objective was to determine the quality of information available to investors and other stakeholders at Dar es Salaam Stock Market. There various sources of information for investors in any stock market and one of the sources is financial statements. Even though financial statements are sometimes subjective to the manipulation of management and by the time financial statements are published some changes might have already happen, yet financial statements remains to be crucial source of information for investors and analysts. Normally the existing investors as well as potential investors would like to know how the investment have been well managed as this will give them the overall picture on how safe investing in the company has been or will be. Using the published financial statements, investors and analysts can acquire valuable information which can help in their decision making. However, investors will be deprived from using this type of source of information, if the information provided with the financial statements are not of good quality and required standard. According to Benston (2003), if the information provided by financial statements is not useful and accurate then its reception will not give investors the kind of insight they wanted and as the results investors will incur costs to find information somewhere else. Therefore with this objective, the quality of information available to investors in DSE was determined and discussed. This was achieved through a comparison of financial statement of Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL)- a company listed in Dar es salaam Stock Exchange and Sanisbury PLC a company listed in London Stock Exchange. The aim of the comparison was to determine if an investor in DSE using financial statement will get the same quality of information similar to an investor in London Stock Exchange. In this comparison in additional of looking the contents and standards in which these annual report have been prepared also the study looked at the general accessibility of the annual report and other companys information which might be helpful to investors between these company .Also the general overview of corporate governance between these two companies was analyzed and discussed. The results and discussions of this comparison have been presented in the following chapter. 3.5 Data Analysis Since the study had involve the statistical tests, therefore data was analyzed with the help of statistical packages. The parametric serial correction test and parametric runs test was performed using SPSS (Statistical Package For Social Science) and the Jarque -Bera test was performed using EVIEWS .Both quantitative and qualitative approach have been used in interpreting the results of analysis 4.0 Chapter Four: Data Analysis, Presentation Discussion of Findings 4.1 Introduction The aim of this chapter is to present the analysis and discuss the findings of the study. The chapter have been divided in three main part (A, B, C). The first part (A), reports the results and the discussions from statistical tests relating to the first objective of this study. Part B and C report the findings and discussions relating to the second and third objectives respectively . 4.2 Part A : Empirical evidence for weak form efficiency hypothesis In finding the empirical evidence for weak form efficiency hypothesis in Dar es salaam Stock Exchange ,three main statistical tests were performed , firstly the normality test i.e the Jarque Bera test, parametric serial correlation test and non parametric runs test, the findings of these test are presented in that order. 4.2.1 Test of goodness of- fit Since it is essential to determine the probability distribution of the series when performing efficiency tests /statistical tests, therefore the returns for the stock market index(DSEI) as well as the returns for the five companies used in the study were firstly analyzed to determine if the return series follows the normal distribution. The result of nomality test are shown in table 1 Table 1: Jarque- Bera Test DAHACO DSEI SIMBA TBL TCC TWIGA Mean 0.002166 0.000227 0.006390 0.002727 0.000724 0.008349 Median 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 Maximum 0.141970 0.021668 0.277632 0.202941 0.074108 0.287682 Minimum -0.182322 -0.024520 -0.253781 -0.146093 -0.117783 -0.072759 Std. Dev. 0.028979 0.002794 0.045971 0.027860 0.021852 0.040065 Skewness -0.462822 -0.623957 0.863549 2.133508 -0.934278 4.314131 Kurtosis 15.81011 39.73707 17.61886 23.35083 11.19382 29.39428 Jarque-Bera 1216.549 15707.35 1751.608 4792.031 532.6697 2891.643 Probability 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 Sum 0.383447 0.063240 1.239581 0.725336 0.130979 0.751392 Sum Sq. Dev. 0.147799 0.002170 0.407877 0.205694 0.085951 0.142861 Observations 177 279 194 266 181 90 Source : Analyzed data As shown in the table 1, the p-value of the jarque -bera test for stock market index series(DSEI) and the p-value for the five individual companies is below 0.05 i.e p-value As depicted in the table 1 above, the return for the market index(DSEI), TCC Ltd and DAHACO/SWISSPORT Ltd are negatively skew(heavier left tail) as their skewness less than zero. I,e skewness 0) which means that their returns are positively skew( a heavier right tail) relative to normal. A perfectly symmetrical distribution such as normal distribution has skewness which equal to zero. Regarding the kurtosis which describe the flatness or peaknedness of the distribution the results shows that the returns of both market index and individual companies have kurtosis greater than three i.e kurtosis > 3, which implies that the distribution of the returns are sharply peaked (leptokurtic) relative to normal. The p-value from test statistic, kurtosis and skewness indicates the rejection of normality for the returns so the general conclusion which can be drawn from the test of goodness-of-fit is that the returns employed in this study are not normally distributed and therefore non parametric statistical tests are more appropriate to be used than parametric statistical tests. 4.2.2 Results of Serial Correlations/ Autocorrelation Test Though it has been suggested that when the series is not normally distributed then non parametric tests wo

Teaching the Client to Take a Radial Pulse Essay -- Teaching-Learning

I chose to write my teaching-learning paper on how to take a radial pulse. I knew â€Å"Nurses are involved in client education to promote wellness, prevent or diagnose illness early, restore optimal health & function if illness has occurred, and assist clients and families to cope with alterations in health status.† (Craven & Hirnle, 2008, p. 347) However, I had to come up with a reason for choosing how to take a radial pulse. I know in the field the client would already have the needs to learn, so I asked my client. I approached the client and asked him to give me a reason why he wanted to learn to take a radial pulse. His first reaction was â€Å"Can I use it to find out if someone is dead?† He said this smiling with a smirk of pure mischievous motives. Shaking my head, I told the client â€Å"Yes, but really, give me a reason.† He followed up with â€Å"Well, I can get information together to see how I can build an exercise regimen. Don’t I need t o know how to do that for exercising?† After explaining to him that yes, you need to reach a target heart rate where you know you are burning calories at best we both decided we discovered our goal for this project. â€Å"The teaching-learning process empowers client to achieve increased wellness or to manage specific healthcare needs.† (C raven & Hirnle, 2008, p.345) Knowing this, I had discovered my goal for the client as well. Before beginning the teaching progress I need to learn about my client’s learning needs. â€Å"Determine what the client needs to know or do to function more independently† (Craven & Hirnle, 2008, p. 348). The best ways to gather information about your client is to ask your client. Therefore, I had asked my client what he knew about taking a radial pulse. His reply was â€Å"I only k... ...necting to your client and understanding their needs before pressing your teaching upon them. No client is willing to learn from someone who is in a hurry and just passing information like it is a voting pamphlet. Every client must be reached on their level to meet their concerns and their needs. Works Cited Carpenito-Moyet, L.J. (2010). Handbook of Nursing Diagnosis 13th Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Craven, R.F., & Hirnle, C.J. (2008). Fundamentals of Nursing: Human Health and Function 6th Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. D’Amico, Med, RN, D, & Barbarito, EdD, RN, C. (2007). Health & Physical Assessment in Nursing. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.. Smith, L. (2003). Help! My patient's illiterate. Nursing, 33(11 Part 1), 32hn6. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.

The Role of the Proof in Math Essay example -- Mathematics Mathematica

The Role of the Proof in Math The notion of proof has long played a key role in the study of mathematics. It is in my opinion the role of proof that separates mathematics from the sciences and other fields of study. It is the existence of proofs that give mathematicians the confidence that their work is credible and thus allows them to continue to build upon prior work without the need to second guess what has previously been accomplished. Based upon this observation, it becomes natural to ask the questions pertaining to the use of proof in learning and understanding mathematics. If the concept of proof is so important to the field of mathematics, then is it possible that by writing proofs and studying proofs that an individual will be better equipped to understand the mathematics for which the proofs pertain? And if this is possible then when should a person be first exposed to proofs and at what level? In this paper I will give my views pertaining to these questions, as well as, a few more of my views pertaining to some other topics related to these questions. Before discussing the virtues of proofs as a means of learning and understanding mathematics, I feel that it is first necessary to begin with a brief discussion of the functions of proof within mathematics. Following I will give a list of the functions of proof that I have comprised from three sources (Hanna [2], Knuth [3], Tucker [6]): 1.verification, the act of arguing that a statement is true 2.explanation,providing reasons for why a statement is true, which in turn may lead to understanding 3.systematization,organizing statements and definitions into a system of axioms, lemmas, theorems, etc. 4.discovery,creating knowledge and new results .. ...ducation, V178 N1, pp. 35-45 [2]Hanna, Gila (2000), â€Å"Proof, Explanation and Exploration: An Overview,† Educational Studies in Mathematics, V44, pp. 5-23 [3]Knuth, Eric (2002), â€Å"Secondary School Mathematics Teachers Conceptions of Proof,† Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, V33, pp.379-405 [4]Lester, Frank K. (1975), â€Å"Developmental Aspects of Children’s Ability to Understand Mathematical Proof,† Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, V6 N1, pp. 14-25 [5]Selden, Annie and Selden, John (2003), â€Å"Validations of Proofs Considered as Texts: Can Undergraduates Tell Whether an Argument Proves a Theorem?,† Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, V34 N1, pp. 4-36 [6]Tucker, Thomas (1999), â€Å"On the Role of Proof in Calculus Courses,† Contemporary Issues in Mathematics Education, MSRI Publications, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

Atlantis :: essays research papers

Atlantis Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout their island. The island was a center for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa. This was the island of Atlantis. Atlantis was the domain of Poseidon, god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. Cleito gave birth to five sets of twin boys who became the first rulers of Atlantis. The island was divided among the brothers with the eldest, Atlas, first King of Atlantis, being given control over the central hill and surrounding areas. At the top of the central hill, a temple was built to honor Poseidon that housed a giant gold statue of Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by winged horses. It was here that the rulers of Atlantis would come to discuss laws, pass judgments, and pay tribute to Poseidon. To facilitate travel and trade, a water canal was cut through of the rings of land and water running south for 5.5 miles (~9 km) to the sea. The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of 11 miles (1.7 km). This was a densely populated area where the majority of the population lived.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beyond the city lay a fertile plain 330 miles (530 km) long and 110 miles (190 km) wide surrounded by another canal used to collect water from the rivers and streams of the mountains. The climate was such that two harvests were possible each year. One in the winter fed by the rains and one in the summer fed by irrigation from the canal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Surrounding the plain to the north were mountains which soared to the skies. Villages, lakes, rivers, and meadows dotted the mountains. Besides the harvests, the island provided all kinds of herbs, fruits, and nuts. An abundance of animals, including elephants, roamed the island. For generations the Atlanteans lived simple, virtuous lives. But slowly they began to change. Greed and power began to corrupt them.