Healthcare and Communication Essay

Abstract Healthcare is a continuous growing field, within this field you are faced with many diverse cultures that have different values, beliefs, practice and customs of a special group. Among the many challenges facing healthcare is the role of language and cultural barriers that can affect health care and the quality of care that a patient may receive. Healthcare provider interactions, preferred treatment of care are some of the cultural behaviors that are encountered in the daily decision making process. Cultural behavior and the value can affect such use in preventive health care, health related lifestyle, and sources of health related knowledge. The challenge in healthcare today is the number of the patient population that is diverse from the usual United States population. Effective Communication The growth of the culturally and linguistically diverse population has led to many efforts to encourage or ensure that health care systems respond to the distinct needs of culturally and linguistically different patients by becoming â€Å"culturally competent† Just as with the concept of culture, there are many definitions of cultural competency. However, most definitions are derived from one developed by mental health researchers who defined cultural competence as â€Å"a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or amongst professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations† (Cross et al. 1989, cited in Brach and Fraser 2000: 182). Effective communication between patients and physicians who are culturally and linguistically different implies the employment of strategies to provide culturally competent health care. At a minimum, effective communication means that all participants in the communication comprehend and understand the content of the communication. Beyond this minimum, effective communication implies subjective feelings such as trust, empathy, and mutual satisfaction with the communication. In the case of patient-physician verbal communication during a clinical encounter, effective communication  means that both physician and patient. As a provider of healthcare you must be able to understand the content of each other’s spoken communication thoughts related to the encounter, leaving no questions and thoughts unexpressed. You must have the patient feel that sufficient time is available for speaking and listening, and the overall satisfaction with the communication was successful. Language Barriers Environmental, socioeconomic characteristics and perceptual contexts have a vast impact on communication. Researchers have taken surveys of micro groups of culture and Latinos as well as Hispanics have shown that due to the lower access of health care language barriers have had an adverse impact on patient appointments, how providers explain symptoms, and the understanding of terminology. Language and cultural barriers can be added to health behavior models to illustrate their effects on access to medical care. For example, limited English proficiency and cultural unfamiliarity with the U.S. health care system can both be considered inhibitors or barriers in accessing medical care. The healthcare belief model shows the effects of f cultural differences on health care use are similar to those of language. Cultural differences often translate into cultural barriers that lower access to health care. However, the research on cultural barriers on access or use of health care is not as extensive as research on language barriers. Language and culture are used interchangeably so that the effects of culture may not be distinguished from those of language. Skill in a language does not necessarily bring with it cultural familiarity and competence. Providers can choose to learn a second language, let us say, Japanese, and become sufficiently proficient that she is ilingual in English and Japanese. She may still lack cultural knowledge of Japanese culture, including values and beliefs about health and illness, traditional health treatments, and the experience of being a immigrant in the United States. Overcoming the language barrier is a major step in effective communication with Japanese speaking patients, but cultural differences can still affect the doctor patient relationship. Healthcare High and Low Context Providers in general need to be more empathetic when dealing with high and low context cultures, the quality of interaction is very important. High text cultures tend to have a more moderate or suppressed expression of negative or confrontational messages, unlike the low context culture. In the low context culture silence and pauses are often misunderstood as the patient agreeing with the situation. Responsibility of communication lies with the provider, to be clearer of the information that is being transposed through provider patient relationship. To improve the quality of care providers must be able to recognize patterns and body language, and take an emphasis on listening, and take note of response and speech. With the acknowledgement of these patterns providers and staff are able to reduce the amount of error that can occur in health care. Healthcare Stereotyping Stereotyping is a behavior used when there is uncertainty; providers may apply this type of treatment when faced with medical decision making. Individual often harbor negative associations in relation to various groups. African American patients have been viewed as less educated, and less likely to comply with the providers instructions. Providers are often unaware of here bias decisions. One stereotype is that of Black Americans are less cooperative when it comes to medical procedures, this is called automatic stereotyping. To beat this type of treatment is vital that the provider communicates with patients; understand the environmental state of these patients. Many patients who don’t receive proper care is due to the cost of health insurance, lack of finance, and communities that are lacking proper physician care. Patient care must be treated as an equal. Conclusion The healthcare field as been viewed as a field that has overcome many barriers, unfortunately that’s untrue, many providers suffer from the lack of communication, and understanding why it is important to break cultural barriers. Perception and disparities in health care are often stereotype those without health insurance, how well a patient speaks English, and lastly patient gender. As health care providers it is very important to understand the quality of care that is expected among cultures. Communication among the patient and physician can make or break the organization values. References Neulip, J. W. (4th Edition 2009). Intercultural Communication. In J. W. Neulip, A Contextual Approach. Sage Publications. Singleton, K., Krause, E., (Sept. 30, 2009) â€Å"Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Barriers to Health Literacy† OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol.

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Else, you could wind up with a failure to rapidly record, sort and discover patients who have relating scenes of forethought, arrangements, authentic cases, and so forth. Similarly, you may need to guarantee that patients with open scenes of consideration, for example, those that are inpatients or are on a holding up rundown can't be erased or changed, on the grounds that such differentiations could have a risky impact on your database's honesty. Whether the issue causes lost or degenerate patient records, whichever way such audacious possibly be left unattached, gliding round your framework with no placeholder or legitimate way.In this manner, without referential trustworthiness you will be left with a database that can't run at an ideal execution level and is at danger from administrators. Referential Integrity empowers you to administer a predictable and approved database. Case in point, in a patient database you may need to guarantee that no patients could be entered into the fra mework without an extraordinary patient ID. Else, you could wind up with a failure to rapidly record, sort and discover patients who have comparing scenes of rethought, errands, authentic cases, and so on.Just as, you may need to guarantee that patients with open scenes of forethought, for example, those that are inpatients or are on a holding up rundown can't be erased or altered, on the grounds that such differentiations could have an unsafe impact on your database's honesty. Whether the issue causes lost or degenerate patient records, whichever way such audacious possibly be left unattached, drifting around your framework with no placeholder or coherent way. Consequently, without referential honesty you will be left with a database administrators. SIZE 4: QUEUE 5: QUEUE 6:Dater currently woven into each segment and capacity in the worldwide economy, and, in the same way as other key components of creation, for example, hard possessions and human capital, much of up to date invest ment movement basically couldn't happen without them. The utilization of Big Data -? extensive pools of death might be united and examined to perceive examples and settle on better choices -? will turn into the foundation of rivalry and development for unique firms, upgrading benefit and making huge worth for the world economy by decreasing waste and expanding the nature of items and administrations.As of recently, the torrent of defoliating our reality has been a marvel that likely just energize a couple of attends. At the same time we are presently at an intonation point. As stated by examination from the McKinney Global Institute (MGM) and McKinney & Company's Business Tech oenology Office, the sheer volume Of desecrated, put away, and dug for experiences has ended up financially pertinent to organizations, government, and buyers.The historical backdrop of past patterns in IT financing and improvement and its effect on intensity and benefit firmly propose that Big Data can have a comparable force, in reticular the capability to change our lives. The same preconditions that permitted past waves of IT-empowered advancement to power gainfulness, I. E. , innovation improvements emulated by the selection of reciprocal administration developments, are set up for Big Data, and we need suppliers of Big Data engineering and propelled logical proficiencies to have in any event to the extent that effect on benefit as suppliers of different sorts of innovation.All organizations need to take Big Data and its possibility to make esteem genuinely on the off chance that they need to contend. For instance, a few retailers grasping huge dataset the possibility to build their working edges by 60 for every penny. Enormous Data: another advantage The utilization of Big Data is turning into a vital path for heading organizations to beat their companions. In most businesses, built contenders and new contestants apparently equivalent will power derivative techniques to enhance, co ntend, and catch esteem.For sure, we discovered early samples Of such utilization of attain every area we inspected. In human services, dapperness are investigating the wellbeing results of pharmaceuticals when hey were generally recommended, and uncovering profits and dangers that were not obvious throughout fundamentally more constrained clinical trials. Other early adopters of Big Data are utilizing taproom sensors installed within items from youngsters' toys to modern merchandise to figure out how these items are really utilized as a part of this present reality.Such knowledge then advises the formation of new administration offerings and the outline of future items Enormous Data will help to make new development open doors and altogether new classes of organizations, for example, those that total and iciest industry information. A significant number of these will be organizations that sit amidst extensive data streams where outboard items and administrations, purchasers and sup pliers, purchaser inclination and plan might be caught and dissected.Forward-speculation pioneers crosswise over segments ought to start forcefully to fabricate their associations' Big Data competencies. Notwithstanding the sheer scale of Big Data, the continuous and high-recurrence nature of the dater likewise vital. Case in point, â€Å"miscasting,† the capacity to gauge measurements, for example, hopper certainty, quickly, something which formerly could just be carried out reflectively, is getting to be all the more broadly utilized, adding impressive force to expectation.Likewise, the high recurrence of tapestries clients to test speculations in close constant and to a level at no other time conceivable. We examined five spaces in profundity human services and retail in the United States, the general population segment in Europe, and assembling and individual area data(the area desecrated by the keen cell phones large portions of us now convey) universally and some compre hensively appropriate methods for leveraging enormous damagers. References (Insights & Publications, ND).

The Use of Landscape as a Means of Commentary Essay

The Use of Landscape as a Means of Commentary - Essay Example 625), moral or philosophical beliefs. Two authors that achieved this within their work were Thomas Cole and Frederic Church. Understanding the way that these two artists achieved commentary through their work in the 19th century is an effective method of examining commentary in landscape painting within the 19th century as a whole. Thomas Cole was an American landscape painter who was one of a group of artists, collectively known as the Hudson River School. Artists within the school focused on national landscapes as a way of reflecting on their own spiritual values and that of the nation. Their paintings often examined the way that the United States, and its people, was attempting to forge a national culture and identity (Hoy, 2009, p. 6). Another aspect of their work was of the potential for America to become a great nation (Kornhauser et al., 2001). For the American landscape painters, the wildness and uniqueness of their landscape provided a way to express the potential that the c ountry had, as well its history. The United States lacked the long cultural history that their European counterparts had, and as such the landscape provided an effective alternative (Kornhauser et al., 2001, p. 6). Cole lived from 1801 to 1848 and was often referred to as the ‘father’ of the Hudson River School. This term was applied to him because he is considered to be the artist that had the most influence in making landscape painting into a respected and popular genre. Cole’s paintings were not accurate representations of actual views that he observed, instead they were compositions. He argued that the use of composition rather than strict reproduction of the environment did not mean his paintings, or those of his contemporaries, were not of nature. Instead, he considered them to bring together many different parts of nature, making a more complete image than could be attained from a single view (Smithson, 2000). This approach also gave Cole the ability to us e his paintings to express viewpoints, and to provide commentary on the world around him and his own particular viewpoints. In his painting The Oxbow, also known by its longer name View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm, Cole presents a landscape view of a particular area of a valley following a rainstorm. The imagery in the piece is interesting, because it consists of two opposite perspectives. The left hand side of the painting is covered in clouds and is darker. The landscape is that of a wildness, forested and untamed. The right hand side of the image is a sharp contrast, and is brighter, consisting of a civilized region, where the wildness is no longer present, and instead there are areas for farms. In the middle of the piece, small and almost unnoticeable, sits an easel. This image can be interpreted as more than a painted representation of the view that the painter saw, instead the painter makes a clear juxtaposition between how the United St ates was before colonists had made a significant impact and afterwards. The presence of the easel suggests that the artist is attempting to determine the direction that

Collaborative Problem Solving Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Collaborative Problem Solving Model - Essay Example In the thick of the problem students' work in groups, co-operate, and often act as professionals facing problems as they occur without suggesting any boundaries on the part of the teacher. Indeed the information they have may not be sufficient. However, with in the limitations they arrive at solutions, which are far more effective than the traditional teacher centered problem-solving approach. and peers than he/she can achieve by them self. Social interaction is beneficial for the growth of the child. It has also been confirmed by research that peer collaboration can facilitate better performance when one child is more advanced. In brief, the problem-solving ability can heighten when they work together. effectiveness of collaborative problem solving in certain situations. Studies on peer collaboration among school-aged children have sometimes questioned the benefit of collaboration under a certain age. Research has been somewhat inconclusive on this problem. It found that five year-olds were more likely to get involved in discussion and collaboration than 3 year-olds. Moreover, it was found that 5 to 6 year old children performed better, when they worked with a more competent partner than when they worked with a less competent partner. In fact, more research is called for to determine at what age collaborative sharing can be effective (Vermette, 1998). Application of collaborative problem solving can be done in the classroom in reference to an ecosystem. The ecosystem of the saltwater marsh is ideally suited for this study. Any ecosystem has four major components. First, there are the nonliving or abiotic components. The other three components are the living organisms. They are the producers, consumers, and decomposers. The goal of exercise is to develop a deeper understanding of the interdependence with ecosystems by examining how plants and animals are interdependent. The student should also develop enough knowledge about the marsh plants and animals. They should build sufficient vocabulary to explain scientific phenomenon in proper terms. In this study, the ultimate aim is to make a comparative study of the traditional method and the application of collaborative problem solving approach in teaching. For collaborative problem solving study, two standard methods are available, Student Teams-Achievement Division (STAD) and Jigsaw. A Jigsaw classroom method is preferred because it not only helps in collaborative problem solving, but also helps in narrowing down ethnic, cultural, and religious differences among the learners. In the Jigsaw approach, all the students have the opportunity to be a teacher,

Corporate Ethics from a Bottom-up View Point Research Paper

Corporate Ethics from a Bottom-up View Point - Research Paper Example In establishing an ethics program, a bottom-up approach is recommended (Brown, 2005). This entails engaging all the employees in the discussion and thinking about ethics. This makes it easier to implement as everyone in the company may feel that they had an input in deciding about ethics program. As fact, top-down nostrums are less effective in most organizations. They tend to perpetuate even further, the varied perception toward corporate ethics as perceived by the employees and the top management. Nevertheless, senior managers are known to influence the character and the scope of the organization’s corporate ethics program. They are charged with the responsibility of ensuring the integration of the ethics into the day-to-day routine of the organization. In general, senior managers have much to play in the successful implementation and management of ethics in an organization. Thus, their take and perception on ethics matters a lot. Research has evidenced that senior manager in most companies exhibit a more positive perception towards organizational ethics as compared to the lower level managers and employees. On the other hand, lower level managers and employees tend to be more cynical when it comes to business ethics in organizations. Thus, there is a clear contrast in perception towards organizational ethics between the two groups. Even so, many senior managers have proved to be ignorant of the ethical problems and matters affecting their organization. This plays a pivotal role in discouraging ethics as well as perpetuating the differences in perception towards ethics in most organizations.... Thus, there is a clear contrast in perception towards organizational ethics between the two groups. Even so, many senior managers have proved to be ignorant of the ethical problems and matters affecting their organization. This plays a pivotal role in discouraging ethics as well as perpetuating the differences in perception towards ethics in most organizations. On the other hand, a substantial number of lower level managers and employees perceive ethics programs, mission statements, codes of conducts among other ethics-related programs to be of little help or of no value to them. The employees also believe that the top managers usually are out-of-touch in matters concerning ethics. They believe that the top managers tend to avoid any discussion about ethics. According to Byron (2006), this is attributed to the fact they are too busy for ethical issues or they are just deliberately avoiding responsibility. There is also escalating tendency of cynicism of the lower level employees and the higher level managers. The lower level employees tend to psychologically distance themselves from the top managers in several instances. The positive perception towards organizational ethics as exhibited by senior management has been attributed to various reasons. Their social interaction and their role expectation is one of the reasons. Another reason is the link between the senior mangers identity and that of the organization. In this regards, senior managers usually play a significant role in the establishment of the organization reputation. According to Trevino, Weaver and Brown (2007), they tend to identify themselves strongly with the organization as well as its image. On the contrary, lower level managers and employees are less likely to identify themselves with the

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

UPA - Essay Example As the essay declares a theoretical framework guides research and clarifies what exactly is the purpose of the research. Even though the research question tends to be misleading as the article progresses the purpose of research becomes clear. This research was based on a preconceived notion that the triage is higher when UAPs handle the emergency department. This can produce unbiased results. This also implies that the theoretical framework on the nursing theory constantly guided the author in her research. Not knowing what the real framework can be a problem. The author has used a developmental framework. This paper stresses that while the introduction of the subject tends to be slightly confusing in the beginning the problem has been properly highlighted in the text later. The flow of the subject is efficiently handled. Current and proper references used and cited wherever necessary. The author is not trying to prove that her preconceived notions were correct. The actual results are quoted which revealed that contrary to belief the triage time taken by licensed nurses or by the UAPs did not differ. It convinces the reader to remove this myth from the mind that triage is faster when nurses handle it. Issues have been well argued and presented. References have been cited from various books on this subject. The author still suggests another ‘study to compare the educational level of the triage nurse†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ implying that this has not been covered so far. At times the author tends to contradict her own statements.

Construction method statement and risk assessment Research Proposal

Construction method statement and risk assessment - Research Proposal Example The study will also measure the impact on river life. Steps can be taken to reduce negative impact by designing the diversion channel to incorporate features. 1. Installation of welfare and sanitary facilities for workers on site. Risk assessment at this stage: Assessment of risks including financial risks associated with a cost plus contract, ecological risks, and competency risks associated with improper / insufficient training. The sequence of execution for the project: Setting out of the channel according to the design, including the location of the foot over bridge, and access and surrounding development. Blocking of area around start and end of diversion on river bed by creating rock levy. That shall be extended later to block the river. 1. Excavation of the diversion channel to correct depth and dimensions. Pouring plain concrete at bottom of diversion channel, and spray concrete along sides. 2. 3. Reinforcement and shuttering for sides and bottom of channel. 4. Shuttering and formwork with correct alignment and levels. Poring of concrete into formwork, and vibration to reduce air pockets within poured concrete. 5. Pouring and installation of foot overbridge using a 4 bag mixer (assuming channel width of approximately 10m). Surrounding development including walkways, plantation and safety / guardrails. Installation of lighting as required. Installation of metal ladders and other safety features to diversion channel. Painting of levels on channel sides. Provision of monitoring office to oversee operation during defect liability period. Flow testing. Commissioning. Blocking of existing riverbed at both ends. Apart from Health and safety issues as enumerated above, working with or in water involves risks arising due to the following: Water stagnation or flow. Fluctuation in levels and flow rates, either seasonal or daily. Tides, in case of proximity to see. Weather changes, including rain in upriver catchment areas. Diseases. Other users of water including boats, people, structures. Impact on plant and animal life. Some other general measures to mitigate health and safety risks for the project are: Flood warning system and foghorn. Public address system. Constantly available means of escape and evacuation for workers on site. Access to weather information in real-time. Study of soil

Sources of Revenue for the New Company Assignment - 24

Sources of Revenue for the New Company - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that when the new company is being opened up, it will have to encounter a number of start-up costs. These costs will consist largely of new equipment that the company will have to buy up to provide production and hosting for customers. In addition, other costs will include the materials that will have to be used to manufacture coffee and other food items. The new company will have to invest in coffee roasters, mixing and blending machines, a refrigerator, baking machines (if the company chooses to bake its own products) and furniture for hosting the clients. Furthermore, the company will have to pay for the security and rent of the shop they occupy along with some renovation costs. In terms of materials, the company will have to buy up coffee beans, cream, milk, flour, sugar, and other such consumables.  Other than these costs, the company will have to look into recurring expenditures such as costs of utilities and pays for part-time worker s. Based on these projections, the company may or may not make profits depending on the market they are present in as well as the financial backing they have available to continue with these expenses in the beginning. The owners will have to focus on the economic environment because economic recession and a slow resurgence of the economy have meant that disposable incomes are low. People would be less than willing to spend more on items such as coffee and non-essential food items because their finances would be already restrained. Another external environment that the owners would need to look into is the political environment.  

Estate Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Estate Planning - Research Paper Example Without a comprehensive estate plan, a significant part of the work you've done throughout your life, both at your job and with your investments, can be lost or given to unintended beneficiaries" (InvestorGuide.com). Estate planning is also important for recipients of social security benefits as "receiving an inheritance may alter his/her social security entitlement. This is particularly prevalent when one member of a couple dies as the survivor is then treated as a single person with lower thresholds under income and assets tests. This means that the levels of assets and income at which the pension starts to reduce and ultimately ceases are reduced which may result in a lower pension or even a complete loss of pension for the beneficiary" (Social security estate planning implications ). Now there are more than one way of planning your estate, especially what to expect after death. The most popular of which is the last will and testament. However, recent developments in finance provides estate planners a better way of handling their estate, that which entails lesser cost, direct or indirect to the heirs: trusts and superannuation. In this particular paper, we will show the many ways in which trust and superannuation supersedes the benefits of the estate planner and their heirs; both through current literatures and through analysis. "A trust is an arrangement under which one person, called a trustee, holds legal title to property for another person, called a beneficiary. You can be the trustee of your own living trust, keeping full control over all property held in trust. A 'living trust' (also called an "inter vivos" trust) is simply a trust you create while you're alive, rather than one that is created at your death" (Nolo). One good thing about living trust is it helps one evade probate, helps reduce taxes and also sets up a long-term property management (Nolo). Trust Versus Will "The Trust owns the legal title to the property in it while you are still alive, and since a Trust does not end at your death, it will still own the property when you die. You put instructions in the Trust for how the Trustee, or person controlling the Trust, should distribute the Trust property, and the Trustee will carry out those directions" (FreeAdvice.com). One important feature about the trust is it can be distributed without necessarily going through the probate process - a "legal process which inherited property goes through in order to transfer the title of the property from the decedent to the beneficiary" (FreeAdvice.com). The main reasons why trusts are advantageous especially for the high net worth individual is it is far less expensive to administer (FreeAdvice.com). On the other hand, "a will is a document that transfers property to others after your death. Because you still own the property at the time you die, all the property transferred in the Will must go through the probate process, which is often slow and costly" (FreeAdvice.com). Below is a summary of the advantages of a trust over a will: Avoid probate - Unlike

Effects of Standardized Testing on Teaching and Learning Research Paper

Effects of Standardized Testing on Teaching and Learning - Research Paper Example Phelps (2005) continues to argue that through standardized testing, school administrations are better placed to evaluate if what they assess is in line with the provisions of the policy makers of education. In this case, standardized tests can be described to be of benefit to schools in terms of setting what needs to be assessed and how the tests can be manipulated to improve education. Standardized tests have also been credited for their ability to set aside measures for assessing the standards of education being offered in the schools. According to Plank (2009) standardized tests are an interpretation of the standards in which schools operate within, with the results of these tests giving a clear indication of the concepts being taught in that particular educational setting. In essence standardized tests set the standards that educators should aspire to achieve in the quest to deliver effective teaching and learning among the learners. On another point of view, standardized tests a ssess the accountability of the entire school programs in terms of learning and teaching (Bussert-Webb, 2000).Through standardized tests, educators are very keen in terms of the kind of programs they offer, and if it adds a positive to learning in the classroom setting. The results of these tests have over the years been reshaped to instill change in the educational system. However, this aspect requires a lot of monitoring and inclusion of incentives, for instance rewards on teachers, to see to it that reforms are put in place in the educational system. On another point of view, other studies indicate that testing has very minimal effects on the teaching and learning. This, according to Plank... This research will begin with the statement that the educational system requires the incorporation of tests so as to visualize if the contents of the educational system are well understood by the beneficiaries of teaching and learning. It is evident that the educational system has been facing a myriad of changes that led to the demand for putting in place measures that would cater for all the demands of the educational system. One of the themes that have been faced with a lot of debates in the educational sector relates to testing and measurement of learners’ ability in the educational setting. As a result of this theme, the need to come up with methodologies that would allow for understanding and awareness regarding what aspects need to be evaluated and how the evaluation process should take place has been on the policy makers of the educational system. Indeed, various analysts and researchers of concern with the educational sector have shown a lot of interests on the efficie ncy of the strategies used to train students and assess their mastery of concepts taught in the classroom setting. In light to this argument, it is of great importance that educators deal with the challenge facing them regarding formulating a standardized approach of assessing learner ability and how they can get involved in dealing with the challenges that come along with the tests subjected to the learners. Conclusively, tests and assessment play a vital role in the teaching and learning process.

Drama Part 1 Essay Example for Free

Drama Part 1 Essay The piece of Drama we have created is called The Fear of the Unknown. We looked at various ways of interpreting the title before agreeing on a suitable theme. Our story covers the death of a character and studies the reactions of characters in different situations. The actual cause of death is left to the imagination and is never actually mentioned. This links in with the title we were given. I am going to compare The fear of the unknown with the play The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and adapted by Steven Mallatratt. I will also use the Crucible text by Arthur Miller and Blue Remembered Hills text. In the Woman in Black as the actor approaches the house a gobo is shown to show Eel marsh house in the background. The house seems large and foreboding. This helps create an air of suspense with the audience who already have heard about the woman in black. This happens again when the actor approaches the door to the playroom whilst the music plays. Similarly, the actors in The Fear of the unknown create tension whilst approaching the house by talking quietly and discuss the house in their ghost story. The curse of the Woman in Black is similar to the curse placed on the house where a girl died many years ago. Many other people tell the story of the woman in black. The actor isnt superstitious so ignores them. He is lucky to escape with his life. In the fear of the unknown Stacey warns Sadie about the curse in the house where the girl died, Sadie believes the story but then still goes in the house, and doesnt return. This could also be compared to in the Crucible where the suspicion of witchcraft underlies everything. In the beginning of the play many people didnt even have suspicion of witches. Though the idea there were witches living within a community ate away at the people until people died. Many innocent people ended up hanging for witchcraft. The imagination of characters in the play we performed added to the tension created. This occurred frequently during the piece, for example when Charlie and Sadie appear at the door to Staceys party Stacey looks Sadie up and down. Sadie is instantly terrified of Stacey even though this is normal behaviour in her characters case. The same thing happens in Blue Remembered Hills when the siren goes to signal that a prisoner of war has escaped. Every noise sounds like the war prisoner approaching them and all the children believe the prisoner of war would kill them. You can also compare it to the Crucible where everyone suspects everyone else to be witches, and everyone turns on everybody else causing more havoc. To some extent this also happens in The Woman in Black as the actor is met by suspicious and hostile reactions when he attends the ladies funeral. Also everybody in the village believes in The Woman in Black and her terrible curse, this means all the characters would be on edge. In conclusion, I think our drama performance went well, our preparation could have been better but we all had different school activities on, which made it hard to rehearse. Near to the end of our rehearsals we threw one member of our cast out. This put us at a disadvantage but meant we worked better as a group in the end as we were all striving for a common goal. Our original ideas included; Bullying and the consequences of bullying, Relationships, and problems that could never be solved. We decided to work on the events leading up to an unnecessary death.

Budgeting in the Hotel Industry

Budgeting in the Hotel Industry Abstract This study focuses on the concept of budgeting in hotel industry particularly on the case of Marriott Hotel and Resorts. It primarily identifies the current issues, challenges and opportunities faced by Marriott Hotel. It also aims to find out various aspect of budgeting within hotel industry specifically on how to develop more positive implementation of budget in terms of the company’s financial performance. Using data gathered from interview and personal experience upon placement, the researcher should be able to provide explanation and practical solutions or recommendations related to the general findings or perhaps the aim of the study. Chapter 1 1.1 Main Aims and Objectives of The Study To provide a wide-ranging discussion on the concept of budgeting and their implementation within hotel industry is the main objective of this study. Through a case study approach, the following are the main specific objectives: To describe the process of budgeting employed by Marriott Hotel. To identify the current issues, challenges and opportunities faced by Marriott Hotel. To propose practical solutions and recommendations on the identified issues, challenges and opportunities. 1.2 Research Questions Budgeting is an essential element in any industry. In this case, the concept of budgeting is focused on the following problems: How Marriott Hotel employs the process of budgeting? What are the current issues, challenges and opportunities faced by Marriott Hotel? What are some practical solutions and recommendations on the identified issues, challenges and opportunities? 1.3 Background of The Study â€Å"Hoteliers use budgeting and forecasting for strategic planning and financial control, and as a standard against which to measure actual operating results. Financial forecasts and budgets can strengthen managements control of hotel operating expenses and help determine the profitability of the property†. â€Å"Budgeting is planning. In order to make meaningful decision about the future, a manager must look ahead. One way to look ahead is to prepare budgets or forecast† Coltman, Michael M. (1998). In past few years the enormous booming of the tourism industry, budgetary practices in hotel industry has become a significantly studied area of business research and activity. â€Å"Previous research into budgeting practice was undertaken by Schmidgall and Ninemeier (1987 and1989) within the USA†, â€Å"Collier and Gregory (1995) dealt on practices of management accounting of six (6) organizations including budgeting†. â€Å"The early and limited accounts o f management accounting particularly budgeting within hotel industry paved way for increased effort of few hospitality educators to the need of undertaking research into budgetary practices within the industry (Schimidgall et al., 1996)†. Now days, research work on management accounting and practice are growing unlike any other research field. The findings of this piece of individual work to carry out a research work in the area of management accounting specifically on budgeting aspect and also to look on the relevance and applicability on the case of Marriott Hotel. It also emphasize that the literatures to be used on this study increases until the conclusion of the entire research activity. Other management accounting principle will also be considered. 1.4 Significance of The Research At the end of the research project, the researcher should be able to provide a better way of planning budget as well as their proper use. After determining the important issues, challenges and opportunities on the budgeting approach or strategy of Marriott Hotel, this study will be beneficial to other hotel companies and related business in the hospitality industry especially those who are experiencing similarly related problems. This study will increase the consciousness and will provide a better understanding of the issues and problems concerning budgeting among most hotel companies and organizations. It will improve knowledge through the use of accounting principle as well as definition of important concept, interpretation and analysis of financial statement is the main priority. Also, this will contribute an effective approach in addressing budgetary problems and difficulties. This paper is clearly important for organization that follows appropriate accounting standard and use it for planning the budget and control the cost and expenditure to deploy effective budgetary management within the hotel industry. Chapter 2 2.1 Methodology This is a descriptive research in terms of its purpose, qualitative in terms of its process, case study in terms of methodology, and applicable in terms of its outcome. The researcher used the Descriptive research since â€Å"descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe what exists with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. The methods involved range from the survey which describes the status quo, the correlation study which investigates the relationship between variables, to developmental studies which seek to determine change over time† â€Å"Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied†. Further, â€Å"Qualitative research is all about exploring issues, understanding phenomena, and answering questions† It’s Mainly focuses on meaning of words and the research setting and in terms of designing the research is the main focal point. Similarly, case study is also used on this project â€Å"Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research†. It aims to develop complete understanding of the case as possible and is not linked with any particular research technique. This method involves the researcher to inquire more in depth analysis and examine thorough a real life experience of a person. It is also noted how these behaviors change as the individual adapts and reacts to that particular situation. The discovery and identification of all the important variables which have contributed to the history or development of the chosen subject is also feasible through this method. In this study, the researcher used applied research since it includes the analysis of a real life situation and explores the problem, issues associated with a real life scenario, which is happening at the moment, and establishes a strong connection with the real environment. 2.2 Data Collection and Analysis Data collection or requirement for the research covered both primary and secondary sources.   The sources of data are the following: primary data – interview and personal experience and secondary data – published literatures directly linked on the subject. Data gathered from the interviews will be analyzed by comparing the common theme from the respondent. The interview involved managers working on Marriott Hotel who exercise management accounting particularly on the budgeting aspect. Interview is an effective way to accumulate some inside information of one particular company and discover important facts that any individual came across and also share experiential knowledge. The information gathered from the interviewee were directly quoted or referenced to support the initial observations of the researcher. Analysis and discussion of findings were included to both literatures and the facts that obtained through investigation. Using the theories and principles of management accounting, the researcher came up with discussions, conclusion and recommendations as a par of the project and also to provide a clear understanding of the entire project. Chapter 3 Literature Review The literature studies in terms of research work in management accounting as well as various other related topics in budgeting are extensive. This chapter covers the related literatures conducted on the area of study. By undertaking such approach , the research may be lead accordingly by discovering the source of the research, what and how much have been done in the past and what is still yet to be tackle. Besides providing background of the study, this study will also provide the necessary theoretical and various other related aspects in order for the research to stand convincing. References are taken form many different resources specifically, in the area of budgeting in hotel industry and issues on budgeting. 3.1 Budgeting in Hotel Industry This section provides a fundamental understanding of budgeting concept in hospitality industry and their use in their daily operation. â€Å"The use of budgetary control is one of the key detective controls in many hotel businesses† Chin, J., Barney, W and O’Sullivan. The traditional idea on the concept of hotel is a sort of business establishment that offers paid temporary housing or simply lodging. Such services are provided in a short term basis and it concludes in a specified period of time. In the meantime, money is often referred as the income of the business and on the other hand budgets provides a guideline for any expenditure and increase the shareholders wealth and owners interest in terms of providing a standard service for the business to stand creditable. â€Å"The budget is like an airline Pilot’s flight plan; it sets out in figures where to steer in order to reach a given objective† Fenton, Lawrence, Fowler, Norman A., Parkinson, Geoff. Without a clear budget in mind, the business would not achieve the targeted return or perhaps maximised return required by the owner of the business since it cannot identify the risks and costs involved in its future trend. â€Å"The process of budgeting is considered to be a valuable control tool in the hospitality industry†. The primary concept and as stated before, hospitality industry is an operation establishment that offers short-term paid lodging to mostly travellers, tourists and other people. This is the traditional and main or common idea of people when they hear the term hotel. In the earlier days, hotels services were limited, such as a bed and its complete bedding, a locker, a small table – most of the time side table, and a washstand that includes bathroom and other comfort facilities. Additional features include telephone service, television (cable TV), and other necessary yet basic things like coffee or tea making accessories. In addition from the extended line of facilities and services, hotels also include some other special operations. At present time, the services provide by hotel has extended far more then their core business and presently hotels are offering events, banqueting and conference services. Most commonly hotels are said to be service-oriented. The identity of a hotel is based on the service particularly on the quality and overall operational standards. The presence of a hotel classification based on stars rating system. 3.2 Why Budgeting in Hospitality Industry? The use of budget and budgetary control is now a vital part of the Hospitality industry accounting and should then be use as a benchmark to measure their performance as well setting up their financial target. â€Å"The budgeting process is often used not only to plan ahead, but also for target setting and raising individual performance.† Adams, Debra. Hotel business alone is continuously growing in the 21st century. â€Å"The UK hotel market was valued at  £14bn in 2006, having an increased by 28.9% since 2002†. This industry comprises hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, fast food retail, bars, and catering. In order to sustain in this competitive market or to perform as a successful key player, any hotel industry must adopt budgeting; hence this will assist the management to plan ahead for their future target. â€Å"Budgeting is planning. In order to make meaningful decisions about the future a manager must look ahead. One way to look ahead is to prepare budget or forecast†. Gareth Owen (1998) has explained budgetary process in hotel business by drawing a budgetary cycle. Environmental Influences audit Internal resources audit Actual result Master Budget Departmental Budget Strategic Plan (3-7) years Annual Business plan Long term Strategic Gap Short term Operational gap (Accounting for Hospitality Tourism leisure Auth: Gereth Owen Second edition P: 297) The author has explained the overall planning cycle a top down process and for a long term objectives should determine any short term activity that has a significant impact in operational process. A strong hand in controlling their daily operation; for instance what is done from minute to minute, hour by hour and day to day will have a direct impact on long term plans. On the other hand controlling in any short term activities will directly influence in any long term objective. Therefore long terms aim or objective needs support from short term objective. There are several kinds of budgets are employed in hospitality establishment. For instance Capital Budget, Operating Budget, Master Budget, Departmental Budget, Fixed Budget, Flexible Budget. Each of these different kinds of budget comprise of many other type. 3.3 Budgetary process The process of budgetary practices in a hotel starts with the departmental budget, the consequence behind that is a departmental budget will give overall cost related to the many parts of the hotel for instance a house profit cannot be estimated without knowing the cost associated with department like housekeeping, valet, repairs and maintenance, room service reception etc. Also cash budget cannot be prepared without the knowledge of departmental revenue and expense hence the overall cost of the hotel. Departmental budget is probably the most difficult to prepare after the sales budget and involve a lot of manpower and moreover time consuming. The departmental budgeting process can be summarised in four steps. Assign a task for the department managers to gather information such as revenue, cost and expenditure. Analyse the past trend and estimate any revenue generated by the revenue centres like Brassiere, Banqueting, Restaurant, Front Office (reception), business centre, room service. Subtracts any expenditure from the estimated revenue related to the department. Finalise the information with the department managers before combining into one report At this point all the expenses and revenue should be combined with a detail report of explanation for the budgeted cost and revenue for that specific period, the department manager will have to decide whether this budget is feasible over that period or not, once this has been approved by the D.O.F it will then be combined in the Hotel Master Budget. Once the departmental budget has been established its time to prepare the cash budget, this will help the management to see the detail view of their cash inflows and outflows and will enable to plan a head for any expenditure. In today’s financial world almost every company adopt a cash budget as its help the management making decision about their future abilities for paying any debt as well as expenditure. Having discussed the budgetary process, many hotel industries uses more advanced, reliable techniques in addition to budgetary process to clarify any last minute adjustment prior to the budgetary period another word forecast is an updated version of the final budget. Forecasting is mainly use in budgeting and it also could be applicable to many other aspects in the industry. â€Å"A more accurate forecasting of room occupancy rates would facilitate strategic planning and enhance the decision-making procedures of hotel management companies† Forecasting is normally done in monthly basis prior to the beginning of the month, many company has more frequent forecasting policy. Two most commonly use forecasting method is the â€Å"moving average† and â€Å"multiple regressions† and this process is normally carried out by the finance department of any hotel. In Marriott, the hotel and its management start to prepare the budget in middle of the year for the upcoming next one year. The officers and members of the top level finance management are the ones responsible for the completion of the most appropriate and inclusive yearly budget. The hotel uses a bottom up approach budgeting system another word â€Å"participative budgeting method†. Participative budgeting involves employee’s participation in preparation of the budgeting at various level of organisational aspect, even though the final decision is made by the top level management. Participative budgeting gives employee an excellent opportunity to take the owner ship of their own budget document and motivation to meet the target. â€Å"A budgeting system in which all budget holders are given the opportunity to participate in setting their own budgets†. In this method all the managers are responsible for preparing their own departmental budget with the assistant of a finance manager. The departmental managers normally start preparing the budget in the month of July based on past trend, the managers will look ahead for the whole year projected expense like wages and salaries, any fixed and variable cost like labour cost and then calculate the required profit by the owner. The managers will then evaluate the budget inside-out to clarify is it practical? Is it reachable? The finance manager will then put forward their draft budget to upper level finance management for approval. Once this has been approved by the Director of Finance, general manager and the executive team it will then unite in their master budget and finally a copy of the Master budget will be sent to their regional office for approved by the Area director of finance. Marriott previously used a software package for helping the departmental manager preparing the budget which no longer supported and exchanged with the idea of using Excel spread shit Template. This template helps the manager whose are not very budget educated and has a limited understanding of budgeting concept. After end of each month the hotel publish an internal PL (Profit and Loss account) report for the departments to evaluate the performance. The department head will be asked to critique on their result to the director of finance (DOF) and DOF finally create a critique report which will be reviewed by the regional office. The following discussion is an example of Marriott Hotel Master Budget for a year. However, it is noted that specific figures are altered for the purposes of corporate confidentiality. Please refer to a copy of the Master budget in Appendix I Figure 1.1 is the detailed presentation of the hotel’s revenue target for the year 2006. As seen on the records, the room sales have a considerable portion in the total revenue because of the fact that this is the core of their entire business operations. This figure has been compared with the budget of the previous year 2005. Basing on the figures obtained from the comparison, the total room revenue significantly increased over12-month’s period. Depending on the upcoming business, the hotel management set this target for example, if any major function taking place in the month of August during the summer particularly this year, they then increase the target for the profit and revenue compared with the previous year. The total number of room sales revenue holds 25.44% share in the total sales. In this particular hotel, we can also see that they make the most revenue from the banqueting service although the room sales are their core business. The banqueting service has a share of 63.21% of the total sales. Meanwhile, the total Food and Beverage sales revenue has a significant impact in the hotel business. As a primary section of the entire hospitality industry, it plays a significant role in any hotel industry business. After determining the target for the total revenue of the hotel, the officers and members of the top level finance management who is in control of the overall budgeting process will start to look into the hotel’s expenses and wages. The department head will be asked to gather the needed information and come up with the numbers based on past business trends and experiences. The finance director will then discuss and undergo further clarifications with the department head before approving a unified master budget. In Figure 1.2, figures show the breakdown of all the expenses. The General Admin cost mainly consisted of the Directors’ remuneration and other hotel general expense including Directors’ Parks. From the data presented, it shows that this is one of their main expenses accounting to 32.42% of the total expense. Repairs Maintenance is also a major cost centre. This is due to the fact that it takes off a great amount of the hotel’s profit especially in the case of providing finances in fixing and repairing hotel equipment and facilities. Meanwhile, Sales marketing expenses are mainly accounted to finance hotel’s advertising campaign to promote their business and how to develop their services. On the case of Advertising, it is fixed over the whole year but could be changed depending on the business. Lastly, Figure 1.3 gives an itemized breakdown of the payroll expense including rooms, food and beverages, and other departments. The Food and beverage section employs the biggest number of people. As an important part of the hotel and its entire operations, it needs a great number of manpower to provide services to the hotel clients. The changes in the wages are brought about by trends affecting the whole hotel business operations. After determining all the expenses and the sales target, the officers and members of the top level finance management will then subtract the hotel expenses from the revenue figure to finalize the targeted profit figure. A monthly forecast takes place at the beginning of each month in addition to their quarterly forecast. For example in their 2008 budget they will have a monthly forecast for the month of January as well an advance forecast for the up coming next three month to see if there is any rapid movements in the current trend and perform any last minute adjustment. A forecast can be described as a latest update for the operating budget where a budget is a permanent financial planning for the year. A forecast is not expected to balance with their budget figures as they are flexible in terms of their use and can be changed to meet the demand of the business. 3.4 Issues on Budgeting It is argued that budgeting is considered as an â€Å"old system of control† (Malmi, 2001) or a â€Å"traditional† management accounting (MA) technique (Burns and Yazdifar, 2001). Moreover, it has weaknesses and pitfalls particularly in its entire process (Cruz, 2007). Budgets are prepared on the base of some known factor as well as unknown factor which really means making a future plan just by predicting the possible future business. Budgets preparation also requires disclosing company’s financial information which could be use by the competitor such as their financial performance result. Moreover any surplus in the budget could lead to unnecessary spending; for instance if an expenditure budgets is overvalued then there might be a possibility to find ways to spend those extra fund. There are so many limiting factors in budget and this has been criticised by many individual in the past. Following are the few criticism extracted from the â€Å"Management accounting-Performance evaluation book. Budgets are a commitment. They therefore act as a constraint on doing anything different. Traditional budget are seen as a mechanism for top down control by senior management. Traditional budget restrict flexibility Budget reinforces barriers between department† During the interview with a Finance manager from Marriott hotel, the researcher has found out some specific problem that a manager encounter when preparing the budget which conclude a bad performance in their actual outcome. It was explained that why a manager or hotel don’t meet their budget could be subject to preparing a budget that is realistically unsuitable. Following are the highlighted points that came up during the interview. Unrealistic / too optimistic: If the budget has been prepared by a senior level management based on their own assumption, might not be realistic or acceptable by a lower level manager and could even result a failure to meet the target. A departmental manager will have a better understanding of their target for the specified period rather then being too optimistic about the goal set by the senior managers. Over estimate/ under estimate: A manager tends to make the common mistake when preparing the budget by either over estimating or underestimating the budget. From a budgeting point of view the both issues are identified as a bad influence. Not much participation from the bottom level management: Sometime when preparing the budget becomes sort of an empowering issue and the senior level management ignore the fact of participation by a manager whom it will be assigned. On the other hand a lower level manager might not be interested to add any comment on their budget due to lack of understanding in this area. Poor planning: A poor planning could really effect any budgeting; therefore use of proper time management is very important when preparing the budget. Use of past trend: comparing the past trend result will give them more accurate information whether the set target will be achievable or not or anything particular they need to look at, compare to previous year result. Communication gap: lack of communication between top level management and bottom level management. Despite the first interview with a finance manager, the researcher has also interviewed a top level finance manager, who discussed the issues by putting them into two groups. This could be as follows. Two Groups: 1. External Issue 2. Internal Issue 3.4.1 External issues Unfortunate event (for instance natural disaster): A sudden natural disaster or any unfortunate tragic event could significantly affect the budget for any fiscal year. Changes in government rules and regulation: Any changes in government law for instance health and safety issue or maybe increase in taxation might cause a review of the budget and to carry out a review process will cost more time and money. 3.4.2 Internal issues Hotel renovation: This is a practical example even the researcher has came across during working for the Marriott hotel, the researcher has found out delays occurring through out the life time of the renovation could result to many changes in their budget and loss of revenue and as the hotel funds are limited it is very difficult for the management to tackle this kind of situation. In relation to the bottom level management following are the major concern Lack of understanding Not knowing the operation properly Communication across department ( Example CB) It was identified by the management that the most difficult part of a budget in any hotel establishment is the sales budget. Prior to conclude any figure in the sales budget a forecast should be done. Consequently the forecast number of room sales will give an idea of the cost related to the budget and the management will have a clear picture of different type of cost such as variable and semi fixed cost. One of the major facts that will influence in the forecast for the sales is called as limiting factor also known as â€Å"principal budget factor. This means an additional increase in the sales volume will almost be impossible; for instance the number of rooms available is fixed and therefore the management cannot sell any more then what is available. This has left them with no choice for any additional sale except an increase in the room price; as a consequence they must make sure that they are in line with a hundred percent occupancy rate during the festive season or if possible most of the time during the year. Same issues also influence their restaurant budget such as fixed number of seats available in their restaurant and not able to accommodate any extra guest and this may well result in loss of any potential sales as they cannot increase the seating capacity of the restaurant. There are several kinds of limiting factor can be found in the hospitality industry. According to â€Å"Richard Kotas and Michael Conlan† such limiting factors are like insufficient capital, shortage of efficient labour, management policy, consumer demand. 3.5 Budgetary behaviour and employee motivation It is found that different aspects of budget/ budgeting can affect motivation of employees. â€Å"Kenis (1979) believed that a â€Å"tight but attainable† budget approach is the most effective way to motivate managers to perform better†. â€Å"The budget may be set as a target that management are motivated to meet, a realistic forecast of the likely outcome, or some combination of these goals. Hofstede and other have suggested that the target must be accepted by the budget holder, and this would usually be achieved with a bottom up or interactive approach† Collier, p., Gregory. Chris Argyris (1952-1953) has indentified that â€Å"budgets and budgeting can be related to at least four human relation problems: First, budgets pressure tends to unite the employees against management, and tends to place factory supervisor under tension. Second, the finance staff can obtain feelings of success only by finding fault with factory people. Third, the use of budget as ‘needlers’ by top management tends to make the factory supervisor to see only the problems of their own department. Finally, supervisor use budget as a way of expressing their own patterns of leader ship† Further, to be able to understand the level of such effect, it is essential to include specific organizational or employee factors in the analysis. For example, not enough time to educate department manager’s on the subject of budget and without a clear understanding they are allowed to operate their own department by themselves even though there is substantial training for budget is necessary, Therefore, what is needed is a planned training schedule for managers and employee (where required) for budget rather then holding inspirational presentation or seminars. â€Å"Swieringa and Moncur (1975) found that greater participation in the budget-setting process increases the quality of budgets – in other words, that there is a direct benefit of budgetary participation on subordinates behavior†. The absence of the â€Å"right† environment is the root causes of many budgeting issue specially those one relate to employee motivation. In many companies unit managers are acting like Gods because what they say is what would employees are intended to do and Even though at the end of budget preparing process â€Å"Is there any reactions?†, â€Å"is there any question or suggestion?† in most cases its seems like a bit of an empowering issue like a teacher is giving out the homework to the student. Budget matters are worst. Managers are always allowed to contribute

European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay

European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay The topic of the coursework focuses on the European sovereign debt crisis. We mainly explain how the latest European debt crisis emerged and the reasons that caused the worlds economy to enter into a recession. Another important issue is the impact of the crisis on the markets especially on the bonds markets and other such as commodities, equities, Forex and gold. Furthermore, we explain the lessons to the Eurozone from other countries that defaulted such as Argentina and Russia. What is more, we try to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies and measures taken by the financial institutions and the policy markets. Finally, we discuss the possible effects of the crisis to the financial landscape the lessons to be taken and the trends that may emerge from this turmoil. European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Reasons and Causes There is a prevalent agreement that the fundamental cause of the European sovereign debt crisis was the combination of a credit boom and a housing bubble affecting firstly US and consequently the Eurozone. Easy credit conditions during the 2002-2008 period encouraged high-risk lending and borrowing practices. This extremely situation has happened even though in 1992, members of the European Union signed the Maastricht Treaty that guarantee only the public sector can produce permanent deficits. It assumed that financial markets would always correct their own excesses. Next figure shows how home mortgages had risen during the period 2004 and 2007, collapsing all the banks due to lack of liquidity as people were not able to pay their mortgages back. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmDX2zrBTfqSAEZKutABYhgarLtvusJotnh649PS427z1fdnd71O1FtPZxBI-GRz9ryn-EqvhzT7cCnbNupWKZb-qXiYo8TbdaokdltncIty-28S529SUwjqjDhbdZG-5fSco699I1YnF/+outstanding+mortgage+credit+1990-2008.jpg There are several important factors implies in the European sovereign debt crisis; some countries have been in trouble to pay the debts that they have built up in recent decades. Five of the regions countries Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have failed to generate enough economic growth to make their ability to pay back bondholders the guarantee it was intended to be. Although these five were seen as being the countries in immediate danger of a possible default, the crisis has consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. In fact, the head of the Bank of England referred to it as the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever. Moreover, resulted from a combination of multiple factors European sovereign debt crisis have been affected by: the global financial crisis between 2006-2011; international trade imbalances which are the difference between the monetary value of export  and  imports of output in an economy over a certain period; real-state bubbles  that have since burst; the global recession between 2008-2012; approaches used by nations to guarantee troubled banking industries and private bondholders, assuming private debt weight or socializing . In general, the crisis is presented as the result of arrears in debt of some European Union countries. It is alleged that his debts reached a level that cannot be repaid or refinanced. However, this statement does not hold if we look in detail. Thus, the European Unions debt (about 80% of its GDP) is significantly below in Japan (220%) or the U.S. (100%). US debt increased significantly over the past five years, from less than 60% to over 100%. Still, U.S. is able to finance its debt due to China ´s help. Impacts on the bond markets and other markets The European sovereign debt crisis had a great impact on markets and several implications. The impacts of the debt crisis were so deep to the worlds economy that we can still observe them today especially at the Eurozones countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. High volatility of the euro markets has been a significant factor during the crisis period. Those high levels of volatility can lead to high interest rates of borrowing for the countries with debts and as a consequence to high bond yield spreads. http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0176268010000509-gr1.jpg Fig.  2.  Bond yield spreads for EU-15 central governments, January 1991-May 2009. As we can see in figure 2 the bond yield spreads for the EU-15 central governments during May 1991 till October 2006 were low, whereas the bond yield spreads during October 2006 and May 2009 were extremely high. Government bonds are historically considered as the safest investment. After the crisis, investors starting to lose their confidence in the stock market and as a result they stop investing on it. Consequently, investors turned to government bonds and this led to a rise in the demand of bonds. Therefore, Central Banks tried to increase their holding of government bonds. Because of the increased demand, the price of the bonds has been raised. Source, Bloomberg : Euro Index from 2001-2012 The above graph shows the historical price graph of the European government bonds 7-10 years of maturity. The graph shows that the price of the government bonds gone very high from 2001 till 2012 and it is still rising. Source, Bloomberg : Bond Indices for US government 7-10 year, Bloomberg Finance L.P. The above graph shows the US 7-10 years of maturity price of the government bonds from 2001 till 2012. Again, because of the correlation of the European economy and the US economy the sovereign debt crisis has led the bond prices to high levels. What is more, if we observe the graph we can clearly notice that during 2008 and 2012 there is high volatility which indicates the high demand for government bonds during that period. The stock market is different to the bond market. During credit instability the price of the shares of the firms will decrease. Furthermore, when economies enter into recession the expected profit of the firms is going to be lower thus the firms are going to pay less dividend. Therefore, investors will lose their interest in the equity market and they will eventually turn to other markets such as bond markets. The following graphs drawn from Bloomberg are showing the price levels for SP 500, EURO STOXX and NIKKEI 225 for the period of 2000 till 2012. As we observe there is high volatility to all three equity markets. Furthermore, the low and high prices of the Euro equity index and the Japanese equity index are quite high whereas the prices of the US equity index are low. During January of 2008 the prices fall down for the EURO STOXX and the NIKKEI 225 and the SP 500 experienced great loses during November of 2008. The SP 500s prices went up on March of 2009 whereas the EURO STOXXs a nd the NIKKEIs 225 prices remained low. Source, Bloomberg : EURO STOXX INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : SP 500 INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : NIKKEI 225 from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 During the sovereign debt crisis the worlds economy collapsed. There were many implications in all type of markets such as the derivatives, commodities, foreign exchange market and of course implications in the gold prices and the oil prices. After the housing bubble, the commodity market entered its own bubble. From 2007 till summer of 2008 oil prices went very high and then plunged to very low price by the end of 2008. Oil though was not the only commodity to experience swings in the prices. Table 1 illustrates the declines for some of the commodities during 2008 compared to the declines during 1970 2007. Table 1. The commodity bubble, Source: World Economic Outlook Crisis and Recovery Sovereign Default and lessons from defaulted countries A sovereign default occurs when a government refuses or fails to repay its financial obligations (debts). Countries that have been sovereign defaulted can escape liability without being legal penalized since they are not subject to bankruptcy laws. However, a sovereign default will cause difficulties for the defaulted government to borrow funds again since it will be too expensive and because of the low credit ability. The main cause of a sovereign default is the inability of a government to repay the loans interest rate. If the national income growth is less than the annual payable interest rate then the probability of default is very high. This situation commonly arises when government expenditure such as salaries, pensions, rents, supplies are much higher than the tax revenues while any internal borrowing fails to take place and issuing bills is for various reasons impossible. Economic history is full of cases of bankruptcies. From 1824 to 2009 we had at least 286 formal bankruptcies of 110 states. The most recent cases however were the bankruptcy of Argentina and Russia. Till 1997 Russia managed to improve its financial stability by reducing the inflation rate to 11% comparing to the enormous rate of inflation the previous years and by depreciating its exchange rate. However, problems emerged because of two major crises. The first was the Asian financial crisis, which started in 1997, and the subsequent reduce of demand for oil and metals. What is more, the reduction in demand for goods caused a fall in prices, leading countries who were directly dependent on the export of raw materials to deficits. Oil, natural gas, metals and timber accounted for more than 80% of Russian exports, making Russia highly vulnerable to any changes in international prices. In addition, oil was an important source of tax revenue. Thus, Russian government started to have diffic ulties with its financial obligations and defaulted in 1998. Source, Bloomberg Russia Real GDP by Expenditure As we can see from the graph Russia managed to recover in a decade. Although Russia defaulted in 1998 the results were not catastrophic for the government. On the contrary, Russias economic growth was fast and oil prices went high leading to high profitability. The most recent bankruptcy though occurred in 2002 in Argentina. The economic crisis in Argentina lasted from 1998 to 2002 with the following main points: there was a strong recession from 1998 to 1999 and the financial system collapsed during 2001 and 2002 which was basically the consequence of the recession. During that period of time Argentinas GDP fell by 21% with disastrous results for the citizens. Furthermore, the percentage of poverty reached 57% while unemployment exceeded 23%. Source, Bloomberg Argentinas Annual Real GDP growth Another important factor of that led Argentina to bankruptcy was its currency. During 1991 there was high inflation so the government decided to change the currency and linked it to the dollar (actually they adopted the US dollar instead of their own currency) in order to reduce inflation. Although the new currency reduced inflation for a while the consequences were disastrous. The product prices in the country become more expensive in international markets, which led to the reduction of competitiveness, lower exports and a negative trade balance. Argentinas case is interesting because there are a lot of similarities with the Eurozone countries. The first lesson is that by decreasing the nominal expenditures or by increasing taxes during a recession in order to decrease fiscal deficit reductions will make things worse. The second lesson is that deflation is not going to provide positive results in correcting an overvalued currency especially in a country with large public sector and powerful unions. What is more, by choosing to link their currency to dollar, problems with balance sheets will be significant. Policies and measures Regarding the measures and policies taken by Financial Institutions and Policy Makers, let ´s start with the ones that have been taken by Financial Institutions; we know that our rate of 1 per cent is the lowest since 1999, when the euro began, and this is a result of quickly regressing inflationary pressures since 2008. This step follows the primary objective of European Central Bank, which is to keep price stability in the Eurozone in the medium level. In addition to reduce the interest rate, they have taken a number of measures to support the perfect role of the euro area interbank market. Those measures have helped the progress credit to enterprises and households Those non-standard measures are known as intensify credit support. They mainly focus on commercial banks, because they are the main source of funding for households and businesses in the euro area. To contrast with the US: in the euro area about 70% of the funding of corporations and households comes from banks; the equivalent share for the US is around 25%. So a well-functioning money market is essential for Europes commercial banks and also for the ECB as the transmission of monetary policy to the economy starts here. Those measures are: the complete accommodation of banks liquidity requests at fixed interest rates; the extend of the maturities of the refinancing operations, up to 1 year; the provision of liquidity in foreign currencies; Outright purchases of euro-denominated covered bonds issued in the euro area. This last one has an important function because bond market is traditionally an important way for funding banks in the euro area. This market has been heavily suffered from the financial crisis. They have put an important amount of money 60Billion Euro to support market functioning but it is not so large to dominate market developments. Still, compared with bond purchase programmes in some other major countries, the amount spent by the European Central Bank in the context of its covered bond programme is fairly modest. However, this is a result that the primary role of the ECB is to act as an agent for this market, not as a market maker. To sum up, looking at the effectiveness of measures of improve credit support, we consider a positive impact on money market conditions and over the market. The large injection of liquidity into the money market led to a decrease in money market interest rates at the very short end, to levels close to the ECBs deposit rate of 0.25%. On the other hand if we have a look to Policy makers, those measures have been consisted to support the financial system and measures to reduce the effects of the financial crisis on the rest of the economy. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, most European governments speedily adopted measures to support the financial system in a coordinated action. These included increasing deposit insurance ceilings, guarantees for bank liabilities and bank recapitalisations We believe that the effectiveness of the support measures is positive. The measures were needed for avoiding a further growth of the crisis at the end of 2008. In addition there is an initial evidence that government support measures have been effective in reducing banks default risk, however may be necessary more money, especially in Spain and Greece. Here it seems that capital injections have been effective as well as debt guarantees and asset purchases. Overall, the government response has been effective. But it has negatives points as well; according to the European Commissions, the euro area deficit will increase to 6.5 percent of GDP in 2010 with the debt increasing to 84 percent of GDP, from 69% in 2008. Financial landscape, lessons and trends The last crisis is going to have a major impact on the financial landscape. The lower capital availability will surely change the investors emphasis on private equity and as a consequence the cost of borrowing for companies will be higher. Banks and governments will now have to take under consideration the lessons from the crisis in order to improve their regulations and management policies. A number of banks and other financial institutions had to change their structure due to high risk involved and the low liquidity because of the financial crisis. What is more, governments forced to change their regulations concerning banks and other financial institutions and more limits have been imposed. Furthermore, governments now own significant number of stakes of financial institutions due to efforts to control them. Changes in mergers and acquisitions also occurred with an emphasis in leveraged buyouts. As the debt of the consumers became higher and corporate balance shits focused on debt rather than equities. Apart from that investments will decrease because of the high capital costs and as a result GDP growth will decrease. We have learnt several lessons that might be taken the future. We summarise them in 5. That the euro area did not create an institutional (lacked) framework to correct and identify macroeconomic imbalances. Few countries in euro area have experienced strong nominal divergence mainly caused by unit labour cost increases and excessive credit growth; leading to declining competitiveness. During this time, large current account imbalances reflected a build-up of private and public sector debt, building external vulnerabilities that were exposed when the crisis broke. Establishing a permanent framework for surveillance of such imbalances will be necessary for the future. SGP, Stability and Growth Pact, did not help to fiscal policies consistent with membership of a single currency. In an economic and monetary union, fiscal policies must be consistent with rates of sustainable growth and price stability. Instead, despite during economic growth, 1999 and 2008, fiscal policies were largely pro-cyclical: Few countries kept a budgetary position in structural balance and many got deficits. A more effective SGP will be required for  all   euro area. The absence of appropriate frameworks for policy co-ordination in areas essential for competitiveness and sustainable growth. Lets take this example, a number of euro area countries internalised the fallacy that temporarily elevated national productivity and inflation rates warranted persistent wages increases out of line with the euro area as a whole. A better policy co-ordination is currently needed to reinforce the euro area in national economic policymaking Financial supervision in the Europe was lagging behind financial integration. The result was that a large build-up of systemic risk in the financial sector went largely unnoticed risk which in many cases was ultimately transferred to the balance sheet of the sovereign. A supervision regime commensurate with the reality of financial integration in the euro area is therefore needed. Sovereign debt challenges in individual euro area countries can undermine the stability of the euro area as a whole. Since member countries do not control their currency, they are vulnerable to liquidity episodes. Creditors assessment can change e.g. by effect of contagion, even when fundamentals would not justify itThat is the meanly reason why, a permanent crisis management framework is necessery for the euro area. There are several trends that might emerge from the European Debt Crisis. First of all the welfare state has been affected for this turmoil, millions of people have lost their jobs and governments have reduced money in main sectors as education, health care, culture,etc. due to lack of liquidity and in many countries those main factors will never be again free for everybody..

Pauls Case Essay examples -- essays research papers

Hello to all of you, my name is Paul. It seems that much has been said of me and I, for one would like for you to know the true story, as I see it. There is nothing more beautiful than music, that is a fact that has helped me throughout all of my life. â€Å"The first sigh of the instruments† can feel to me like a thousand wonderful days all wrapped into that one moment. There are not many who understand the pull of the stage and of the arts to a person like me, not my teachers, and certainly not my father. There was a man, though, who seemed to understand my plight. His name is Charley Edwards, an actor at Carnagie Hall, whom I have seen perform many times, and who I consider to be a close, personal friend. But even he could not grasp the luck of life which he had. In order for you to understand a little more about the truths of the arts, let me tell you what makes me love them so. Growing up among the â€Å"ugliness and commonness† of Cordelia Street was very difficult for me, not only because of my father and the loathing I had for him, but because of the â€Å"flavorless, colorless mass of everday living† there. I never belonged there. I dreamed of the day when I could sit for hours upon hours and just listen to the orchestras, wearing purple and looking at flowers. You see these beautiful things that belonged in my life were totally absent as long as I was anywhere near Cordelia Street in Pittsburgh. Have I told you yet about the beauty of red carnations? No, I guess I haven’t. I wo...

Death without Rebirth in T. S. Eliots The Waste Land Essay -- T.S. El

Death without Rebirth in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land is filled with a variety of images and themes. Two outstanding themes are desolation and death without rebirth. Eliot employs many different images related to these two important themes. The most prominent image where desolation is concerned is a wasteland: a barren, rocky landscape lacking any life or water. The absence of water is mentioned over and over to suggest no life can ever exist in this desert, as water is a life-providing substance. Without it, death prevails. The dry, rocky land is desolate. Its waterless features are incapable of supporting life. the journey through this land is a harsh one: it is filled with images of other lives which are just as desolate and infertile as the land itself. One woman aborts an illegitimate child, another ignores her husbands presence in bed. Life is disregarded as worthless in both instances, as well as in th... ...t of a dead land." The author sees the renewal of life doomed from the beginning, as in the end it will die anyway. Coming to terms with a disillusioned perception of the meaning of life is a difficult action. Eliot takes a journey across a waste and through hopeless lives to acknowledge life does not necessarily renew itself. Works Cited Eliot, T. S. "The Waste Land." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 2. 6th ed. Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993.

Alfred Adler Essays -- BIOGRAPHY Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler was born outside of Vienna, Austria on February 7, 1870. He was the third child (second son) of what would eventually be seven total children. As a child, Alfred developed rickets, which kept him from walking until he was four years old. At five, he nearly died of pneumonia. At one point, Adler heard the doctor tell his father that â€Å"Alfred is lost†. It was around this time that Adler decided to become a physician. (Corey 2005) Due to frequent illness, Adler was pampered by his mother throughout most of the first few years of his life. This ended, however, with the arrival of a third son, a younger brother, who â€Å"dethroned† him. This left Adler in the middle, so to speak, due to being â€Å"dethroned† by the newly arrived sibling while still being overshadowed by his older brother Sigmund. The difficulty in his relationship with Sigmund was not short-lived. In fact, it lasted throughout his childhood and into adolescence. The relationship with his parents also showed contrast. While he maintained a trusting relationship with his father, the relationship with his mother was extremely flawed. Adler did not feel close to her, and that could have stemmed from the jealousy produced by the subsequent children and the relation lack of attention he received. During his school years, Adler was an average student. Despite his illnesses and physical limitations, he preferred activities outdoors to remaining indoors for his education. However, with his schoolwork, his primary goal at times was competing and possibly surpassing his brother Sigmund. In 1895, at the age of 25, he received a medical degree from the University of Vienna. During his college years he became attached to a group of socialist students. It was there that he found his future wife, Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein. She was a social activist who had immigrated to Austria from Russia for higher education. They married in 1897 and eventually had four children, two of whom became psychiatrists. (Boeree 1997) His medical career began far from the world of mental health. His first post in the medical field came as an ophthalmologist, but he soon switched to general practice, and established his office in a lower-class part of Vienna. His clients included, among others, the performers who worked with the nearby circus and it has been suggested that the extraordinary abilities of the performers le... ...ment, and therapy concepts that could be nothing but beneficial to anyone seeking counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’ve yet to fully understand how much true training in the Adlerian model is available for graduate school, but I can only hope it’s an available option because it seems to be the best route for me, personally, to take. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Psi Cafà ©: A Psychology Resource Site (2001). Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Adler.htm#About Boeree, Dr. C. George (1997). Personality Theories: Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 21, 2005, from the Shippensburg University Website: http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/adler.html The Alfred Adler Institute of New York (2004). About Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 22, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.alfredadler-ny.org/alfred_adler.htm Minnesota State University-Moorhead â€Å"MSUM† (2005). Adlerian Overview of Birth Order Characteristics. Retrieved April 16, 2005, from the MSU-M Website: http://www.mnstate.edu/kausar/psyc202/Birth%20order%20Characteristics.htm Corey, G. (2005). Theory and Practice Of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, California: Thomson Learning Alfred Adler Essays -- BIOGRAPHY Alfred Adler Alfred Adler was born outside of Vienna, Austria on February 7, 1870. He was the third child (second son) of what would eventually be seven total children. As a child, Alfred developed rickets, which kept him from walking until he was four years old. At five, he nearly died of pneumonia. At one point, Adler heard the doctor tell his father that â€Å"Alfred is lost†. It was around this time that Adler decided to become a physician. (Corey 2005) Due to frequent illness, Adler was pampered by his mother throughout most of the first few years of his life. This ended, however, with the arrival of a third son, a younger brother, who â€Å"dethroned† him. This left Adler in the middle, so to speak, due to being â€Å"dethroned† by the newly arrived sibling while still being overshadowed by his older brother Sigmund. The difficulty in his relationship with Sigmund was not short-lived. In fact, it lasted throughout his childhood and into adolescence. The relationship with his parents also showed contrast. While he maintained a trusting relationship with his father, the relationship with his mother was extremely flawed. Adler did not feel close to her, and that could have stemmed from the jealousy produced by the subsequent children and the relation lack of attention he received. During his school years, Adler was an average student. Despite his illnesses and physical limitations, he preferred activities outdoors to remaining indoors for his education. However, with his schoolwork, his primary goal at times was competing and possibly surpassing his brother Sigmund. In 1895, at the age of 25, he received a medical degree from the University of Vienna. During his college years he became attached to a group of socialist students. It was there that he found his future wife, Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein. She was a social activist who had immigrated to Austria from Russia for higher education. They married in 1897 and eventually had four children, two of whom became psychiatrists. (Boeree 1997) His medical career began far from the world of mental health. His first post in the medical field came as an ophthalmologist, but he soon switched to general practice, and established his office in a lower-class part of Vienna. His clients included, among others, the performers who worked with the nearby circus and it has been suggested that the extraordinary abilities of the performers le... ...ment, and therapy concepts that could be nothing but beneficial to anyone seeking counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’ve yet to fully understand how much true training in the Adlerian model is available for graduate school, but I can only hope it’s an available option because it seems to be the best route for me, personally, to take. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Psi Cafà ©: A Psychology Resource Site (2001). Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Adler.htm#About Boeree, Dr. C. George (1997). Personality Theories: Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 21, 2005, from the Shippensburg University Website: http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/adler.html The Alfred Adler Institute of New York (2004). About Alfred Adler. Retrieved April 22, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.alfredadler-ny.org/alfred_adler.htm Minnesota State University-Moorhead â€Å"MSUM† (2005). Adlerian Overview of Birth Order Characteristics. Retrieved April 16, 2005, from the MSU-M Website: http://www.mnstate.edu/kausar/psyc202/Birth%20order%20Characteristics.htm Corey, G. (2005). Theory and Practice Of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, California: Thomson Learning