How does Montaigne use Rowland Barthe's ideas in on Cannibals Essay

How does Montaigne use Rowland Barthe's ideas in on Cannibals - Essay Example This is something that existed in the Middle Ages with English Empiricism, French Rationalism and the personal faith of the Reformation. In contrast to the positive capitalist ideology that holds the ‘person’ of the author as of the greatest importance in literature, current ideology holds that the reader is the most important person in writing. Barthes advocates for getting rid of the myth that â€Å"the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author† (Barthes 148). He, however, does not fully support the ideology of the author being the centre of literature. This is expressed in his writing where he notes â€Å"The image of literature to be found in ordinary culture is tyrannically centred on the author.† (Barthes 143). In the current writings, text is â€Å"not a line of words releasing a single 'theological' meaning†, â€Å"but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none' of them original, blend and clashâ €  (Barthes 146). This shows that they lack originality. They have no authors; writers depend on already written texts from previous authors, which are blended to form what they consider an authored text. During earlier times, the image of the literature was fully centred on the author. Barthes says it is unjustly centred on the author. Literature was focused on his passions, tastes, person, and life. Critics made conclusions saying that an author’s work if his failure. Explanation of the work focused on the woman or man who produced the work (Barthes 146). The history of modernity begins with Mallarme, who was the first to substitute language for the owner of the language at the time. According to him, language speaks, and not the author. To write is, â€Å"to reach that point where only language acts,† (143) and not the author. There is also Proust, who, as Barthes says, gave modern writing its epic. This writer never put his life into his novel as was the routine ; instead, he created a work that remained a model. This explains more why Barthes considered current texts recreated. They depend on already created models and quotations (Barthes 144). The main idea used by Barthes here is to use history to explain the changes that have occurred in text. The same idea is used in ‘On Cannibals’ Montaigne describes the meaning of certain words by comparing historical practices to current practices. According to him, people must be cautious before making judgements and subscribing to vulgar opinions. What brings this reasoning is the description of Roman army marshalled before King Pyrrhus as barbaric. From Montaigne’s point of view, there is nothing barbaric in these people. In his description, barbaric nature does not necessarily mean different. People should not be described as barbaric just because they have different practices from others. There should be judgement by test of reason and not just by a common report. The people described as barbaric, as described in history, are not barbaric. They are only considered barbaric because they are ‘wild’. They are wild in the sense that â€Å"nature produced them by herself and in her own ordinary way† (Montaigne 109). They have not been ‘artificially modified and removed from the common order. Montaigne notes that, in the land where we live, â€Å"we always see the perfect religion, perfect political system, and the perfect and most accomplished way of doing everything† (Montaigne 109).

Has the No Child Left Behind Act Severely Impacted Special Needs Research Paper

Has the No Child Left Behind Act Severely Impacted Special Needs Students by Expecting them to do Things That Normal Kids - Research Paper Example Introduction. The No Child Left Behind Program enhances the education of the special needs students. The research centers on the effect of the No Child Left Behind Program on the special needs learners. The research focuses on the test taking environment of the special needs test takers. The No Child Left Behind Act had not severely impacted special needs students by expecting them to do things that â€Å"Normal† Kids do. Related Literature. The No Child Left Behind Program states that the progress of all special education students should be monitored (PBS, 2008). Likewise, the program states the scores of the special Needs students will be included in getting the average scores of the students within a stat by 2014. Specifically, 95 percent of the learning disabled students’ scores in the English and Math subjects will in included in the overall state’s student tests’ statistical results. To level the playing field in the area of test taking, some leeway is legally given to the disabled learners. One such leeway, giving the disabled students tests incorporating large print questionnaires. Next, the special needs test takers are given more time to take the tests. Third, the special needs students allowed to take the tests in small groups, compared to the normal test groups. Fourth, the special needs students can be allowed to take the tests on a one on one basis. Fifth, some of the test watchers or teachers are allowed to aid the students on how to fill up the answer sheets. Sixth, the blind students are allowed to take the tests using the Braille method. Seventh, some special needs students are allowed to use sign language and other communication help to finish the tests. Eight, some of the special needs students are allowed to use computers to finish the tests. Lastly, many of the special needs students are allowed to use bilingual test booklets to solve math problems (English and Spanish version or English and another language ver sion). Further, the No Child Left Behind Program requires all schools that fail the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress goals in math and reading are classified as â€Å"in need of improvement†. Consequently, the school is required to put into place an educational program to improve the school’s ratings in the next Adequate Yearly Progress results in the areas of reading and mathematics. On the other hand, Alice Hammel (2011) insists the No Child Left Behind Act has severely impacted on the schools for the failure of the Special Needs Students by expecting them to do things that normal kids do, not the special needs children. The schools will receive complaints if the rights of the special needs children are not addressed. For example, students with emotional needs must be educated and tested in a special way, different from the normal learning kids. The students with behavioral needs, including ADHD students, should be taught in a special way to ensure the student will not be bored and reduce interest in the subject. In addition, the special needs children’s learning environment includes parental intervention. The procedural due process includes giving leeway to students with special learning needs to cope with the learning levels of the normal

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects Introduction One of the key characteristics of money is stability, however a currency crisis is said to occur when the value of a countrys currency becomes unstable and changes rapidly thereby undermining its ability to effectively serve as a medium of exchange. The Asian currency crisis was a period of financial meltdown which began in July 1997 and gripped the major proportion of East Asia. It remains one of the most talked about region-wide crisis in the 1990s, the sharpest to hit the developing countries, which resulted in a massive downward spiral of Asian economies hitherto seen as miracle economies and prompted the largest financial bailouts in history.(Radelet and Sachs 1998) This paper will examine the origin of the crisis, its impact on the economies of the countries involved and the measures that have been adopted to avoid a recurrence of a similar crisis. ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS Upon mutual agreement, based on the plaza accord (1985) between the US, Germany and Japan, the US dollar was devalued by about 60% to the Yen in real terms in order to alleviate the increasing US current account deficit. Japanese firms facing export competitiveness due to the appreciation of the Yen began to move production to south East Asian countries whose currencies were pegged to the dollar. This provided an ideal location for the Japanese firms in terms of international price competiveness. This inflow of investment from Japan to the South East Asian countries accelerated a pattern that led to large inflow of capital from other Asian and foreign countries into the East Asian countries. The fixed exchange rate system gave the south East Asian economies strong exports, low import prices and expected financial stability. For years, East Asian Countries were held up as economic icons. Their typical blend of high savings and investment rates, autocratic political systems, export-oriented businesses, restricted domestic markets, government capital allocation, and controlled financial systems were hailed as the ideal recipe for strong economic growth of developing countries (Shapiro 1999). Asian economies like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Thailand enjoyed overall average growth rates of 5.6 percent, 6.6 percent, 7 percent, 6.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively for several decades. Indonesia and Malaysia too enjoyed good economic performance during most of the 1970s and 1980s. (Rao, 1998) However, these miracle economies were brought down in July 1997 when a brewing currency crisis started from Thailand. This seed of the Asian currency crisis of 1997 were actually sown during the previous decades when these countries were experiencing unprecedented economic growth. For long, exports had long been the engine of economic growth in these countries and as such many Asian states were regarded as Export Power Houses. The increased foreign capital inflow into these economies also propelled capital expenditure which led to an investment boom in commercial and residential properties, industrial assets and infrastructure. These capital expenditures were financed by heavy borrowings from banks which had excess liquidity but no strong regulatory frameworks. Thus, by the mid 1990s, South East Asia was experiencing an unprecedented investment boom, much of it financed with foreign investments and borrowings. The case was made worse as much of the foreign borrowings had been in US d ollars as opposed to local currencies. At the time, this had seemed like a smart move (i.e. regional local currencies were pegged to the dollar and interest rates on dollar borrowings were generally lower than rates on borrowings in domestic currency, and it made economic sense to borrow in dollars if the option was available); but, many of the investments made with these funds were on the basis of projections about future demand conditions that were unrealistic. Soon, there were indications of macroeconomic imbalances in the Thai economy; the real exchange rate had risen to an apparently unsustainable level and the current account was also in constant huge deficit. Rao (1998). Also, Asian Countries started to see their ballooned volume of investments during the 1990s declining significantly. Paul krugman (1999) stated the Asian countries attracted so much foreign capital that their economic growth was fuelled more by sheer volume of investment rather than by the productivity of those individual investments. Therefore the governments in the region could not maintain their dollar peg and their currencies started to depreciate against the dollar, this increased the size of the debt burden that needed to be serviced when measured in local currency. This started the debt boom. A final complicating factor was that by 1996, there became a slackening of export growth which was much noticeable in Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, while in Thailand there became a decline in the dollar value of exports. This decline in export did not stop growing import and this disparity saw many south Asian countries shifting strongly into the red during the mid 1990s. By 1995, Indonesia was running a current account deficit that was equivalent to 3.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Malaysias was 5.9% and Thailands was 8.1%. With deficits like these starting to pile up, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the governments of these countries to maintain the peg of their currencies against the U.S dollar. Thus by 1997, the first obvious indication of the crisis started with the Thai economy. Thailand could no longer defend their currency and therefore floated the baht on the 2nd of July 1997. (Rao, 1998). Prompted by these developments in Thailand, investors saw basically the same issues facing Thailand surfacing in other neighbouring countries. As a result, investors panicked; their fears were not allayed especially because of lack of transparency regarding issues such as the extent of government and private debt, the health of the financial sectors and no trust in the government to take pre-emptive corrective actions. This led to massive capital flight. The withdrawal of foreign currency led to dramatic depreciation in exchange rate and higher interest rates. This led to an increase in the number of non-performing loans, causing an erosion of the market value capital of most of the countries. Thus, the scene was now set for a potential rapid economic breakdown. There is no consensus on the exact origin of the currency crisis in East Asia; while some schools of thought believe that the crisis was caused by the initial financial turmoil in some Asian countries, followed by regional contagion (Radelet and Sachs, 1998; Marshall, 1998; and Chang and Velasco, 1999), others believe it occurred as a result of policy and structural distortions (Corsetti, Pensetti and Roubini; 1998). However, most of the East Asian economies were interdependent, hence it was only logical that a crisis in one would have a domino-effect and inadvertently cause a crisis in other East Asian Economies that were linked to it. Warning Signals during the 24 Months prior to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Months of Lead Time, and Performance Measures. Number of Warning Signals and Months of Lead Time (in parenthesis) Optimal threshold percentile Indonesia Korea Malaysia Philippine Thailand Singapore Noise to signal ratio Conditional crisis probability (%) Share of crisis predicted (%) Overall Composite Index 88 7(11) 9(10) 13(13) 10(11) 10(10) 0(10) 0.137 77 83 Current Account 90 7(11) 11(16 13(13) 11(11) 16(16) 0(0) 0.136 77 83 Capital Account 90 1(23) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.288 62 63 Financial Sector 90 0(0) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.313 60 67 Real Sector 90 2(2) 9(14) 0(0) 2(10) 4(13) 0(0) 0.322 53 31 Global Economy 80 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 75 Fiscal Sector 87 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 46 Source: ERD Working Paper No.26 Using a Signalling approach based EWS model, it shows that persistent warning signals prior to the 1997 crisis was not just in a few but all of the five countries most affected by the crisis. The findings of this model supports the fact weaknesses in economic and financial fundamentals in these countries triggered the crisis. The Impact of the crisis on the Economics of the countries involved. As Thailand floated the baht on July 2 and allowed the currency to fall, wave after wave of speculation hit other Asian currencies, a de-facto devaluation of the Philippine Peso followed on July 11. Korean Won too lost. Malaysia let its currency, the ringgit float on July 14th 1997, as foreign exchange reserves had gone down to $ 28 billion. Singapore followed on July 17th and the Singapore dollar (S $) quickly dropped in value from $1 = S $ 1.495 prior to the devaluation to $1 = 2.68 a few days later. A month later on August 14, Indonesia floated the rupiah. This was the beginning of a precipitous decline in the value of the Indonesian currency as a fall was seen from $1 = 2,400 Rupiah in August 1997 to $1 = 10,000 Rupiah on January 6th, 1998, a loss of 75% (Rao, 1998). Source: DataStream The Chart (above) shows the monthly evolution of the currencies of the eight South-East Asian countries during the crisis from July 1997 to April 1998. The Five countries where the crisis where particularly serious (Figure 1A) saw more decline in their currencies than countries in Figure 1B even though all countries shown were affected.ÂÂ   The economy of Thailand where the crisis started from suffered a real sharp decline. Total export earnings declined and a trade deficit rose to $ 16 billion. With the deficit standing at over 8 percent of GDP and its financing largely coming from short term funds; the external debt of Thailand rose to $68.1 billion. The non-performing loans of banks and finance companies in Thailand were estimated to be around 12 percent of total loans in mid 1997. The Thailand economy was also plagued by a deteriorating external sector, a stock market decline (the stock market index fell from 1683 in 1993 to below 500 in1997) and most importantly dwindling forex reserves. A decline in investment saw the closure of investment houses which resulted in immediate unemployment rates of between 6 and 10 percent (Rao, 1998). The Indonesian economy also suffered a set-back which included growing current account deficits due to lack-luster export growth and mounting debt service. Loss of confidence in Indonesia led to a series of attacks on the currency. In the second half of 1997, the rupiah fell by 72 percent against the dollar which had an adverse effect on the Japanese, European and US banks that lent billions of dollars to Indonesian companies. According to Witcher (1998), the Indonesias financial system started to stagger under escalating bad loans. Indonesia sought help from the IMF, they agreed to provide them with loans estimated at $40billion and in return demanded that Indonesia keeps interest rates high and immediately close 16 banks. The news of bank closures led to panicked withdrawals by depositors and investors. As Stiglitz(1998) and Yellen(1998) discussed; due to limited information, investors were unable to distinguish which banks were healthy or not so they shied away from them all; this caused more havoc to the economy. The crisis quickly spread to the real sector. The real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 13% in 1998 and remained stagnant in 1999. Real output declined by approximately 14% in 1998. The Indonesian economy thus went into a recession with falling GDP in 1998. It also had a weak economy that was composed of falling domestic demand and company closures which meant rising poverty and unemployment. . Unemployment which was historically no more than 3 to 4 percent hit a 10 percent level in 1998 with around 8.7 million people jobless. The impact of the crisis on welfare and the economy as a whole was mostly reflected in the poverty rate which rose from 15% in 1997 to 33% in 1998. The contagion effect soon caught up with South Korea, a country whose economic performance was spectacular compared to other Asian countries. However, the won began to depreciate from late August 1997 and gathered momentum by October. From about 900 won to the dollar in early August, the exchange rate plummeted to about 1200 by the end of November. The ratio of debt reserves rose during 1992 1997 (Rao, 1998). In January 1997, Hanbo Steel collapsed under a $6 billion debt. This was the first Korean Chaebol to go bankrupt in 10 years (Chang,1998). In the wake of this, the Korean shares declined in value by 25.2% at the end of 1997. Balance in trade declined from a surplus of $7.6billion in 1987 to a deficit of $20.6billion in 1998. GDP per capita fell and Unemployment rate naturally rose to 5.9 percent in February 1998 and started to climb up from there (Rao, 1998). The Philippines Economy faced a significant currency crisis, the peso fell significantly from 26/US $ to even 55/US $. The GDP growth rate dropped from 5.1% in 1997 to -0.5% in 1998. GNP hovered at 0.1% in 1998 compared to 7.2% in 1996 and by the fourth quarter of 1998, growth of investments had declined to -23.9%. In Hong Kong, the economy saw the collapse of the Hong Kongs stock market (with a 40 percent loss in October). On October 27 1997, the market rout on Wall Street was preceded by a 5.8 percent plunge in the Hong Kong stock market which snowballed through the worlds developed and emerging stock markets. Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled in sympathy, with Australia down 3.4 percent and Tokyo down 1.9 percent. Below is a graph showing the evolution of the Asian stock markets during the financial crisis of 1997- 1998. Source: Morgan Stanley International Capital (MSCI). Figures 2A and 2B (above) show the monthly evolution of national stock price indices (expressed in US dollars) for these same eight countries and during the same period of time. The finding shows a consistent close relationship between exchange rate depreciations and stock returns during the crisis. (Bailey, Chan and Chung (2001).) Japan was also affected because its economy is prominent in the region. Asian countries usually run a trade deficit with Japan because the latters economy was more than twice the size of the rest of Asia together; about 40 percent of Japans export go to Asia. However, even with this, the Japanese was finally shaken as their yen fell to 147 when mass selling began; Also, with the collapse in the value of the Japanese stock market, the value of assets also plummeted, leaving the institutions with a diminished asset base and an increased portfolio of non-performing loans. The GDP real growth rate slowed dramatically in 1997, from 5% to 1.6% and even sank into recession in 1998. In a relatively short period of time, the crisis currency crisis shock was spread even beyond Asia. The USA market (the Dow Jones industrial) plunged 554 points or 7.2%. The New York Stock Exchange briefly suspended trading; this was accompanied by plunges of 15 percent in Brazil, 13.7 percent in Argentina and 13.3 percent in Mexico. Europe also had the impact of contagion effects, Markets like London fell 2.6 percent, while Germany, France and Italy all shed 2.8 percent. Smaller markets like Finland plunged 5.7 percent, while Spain skidded 4.1 percent. Russia became the major non-Asian victim of the financial contagion. By mid 1998, investors began to perceive systematic weaknesses of the Russian economy which was similar to Asia; therefore they began a steady withdrawal of their capital from the economy. By midsummer 1998, it became apparent that Russia was struggling to maintain an exchange of roughly 6 rubles to 1 dollar at the time. Their central bank reserves began to dwindle. Despite the loan package and the pro-market administration, the international investment community lost faith in Russia and rushed for the exits. On August 15th 1998, the rubble was allowed to float and the Russian stock market lost 25% of its value. The Measures that have since been adopted to avoid recurrence of a similar crisis. After the slow down of the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997, the regions former economic tigers had to mete out some conditions and policies towards a sustainable Asian economy that would be able to withstand any financial turmoil and consequently avoid the recurrence of a similar crisis. These regionss heavy weight also had to accept the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions in order to stay afloat although the IMF had never dealt with a crisis of this magnitude and was met with stiff hostilities; the IMF prescribed tough conditions and measures that contributed immensely to considerable long term gains for the Asian Economics (Lakhan, 2007) One of these conditions were policies involving the Macro-economy. The tightening of monetary policy (at different stages in different countries) was necessary to stem exchange fluctuation, to prevent currency depreciation from leading into a spiral of inflation and into the eventual collapse of the exchange rate. Some countries like Thailand, South Korea, Philippines and Indonesia switched to improved credible policies that involved their exchange rate system. These countries adopted the inflation targeting policy which implied greater transparency and accountability instead of exchange rate as an anchor for monetary policy. Inflation targeting also allowed for the attainment of stable development of their economy through the establishment of credible and reputable central bank; as these central banks set inflation targets and implemented monetary policies committed to the achievement of targets. They also made monetary policy decisions based on overall judgement of the economy by k eeping constant watch not only on immediate price movements but also on trends of demand and supply factors in the domestic economy, exchange rate movements and overall movement of the international economy. The effects from this policy adopted inflation targeting contributed largely to stabilizing the monetary and economic environment after the currency crisis (Tomoko, 2002). A typical example could be seen in South Korea. After the Crisis, South Korea revised the Bank of Korea act to introduce inflation targeting in 1998. Since its introduction, South Koreas inflation targeting has played an appreciable role in stabilizing the countrys economy. In particular, the introduction of inflation targeting has secured the independence of the Bank of Korea in monetary policy and drastically enhanced the transparency of monetary policy. Affected countries of the crisis also embarked on their financial system stabilization to avoid any similar recurrence of the debilitating financial crisis. These measures ventured into the areas of liquidity support for troubled banks in question, deposit protection measures through a deposit insurance co-operation to prevent systemic risk arising from the spread of credit uneasiness, boosting capital base through capital injections from public funds and prompt disposal of non-performing loans by a third party organization (Resolution and Collection Company in the case of Japan and asset management companies (AMC) in the case of Asian countries). The four countries where the financial crisis was particularly serious (Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia) injected public funds into financial institutions often with government assistance. They also went into the act of promoting the consolidation of financial institutions by closing or suspending operations of banks with do ubtful chances of survival, temporarily nationalizing them or merging them. They established an asset management company to purchase non-performing loans Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC) in Thailand, Danaharta in Malaysia, Korea Asset Management Company (KAMCO) in South Korea, and Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in Indonesia (Lindgren et al, 2000) Although the system of the companies or organizations varied from one country to another, they all similarly purchased non-performing loans at about market prices and disposed the assets selling by tender or by means of securitization. At present, they have disposed of about 50~70% of the assets. Thailand for example, had finance companies (non-banks) that had been suffering from business difficulties even before the currency crisis and the Thai government had been providing liquidity support to them. After the crisis, the government improved its classification standard for non-performing loans to conform to the international standard and strengthened write-off standards. It also nationalized commercial banks, injected capital and reorganized them. As a result, the number of commercial banks decreased. Thai commercial banks non-performing loan also later decreased dramatically due to agreements on debt restructuring as well as transfer of non-performing loans to the TAMC and write-of fs. As a result, the non-performing loan ratio dropped to 19.2% as of the end of March 2001 and capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.01% as of December 2000 (A ratio higher than the BIS standard) (Montes, 1998). Structural reforms were also adopted in the areas of banking supervision and regulation in order to forestall the kind of financial system instability caused by the crisis and to minimize the effect. These reforms were also necessary to address the weaknesses in the financial and corporate sector as these features had become impediments to growth such as monopolies, trade barriers and non transparent corporate practices. Based on this recognition, the IMF and the World Bank jointly began monitoring the international standardization and observance of standards to maintain the soundness of financial systems by introducing the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in 1999. Under FSAP, the IMF and the World Bank assess the observance of banking supervision and regulations implemented by each countrys financial supervisory authorities, promote observance of international standards, and recommend the best practices. These acts which have been entrenched in continue to globalize the A sian economy (Lindgren et al, 2000). Rehabilitative measures were also extended to private corporations and financial institutions in the Asian countries as these institutions were also hit by the currency crisis largely because they had a superficial understanding of the need for exchange risk hedge, as their currencies were virtually pegged to the dollar. It was for this reason that the debt burdens caused by the mismatch of currencies increased during the crisis, bringing a serious impact on the economy as a whole. Thus after the currency crisis, there was a shift to a floating exchange rate system and this pushed private corporations into recognizing the importance of hedging against exchange risks. In South Korea, the government conducted a campaign appealing for the need for exchange risk hedges. Some other countries established a financial supervision system to check if foreign currency-denominated debts are hedged against exchange risks. Thanks to these policy efforts, the number of private corporations hedging against exchange risks increased drastically and the response capabilities of the economy as a whole to exchange fluctuations have been strengthened (Lindgren et al, 2000). A stronger and unified Regional Financial and Multilateral Co-operation in East Asia was also adopted and this has proven to be an effective buffering against the occurrence of future crisis Although regional financial cooperation in East Asia did exist even before the crisis, such as Executives Meeting of East-Asia Pacific Central Banks(EMEAP), a forum of central banks and monetary authorities in the East Asia and Pacific region established in 1991; the event of the Asian currency crisis proved more glaring that the countries in East Asia had a much more economic interdependency than was previously realized. This forced a fostering of a much stronger regional financial and multilateral cooperation. This co-operation in Asia was promoted in various forms, such as the New Miyazawa Initiative incorporating a comprehensive support measures, including a 30 billion dollar financial support scheme, announced in October 1998; the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), a swap arrangement mechanism to support those countries in potential danger of a currency crisis and the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI) to avoid high dependence on the external financial market and use regional resources more efficiently (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000) In addition to the development of a regional crisis-prevention mechanism, Asian countries started to co-operate especially in trade relations. This inadvertently resulted in a much more stable policy for exchange rates between the Asian currencies. With the increased unification that came as a result of the push for a stronger and unified regional financial and multilateral co-operation in East Asia, there became a rising sense of Asian identity culminating into the speculation of an introduction of a regional common currency in the future (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). The finance ministers of China, Japan, and Korea agreed at the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers Meeting in 2006 to conduct joint research on monetary integration in East Asia. The motion put forward in 2006 helped to create grounds for the much talked about Chinas global strategy approach which started making head way in 2010. Now, China is beginning to emerge as the new and dominant world power, buttressing this, is the recent widespread awareness and circulation of the Chinese currency (renminbi). These co-operation measures adopted in Asia also extended as a forum for economic co-operation (such economic co-operation was seen to be displayed in the widely acceptance of the Chinese currency renminbi by the other Asian countries). This economic co-operation by these Asian countries arguably challenges the American hegemony. It also proves a strong force towards the elimination of any future financial crisis that might occur as the initiatives and discussions on intensifying monetary and fi nancial cooperation has reached a far end spectrum (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). From 1996 2000, there have been a resurgence of economic growth across the Asian region. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines have averaged almost 5%. CHARTS SHOWING THE EFFECT ON THE AFFECTED COUNTRIES AFTER THE MEASURES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED. From the chart above, it can been seen that after the rehabilitative measures were meted out, corporate balance sheets in Asia improved as debt-to-equity ratios have been reduced sharply and foreign currency borrowing is no longer a large component of the corporate sources of funding. From the chart above, it can be seen that low loan-to-deposit ratios together with little off-balance-sheet financing, have helped banks avoid liquidity and funding stress in the current credit turmoil. Thus, Banks are stronger with current account surpluses and large foreign reserves. Compared to United States and many European countries, Asian economies have relative modest property price appreciation (see Chart 5). Asian countries have taken measures to cool property markets in recent years whenever prices threatened to become a bubble. As a result, property price crashes in the wake of slowing economic growth and financial market turmoil have been less of a risk. Conclusion: Although, the Asian currency crisis was fuelled by sheer weak economic and financial fundamentals including macro- economic imbalances, which created a contagion effect for the other countries involved. However, with the measures now adopted, it is obvious that the Asian economies have now been strengthened and would continue on that path.

Contemporary Review of Work Experience Essay -- essays research papers

‘Learning through experience is the normal, common place approach to learning, and we take it for granted.’ Miller and Boud (1996) After my work experience at Franklin College and St Mary’s school, I whole heartedly agree with this statement. During my life I have taken my experiences for granted for example throughout my academic career and vocational encounters I haven’t really reflected on them. Swedish research that was later developed by Marton, Hounsell and Entwistle (1997) suggested that there were two types of learning – deep or surface learning. Whenever I have looked back at my experiences, I have looked at it at surface value rather than from a deep view; Piaget (1971) defines the deep view as ‘people who are willing to change their existing knowledge-the cognitive structure-in order to accommodate the new idea.’ In the past I haven’t been willing to change my knowledge, just add to it which leads to surface learning. In order for me to deepen my learning I produced a learning contract which included learning outcomes in it for me to achieve; a learning log from which I could ‘reflect’ upon and as Moon (1999) says ‘A learning journal is essentially a vehicle for reflection.’ So this was an important component of my experience. The first stage was to plan for my experience and for it to be successful I had to plan well because ‘effective planning is at the heart of effective teaching and learning.’ Gower (1997) I had to produce an initial proposal where I put forward potential career area that I could work in. I then had to submit a work placement details form, and this involved me ringing Toll Bar school and agreeing the placement which initially seemed easy; I managed to speak to someone who worked in the department and they said it would be fine but would ring me back to confirm this; I received no phone call so rang them on numerous occasions only to be told every time that the P.E department weren’t available and that they would get back to me. I had another institution in mind just in case this had arisen and had learnt from my previous experience and manage to get a firm answer this time. I realised sometimes things aren’t as easy as they seem and that I have to persist and follow things up want if I want anything done; even if I am frustrated I still have to act in the appropriate manner. I then had to develop my learning contract and th... ...ole most places were similar. This discussion made me feel a little uneasy as it involved talking about liable and loco parentis, but my host allayed my fears and I understand that its part of the job to consider these things; with effective planning it would reduce the probability of a major incident occurring. My outcome that states that I want to know how to respond to certain pupils is really a repeat of the sixth outcome and is an error on my behalf and lack of preparation when preparing my learning contract as I mentioned before. My last learning outcome was a simple one as I just used the internet and asked a newly qualified teacher to find out the relevant qualification, for example the PGCE. In the near future I could perform his whole process again but try and plan it more effectively than I did this time; it is one area that I have to improve vastly if I am to succeed in any domain in life. If I were to partake in any work experience my learning outcomes would have to be more specific and I would have to include personal outcomes so I could reflect deeper into my learning. I could keep a learning log during a semester of term and reflect on how I work during university.

Quality Compliance at the Hawthorn Arms Essay

1. Consider the three candidates in Exhibit A below. If forced to make a decision tomorrow, which candidate should Alistair choose for the job? What major factors should determine his choice? * Every candidate has different strengths and weaknesses * Marie: good technical as well as administrative abilities * Janos: knows Hungarian culture and speaks the language, experience with the local products * Sinead: has experience in the organiyational and administrative part of joint ventures, knowledge about local and global products * The different abilities have to be compared and analyzed in relation to the vacant position * Marie: is the best choice * Long experience with Trianon in different areas * Became acquainted with different cultures even if not the Hungarian * Good technical education / background * Fitting family status (child in university) * Good language skills * Janos: * Cultural aptitude * Knowledge of Hungarian language * Fitting family status * Short experience with Trianon * Contacts to politcs may be a problem * Lack of technical experience * Sinead: * Great technical experience even in joint ventures and the appropriate technology * Weak cultural aptitude * Weak language skills * Family status might be a problem (3 underaged children) 2. We are told nothing of the process that Trianon uses to recruit candidates for ths level of final selection. Given what you know about the firm from the case, outline a general recruitment and selection process for Trianon. Describe how your proposal fits with `best` selection practices as well as the strategic needs of this company. * Job requirements: * Technical experience * Cross cultural aptitude * Family status * Company`s requirements, period of employment * Language skills * Selection procedure: * Selection on the basis of the application * Style of writing, education, marks, completeness of documents * Interviews * Personal appearance, answering questions, flexibility, adaptability * Selection tests * Completion of tasks, presentations skills, mental qualities, soft skills 3. Should HR staff be involved in strategic decisions relating to international business operations such as finalizing a joint venture agreement? * Yes, HR staff should be involved to assure that all personnel changes regarding the future project are organized and planned properly. It is important to integrate HR well enough in advance, because a potentially necessary recruitment and selection process takes time.

“Othello” and “A Doll’s House”

In every story, we often see a colorful character in the form of the story’s antagonist. They are usually held in contrast to the story’s main character or the protagonist. This is how the antagonists were portrayed in both the stories â€Å"Othello† and â€Å"A Doll’s House.† The antagonists of the stories were set in comparison to the respective protagonists. On both these stories, the antagonists played a great part in destroying the happy marriages of both protagonists. Through their schemes and manipulation, they were able to destroy what these people held so dearly: their relationships with their loved ones.In William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello,† Iago plays the antagonist role, opposing the position of Othello. Iago is depicted as one of Othello’s men, since the latter holds a high position which the former serves. When Iago felt that another man was favored aside from him, he planned to take Othello down by destroying hi s happy marriage with Desdemona (Shakespeare).In the story, we can see that Iago’s source of motivation in his schemes when Othello favors his lieutenant Cassio rather than his Ancient and ensign, Iago. It was jealousy that made him conceive every evil schemes and plans that he came up with. As the story’s antagonist, we can say that Iago is very clever with his plans, managing to outwit other characters and making them his â€Å"tools† to bring down Othello. He was very successful in manipulating the main character, making him believe that his wife was cheating on him.Analyzing the motives of Iago, we can say that his reasons were very shallow. It was his jealousy that led to the way things happened. But there was no point to be jealous about. He has a good position in Othello’s men. The way he see Cassion being favored more than him was just superficial, since it was him that Othello believed most. If Othello didn’t believe him, then the story wo uldn’t have led to the way it went. But Othello trusts Iago. He believes him so much that it has led to the destruction of his happy marriage, his downfall, his wife’s death, and eventually, his own death.The person who suffered the most in this story was Othello. With Iago’s schemes, Othello lost his trust in his wife. His faith in their relationship crumbled as Iago stirred up his thoughts. As a man of his stature, Othello need not be faithless with his wife. But because of his insecurities, Iago managed to toy with his emotions. As a â€Å"different† man, Othello thought that his wife was not satisfied with him. He was the Moor of Venice, a dark skinned man in the land of whites. Because of these insecurities, his suspicions grew to hatred. That hatred caused him to kill Desdemona only to find out afterwards that it was all Iago’s doings.In Henrik Ibsen’s â€Å"A Doll’s House,† the main protagonist was Krogstad, who was on t he brink of losing his job. He was an employee of the main character, Torvald. Torvald is the husband of Nora Helmer, and their relationship as a married couple is an example of a happy marriage for the society. But the happiness didn’t last for long, as soon as Krogstad schemed his way from getting himself fired from the job he didn’t want to lose (Ibsen).Krogstad’s reasons for his actions were all rooted to him keeping his job. It was very unfortunate that he knows a secret of Nora Helmer. He used this secret to try and save himself from getting fired. It was Nora’s head who’s on the line, fearing that her secret might be discovered by others, especially her husband. The only favor Krogstad asked in exchange for his silence was for Nora to convince his husband not to fire him. However, all of Nora’s efforts were futile, not being able to save Krogstad his job. Because of this, Krogstad chose to unveil Nora’s well kept secret, at the expense of Nora and Torvald’s happy marriage. After all, Krogstad has nothing to lose anymore.Looking at Krogstad’s reason for his actions, we can say that he is on the edge, that’s why he was forced to blackmail Nora just to save him. It was his job on the line, and he really didn’t want to use it. The fact that he knows something that Nora has kept so much for herself was not his discretion. It was the only option he has, and he chose to use that option well, in exchange for everything that he might lose. Krogstad may be seen as a bad man, but his actions show that it was fate that forced him to do what he has done. This doesn’t concern anything about keeping Nora’s secret just to save her shame or marriage. It was his own battle, and he must fight with everything he has. The only weapon he has in store at that time was Nora’s secret.We can say that the antagonists of the story had their way with the protagonists. They were able to blindly manipulate anyone in order to have their biddings fulfilled. In the end, it was all misery for the protagonist, each with crumbling relationships as both the stories closed. No matter what their reason may be, these antagonists were able to make the most out of every situation turning it into something advantageous for their own benefits.Works Cited:Ibsen, Henrik. â€Å"A Doll's House†.   1879.   Spark Notes. October 7 2007. .Shakespeare, William. â€Å"Othello†.   1603.   Spark Notes. October 7 2007. .

Free Essays on Belief

Day after day I sit and wonder how and why I exist. I try and find a meaning to life. I try and figure out what I believe in then emerges religion. Looking in my Webster’s dictionary I come upon the word â€Å"religion.† Not surprised, you come to find that the word religion has close to 8 definitions and I will not be shocked to find out that in 10 years a 300 page book would consist of all things religion. So, the truth shall set us free†¦ The one idea of religion is the questions people ask to feel good. People want to know what life is and why we want to live it. Religion gives those who come together a form of connection and unity. On the other hand, religion has caused wars, which have been carried out in God’s name. Religion causes countries to fight other countries and has a lot to do with politics. Religion remains a major part of society. People have a desire within to believe in something. Will this desire ever change? Society today places greater faith in themselves and the world around them rather than placing their faith in a religion. Religion in some ideals has become more materialistic and technology based, than it is fact and tradition. It is now being used to make money, mostly through scamming people. All of its meaning seems to have been lost and more and more people don’t know why they pray or thank God for. But†¦ Religion for me is what this paper was about. I have experienced, learned, wondered and always tried to solve several mysteries, but I cannot do so. Everyday my views about certain things always relay back to myself and how well I exist in society. I try and distinguish between wrong and right and then realize how everything around me will never be right – unless I believe. I have been through so many experiences that sometimes I feel as if I wasn’t meant to exist. Society is society, it will not fail to disappoint nor will it remain constant – exactly like me.... Free Essays on Belief Free Essays on Belief Day after day I sit and wonder how and why I exist. I try and find a meaning to life. I try and figure out what I believe in then emerges religion. Looking in my Webster’s dictionary I come upon the word â€Å"religion.† Not surprised, you come to find that the word religion has close to 8 definitions and I will not be shocked to find out that in 10 years a 300 page book would consist of all things religion. So, the truth shall set us free†¦ The one idea of religion is the questions people ask to feel good. People want to know what life is and why we want to live it. Religion gives those who come together a form of connection and unity. On the other hand, religion has caused wars, which have been carried out in God’s name. Religion causes countries to fight other countries and has a lot to do with politics. Religion remains a major part of society. People have a desire within to believe in something. Will this desire ever change? Society today places greater faith in themselves and the world around them rather than placing their faith in a religion. Religion in some ideals has become more materialistic and technology based, than it is fact and tradition. It is now being used to make money, mostly through scamming people. All of its meaning seems to have been lost and more and more people don’t know why they pray or thank God for. But†¦ Religion for me is what this paper was about. I have experienced, learned, wondered and always tried to solve several mysteries, but I cannot do so. Everyday my views about certain things always relay back to myself and how well I exist in society. I try and distinguish between wrong and right and then realize how everything around me will never be right – unless I believe. I have been through so many experiences that sometimes I feel as if I wasn’t meant to exist. Society is society, it will not fail to disappoint nor will it remain constant – exactly like me....

The History of Fire Fighting

The History of Fire Fighting Free Online Research Papers Firefighting is the use techniques and equipment to extinguish fires and limit the damage caused by them. It seems logical that since the creation of fire, or shortly thereafter that there would be a need for the development of firefighting. In order to fully understand the direction of this essential profession we must gain an understanding and appreciation for its history. In 24 BC, the Roman emperor Augustus is credited with instituting the first fire â€Å"department† consisting of fire-fighting vigiles or watchmen (www.firehistoryus.org). With the creation of the first organized group of people dedicated to fighting fires also came the first regulations for checking and preventing fires. Additionally, fire alarms were first used at this time to alert other firefighters and civilians of the impending fire. The principal piece of fire-fighting equipment used at this time in ancient Rome through to early modern times was the bucket (www.windsorfire.com). The bucket was passed from hand to hand to deliver water to the fire, with the empty bucket being returned to the start of the line. This method was used by the early fire departments of the United States. After a major fire in Boston in 1631, the first fire regulations in America were established and the first service formally began in about 1680. This was when the first paid fire department wa s established (www.infoplease.com). It is important to note that Volunteer fire departments began with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1735 (www.windsorfire.com). Many people are surprised that the same Ben Franklin that assisted in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence and invented bifocals and the lightening rod had such an impact on the implementation of fire departments. Equally surprising to Benjamin Franklin’s contribution to the history of firefighting is the fact that George Washington imported the first fire engine from England in about 1765. This engine was a hand-pumper, requiring men to move the engine to the fire and operate the pumps with levers to direct water through the hoses. The engine was given to the Alexandria, Virginia fire company, where Washington was a volunteer firefighter himself. (www.winsorfire.com). The next revolutionary advancement in the realm of fire apparatus came when the steam engine was developed in England in the early 1800’s (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_apparatus). When these steam engines were first widely used in the United States the firefighters had to physically pull the trucks to the fire. By the mid 1850’s horses were used to pull these steam pumpers. This is where we see the emergence of the Dalmatian dogs association with firefighters. Dalmatians were trained to escort the horse dra wn engines to the fire scene and keep away other animals from interfering (www.firefightercentral.com). For the most part the firefighters of today are bound by a highly structured chain of command and have specific responsibilities and duties on the scene of a fire. This was something that was evident to early fire departments – centralized command was needed. In New York in 1761, Jacobus Stoutenburgh became the head or Chief Engineer of the volunteer fire department. It is believed that this is the where the traditional Fire Chief evolved from (www.firefightercentral.com). Modern firefighting has come a long way from these early beginnings. However these traditions of service to the community and the spirit of being a part of a structured team are as much a part of today`s fire departments as they always have been. Many modern fire departments spend a decreasing amount of overall activity in fighting fires. Instead, fire fighters typically respond to all kinds of emergencies. For example, in the U.S. approximately 70 percent of all emergency medical calls are handled by the f ire service. The same is true in many other countries (www.emergencydispatch.org). Some departments have dually trained firefighters – those trained in both fire and emergency medical response. This need was identified due to a decrease in fire related calls and an increase in medical calls. Additionally, firefighters are heavily involved in fire prevention and education, building design and construction as well as enforcement of fire standards. The enormous increase in transportation of hazardous materials or dangerous goods has resulted in intensified training for fire fighters, and their departments often provide them with chemical protective clothing and monitoring equipment (www.emergencydispatch.org). Most fire departments also prepare and equip their members to handle emergencies that result from earthquakes, plane crashes, and violent storms. In addition, fire fighters handle incidents that require extricating trapped people from fallen structures, from cave-ins, an d from other situations as well as perform search and rescues (www.emergencydispatch.org). Modern fire departments are experiencing firsthand the advancements in fire technology. New nozzles and monitors, extinguishing agents, fire sensors, protective clothing, portable radio communication devices and thermal imaging cameras are to name a few. Those entering this historic profession today are sure to see many innovating and exciting advancements in the years to come. References A Brief History of Fire, Retrieved February 27, 2009, www.windsorfire.com The History of Fire, (2003) Retrieved February 27, 2009 , www.firehistoryus.org Fire Apparatus, (2006) Retrieved February 26, 2009 www.infoplease.com Firefighting. In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 26, 2009, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_apparatus Firefighting History, Retrieved February 28, 2009 www.firefightercentral.com Fire History, Retrieved February 27, 2009 www.emergencydispatch.org Research Papers on The History of Fire FightingAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionWhere Wild and West MeetThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Quebec and Canada

Case study in Forensics - Ashley Coulston

Ashely Mervyn Coulston is known as the ‘Burwood triple murderer’ he murdered three innocent victims in cold blood on 29 July 19921. Coulston had gone to a Burwood house under the guise of renting a room in the house that had been ‘advertised in the Herald Sun’2. Coulston had a bag that contained a . 22 rifle, ammunition, a homemade silencer and plastic cable ties. Coulston bound, gagged and covered the victim’s heads (using a towel or dressing gown) and shot each in the back of the head at point blank range3. I will briefly outline the circumstances of the case and how the perpetrator – Coulston, was eventually captured and the evidence that flowed to convict him for the triple murders in Summit Road, Burwood. In this case study I will examine the forensic evidence (limited to the main ballistic evidence), that was presented in the criminal trials and the forensic evidence that was introduced by the prosecution. Background Coulston was caught by police not for the murders in Burwood but for an armed robbery that occurred several months after the murders in July. Coulston had approached a couple who were returning to their car parked near the National Gallery in St Kilda Road. Coulston was wearing a balaclava and carrying a . 22 calibre rifle when he approached the couple in their car4. The couple believed the assailant was after money; so they threw some money at Coulston hoping that he would leave5. Coulston grabbed the money and forced the couple from the car. He then forced the female to the ground and tied her hands with the cable ties. At that moment the male partner of the couple noticed that Coulston had placed the gun on the ground and he took the opportunity to grapple with Coulston, thus allowing the female to run. The male also fled, with both calling out for help. Two security officers near the scene heard screams for assistance, and subsequently called for police. Coulston followed the couple and fired shots at the security officers which hit one of the officer’s in the hip6. When police arrested Coulston they found a sawn off rifle, a homemade silencer that was made from a motor vehicle oil filter, a knife and plastic cable ties7. Forensic evidence The police forensics department found that the bullets recovered from the scene of the Burwood triple murders had come from the same gun used in the St Kilda armed robbery8. The police also found that the cream cable ties used on the female victim in the armed hold-up were the same brand as those used in in the Burwood murders9. Forensic evidence also established that blood splatter from a dressing gown found over the head of one of the Burwood victims was the same blood that had splattered onto the oil filter of the rifle, used as a silencer10. Police were also able to use the fingerprint of Coulston found on his Melways Street directory that marked the page of the Summit Road, Burwood triple murders11. These pieces of evidence were used to place Coulston as the prime suspect in relation to the three murders in Burwood12. In relation to the specific ballistic evidence; there was considerable debate over the possible contamination of the evidence by Senior Constable Ray Vincent – police forensic examiner. Mr Vincent appears to have incorrectly labelled a job card used to record the test firing of the rifle. The Court of Appeal was less than impressed with the defence’s proposition that due to the error there was a possibility that the bullets had been substituted to make it look like they had been fired from the . 22 Sterling rifle13. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed the notion of the evidence being tampered with14. The prime evidence that was used to convict Coulston was the . 22 Sterling rifle he had in his possession, when he was arrested in relation to armed robbery and attempted murder of the security officers in St Kilda Road, Melbourne15. Specific Forensic Evidence There were several specific pieces of evidence that were found at the Burwood murder scene:16 1. There was no sign of forced entry; 2. That the flat was neat and tidy – not disturbed; 3. That the 3 victims had their hands bound with cream coloured tie straps and socks placed in their mouths; and, 4. One of the victims had a dressing gown placed over her head whilst the others had towels. 17 5. A Sterling . 22 rifle was one of a list of weapons that had similar rifling marks to two of the bullets used in the murders – one of the bullets was indistinguishable18. The Sterling rifle that Coulston used in the armed robbery was suspected to have been the weapon used in the Burwood murders19. The police forensic expert Senior Constable Ray Vincent was able to match the distinct impressions left on the bullet by the particular firearm, ‘much like a fingerprint’20. The firearm barrel is manufactured by using a type of drill (reamer) to cut the barrel so it has ‘spiral grooves cut into the inner surface of the barrel’21. The spiralling enables the bullet to spin and therefore maintain a more accurate trajectory22. When the ballistics expert inspects the bullet, he measures the spaces between the markings on the bullet called grooves and lands, and in particular if they twist either to the right or left23. Mr Vincent was able to count the number of grooves, their width and depth, together with the angle of the twist, and compiled a list of manufacturers that had similar rifling marks – one of those was a Sterling . 22 rifle24. Coulston’s defence tried to discredit the ballistic evidence given by Mr Vincent25. By indicating that: 1. 250 bullets had been test fired from the rifle to make a comparison; 2. the job card used to record the firings was incorrectly dated – it was dated August 1993 instead of August 1992; and, 3. the bullets used had been substituted at a later stage. In relation to point 1, His Honour Chief Justice Brenan responded by suggesting that ‘the rifling on these bullets fired at a stage before the burring on the front of the barrel might have changed the perspective of them’26. In essence His Honour was making the comment that the defence may be suggesting that after multiple firings of a weapon the profiling on the bullet may change indicting a possible error being made in the make of the firearm27. In relation to point 2, the defence proposed that the evidence may have been tainted by the fact that ‘something was wrong in the handwritten†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦addition to the document†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦which was a list of weapons having the same rifling characteristics as the weapon inferentially used in the murders’28. The defence was trying to put doubt in the jury’s mind by stating that the list of weapons noted by Vincent, that had the same markings as the murder weapon, was made after Coulston was arrested for the armed robbery in September 1992, noting that Coulston had one of the weapons on the list29. In relation to point 3, the defence stated that the rifling, that is the ‘characteristics of the weapon’ †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢used in the murders, was based on Vincent’s forensic examination of the bullets’. The bullets had †¦. ‘six lands and grooves with a right hand twist with the lands wider than the groove, land . 063 and groove . 048, Vincent prepared a list of rifles which possessed those characteristics. ’ ‘The list of rifles with those characteristics would therefore identify the murder weapon’30. The defence utilised the services of an expert witness; Mr Barnes (a former Forensic officer later to be discredited) who indicated he was ‘not able to see how you could prepare a list of [weapons] based on those characteristics’ (the land and groove markings on the bullet) to the list of weapons prepared by Mr Vincent31. The inference drawn was the bullets used by Mr Vincent may have been substituted at a later stage. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal both regarded ‘the issue as improbable’ and regarded ‘Mr Vincent as a credible witness’32. Blood splatter and gun residue Due to the word limit I will only touch on the issue of the other evidence that was gathered from the crime scene in Burwood, as it was not as significant as the ballistic evidence. A forensic scientist had determined that the blood stains from the dressing gown matched blood found on the oil filter that was used as a silencer33. Another forensic scientist determined that the lack of gun residue on the dressing gown was consistent with someone being shot a close range34. These pieces of evidence led to the police interrogation of Coulston who answered â€Å"no comment’. Coulston remained silent in regards to the murder charges throughout the trial and has maintained his innocence to the charges of murder35. Coulston ultimately appealed his conviction of murder to the High Court who dismissed his appeal on the ground that it had ‘no prospects of success. 36 He is now serving three consecutive life sentences and is never to be released. Conclusion The attention to detail and the corroboration of the evidence by another Forensic Officer is tantamount to the credibility of the evidence put before the court. Any mistake made by the Forensic officer can jeopardise the trial and possibly allow a murderer to walk free, as a jury is required to make a decision on the basis of beyond reasonable doubt. In this case, if there was doubt around the date of the job card, the list of weapons and the bullets used; this may put enough doubt in a juries mind to find Coulston not guilty37.

Chicago Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chicago - Essay Example From this study it is clear that the theory of the central places has been criticized for unreality. Static theory, not taking into account the temporal aspect in the development of the central places was also criticized. Furthermore, the theory is well illustrated in practice, when it comes to agricultural areas, but not for industrial or post-industrial areas due to the diverse nature of the various services and the distribution of a variety of natural resources in them. Numerical studies of the evolutionary model, which are based on the ideas of Christaller showed that symmetrical distribution is unstable. Small fluctuations are enough in order to areas with a high concentration of activity appear and cause an outflow of population and reduction of activity in other zones.This essay highlights that  the theory of production location (the theory of location) studies placing of productive forces as the allocation process on the territory of objects and phenomena; it is included in the subject of the regional economy. The location theory describes the geographical placement of the economic activity; it has become an integral part of economic geography, regional economics and spatial economy. The theory examines which economic activity is located there, where and why. The theory is based on the whole accommodation on microeconomics, on the assumption that agents act in their own interests.

Journal Summary 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journal Summary 2 - Research Paper Example In his article Aversano attempts to explore the reality of dream in human existence in the context of art and aesthetics. In the paper â€Å"Bad Dreams Are Made Of This† Leo Dolias has explored â€Å"bad dreams† from an existential perspective. While siding with Boss’s theoretical perspective of dream he thoroughly compares his own existential approach with Freud and Jung’s psychoanalytical view. Since, for Dolias, traditional Freudian view of dream often falls short to explain the experiences of bad-dreams, psychoanalysts need to add an existential dimension with Boss’s theoretical approach to dream, as he says, â€Å"I also intend†¦to bring experience and theory closer together, to allow for a creative interaction between theory, Heidegger’s philosophy, my views and experiences† (Dolias, 2010, p. 238). According Dolias, the difference between Freud and Jung’s psychoanalytical view and Boss’s approach is: while the psychoanalytical approach considers dreams as â€Å"masked unconscious message† and consequently appears to be mis leading, the second one asserts that bad dreams are the illumination of â€Å"one’s experience of being† (Dolias, 2010, p. 239). Rather than being a â€Å"subject-object interrelation†, the process of being itself is the â€Å"dreaming reality† of an individual. Here Dolias elaborates Boss’s idea further to apply in his patient’s Martha’s case. He notes that since Martha had an anxiety about something ominous in her journey, she would view it in her dream because in dreams her anxious being can reveal itself to the fullest. It further implies that her dreaming self is essentially her anxious being, which remains away in her waking state. This dreaming self of Martha basically refers to Heidegger’s Dasein. Since Martha’s Dasein determines her being on a journey in an ominous environment, this anxious Dasein reveals itself fully in her state. (Dolias, 2010) In the article â€Å"The

Discussion 2.1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 2.1 - Essay Example For effective planning on such uncertainties both positive and negative, we must most importantly understand our environment and its extensions. These include the social circles, psychological domain, behavioral, just to mention but a few. In planning, a concrete and consistent model is only achieved when the personality of an individual is put into great consideration. This comes with basic constructs which must clearly be understood. For instance, an individual’s undertakings may often be dictated by taste, but if this is the trend then ultimately balance would miss. This is to say that one’s emotional desires shouldn’t solely dictate every future undertaking they chose to dwell in (Kimberly & Margie 2001). Time is a very significant parameter when planning for the life’s unexpected events. For instance, confronted by the expenses of a family to take care of, one would have to balance between their times for capacity building; in of case they that may be intending to jump the professional ladder. Without setting the priorities right, a balance may miss in settling family issues as well as attending to individual concerns that similarly amount to esteem (Kimberly & Margie

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 54

Summary - Essay Example The time he was away, he could not help the people, and this made him feel powerless. He wondered around like a person without vision, and when his vision came, it just appeared like a mere dream. His powers were gone and he thought they would not come back. After retuning back, people told him to heal a sick man, and he was afraid that his powers would not work. Fortunately, his powers did not disappoint him because he continued healing sick people (Neihardt 18). Children died of measles, and this became worse because most of them were suffering from hunger. The people become hopeless and desperate and they felt they had no solution to their problem. At the time, he came back there was some rumor spreading around the people. The news was being talked by every body, and this is the first time he heard of it. The rumor was received by the ogalalas first and then it was passed to the people by the Shoshones. When he initially heard of the news, he never believed it because he felt it was mere rumor from people. There was mixed reaction between the people, as some believed the news while some did not (Neihardt18). The news was about a sacred man who lived in the west at the top of the mountains, people believed the man had a way to help the Indians by sending away the wasichus. He was said to have a way of bringing back the dead and explain how a new earth was to be formed. The people sent three men to talk to the sacred man and clarify whether the matter was true. People held a crucial meeting to hear what the three men had to say. He never participated in the meeting because he did not believe the news. He believed that desperation made people believe the news just as a hungry man hopes for plenty of food to shower on him. The three men said that they were told that another world was to come from the west like a passing cloud (Neihardt 19). This world was to clear everything that was old and dying.

Mexico Research Assignment Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mexico Assignment - Research Paper Example The Government of Mexico is a Federal Republic. Mexico accepts jurisdictions from ICCt with provisos. The official language of Mexico is Spanish. Mexico City is the largest city and capital of Mexico. Other major cities are Ecatepec, Puebla, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Nezahualcoyotl. The currency of Mexico is Mexican peso (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Free market forces and privatization dominate the Mexican market. It is made up of modern as well as outmoded agriculture and industry. The per capita income of Mexican person is one third of that of U.S. According to CIA the Gross Domestic Product (Purchasing Power Parity) of Mexican economy is $1.683 trillion as of 2011. Being a member of NAFTA, Mexico enjoys the benefits of increased imports from the U.S; also Canadian imports have increased to 5%. Mexico also has made several free trade agreements with countries such as Japan, the European Free trade Area, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Mexico has 1,724 airports which is the third largest in the world. It has one helicopter as of 2012. There are fifty two merchant marines. The ports and terminals of Mexico include Altamira, lazaro Cardenas, Salina Cruz, Dos Bocas terminal, Cayo Arcas terminal, Coatzacoalcos, Manzanillo, Altamira, and Veracruz. There are 19.892 million telephone users and 91.363 million cell phone users in Mexico as of 2009. There are 15.165 million internet hosts and 31.02 million internet users in mexico as of 2010 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Roman Catholicism is the major religion of Mexican people. Other minorities are from other dominations of Christianity. The culture of Mexico is a blend of Mexican and Spanish traditions as an influence of Spanish rule over Mexico for over 300 years. Today, many traditions from U.S have been made part of the Mexican culture. Mexican tradition is a family oriented one with family values and norms being the top most priority. Major festive of Mexico include Cinco de Mayo which is ce lebrated on May 5th each year as a festive of freedom, liverty, and independence; El Grito de Independencia which is the official holiday (the Independence Day); Los Dias de Los Muertos which actually means Day of Dead but is a Mexican celebration of both living and dead. It is celebrated on November 1 and 2. Punctuality is not an issue as more stress is laid upon personal commitements. The time for appointments is between 10am and 1pm but late afternoon is always considered a second choice (Berg,1997). Like most of the cultures, business entertaining is an important part of Mexican lifestyle as well. Most of the business meetings take place at breakfast or at lunch and can go on for more than two hours. There is no rule as to what will be the highlight of business meetings; sometimes they talk about business sometimes not. But, it is a great chance to build up personal relationships. A large meal is served at breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Mexico with alcohol served at lunch and d inner time; but mostly it’s a norm of dinner time. Breakfasts at the hotel you staying are also common. Private home meetings are not the norm of Mexican society. The person who usually invites pays the bills but if you are a client and other party supplier it is best you pay the bills. Splitting bills is a poor strategy (World Business Culture). In Mexico, men are supposed to shake hands when meeting a person and then leaving but they should wait for the women to

Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research Proposal Example In addition, this means that it has to involve the teachers in such a manner that the teachers are able to engage in the science practices in a much more detailed level. As a background to this, knowledge and skill in scientific inquiry has been a fundamental reform movement in science education according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Various documents, such as the 2012 National Research Council publication on Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the various major scientific concepts and principles that a student is expected to grasp by the end of high school. Consequently, this forms the basis upon which the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is structured. Therefore, the NGSS seeks to better engage students in the learning process consequently facilitating their more active exploration of the core scientific ideas and theories. Proper scientific understanding highlights the level of impact that the education system has had on an individual. These include essential knowledge and skills such as the possession of the ability to formulate scientific hypotheses, produce explanations, design and conduct experiments, gather and analyze data, and the general ability to communicate and reflect about the findings. Enabling all this calls for the teachers involved to have specific skills particularly geared towards the successful teaching of science to generate scientific knowledge. This forms the basis for the NRC framework that idealizes the development of a scientific-based approach among teachers to emphasize the practice of skills in addition to just acquiring them. This calls for teachers to engage in scientific enquiry practices such as asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, constructing explanations, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and

Mexico Research Assignment Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mexico Assignment - Research Paper Example The Government of Mexico is a Federal Republic. Mexico accepts jurisdictions from ICCt with provisos. The official language of Mexico is Spanish. Mexico City is the largest city and capital of Mexico. Other major cities are Ecatepec, Puebla, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Nezahualcoyotl. The currency of Mexico is Mexican peso (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Free market forces and privatization dominate the Mexican market. It is made up of modern as well as outmoded agriculture and industry. The per capita income of Mexican person is one third of that of U.S. According to CIA the Gross Domestic Product (Purchasing Power Parity) of Mexican economy is $1.683 trillion as of 2011. Being a member of NAFTA, Mexico enjoys the benefits of increased imports from the U.S; also Canadian imports have increased to 5%. Mexico also has made several free trade agreements with countries such as Japan, the European Free trade Area, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Mexico has 1,724 airports which is the third largest in the world. It has one helicopter as of 2012. There are fifty two merchant marines. The ports and terminals of Mexico include Altamira, lazaro Cardenas, Salina Cruz, Dos Bocas terminal, Cayo Arcas terminal, Coatzacoalcos, Manzanillo, Altamira, and Veracruz. There are 19.892 million telephone users and 91.363 million cell phone users in Mexico as of 2009. There are 15.165 million internet hosts and 31.02 million internet users in mexico as of 2010 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Roman Catholicism is the major religion of Mexican people. Other minorities are from other dominations of Christianity. The culture of Mexico is a blend of Mexican and Spanish traditions as an influence of Spanish rule over Mexico for over 300 years. Today, many traditions from U.S have been made part of the Mexican culture. Mexican tradition is a family oriented one with family values and norms being the top most priority. Major festive of Mexico include Cinco de Mayo which is ce lebrated on May 5th each year as a festive of freedom, liverty, and independence; El Grito de Independencia which is the official holiday (the Independence Day); Los Dias de Los Muertos which actually means Day of Dead but is a Mexican celebration of both living and dead. It is celebrated on November 1 and 2. Punctuality is not an issue as more stress is laid upon personal commitements. The time for appointments is between 10am and 1pm but late afternoon is always considered a second choice (Berg,1997). Like most of the cultures, business entertaining is an important part of Mexican lifestyle as well. Most of the business meetings take place at breakfast or at lunch and can go on for more than two hours. There is no rule as to what will be the highlight of business meetings; sometimes they talk about business sometimes not. But, it is a great chance to build up personal relationships. A large meal is served at breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Mexico with alcohol served at lunch and d inner time; but mostly it’s a norm of dinner time. Breakfasts at the hotel you staying are also common. Private home meetings are not the norm of Mexican society. The person who usually invites pays the bills but if you are a client and other party supplier it is best you pay the bills. Splitting bills is a poor strategy (World Business Culture). In Mexico, men are supposed to shake hands when meeting a person and then leaving but they should wait for the women to

Individual Assignment Essay Example for Free

Individual Assignment Essay Financial Concepts Guillermo Navallez is challenged with a market changes that have occurred over the past couple of years. With the economic environment created by the new competition and increase in labor costs, he will need to apply principles of finance to determine the best course of action to allow his furniture store to survive. After review and thoughtful consideration Guillermo decided to use the following to determine the best course of action: The Principle of Self-Interest Behavior, the Signaling Principle, and The Principle of Comparative Advantage. Using the behavioral based principles, economics and psychology can be integrated to help in the decision making process. Likewise, expertise can be the basis for choices made. The Principle of Self-Interested Behavior People generally, act in their own financial self-interest. The Principle of Self-Interested Behavior states that when all things are equal, parties involved will gravitate to the action that is most financially advantageous. A key concept with this principle is the idea of opportunity costs, or the difference between the value of one action and the value of best alternative (Emery, Finnerty, Stowe, 2007). To maximize potential profits, Guillermo will want to review carefully the different options available. The development and review of anticipate financial results will help identify from a purely financial perspective. The Principle of Self-Interested Behavior would help Guillermo with his end decision, if his financial interest was the most important component. When considering his concern the effect that the decision will have on his family life, this principle will likely not be the guiding force in the decision he makes. The Signaling Principle The Signaling Principle is an extension of the Principle of Self-Interested Behavior (Emery, Finnerty, Stowe, 2007). Decisions of one party in a financial market will provide signals to others. The old adage â€Å"actions speak louder than words† is a clear explanation of this principle (Garger, 2011). The actions of the competitors can play an important role in the decision making process. Guillermo understands that how others are handling the changes in the market can help him with his decision. He learns that many of his competitors are consolidating in to large organizations. The path taken by the others in the industry were not attractive to him. Guillermo saw that additional management reasonability and the forced retirements were not fitting to his lifestyle or personal financial expectations. The Signaling Principle would be a good practice for the foreign competition as they would benefit by understanding how others capitalized on the situation of the individual furniture makers left in the market. The Principle of Comparative Advantage Much like the very idea that the United States’ economic system is based, the Principle of Comparative Advantage stated that if people do what they do best, the most qualified people will be completing that type of work. One can pay another to do what they do best and vice versa. Foreign trade is based on this same idea. Some countries can produce goods more economically than others. By producing these goods and trading them with countries that can efficiently produce another needed good, everybody benefits (Emery, Finnerty, Stowe, 2007). Through his research, Guillermo found a company that was still operating in exclusively in Norway, but was looking to distribute in the North America. Guillermo had connections with distributors and expert knowledge as to the furniture being sought after. By becoming a representative for the Norwegian company, he would work with the network he had developed to distribute their products. His company focus would change from primarily manufacturing to distribution. The Norwegian company would pay him for work he was extremely qualified to do, and they would make a majority of the furniture that would be sold. Both Guillermo and the furniture maker would win under of the Principle of Comparative Advantage. Conclusion Principles of finance can be very beneficial in making business decisions. They can deal with the competition in the economic environment, creating value and economic efficiency, and financial transactions.

Procurement And Inventory Management Commerce Essay

Procurement And Inventory Management Commerce Essay A formal procurement process is a systematic step by step exercise that is important to follow to ensure no or little mistakes, and also achieve time saving, ensure the right solution to meet business needs, to also ensure the right price is paid (not necessarily the lowest price!), and lastly not to miss out on important steps that might have serious consequences. The company Green Chilly (GC) is a private owned restaurant chain operating in the UK. It runs several restaurants for takeaway meals and for people that will stop and sit down for lunch or during any other time of the day. The company currently have 53 restaurants all over the UK in the major cities and towns, collectively they serve on average 16000 eat down in meals everyday and 23000 customers coming for snacks and drinks which are mostly taken away to eat. Due to the companys successful growth the restaurant chain is facing certain seasonality problems of staffing issues and over stocking of items due to the UK holiday seasons and the unfavourable variable weather conditions that are influencing customer preferences. The company have communication, information, pricing issues, quality issues and above all no structured procurement process in place. After offering consultancy services to the company regarding its procurement structure the next stage is developing a well structured procurement strategy for the sourcing of high usage food and non food items that will meet the needs of the company wide procurement process. The owner of the company is experienced and has been in the business for a long time, I will be going through the process of sourcing with him and the rest of the staff. In 1967, the Canadian, American and Israeli marketing researchers, Robinson, Faris and Wind, introduced the buygrid framework as a generic conceptual model for buying processes of organisations. They saw industrial buying not as single events, but as organisational decision-making processes where multiple individuals decide on a purchase. Their framework consists of a matrix of buyclasses and buyphases.   The BUYCLASSES Buyclasses are:   1. New Tasks 2. Modified Rebuy   3. Straight Rebuy   Based on field research, Robinson, Faris and Wind divided the buyer purchase process into eight sequential, distinct but interrelated BUYPHASES: Assessment of a companys current spending: Fully understand the spend category (what is bought, where, at what prices? Assessment of the supply market (who offers what?). Total cost analyses (how much does it cost to provide those goods or services?). Identification of suitable suppliers. Development of a sourcing strategy (where to purchase, considering demand and supply situations, while minimizing risk and costs). Negotiation with suppliers (products, service levels, prices, geographical coverage, etc.). Implementation of new supply structure. Track results and restart assessment (continuous cycle). Assessment of a companys current spending: Using Green Chilly Company as a case study. Assessment of what is bought by the company in recent time and in comparisons to previous years, from which supplier procurement and sourcing were made and lastly at what price were they bought? Fully understand the spend category at the beginning stage, the sourcing team (including the management and some staff) need to ensure it understands everything about the spend category itself. Identify opportunities, what could be of advantage both food and noon food item, especially for meal production. The following materials are needed directly and indirectly by the company: Equipment : general restaurant equipment like cooling system, cooking, washing and rinsing, ventilation e.t.c Components: this includes the good will, style, taste, finishing and services of the company. Raw material: These are items used in cooking, raw meat, rice, beans, vegetables e.t.c. Completely finished goods: inventory held for these goods are usually between company and customers. Suppliers supply the goods and services directly with out any form of modification by the company. Goods like treats by restaurants to customers. Service requirement might include: Computer programmers: for online ordering, restaurant website creation and maintenance. Hazardous waste handlers: proper disposing of hazardous waste substances according to safety measures. Transportation carriers: restaurant trucks maintenance and upgrades. Maintenance service provider: general maintenance in the restaurant i.e. electrical appliances, assets, environment, bill boards (branding), cleaning e.t.c. Assessment of the supply market: The top officials in the sourcing team have re evaluate the suppliers market for new potential suppliers. The re evaluation of suppliers is in two areas: quality and price. A direct comparison is made of existing suppliers against at least three potential suppliers using taste panel. As many suppliers as possible are sought which appear to have a product that is similar to that in question or which have the capabilities to produce such a product. Suppliers could be known to any of the sourcing team members or found through trade journals and directories. Other sources of potential suppliers include trade shows and speculative letters. This process is carried out for both food and non food item. The volume of purchases to be made could be predicted from past procurements with an analytical assessment of which goods and services moved fast and which were slow movers. For fast movers cycle stock inventory purpose or buffer inventory could be adopted especially for goods and services relevant for the production of meals like rice, meat, baking flour e.t.c. And for slow movers i.e. ice cream machines and raw materials a seasonal stock could be adopted, since ice cream are more consumed in summer and summer breaks, than winter. Total cost analysis: How much it costs to procure those goods, the food and non food items. In the past, present and possible future forecast by experts. These recommendations are then passed on to the procurement section of the restaurant that will use them to decide which suppliers should be progressed to the price negotiation stage. The procurement team then request for quotations which are ballpark figures which the team later finalizes (direct comparison on price). It is necessary that the specification is complete, and the expected costs including distribution are a part of this. In this way, the procurement team has knowledge of costing and the taste comparison recommendations before negotiations are entered into. Identification of suitable supplier The company should periodically run assessment for seeking alternative suppliers to existing incumbents, a well carried out assessment for both present suppliers and potential suppliers. The company should have an in depth understanding of the supplier marketplace dynamics and current trends (how goods and service are packaged and delivered, alternative products that substitute the present). Prepare a study of the cost components of the product service, and analyze the suppliers market place for risks (hazardous goods, or infections especially for food raw materials) and opportunities based on a survey to access the capacity and capability of the market to meet your requirements compared with your present suppliers. It will enable the company to assess whether the present sourcing process is feasible or the best. It shows to gather knowledge in the key areas like: Feasibility, Capability Capacity: how much inventory the supplier can provide for the companys restaurant chain in the country. If the supplier is able to meet the demand of Green Chilly company. Maturity Prices of key raw material and other important variables involved in the procurement process such as labour and transportation must be priced and calculations done of the suppliers cost elements referred to as should-cost information from the major components of the key products. Take a view on the key suppliers sub tier marketplace, and analyse for risks as well as opportunities. Should cost analysis drives reduction in cost and supplier continuous improvement efforts. Although should cost analysis does not work for all item, sometimes traditional strategic sourcing techniques work w ell in cases where should cost doesnt work well. Development of a sourcing strategy: Using a cross functional procumbent team in Green Chilly Copany. Deciding where to buy while minimizing risk and costs is the major factor that determines the development of the strategic sourcing strategy. The strategy would depend largely on the alternatives available to the current suppliers, and also how competitive the supplier market is. In addition how open the users are to new suppliers. This process depends on some factors like: How competitive the supplier marketplace is: How supportive your organisations users are to testing incumbent supplier relationships What alternatives exist to competitive assessment: If the supplier have well developed systems for planning material, personnel, and capacity needs Does the supplier track key performance measures, such as throughput time, quality levels, and cost? How easy is it for customers to interact with the suppliers planning and control systems? The next step is to determine the sourcing process; the most common method of sourcing is to use a request for proposal process for soliciting bids (RFP, RFQs, eRFQs, ITTs). This will define and make clear the requirements to all prequalified suppliers. It Includes product or service specifications, delivery and service requirements, pricing breakdown and legal and financial terms and conditions. When all these messages are all been passed out, ensuring all suppliers the competition is on a level played field, a follow up message should also be sent out to encourage a greater response. Negotiation with suppliers In this stage the selection and negotiation with suppliers is carried out based on the products, service levels, prices, quality, delivery, geographical coverage and additional benefits. In respect to products been bided for, suppliers must meet delivery, price, quality and purposes of inventory meaning the quantity required by Green Chilly Company. The supplier must be able to meet the demands of the company based on the volume forecasting of the company which In the case of Green Chill Company, all the bids should be related to food and non food items (i.e. food stuffs like meat, rice, vegetables, provisions e.t.c. non food like cooking, cleaning, dinning equipments) the process of procurement is different for each item. Could be buffer or safety stock for rice, cycle stock for vegetables and meat, in transit inventory for items like chop stick, seasonal stuck for goods like ice cream, during summer or heaters during winter e.t.c. The price and quality of goods, both food and non food items most be regulated across all Green Chill chain of restaurants in the country. Geographical coverage is of high essence to Green Chill Company because of the companys chain of restaurants. The procurement team should apply its evaluation criteria to supplier responses. From this process the GC procurement team will be able to then narrow down to a few finalists. The few finalists should be compared together with the senior executives involved to give their final approval and a final supplier should be selected. The senior executives should be totally briefed so as to prepare them for calls from disappointed suppliers. Implementation of new supply structure: After a proper new structure as been formulated, the winning or successful suppliers should be notified and they should be invited to participate in implementing process and recommendations. Green Chilly Companys new structural process should also be communicated to all staff and users to bridge the communication gaps and problems in the company. Implementation plans vary depending on the degree of changes. The communication plan in the strategic sourcing strategy will majorly comprise of any improvement to specifications or process, changes in delivery (lead time) service requirements (inventory management) or pricing (major changes in the prices of goods both non food and food item) should be communicated in the process of implementing the new process. For old suppliers coming back to be winners there will be communication changes in specifications, improvements in delivery, and service or pricing models based on what they do before compared with the new structure. In the case of new suppliers a communication plan has to be developed that will supervise the transition from old to new at every point in the process that is touched by the structural change. i.e department of finance and customer services affected by this change, and the risk supervision will be particularly sensitive during this period, due to their vulnerability to mistakes. It is necessary to measure closely the new suppliers performance during the first weeks of performance. It is also important to capture the intellectual capital GC sourcing team has developed during the seven-step process so it can be used the next time that category is sourced. Track results and restart assessment (continuous cycle): This is a major aspect of the whole sourcing management process carried out by the Green Chilly Company. It is the start of a continuous cycle, starting with benchmarking the current status of the commodity or category, monitoring the results and ensuring that full value is being achieved. Conclusion After spending time planning all the processes of procurement, the roles and responsibilities of each member of the procurement team must be well established. The procurement process is reviewed and communicated to all parties involved including staff of GC. Given the market Green Chilly chain of restaurants is which is in the United Kingdom. A central distribution system would be of an advantage and feasible. With a central distribution goods and services could be distributed in 4 to 5hours drive to all corners of the UK. With the procurement process listed above putting in mind central location (Birmingham) criteria for suppliers bidding for contracts. Inventories are mostly head in goods in transit, raw material and finished goods in a restaurant. It is safer to run a safety stock for some products in the restaurant and a seasonal stock for some other stock like ice cream ingredients. The main goal is to have a reliable supplier with low price considerations and Just in time deliveries (JIT). Section 1 (2299 words) Reference Marketing Management Guide. MMG: Buy grid model: [Online]. Available from: http://marketing-management-business.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/buy-grid-model.html [Accessed 17th November, 2012]. Leung and Bockstedt: Structural Analysis of a Business Enterprise.Service Science 1(3), pp. 169-188,  © 2009 SSG. [Online]. Available from: http://www.sersci.com/ServiceScience/upload/12556582800.pdf [Accessed 8th December 2012]. Purchasing Insight. The Procurement Process. [Online]. Available from: http://purchasinginsight.com/resources/the-procurement-process/ [Accessed 11th December 2012]. Article citation: Elizabeth Mawson, Andrew Fearne, (1996) Purchasing strategies and decision-making processes in the food service industry: a case study of UK restaurant chains, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 1 Iss: 3, pp.34 41. [Online]. Available from: http://0-dx.doi.org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/10.1108/13598549610155305 [Accessed 15th November 2012]. Robinson, Patrick, Wind, Yoram and Faris, C.W. Buy-grid framework. Marketing Selling. [Online]. Available from: http://www.provenmodels.com/549 [Accessed 20th November 2012]. eHow. List of equipment needed to start a restaurant by Kristen Bennett, eHow contributor. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6720275_list-equipment-needed-start-restaurant.html#page=0 [Accessed 27th November 2012]. Purchasing Procurement Center. Source: 2001 A.T. Kearney. [Online]. Available from: http://www.purchasing-procurement-center.com/strategic-sourcing-process.html [Accessed 28th November 2012]. Supply Management. The seven stages of a sourcing strategy. [Online]. Available from: http://www.supplymanagement.com/resources/how-to/guide-to-strategic-sourcing/the-seven-stages-of-a-sourcing-strategy/ [Accessed 2nd November 2012]. The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. The SCRC Article library, Procurement process-creating a sourcing plan,by: Robert Handfield, PhD. Published on: Jan 26,2011. [Online]. Available from: http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-procurement-process-creating-a-sourcing-plan-procurement-a-tutorial#5 [Accessed 2nd December 2012). Chapter 3, Sourcing Strategies to Manage Supply Distributions, by: Amanda J. Schmitt and Brain Tomlin.Pages [51 to 60]. [Online]. Available from: http://0-link.springer.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-0-85729-778-5_3 [Accessed 6th December 2012]. http://0-link.springer.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/content/pdf/10.1007%2F0-387-25183-9_1 [Accessed 4th December 2012] INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN INFORMATIQUE ET EN AUTOMATIQUE.INRIA, by Lyà ¨s Benyoucef,Hongwei Ding, Xiaolan Xie. [Online]. Available from: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/07/18/60/PDF/RR-4726.pdf [Accessed 4th December 2012]. SUPPLIER SELECTION Contents SUPPLIER SELECTION Question 2 Introduction Nowadays the costs and effect of purchasing raw materials, goods and services from suppliers are very important. Majority of the costs incurred by a company are usually procurements of components and materials for production. This shows how important decision of purchasing activity is. The procurement process usually determines the final cost of a product. Among the decisions related to this activity, supplier selection is most capital decision (Nydick and Hill, 1992) and (Mobolurin, 1995). Supplier selection is the most important decision in the procurement process. Given the market Green Chilly Company is in, the decision making process should be well defined and laid out. Based on the Decision making process (selection of supplier): raw material inventory (food stuffs like meat, vegetables, perishables e.t.c) seasonal stock, safety stock, speculative stock, cycle stock. Monetary influence and non monetary influence criteria affecting the choice of supplier. Also the risks: both influences and external factors should be well examined. There are so many factors to go through in deciding who to buy from, what to buy and what quantity, how to carry out the procurement process, where and for what purpose for inventory. Supplier selection for Baking Flour Baking flour is an essential product in the life operation of a restaurant all round the business year. Used in the production of meals. Using structural role analysis; In respect of the simplistic of the BUYGRID framework, structural role analysis can also be used in reaching a structural frame work for the sourcing and procurement process for the company. This technique allows each task in the buying procedure to be related to the individual (procurement team) responsible for decision making and is more flexible in the description of the buying procedures in the company for baking flour. In this way, it is easier and possible to include explicitly factors affecting the decision making process in selecting a supplier, these factors includes: Social and cultural factors: the cultural differences or social influences on the level of purchases made on some products have to be monitored for the sake of improvement and how to do better on such goods. Since the restaurant chain is different area of UK, with diverse social and cultural differences. This should be put into consideration and monitored. Political and economical factors: factors like political instabilities, strikes (restaurant union), lock outs, Quotas/ import quotas, Exchange rate fluctuation for goods and services imported, regulations ad restrictions concerning products and designs, application and usage. Laws governing goods and services used in restaurants and also the restaurants in the country. For the supplier of baking flour, some types of flour might be banned in the UK, or importation restricted. Technological factors: technology advances in the restaurant market, provides new opportunities for storage and distribution of goods and services. Suppliers have to upgrade to meet up with present trends in the market. Industrial factors: there are mandatory compliance under a variety of industrial acts, affecting suppliers and restaurants concerning some issues like environmental protection, health, safety, and consumer protection laws e.t.c affecting the selection of suppliers. Organizational: this is from both the buyer and the supplier. Organizational set up of the two parties must be examined. Environmental/ External factors: there are environment laws guiding the type of pollution and amount acceptable in a particular area. Disposing of hazardous components is essential. Risks: the potential risk of a supplier defaulting. Adequate contingency plans should be put in place. In the case the supplier contaminates the goods, because restaurants raw material is very sensitive. Monetary and non monetary factors: the price of goods and services supplied plus distribution is the main factor considered by the buyers. Price drives the purpose for seeking for new suppliers. There are non monetary factors like the good will of the supplier or the supplier is the sole supplier of such product. The lead time on some goods is also crucial to the delivery of such goods and services. The above factors throw light on the cause and effect of specific actions during the decision making process. Structural role analysis links personnel structures with the roles and tasks that are carried out. In this way the constructed model gives a clear indication concerning who is responsible for which tasks. This is well illustrated by structural role analysis since the effects on the buying behaviour in terms of the individuals that carry out specific tasks and the order in which they are carried out are exact. These individuals are all part of the procurement team (includes managers, commercial director, operations director and marketing director, site catering managers). Structural role analysis requires the identification of key decision makers and the intentions between individuals in the decision making unit. To illustrate the use of structural role theory, we should consider the case study of Green chilly company. We should start by displaying the roles of the buying centre (procurement team) of the companys restaurant chain, for example a straight rebuy. A straight rebuy is a routine repurchase that may have been made many times before. In this case study on Green Chilly Company, lets pick a straight rebuy for baking flour. A policy of central procurement is followed. Distribution is carried out from the central depot through a specialist distribution company. The distribution company delivers to all restaurants in three to four days per week all over the UK branches. Each member of the procurement team is briefed and assigned a role (buyer and assistant buyer). In this case of repurchasing baking powder on a straight rebuy process re-evaluation is undertaken before reordering with the same supplier. The re-evaluation of suppliers is going to be carried out in four areas: Quality: the quality of products supplied is very essential to the services and goods rendered by the company. Better quality supplies lead to better goods and services produced. Price: the price of goods and service supplied directly affects the selling price. This includes the distribution costs as well. Service : the packaging and technology advances of the supplier is very paramount to the procurement process Delivery: just in time delivery (JIT) is very important, especially in a restaurant running all through the week. For a product like baking flour cycle stock or buffer stocking should b implemented to prevent shortages. A direct comparison is made of existing supplier and against at least three potential suppliers based on the areas above using a taste panel. As many suppliers as possible are sought which appear to specialize in baking flour products with capabilities to produce such a product. The following steps are carried out: Seeking of potential suppliers Direct comparison on quality Direct comparison on price Direct comparison on service Direct comparison on delivery time Decision/ choice of selected supplier Seeking of potential suppliers: Potential suppliers are either already known to the procurement team of the company, or found through trade journals and directories. Other sources of potential suppliers include trade shows and speculative letters. Therefore, there is a pool of suppliers for baking flour from whom to choose as well as active search for new suppliers. The information needs to be readily available to all potential suppliers with a tight specification on the product and with a rough price built into the brief. All suppliers of baking flour need to match the product to these specifications, including quality, delivery time, price and services rendered. The procurement team acts as a forum for discussion and also to make decisions on what quotas to give in terms of quality, price, delivery time and services. Direct comparison on quality: In this process all products from all suppliers are all tasted blind and this side by side comparison is the key evaluation on the quality aspect. The procurement team makes the decision in terms of taste, texture and colour, and then makes recommendations about which products should be considered further, based on the result of the tasting and recipe compilation. This information is now passed to the leader of the procurement team leader and member who now decided which suppliers should be progressed to the price negotiation stage. Direct comparison on price: These are ballpark figures which the team later finalizes. It is necessary that the specification is complete, and the expected costs including distribution of baking flour are well detailed. In this way the procurement team has knowledge of all price quotations of all suppliers and taste comparison recommendation. Direct comparison on service: A detailed weighted point method is used to categories each suppliers based on their pat performances in rendering their services with GC or with other companies. Direct comparison on delivery time Based on past jobs for GC or other companies, the supplier with the best just in time (JIT) delivery stands better chance of getting contracts from the company. Non-monetary criteria Non monetary criteria includes lead time of some goods and services, good will enjoyed by some suppliers from their clients. There are ways to make decisions just based on abilities not just on monetary basis. A weighted point method is a good example to illustrate this point: Weighted point method This method is based on a non monetary criteria evaluation. Not all criteria and decision can be measured in monetary terms, as no market value exists for some criteria. In this method Green Chilly Company we consider the non monetary costs and benefits associated with each of the identified factors. Based on the factors for considerations in choosing a supplier, a well weighted point method could also be used. Starting with quality and delivery with the weight of 40 and 30 respectively, quality problems are the biggest problems in supplier performance. Next to quality problems is late delivery with a weight of 30. Followed by price differentials with weight 20, then lastly service with weight 10. All these factors are measured on a scare of 1 to 5, worst performances equated to 1 and best performances equated to 5. In this sample method, three suppliers were selected based on their performances and measure against the factors. SAMPLE SUPPLY MODEL FOR BAKING FLOUR (Figure 1) Supplier A rating Supplier A score Supplier B rating Supplier B score Supplier C rating Supplier C score Factor Weight How Measured Quality 40 1 = Worst 5 = Best (3/5)x40 24 (4/5)x40 32 (3/5)x40 24 Delivery 30 1 = Worst 5 = Best (4/5) x 30 24 (4/5)x30 24 (3/5)x30 18 Price 20 1 = Worst 5 = Best (2/5) x 20 8 (5/5)x20 20 (2/5)x20 8 Service 10 Good = 100% Fair = 70% Poor = 40% .7 x 10 7 1.0 x 10 10 .7 x 10 7 Total Points 100 63 86 57 Based on the figure 1 example supplier A has a rating of 3/5 in quality and a total score of 24, 4/5 in delivery and a total score of 24, 2/5 in price and a total score of 8, finally a 70% rating on services render. Supplier B on the other hand scored higher than both supplier A and B, with a total score of 86, scoring higher than supplier A in all levels except delivery with equal level. Supplier C is the worst of all suppliers. So supplier B is the best suited for this purchase of baking flour, and should be awarded the contract. The above developed weightings for criterion dependent on assessment of how important each criterion factors are to the success of selecting supplier C for the supply of baking flour and the impact it will have on the companys activities could as well be measured. Decision/ choice of selected supplier: All these factors enables the procurement team to make decision regarding the suitability of suppliers to fit into the current portfolio of products and prices, since the overall budget is the responsibility of the procurement team, they reach the final agreement on wish supplier to pick based on the budget and delivery process across the country for baking flour. Once those suppliers with acceptable products and services have been identified for the supply of baking flour, the procurement team will meet them in order to discuss the prices and volumes under consideration for the product (baking flour). A few suppliers are retained to this stage so that there is a choice from the procurement teams perspective, and also in the case the chosen supplier starts to under perform. Price is dependent on volume, so both aspects are discussed in tandem. The volumes required for a new product are an educated guess. However, a replacement product has known volume which is traded. The volumes are used as guide in negotiations but are never guaranteed to a su