Investment Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Investment Risk Management - Essay Example Laura and Rubia (2012) says that in a practical setting, typical risks faced by financial institutions include defaults on loans provided by the firm, losses on investment securities and failure of business undertakings on a supplementary party owing certain obligations to the affected party. In this case, it is acknowledgeable that financial companies face numerous risks in operations. Therefore, risk management involves developing appropriate measures to curb and minimize effects of these typical circumstances. Laura and Rubia (2012) says that after developing appropriate measures, risk management moves into implementing and procedures meant to facilitate the realization of pre-determined risk management goals. In contemporary business environments, the financial industry faces substantial effects from volatility in micro-economic elements. This means that, economic trends play a significant role in either boosting or inflating portfolio, and investment securities held by a given c ompany. This type of risk is largely inevitable, as micro-economic elements of a business environment depend on the specific region that a business organization operates. In an event that America undergoes high inflation rates and a negative economic growth, then the financial industries operating within the US will feel the pinch of inflation. In this regard, financial institutions experience unprecedented risks during turbulent economic times. According to Allen (2012), it is inherent to acknowledge the fact that turbulence within an economic environment causes financial uncertainty; which requires intervention from risk management practices. Financial volatility and associated risks became pronounced with adoption of electronic trading in security markets. In modern automated markets, threats from data and information theft features as one insecurity element facing the financial industry. Trends suggest that there is a potential risk of exposure to data breaches coupled with iden tity theft experienced by financial institutions. Allen (2012) agrees that despite risk trends suggesting an increase in security breaches, financial companies do not put enough measures to counteract data theft. In a practical sense, failure to address these risks presents huge risks and challenges to the financial industry. In order to evaluate the effect of negligence in financial risk management, we will appraise the case of Lehman Brothers. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers, which is one of the most prestigious participants in the Wall Street market, admitted having filed for bankrupts amid negotiations with potential buyers. According to Teather, Treanor, & Wearden (2008), Lehman Brothers postulated that the protection move aimed at safeguarding its assets. However, the collapse of the huge financial company was a result of the credit crunch coupled with profound effects from sub-prime crisis. Lehman was a victim of the credit crunch, which refers to a situation where lenders provided limited on no money to borrowers. In 2008, there was a significant economic recession across the world. As a result, lending financial institutions froze their money in order to minimize risks associated with the uncertain economy. According to Teather et al. (2008), Lehman Brothers could not borrow enough money to sustain its business operations; hence opted for a bankruptcy protection. Apart from

Reasons behind Organisations Seeking Control on Its Various Essay - 1

Reasons behind Organisations Seeking Control on Its Various Operational Dimensions - Essay Example According to the research findings, the organizations have attempted to render greater interests in order to control their internal business activities and obtain advantageous competitive benefits identified in the external environment of the business. Moreover, it can be observed that the modern business organizations are highly focused on evaluating a range of useful mechanistic processes in order to enhance their power of controlling and obtaining greater competitive advantages in the global market.In order to obtain a critical understanding of the current day scenario, the various aspects associated with the accomplishment of the organizational goal, i.e. to seek control in different situations, will be evaluated. Additionally, to provide the discussion with firm evidence, the illustration of Marks & Spencer plc (M&S) strategies will be taken into account. According to Jensen, human communication is recognized as a transmission method, through which the conversation conveys one l ocation to another and is possible only when the messages are transferred from a mechanistic perspective. It is in this context that analysts who adopt mechanistic perspective believe that the concepts of communications are causally associated. Specifically, the mechanistic perspective in the communication process involves a linear relationship between the communicator and the channels through which the message is delivered. Moreover, Sorokin has also mentioned that a mechanistic perspective model possesses the capacity of understanding any complex system through the investigation of its particular characteristics as well as the interrelation persisting between the variables. The model is usually integrated with physical aspects where the system elements are identified as real and visible. With reference to the notion of mechanistic models, it can be observed as based on elements which are incorporated in a discrete manner that cannot be physically observed.

Phase Model of Globalization

Phase Model of Globalization The intention of this paper is to give an outline of the stages in the phase model of globalisation. It will talk about each of the four stages and some associated advantages and disadvantages with each. Also this paper will be looking at companies within Australia that represent each of the stages in the phase model. Introduction Globalisation is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. (StateUniversityofNewYork)Globalisation is a defining word of our age and the way in which we live; globalisation affects people, companies, their workforce and consumers. It affects all aspects, not just of the corporate world, but transactional and cultural relationships generally and so affects how we live and how we interact, no matter where we live (Stanley J. Paliwoda 2009). Globalisation has been accelerated by falling trade barriers, the spread of free trade and trade harmonisation in an electronic age, bringing a reduction in the bureaucracy surrounding international trade and increased speed to the way in which communications relay changes anywhere in the world (Stanley J. Paliwoda 2009). There are four stages in the phase model of globalisation they are Export ing, Cooperative contracts, Strategic alliances and Wholly owned affiliates (McWilliams 2010). In the following paper all four stages will be analysed and using Australian companies who operate at each stage the risks and major disadvantages will be identified and outlined. Body With todayà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s more and more globalised world the yearly value of global trade in the form of exports and imports is expected to exceed $12 trillion. In most recent years world trade has consistently grown at a more rapid rate than world productivity (BusinessVictoria 2008). The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country, in summary it means selling domestically produced products to customers in foreign countries (McWilliams 2010) the main risks with exporting are high financial costs, ever increasing trade barriers, and greater political, legal and cultural complexity. An example of an Australian company that uses exporting is the iconic Australian swimwear brand Speedo who export their items to countries such as UK, Japan, France, Italy and Germany (Speedo 2010), also many other well known Australian fashion designers such as Lisa Ho, sass bide and Ksubi (AustralianGovernment 2010 ) have increased the exportation of their designs and lines internationally over the past decade. The next phase in the model is known as cooperative contracts and it comprises of two commonly used types; Licensing and Franchising. Licensing is an agreement in which a domestic company, the licensor, receives royalty payments for allowing another company, the licensee, to produce the licensorà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s product, sell its service or use its brand name in a specified foreign market (McWilliams 2010). The use of licensing in industry can open up gaps for risks to occur, such as the licensor giving up control over the quality of the product or the service sold by the foreign licensee also licensees can eventually become competitors, especially when a licensing agreement includes access to important technology or proprietary knowledge. In Australia Telstra is a main company which is using licensee stores, the Telstra Licensed shops (Telstra 2010) can be located in all major cities and shopping centres. A business or company also has the option of franchising; th is is a collection of networked firms in which the manufacturer or marketer of a product or service, the franchisor, licences the entire business to another person or organisation, the franchisee (McWilliams 2010). Compared to licensing its risks are more numerous; at the end of the franchise term, the franchisor is not obliged to renew the franchise, in which case the business and its goodwill revert to the franchisor. Some franchises have restrictions in place which means you are limited where you may operate and/or promote your business; franchisees generally have to operate the business according to the franchisors operations manual. In Australia we have many well known franchised companies one being The Coffee Club which has 270 stores across Australia, New Zealand and Thailand (Reed 2010)and the popular chain of Healthy Habits which now has 32 stores nationally (Reed 2010) The Strategic alliance phase is an agreement in which companies combine key resources, costs, risk, technology and people (McWilliams 2010). Strategic alliances are becoming more and more prominent in the global economy, more than 20,000 corporate alliances have been formed worldwide over the past two years, and the number of alliances in the USA has grown by 25 percent each year since 1987 (Elmuti and Kathawala 2001). There are four types of strategic alliances; joint ventures, equity strategic alliance, non-equity strategic alliance, and global strategic alliances. The most common form of strategic alliance is joint ventures which involve two or more companies or individuals in a partnership for a particular purpose (Bambi Faivre Walters 2008-2010). The more valuable the complementary assets held by a local firm, the more likely a foreign firm will choose a joint venture as a means by which to enter a host market (Chiao, Lo et al. 2006). Some major disadvantages with this stage are ; the overcoming of language and cultural barriers, clash of egos and company cultures, dealing with conflicting objectives, strategies, corporate values, and ethical standards and the time consuming for managers in terms of communication, trust-building, and coordination costs (Ellay 2009). A recent joint venture was the merger of Vodaphone and 3 mobile who now fall under the joint company of VHA. VHA markets its products and services under the Vodafone brand, but retains exclusive rights to use the 3 brand in Australia (Gedda 2009) Wholly owned affiliates is the final phase in the model, these companies are foreign offices, facilities and manufacturing plants that are 100% owned by the parent company (McWilliams 2010). There is a distinct primary advantage to this which is that the parent company receives all of the profits and has complete control over the foreign facilities, but the biggest disadvantage to the use of this phase in business is the expense of building new operations or buying existing businesses, this is phase is also commonly referred to as build or buy. In situations of non-firm-specific assets, joint ventures are superior to wholly-owned subsidiaries, which are highly exposed to environmental uncertainty. In situations involving firm-specific assets, wholly-owned subsidiaries may reduce the risks of delay and opportunistic behaviour by partners in uncertain environment (Chiao, Lo et al. 2006). Mitsui EP Australia Pty Ltd (MEPAU) is an example of Australian company that is wholly owned affili ates. It is a 100% affiliated company of Mitsui Co., Ltd and Mitsuià ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s main investments are largely in the Australian and New Zealand energy sector (Mitsui 2010). While the payoff can be enormous if wholly owned affiliates succeed, the losses can be immense if they fail, because the parent company assumes all of the risk (McWilliams 2010) Conclusion In summary, all of the four stages in the phase model of globalisation have immense impact on how businesses and companies evolve through time. Some businesses may choose not to follow the phase model step by step, they can opt to skip stages on the way; there are also a majority of businesses choosing not to follow this phase model at all (McWilliams 2010). At first, globalisation was about taking advantage of minor expenses in offshore destinations, but now thriving globalisers recognise the additional major advantages to this and are taking on these advantages, where unsuccessful organisations are not. Each stage or phase of the model inherent its own levels of risks; but to make sure there is successful implementation of these phases requires conscientious planning, and also requires continuing management, and strong dedication from the business and organisation leaders.

Half-Caste by John Agard How effective is the light-hearted ridicule :: English Literature

Half-Caste by John Agard How effective is the light-hearted ridicule in this poem? In the poem Half-Caste by John Agard the poet uses ridicule to put his point across, he uses this technique very effectively and many times and by the end of the poem you realise how stupid the fact of someone being a Half Caste is. The poem is about a man from the West Indies and is called Half Caste, which means of mixed race. The poem starts off with a verse off three lines all written in Standard English. Even in this very short part we can see the way the poet is using ridicule when he says ‘standing on one leg’, this is inferring that because he is a ‘half-caste’ he is only standing on one leg and that only one half the white half of him means anything to most people. It may seem like a ridiculous idea that he should stand on one leg but it does show how stupid the idea that someone can only stand on one leg because he is off mixed race. The poem then goes into a West Indian accent and it then makes another example like mixing colours makes him a half-caste. It then says ‘explain yuself’ again as it did at the start of the verse, this is repeated many times through the poem and becomes a sort of chorus. It is then always followed by an example, in this case comparing light and shadow to black and white. Light and shadow is a euphemism for black and white. The poem then goes onto a line, which really uses ridicule to get the point across, but whilst adding a little humour it shows an extremely vital point that we all as individuals should think about, it says about English weather being half caste. We all know the joke about English weather being bad and traditionally always cloudy and rainy. When we say that the weather is half-caste we are really saying it is not as good as it should be, do we also mean this when we call a person of mixed race a ‘half caste’. That line has double intentions as well as saying about English weather not being very good it also questions our thoughts on people of mixed race and whether we look down on them. The poet then uses light hearted ridicule again when he says about Tchaikovsky using the black and white key on a piano this is saying that he is not half caste but what about someone who only uses white keys does that make them a racist.

Bilingualism in the United States Essay

There are many arguments that have advocated for bilingualism to be encouraged in the United States. There is one faction that claims it makes foreigners feel accommodated and accommodated and also to facilitate the learning of thousands on non-English speaking students who go for studies. On the other hand there are those who claim it leads to a national disunity. The paper will look at these two sides of the debate and lastly take a stand on why the US should provide bilingual services to its immigrants mainly by basing its argument on reasons derived from the benefits gained on its educational, social and economic aspects. Bilingualism can be taken to mean fluent regular use of two languages in the day to day communication. Scientist have been able to show that being able to speak  two  language is even more fundamental than just being able to have a conversation with   individuals  of different backgrounds. They have proved that bilingualism makes one smarter. Bilingualism can have the effect of improving a person’s cognitive skills that are in no manner related to language. There is an increasing diversification of ethnic and racial diversification in the United States today. Currently, over 40 million language-minority people reside in the United States with the projections expected to increase with time.  Immigrants and learners from all over the world live in the united state: a situation that should naturally pave the way for bilingualism. Debates surrounding bilingualism have been brought forward  time and again as the United States population becomes more diverse. The big question remains; should English be made the official language? Should there be a prohibition of other languages other than English In government services and public services and even in schools? Should non-English speakers be taught using their native language, English or both languages? In short, the debate has time and again been about whether bilingualism should be simply encouraged or outright prohibited. Different scholars presented different views basing their arguments on what the effect of bilingualism may bring to the United States. Proponents like of English-only argued that bilingual lead to national disunity ethnic group isolation and even encourage economic disparities between the rich and the poor (Mujica, 508). Opponents, on the other hand, felt that the English only movement could violate the civil rights of the migrant in the Uni ted States. Considering the number of non-English speaking immigrants and the number of non-citizen students in the United States, bilingualism should not be an option but  a  civil right  so that no group feels sidelined The controversy over bilingual was partly whether bilingual education programs should be introduced into the system. It was until min-1960s that bilingual education was initiated. However, bilingual education teacher training was introduced later in 1974 (Garcia, 391). Even though some scholars insist that foreign learners be taught in the English language to since teaching them in their native language would be one way or another delay their education (Crawford, 595). Research shows that the contrary to their beliefs bilingual learning is not time wasting as gives the learners an advantage of acquiring a second language  and be able to continue their learningprocess. Craford  states that bilinguals program learners tend to outperform the other non-bilingual counterparts. This fact is supported  by scientific research proving that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s executive function making such learners good problem solvers than their counterparts. Bilingual children tend to out-perform monolingual children on exercises that require concentration. Research shows that bilingual speakers are better in cognitive control and attention. Proponents of bilingual education assert that any non-English speaking student taught in their mother tongue and then English, the student is capable of learning English in a more efficient manner. Bilingual program opponents still believe that it does not mainstream the learners into the system of education, therefore, put at a disadvantage (Crawford, 594). Contrary to these beliefs the learners Improve their skills both in English and their native language. When children are exposed to both his native language and English in a learning environment, they will find it shameless to use their mother tongue. It will consequently help them develop a frame of mind that  can easily conceptualize  the English language. Since United States does not have a national language officially recognized, some groups in the United States believe that the presence of foreign languages poses as threats to the traditional English language. Bilingualism does not in any way corrode the English language in the United States but in turn serves the purpose of interconnecting global communities. Those who do not support bilingual education also argue that it is expensive and wasteful as it has to be done in other languages other than English. Taking into account the outcomes of bilingual education and given the number of non-English speaking people residing in the United States, the cost of this fo rm of education is neither wasteful nor too expensive (Fallows,23). Since the mid- 1900s, what has become explicit is whether individuals should maintain their native language use alongside English or whether English should supplant the original migrant languages. During this period, there came up a number of cases interpreted as sympathetic to towards bilingualism. Bilingualism is important in the United States since it is inhabited by individuals from various backgrounds. This is to ensure that all American citizens especially the migrants feel accepted and not discriminated against. Migrants who are non-English speakers are more likely to feel sidelined, and their civil rights violated in a setting where they are completely subjected to the traditional American language especially in schools and public service. Mujica argues that it is expensive for the government to isolate non- English speakers linguistically (581). He believes that all migrants should function in the traditional English language given the fact that English is going global. A sc enario like the one being proposed by Mujica may lead to some of the migrant communities being completely ignored. Fallow confirms that some of the adult migrants never end up learning the English language (263). This will mean that such adults will never be privileged to government and public service. Bilingualism should be encouraged further so as to enable the migrants fit into the environment. For example, these people may not be able to use the road when every sign is written in English or even buy products when all product description is  in English. Bilingualism also is important as it enables the non-English speaking individuals exercise their constitutional rights during major elections in the United States Some English speaking individuals may feel that native languages of the migrants such as Spanish are there to erode the English language. These  results from  the constant influx of large counts of migrants added to the increased ethnic awareness. The migrant, on the other hand, may wish to retain their mother tongue as a way of preserving their heritage. These migrants may feel the need to be in touch with their background while in the United States. The native language is one of the major ways of preserving heritage and culture. It is such a treat that inspired S. I. Hayakawa; California senator to propose  constitutional amendments to have English used as the national language. Such an amendment was unnecessary since English by defacto is the language used in the United States. English is one of the most established languages worldwide and in the United States therefore it is completely unreasonable to believe that a small immigrant group living in a neighborhood can threate n its existence. Bilingualism increases the range of people with whom we can interact. It exposes an individual to different cultures, friendship and experiences. Being able to speak a second language does not just ease a person’s communication with others; it also allows an individual fully to experience the cultures that associate  with that particular language. Languages and cultures are intertwined, and the speaker of a language is exposes to the traditions and beliefs of the native speakers. (Crawford, 959) Believed,  that an individual may never become productive without learning the English language. During the drafting of the American constitution, John Adams suggested that English should be used as the United States official language but was rejected on the grounds of incompatibility with the freedom spirit (Hakuta, 165). Being able to speak different languages can open doors to many opportunities both academic and employment. Crawford says that sometimes immigrants refuse to lear n the English language and fail to become useful living off welfare (595). This is a kind of misconception that Americans harbor towards immigrants that without learning the English language, one can never be able to become productive in their life. The issue of bilingualism is as old as human migration itself into the United States. From the pre-colonial time, bilingualism was already widespread and appreciated. Many states have embraced the bilingual programs and dropped the English-only programs. Bilingualism is especially in the education system has enabled learners to achieve their educational goals despite their inability to understand or speak English language. This has been achieves through bilingual educational program. Through the use of bilingual language in the United States, non-English speaking migrants have found themselves being accommodated by the government. The migrants have been able to retain their history, culture and heritage. Even though some of the English speakers may feel that their tradition is threatened by the presence of the various native languages in the United States, it is practically impossible for English to be assimilated into the other languages. Even though English is the language, the Ame ricans speak, numerous suggestions had been made in the past to make it the official language in all the states. This was because some individuals felt threatened by the rapid growth of the migrant communities. References Fallows, James. â€Å"ENGLISH HAS NOTHING TO FEAR-VIVA BILINGUALISM.† New Republic 195.21 (1986): 18-19. Crawford, James. Bilingual education: History, politics, theory, and practice. Trenton, NJ: Crane Publishing Company, 1989. Garcà ­a, E. Spring/Summer. Director’s Note. In E. Aguilar (Ed.), Focus on diversity, 1, (2), pp. 1-2. University of California, Santa Cruz: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. 1992a, Hakuta, Kenji. Mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. Basic Books, 1986.Mujica, Mauro E. â€Å"At Issue: Should English Be the Official Language of the United States?† CQ Researcher 19 Jan. 1996: 65. Source document

Evolution of the Genus Homo

Evolution of the genus Homo. Charles Darwin was the first to formulate a scientific argument for the theory of evolution by Natural Selection. The idea of natural selection is basically â€Å"the survival of the fittest. † Evolution is any change in characteristics in biological populations. It gives diversity to life on all known biological organizations such as molecules, organs, organisms, etc. Life is said to be originated from a universal common ancestor, which tells us that all life is related to each other.Life started from simple celled organisms known as prokaryotes, which evolved into eukaryotes after photosynthesizing bacteria evolved forcing oxygen concentration to rise in the atmospheric. This event known as the Great Oxidation Event acted as poison on many bacteria that use carbon dioxide as an energy source. After the evolution of eukaryotes, sexual reproduction appeared and increased the evolution rate tremendously. Complex multi-cellular organisms started to a ppear soon after, first in oceans and then on land.Over time, life diversified into millions of organisms. The genus Homo first evolved around 2. 5 Ma from Australopithecine genus (now extinct). The first homo species believed to evolve were called Homo Habilis. They lived side by side with another homo species called Homo erectus until at least 1. 44 Ma. H. Habilis were also the first species to make tools out of stone. H. Erectus resembled modern humans and colonized in Africa. They had a brain size 74% that of modern humans and had ways of making better tools and also hunted bigger animals.Another species, Homo Antecessors were common ancestors of humans and H. Neanderthals. Modern humans shared 99% of their DNA with Neanderthals and Neanderthals also had a similar gene linked to speech. Another species, Homo Heidelbergensis may be an ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans. Finally, modern humans or Homo Sapiens are said to first appeared around 200 Ka around Oma river, Ethio pia. There are two famous models that explain where the modern day humans originated from. Both models are supported by evidence and therefore are accept by different scientists.The Replacement model says that modern humans originated in Africa and replaced all other archaic humans beginning 60,000 years ago. The regional continuity model argues that all modern human evolved more or less simultaneously in all major parts of old world from local archaic humans. It is believed that environmental variables, along with natural adaption, such as pathogens, diet, survival needs, climate, etc. caused the different phenotypic diversity among human populations thus complicating the puzzle of modern human evolution.