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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Human Resource Management - Compensation, Benefits, Incentives Essay

Human Resource Management - Compensation, Benefits, Incentives - Essay Example e that incentives and benefits do very little to persuade a candidate to accept an organizations employment offer if baseline compensation is slightly below the candidates expectations. Of course, each person will try to get a salary that is higher. However, even young candidates will consider benefits and incentives. For instance, a person may be offered an hourly rate that is lower than he/she wishes. However, with free or discounted lunches, longer breaks, a kind manager, flexible hours, accessibility to work (distance), whom he/she will be working with (age group, environment), what he/she will be doing (perhaps working in an area or subject that he/she enjoys), etc. even the younger person will focus on these things and will realize that the benefits/incentives add to their quality of life. IF the younger person does seek the higher salary, eventually the extrinsic values of a job such as money will not be the overriding factor. He/she will eventually want more out of life if he/she is not happy with who they are working for, does not get discounts, enjoyable working atmosphere, etc. and will seek those things in a job. He/she will eventually quit the job and seek the intrinsic values. That is why younger people do not usually stay with a job for an extended amount of time. They move on. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules but we humans will seek intrinsic values more even if it’s only internally. Look at the very wealthy people; i.e. movie stars. They have all the money in the world and yet file bankruptcy, have broken relationships, do drugs, get in trouble with the law, etc. They want more. It is true, younger people will look at baseline pay first. However, if the baseline pay is â€Å"slightly lower† as the very opening post stated, they will also look at the incentives/benefits even if the benefits aren’t so great. As stated in my earlier posting, if the pay is good but the other factors, which are called intrinsic

Monday, October 28, 2019

German Economy Essay Example for Free

German Economy Essay One of the major sectors of German economy is the exports of this country that has accounted for a great percentage of financial output. In this regard, more than twenty-five percent of the national German output has been due to the heavy exports that have increased significantly during the last decade. In the year 2004, GDP of Germany was contributed by forestry, mining, and agriculture sector at a very lesser extent, as compared to the other sectors in the country. Despite Germany is going through a high level of industrial revolution, forest has covered more than twenty-five percent of German’s territory. In the year 2003, more than seventy percent of Germany’s gross domestic product was accounted by services sector of the country. In this regard, more than seventy percent of the workforce was employed by this sector. On the other hand, metals, textiles, chemicals, vehicles, foodstuffs, and machinery are major imports of the country, which plays a vital and crucial role in the economy of Germany. In the year 2003, a positive of US$55 billion was the account balance of payments and currency of Germany. The paper will now discuss the abovementioned areas of German economy with detailed analysis, and hope will be beneficial for experts and economists in the better understanding of German Economy. In this competitive era, a number of economies are enjoying a vital position, and Germany is one of the countries that have been able to construct a very important place in terms of its economy. In terms of exchange rate of the United States, the German economy is considered the third largest out of the other major economies of the world. Moreover, the economy of Germany has a very strong power of purchasing, which has resulted in its place as the fifth largest around the globe. In the European continent, the economy of Germany is the largest of all the other economies, which has provided it with a number of opportunities and significance in this economic world. Geographically, Germany enjoys a central place in the continent, which is one of the other reasons behind the significance and exposure of opportunities to the German individuals and businesses. A number of difficulties and confrontations can be observed in the economic history of Germany, such as structural problems related to the East Germany, as well as, different structural problems that have continued since a last decade in the country. (Smyser, 1993) The German government has imposed and implemented a number of policies that have provided significant opportunities for its economy to strengthen in the world. In this regard, one of the major steps taken by the German government is the promotion of establishment of free enterprises, as well as, competition that has provided a competitive and friendly environment to the businesses and individuals in the country. However, various sectors are selected for the distribution of financial support by the state organizations. In the response of such steps taken by the government and related organizations, the economy of Germany has achieved a momentous space in the midst of other economic powers of the globe. In addition, different sectors have achieved strategic importance with the help of different policies by the German government. Thus, a number of factors and reasons are responsible and should be credited for the strengthening and powerful role that has been played by economy of the Germany. One of the major sectors of German economy is the exports of this country that has accounted for a great percentage of financial output. In this regard, more than twenty-five percent of the national German output has been due to the heavy exports that have increased significantly during the last decade. In the result, German economy has expanded traditionally in a macroeconomic manner with the support of heavy exports from different business sectors and industries of the country. Moreover, economic and political incorporation is another basic policy of the German economy, and such policy has been promoted on the continental level in the Europe. In the result, the European Union and its member countries have appreciated and encouraged the introduction and implementation of German economies policies at a higher extent. (Siebert, 2005) Similarly, a number of legislations related to the single markets in the European Union have been established and formulated based on German economic policies. The Euro is the common European currency used by most of the countries in the European continent. In this regard, Germany has implemented the usage of same currency in the country, which has resulted in the exposure of more opportunities related to the strengthened economy of Germany in the region. Frankfurt city in the Germany has the European Central Bank, which is responsible for the formulation of monetary policy of the country, which decides the future prospects for the coming years related to the economy of Germany. (Smith, 1994) Addressing domestic structural problems is another major concern of the German government, which has been agreed and encouraged by most of the German and the foreign experts in the region. In the year 2003, the labor market was deregulated by the gradual steps of German government. In this way, high unemployment rate was tackled in an effective manner. In the West Germany, more than seven percent of fall was observed in the unemployment rate in the country, which was the visible fact of deregulation of the labor market. However, there is still a huge room for improvement in the eastern part of Germany, which has an employment rate of more than fourteen percent in the region. (Scott, 2002) However, the German government is playing a vital role in the addressing of different issues related to the economy of Germany. For instance, high non-wage labor costs have also been addressed by the government with the help of implementation of different policies related to it. Many businesses were burdened due to the imposition of bureaucratic parameters in the past, which was addressed by the present and previous governments during the last decade. Nowadays, it has become quite easy and trouble-free to establish a business in the Germany. New entrepreneurs have been encouraged, especially, in the export sectors of the country. In the result, a major and significant improvement can be observed in the economy of Germany, which is very much export-oriented in nature. (Siebert, 2005) In terms of facts, nine percent of growth was observed in the export year of 2007. In the result, some of the business experts deemed the Germany as the biggest exporter in the world. In the year 2006, more than two percent of growth was observed in the gross domestic product of the country. Moreover, it is estimated that the following years will achieve higher percentage of GDP due to excellent growth in the exports of the country. However, the domestic market of the country is confronting structural problems that can result in some economic issues in the country. Over more than a decade, the labor sector is confronting stagnant wages, which is one of the crucial causes behind the weakness of the domestic market in Germany. In Germany, reunification is financed with the contributions of social insurance companies. Since the 1990s, high wage demands are not observed in unions in the Germany, which has resulted in the conservation of competitiveness among the German workers. Between the years 1990 to 2005, two percent of decline was observed in the net income on an average in Germany, according to the Federal-Statistical Office of the country. However, wage demands from the unions have been raised significantly, as compared with the abovementioned union demands. In the year 2004, GDP of Germany was contributed by forestry, mining, and agriculture sector at a very lesser extent, as compared to the other sectors in the country. Approximately two percent of German population was given employment in the abovementioned sectors. The eastern states of the country have reported to observe a great reduction in the employment rate. After the reunification process, more than seventy percent of workers in the agricultural sector were declined. However, domestic production in the agricultural sector resulted in the fulfillment of more than ninety percent of dietary and food requirements of the country’s population. In the European Union, the agricultural production is being lead by Germany, which has been followed by Italy and France in the European continent. In this regard, wheat, barley, cabbages, and potatoes are some of the major agricultural products in Germany.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

A Feminist Reading of The Last of the Mohicans Essay example -- Femini

A Feminist Reading of The Last of the Mohicans    While most often studied as a romance or adventure novel, the most dominant characteristic of The Last of the Mohicans is overlooked: phallicism.   From this phallicism stems Cooper's patriarchal view of society.   In the novel, men are symbolically set apart from women by the possession of weapons (the phallic symbol), and men are separated from one another by the size of their weapons.   The more powerful the men are those bearing the larger, longer weapons. The main character, Hawk-eye, possesses "...a rifle of great length..." (32).   Indeed, the rifle is so long, and so deadly in the scout's hands (he has "...a natural turn with a rifle..."), that he is given the name of 'La Longue Carabine' by his enemies.   The scout symbolizes the greatest male power in the novel, and he is therefore the greatest protector of the women as well.    As the size of the weapons of the other characters decreases, so too does their generative power.   Only slightly shorter than the scout in weapon length are Uncas and Chingachgook, who, while carrying knives, also brandish long hunting rifles. Uncas is the closest to the scout in length, for he carries his former rifle-hearing a shot in the woods, the scout recognizes the shot of Uncas, saying " '...I carried the gun myself until a better offered'" (230).   Thus even though Uncas possesses a weapon of substantial length, he still comes up a bit short when compared with the scout.   Next on the list of length is Duncan Heyward, who begins the novel carrying a mere pistol, grows in generative power as the story progresses-near the end of the novel he shows he can handle a hunting rifle almost as well as the scout.   When the group first leaves ... ...weapon...drawn to his shoulder," the scout preserves the honor of all by killing Magua with a blast from 'Kill-deer' (401).    In this novel overflowing with phallic imagery, it is clear that power lies in weapons, and size does matter.   Without weapon, Gamut protects no one.   Heyward only begins to wield power when he exchanges pistol for rifle. Although a valiant warrior, even Uncas dies after abandoning his rifle.   Conversely, Chingachgook keeps his weapon, and remains alive.   And Hawk-eye, the most powerful protector, is only vulnerable when he does not have 'Kill-deer' in his hands.   In Cooper's patriarchal society, the man with the longest gun is the man who saves the day.   When the big gun is gone, however, all of society is vulnerable.    Work Cited: Cooper, James Fenimore.   The Last of the Mohicans.   NY: Signet Classic, 1962.      

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Acknowledgments

So much love and thanks to my husband and sons for their continuing understanding and sacrifice in support of my writing. At least I'm not the only one to benefitI in sure many local restaurants are grateful that I don't cook anymore. Thank you, Mom, for being my best friend and letting me talk your ear off through all the rough spots Thanks, also, for being so insanely creative and intelligent, and bequeathing a small portion of both into my genetic makeup Thanks to all my siblings, Emily, Heidi, Paul, Seth, and Jacob, for letting me borrow your names I hope I didn't do anything with them that makes you wish you hadn't. A special thanks to my brother Paul for the motorcycle riding lessonyou have a true gift for teaching. I can't thank my brother Seth enough for all the hard work and genius he put into the creation of www.stepheniemeyer.com I'm so grateful for the effort he continues to expend as my Webmaster Check's in the mail, kid. This time, I mean it. Thanks again to my brother Jacob for his ongoing expert advice on all my automotive choices A big thank you to my agent, Jodi Reamer, for her continued guidance and assistance in my career And also for enduring my craziness with a smile when I know she d like to use some of her ninja moves on me instead Love, kisses, and gratitude to my publicist, the beautiful Elizabeth Eulberg, for making my touring experience less a chore and more a pajama party, for aiding and abetting my cyber-stalkery, for convincing those exclusive snobs in the EEC (Elizabeth Eulberg Club) to let me in, and, oh yeah, also for getting me on the New York Times bestseller's list A huge vat of thanks to everyone at Little, Brown and Company for their support and their belief in the potential of my stories And, finally, thank you to the talented musicians who inspire me, particularly the band Musethere are emotions, scenes, and plot threads in this novel that were born from Muse songs and would not exist without their genius Also Linkin Park, Travis, Elbow, Coldplay, Marjoric Fair, My Chemical Romance, Brand New, The Strokes, Armor for Sleep, The Arcade Fire, and The Fray have all been instrumental in staving off the writer's block.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Child Protection Essay

Children are gifts from God. So they need to be nurtured, protected, respect and most of all they need LOVE. We as teacher are said to be the second mother of every child in the school. We’re together for eight hours a day or even longer, five days a week, we even spend more time with them than their real parents. We got to laugh with them often, play with them and we contribute a lot in their total development as a person. For me, being a teacher is really not just teaching a child how to read and write. But also you must learn how to be a mother to them. â€Å"Mothers knows best† you know when to give them praise when they made the right thing and discipline them when they made the wrong thing. â€Å"Gives the school, its administrators and teachers, or the individual, entity or institution engaged in child care the special parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while under their supervision, instruction or custody†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"Authority and responsibility shall apply to all authorized activities whether inside or outside the premises of the school, entity or institutions. Reading the â€Å"Child Protection Policy Of The Department of Education† and having this articles as the legal basis that we the school, administrators and the teachers has the given the authority and responsibility over the minor child while they are under our supervision instruction custody. PROHIBITED ACTS 1.Child abuse 2.Discrimination against children 3. Child Exploitation 4. Violence Against Children in School 5. Corporal Punishment 6. Any analogous or similar acts 7.Bullying or Peer abuse As its definition goes corporal punishment refers to a kind of punishment or penalty imposed for an alleged or actual offense, which is carried out or inflicted for the purpose of discipline, training or control, by a teacher, school administrator an adult,or any other child who has been given or has assumed authority or responsibility for punishment or discipline. Teaching a child is really a big responsibility. Considering the fact that you’re not just teaching one or two pupil in a classroom. Like in our school I have forty nine pupils. Forty nine pupils coming from different environment, different values and upbringing. When I was still a student, I could remember my teacher imposing corporal punishment to us. I can honestly say I dislike that teacher.I could still remember me saying† I will never ever,in any situation be like her if Im going to be a teacher. But, now that I am a teacher myself I could say in all honesty that I already understand her. Observing the younger generation I could say that there’s really a big difference when it comes to their behaviors and attitudes,especially in their studies. They are more lax and no focus. And sometimes because of peer influence,technologies,media,and their environment they tend to forget their values.I have noticed that since paddling was taken out of schools, kids have gotten lazy and are falling behind in academics. They sometimes have gotten more violent and agreessive toward their teachers especially in higher grades. To much of anything is not good.For me, anything that is beyond, needs to be stop.So if it needs for discipline I think corporal punishment is not bad.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Writing Styles (with Examples)

Writing Styles (with Examples) Writing Styles (with Examples) Writing Styles (with Examples) By Ali Hale You’ve probably heard writers (or teachers, or critics) talk about â€Å"style† in writing. What exactly is style, though? It can be tough to pin down, because there are a variety of things we might be looking at when we talk about style. In most cases, though, style is about the individual word choices and the structure of sentences. While an author might have particular character-types that s/he tends to use, or a penchant for complicated plots, those things are usually considered on a different level from style. Two Examples of Style You can see style at work in even a short excerpt from a piece of writing. For instance, compare these two passages, which come from two websites’ â€Å"About† pages: We started innocent in 1999 after selling our smoothies at a music festival. We put up a big sign asking people if they thought we should give up our jobs to make smoothies, and put a bin saying Yes and a bin saying No in front of the stall. Then we got people to vote with their empties. At the end of the weekend, the Yes bin was full, so we resigned from our jobs the next day and got cracking. (From â€Å"us†, Innocent.) Established in 1981, Infosys is a NYSE listed global consulting and IT services company with more than 209,000 employees. From a capital of US$250, we have grown to become a US$11.12 billion (LTM Q1 FY19 revenues) company with a market capitalization of approximately US$ 42.4 billion. (From â€Å"About Us†, Infosys.) Both of these excerpts tell us about the respective companies’ beginnings. But they not only focus on different things (and as we’ll see in a minute, you can’t completely divorce content from style), they’re written in very different language. Formal vs Informal Style Even if we look at the first four words of each piece, we can see the difference in style: â€Å"We started innocent in† â€Å"Established in 1981, Infosys† We can tell that one of these passages will use a much more formal style than the other: â€Å"Started† is a simpler word than â€Å"established†; â€Å"innocent† doesn’t capitalise their name (a hallmark of very informal style); the innocent piece is in the first person (â€Å"we†) whereas the Infosys piece is in the third person (â€Å"Infosys†). Throughout the excerpts, the content is also quite different: innocent give us a story about how their company began, whereas Infosys focus on facts and figures. Tip: If you need to make your writing more informal, use shorter sentences, simpler words, and write as if you’re talking directly to the reader. To make your writing more formal, use more precise, complex words, as if you’re writing a company report. Formal vs informal is one way of looking at style – but there are plenty of other ways in which you might describe the style of a piece of writing. Concise vs Detailed Some writing is to-the-point: it gives information succinctly, and moves on. Other pieces are much more verbose – they tell a story, paint a scene, take their time. Neither style is â€Å"better† – they serve different purposes. A news report about a local incident – say, a lost child who was found unharmed – would be much shorter than a novel that deals with similar subject matter. Or compare a tweet on a particular topic with a blog post on the same topic: the tweet is much shorter than the blog post, but both might well be valuable in different ways. Tip: To be more concise, cut out extra details and unnecessary words. To expand a short piece, look for ways to give (relevant or interesting) detail, or offer a more nuanced perspective by looking at different angles on the topic. Commercial vs Literary In fiction, one major stylistic divide is between â€Å"literary† novels and â€Å"commercial† novels. As with formal vs informal, we could see this as a spectrum – with the most literary novels at one end, and the most commercial at the other end. Literary fiction places much more importance on writing style than commercial fiction, where the point of â€Å"style† is usually to get the story across as smoothly as possible. The content can also be quite different: literary fiction tends to be less plot-driven and more focused on character, for instance. Commercial fiction tends to sell much better, though some literary authors like Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan sell a lot of books, too. Tip: As Harvey Chapman from Novel Writing Help puts it, â€Å"Literary novels generally sell in smaller quantities than genre or mainstream novels. This means publishers are less likely to take a gamble on them, but you shouldn’t let that put you off writing them. Always write the type of book that you want to write.† Factual vs Opinionated Another way to look at style is to think about the type of statements being made. Are they facts, or opinions? (Generally, a writer focused on facts will be more dispassionate and one focused on opinions will be more impassioned in their language – though there are exceptions.) News articles, for instance, tend to focus on facts – they may well be biased, of course, and the underlying political or social leanings of a publication can show through in the facts they choose to include or omit. Columnists in newspapers, however, are free to be much more opinionated – even, in some cases, potentially offensive. They can share their thoughts and ideas with little or no recourse to actual facts. Tip: As a writer and a reader, it’s important to be able to distinguish between facts and opinions. Facts are objective and can be proved (e.g. â€Å"water is denser than air†); opinions are subjective and two people might have two opposing opinions (e.g. â€Å"swimming is horrible† vs â€Å"swimming is wonderful†). If you’re trying to convince your reader of something – perhaps through a blog post or an article – then it’s fine to give strong opinions, but you should also aim to back up what you’re saying with specific facts. As a writer, you already have a natural writing style – though you may decide you want to develop or modify it. You might want to think about: How formal or informal do you want your writing to be? This might vary in different contexts – for instance, if you’re a freelancer, you might write for some publications that want a very chatty, laid-back style, and others that want a business-like style. Do you tend to be a concise or verbose writer? Perhaps you find that you naturally get your points across quickly and briefly – or maybe you like to dig deep into a topic and give lots of details. This could affect the type of writing you want to do (e.g. short stories vs novels, or blog posts vs books). If you write fiction, are you aiming at the commercial or literary end of the market? Don’t feel that you â€Å"should† do one or the other – focus on what appeals to you as a writer. If you’re unsure, you might want to try writing short stories in a variety of styles. Are there particular hallmarks of your style that you’ve already noted? For instance, perhaps you tend to use quite colourful language, or you love complex sentence structures. You might also want to look closely at the style of authors you enjoy: how exactly do they use words, phrases and sentences to create particular effects? Your writing style might take years to develop and a lifetime to perfect, though – so don’t put off writing until you’ve â€Å"found† your style. Keep working on different pieces and projects: in a year’s time, you might be able to look back and see that your style was developing all along. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Religious Terms You Should Know7 Patterns of Sentence StructurePredicate Complements

Monday, October 21, 2019

Celebrity ACT Scores (Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe)

Celebrity ACT Scores (Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe) SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you taking the ACT? You're in good company! Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe, and Steve Jobs all took the ACT, too, along with several other celebrities. We've compiled their scores so you can see how these successful people performed back when they were in high school. We've also converted the SAT scores of famous people to the ACT scale so you get a sense of how their scores compare. Now if you ever run into Barack Obama, you'll have at least one conversation starter to fall back on...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The 7 Types of Possessive Case

The 7 Types of Possessive Case The 7 Types of Possessive Case The 7 Types of Possessive Case By Mark Nichol The possessive case is used to indicate relationships between one person, place, or thing and another. However, it’s more accurate to call it by its alternate name, the genitive case (genitive means, essentially, â€Å"generation†), because in many uses, one person, place, or thing doesn’t actually belong to the other. The genitive is indicated one of two ways: A singular noun is followed by an apostrophe and the letter s (as with book’s), and an apostrophe alone follows a plural noun that ends in s or es (as with teams’ or arches’). The genitive form of an irregular plural noun, one in which a change in spelling, rather than s or es, marks the word as having a plural form (such as men), is treated as if the word were a singular noun (men’s). Here are examples of the seven categories of genitive use. 1. One type of genitive case is that denoting occupation, or ownership or possession, as in â€Å"She walked into Jane’s office† or â€Å"John’s car is being repaired.† (In all genitive forms, the noun to which the apostrophe or the apostrophe and the s are attached is called the dependent, or modifier, noun; the word with which it is associated is the head, or modified, noun.) 2. Another is relationship, as in â€Å"The school’s principal is retiring this year.† (This idea can also be represented by omitting the apostrophe and the s â€Å"The school principal is retiring this year† but the meaning is slightly different; in the latter sentence, the reference is to a person identified as the school principal, whereas the genitive form treats the school and the principal as separate entities.) In this category, the idea can be expressed in a phrase beginning with the head noun: â€Å"The principal of the school is retiring this year.† The previous type is not so flexible; â€Å"She walked into the office of Jane† is awkward, and constructions such as â€Å"She walked into the office belonging to [or occupied by] Jane† are usually unnecessarily verbose. 3. The genitive can also be used to express agency, or representation, as in â€Å"The board’s secretary consulted the minutes from the last meeting.† (The secretary is a member of the board but technically doesn’t belong to it.) â€Å"The secretary of the board consulted the minutes from the last meeting† is also correct, but as in the previous example, the emphasis is slightly different, and the first version is more concise. 4. Description is another function of the genitive, as in â€Å"She admired the fabric’s glossy sheen.† (Loosely speaking, the glossy sheen â€Å"belongs† to the fabric, but the phrase is, strictly, speaking, a description.) 5. Another category is that relating to the role of the person, place, or thing that serves as the subject of a sentence, as in â€Å"The officer’s report was conclusive.† (â€Å"The report of the officer was conclusive† has the same slight distinction of meaning as similar constructions in previous examples.) 6. Then there is the role of the person, place, or thing identified as the object of a sentence, as in â€Å"The baby’s delivery was uneventful† (which can be rendered â€Å"The delivery of the baby was uneventful† with a slight difference in the meaning). 7. The most troublesome genitive form is that in which a phrase including of is truncated, as in â€Å"He gave two weeks’ notice† in place of â€Å"He gave notice of two weeks†: Many writers mistakenly treat â€Å"two weeks† as simply a modifier of notice (â€Å"He gave two weeks notice†) rather than correctly including the apostrophe to indicate the genitive case. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire YouTaser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?The 7 Types of Possessive Case

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Certificate in Education Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Certificate in Education - Personal Statement Example I ensured that as we progressed with the lesson, I asked a number of questions and picked the students at random to answer them. Even the weaker students seemed to have grasped everything from mm lesson. The students would also continue asking me question regarding the application of depreciation in business world. Indeed learning took place because toward the end of the lesson, the students could answer me most of the question from depreciation concept. At the end of the lesson, I summarised the lesson by discussing the main points and ensure the students study more on depreciation; I gave them a handout to all students to read during their free time. I was really impressed as a teacher since I had achieved my goals of transferring knowledge to students. If repeating the same exercise, I would ensure I first know what the students know about the topic so that I can know the approach to use and the effort to apply so that the students can understand the concept. I attended another colleague's teaching session in a catering class where the topic for discussion was opening of wine. As a learner in this catering class, I found the lesson very interesting and all the other students had an interest in the topic. I really enjoyed my every moment with the catering students since in their class; there were more practical sessions unlike in other subjects. The lesson started af... (Arnot, McIntyre, Pedder and Reay, 2004) The teacher asked question as he proceeded with the lesson and we as students, we found the lesson to very interesting and we were all fully attentive throughout the lesson. We occasionally asked the teacher questions regarding the topic and this was a clear revelation that we understood the concepts as the lesson was interesting. The teacher praised us each time we answered the question and encouraged those who did not give a perfect answer so that they do not feel shy not to answer a question next time. There were more practical sessions throughout the lesson than talking. We were asked to demonstrate on the best way we are supposed to serve wine as discussed in class. At least all students were given a chance to demonstrate what they had learnt and this gave a chance to other students to learn from their colleagues. The lesson had been prepared well since the teacher had prepared PowerPoint presentation which made the lesson more interesting. The teacher demonstrated good PowerPoint presentation skills and the class was enjoyable. After we had demonstrated on how to serve and open wine, the teacher concluded the lesson by summarising the main points. (Barnett, 2003) Question Three To evaluate the teaching session taught to by on my peers, I can see the teaching was a success. There was full participation by all students as they kept on asking and answering questions throughout the lesson. I had fully prepared for the lesson and I had allocated time for introduction, discussion and finally for summarising the lesson. Throughout the session, the students had an interest of learning about depreciation as they were eager to know how it is applicable in business. The most

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) Essay - 1

The Effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) - Essay Example This essay describes the Special weapons and Tactical teams law enforcement that started with the idea of protecting the well-being of police officers in the United States, as they carried out their duties of â€Å"serving and protecting† the public. The idea of being able to extract bad guys efficiently without mass mayhem and creating collateral damage, was the hallmark for the creation of the teams. Whether one is a proponent or a detractor of the existence of SWAT teams, they must strike the same cord when confronted with the issue of the relevance of the teams continued existence. SWAT teams have done some questionable things, and they have accomplished many good things. Before we throw out the baby with the bath water, we must objectively assess the situation and ask the question. Are we better off today with SWAT teams, than we were without them? The researcher of this essay believes that we are definitely better off, and what is needed is that a considerable amount of thought must be directed to how, these teams can be better utilized, while they are on hold waiting for the day, when they will be needed to serve in the capacity for which they were originally conceived. It is commonly held that a good offense is better than a good defense. However, to sum up the researcher states that we know that municipal police departments left to their traditional arsenal and philosophy, are not equipped enough to handle the some of types of confrontations which the bad guys can concoct.

Self evaluation Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Self evaluation - Personal Statement Example bout their favorite sport is a good enough time pass, plus there are people who indulge in sports simply to keep themselves physically as well as mentally fit and then there is the most common reason, which is to win the game. The outline will be evaluated to see that the contents used are strong enough to have an impact on the audience, positively or are the contents just providing people with the general knowledge, which more or less, everybody knows about and is the speaker has a way and techniques to ensnare and engage the audience or not. Hence, this evaluation will be done on delivery of speech, content of speech and goal. The outline gives an idea that the delivery on the speech will be good as the speaker has highlighted the main essence of the topic and even surge forward with the concept of nutrition and bodily health of sports person. However, if the speaker will include a real life incident of an ordinary person or quotation of a sports person and how sports has kept the particular athlete/person physical and mentally stable, then it will give delivery an appealing sound and will instantly attract the audience. Furthermore, another good aspect of the outline is that it illustrates that the writer have not only stick with the sports playing point of view, but also give an angle on the opinion of the spectators, who are not active participant of a sport. This spectator part can play crucial role as the audience who listened to the speech can somehow connect with the information. Moving to the content of the outline, on a basic level the primary requirements are fulfilled that is the inclusion of introduction, body and conclusion, however on closely looking at it the use of Monroe’s motivated sequence is not very clear and vaguely used. For instance, the first criteria for Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is attention getter, this step usually involves quoting a real life incident, sharing something humorous telling a dramatic tory or posing a question so

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Potassium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Potassium - Essay Example Hyperkalemia is the increased serum levels of potassium in excess of 5mg/100 ml. Potassium is critical for the functionality of the heart, muscles and nerves, thus an increased level of potassium would result in muscle weakness, oliguria, respiratory distress, decreased contractility of the heart and hyperreflexia or flaccidity of the skeletal muscles. Hyperkalemia is caused by dysfunction of the kidney, adrenal gland disease or cell shift of potassium, from cells to blood circulation. Hypokalemia is the low concentration of potassium in the blood; less than 3.5mg/100ml. Hypokalemia is caused by insufficient dietary consumption of potassium, gastrointestinal fluid loss and urinary loss especially when one is on diuretics. Hypokalemia presents with signs and symptoms of muscle weakness, abnormal heart rhythms, tremor, flaccid paralysis hyporeflexia and constipation (Jung et al., 2009). A nurse must be very vigilant in monitoring for signs of hyperkalemia and hypokalemia to enhance early management of the condition. This would include the action of the nurse to periodically monitor vital signs, heart rhythm, cardiovascular status and the abdomen for signs of distention, bowel sounds and pain. The nurse would then notify the physician of the abnormal findings that are an indication of either hyperkalemia or hypokalemia. The physician would the order appropriate medication for the treatment of the condition. During the course of management, the nurse would engage the patient and the family on health education in relation to the condition as a means of preventing reoccurrence of the condition (Porth, 2011). Alderman, M. H., Piller, L. B., Ford, C. E., Probstfield, J. L., Oparil, S., Cushman, W. C., †¦ Davis, B. R. (2012). Clinical significance of incident hypokalemia and hyperkalemia in treated hypertensive patients in the antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment to prevent heart attack trial. Hypertension, 59,

HR Resit Assignment Fashion Fads Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

HR Resit Assignment Fashion Fads - Essay Example The essay "HR Resit Assignment Fashion Fads" concerns the HRM and Fashion Fads. An underlying issue that applies to the case of Fashion Fads is using this same sense of balance to adjust for new motivational programs within the organization, so that programs will be kept in an adjusted way that is cost-effective for the organization at the same time that it is amenable to the employees. This process should be completed in a way that stresses key tenets of human resource development operation such as effective communication with employees and the employment of dynamic leadership strategies. Thus, this solution would be cost-effective at the same time that it would be amenable to the employees. In communicating the abovementioned changes to the employees in terms of company operations, this will further create a sense of cohesion and shared objectives. In this case, therefore, HRM leadership is measured by how well the organizational professional at Fashion Fads (Mr. Cheung) is able to improve employee efficiency and contribute to growth in the revenue of the company. Management leadership can also be important. Leadership is also important because it relates so directly to employee motivation. One of the most important reasons for turnover internally that this report considers is lack of compensation. Generally it is assumed in this report that if the position is a high turnover position, the first place to look would be the compensation level of the employee in this position.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Potassium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Potassium - Essay Example Hyperkalemia is the increased serum levels of potassium in excess of 5mg/100 ml. Potassium is critical for the functionality of the heart, muscles and nerves, thus an increased level of potassium would result in muscle weakness, oliguria, respiratory distress, decreased contractility of the heart and hyperreflexia or flaccidity of the skeletal muscles. Hyperkalemia is caused by dysfunction of the kidney, adrenal gland disease or cell shift of potassium, from cells to blood circulation. Hypokalemia is the low concentration of potassium in the blood; less than 3.5mg/100ml. Hypokalemia is caused by insufficient dietary consumption of potassium, gastrointestinal fluid loss and urinary loss especially when one is on diuretics. Hypokalemia presents with signs and symptoms of muscle weakness, abnormal heart rhythms, tremor, flaccid paralysis hyporeflexia and constipation (Jung et al., 2009). A nurse must be very vigilant in monitoring for signs of hyperkalemia and hypokalemia to enhance early management of the condition. This would include the action of the nurse to periodically monitor vital signs, heart rhythm, cardiovascular status and the abdomen for signs of distention, bowel sounds and pain. The nurse would then notify the physician of the abnormal findings that are an indication of either hyperkalemia or hypokalemia. The physician would the order appropriate medication for the treatment of the condition. During the course of management, the nurse would engage the patient and the family on health education in relation to the condition as a means of preventing reoccurrence of the condition (Porth, 2011). Alderman, M. H., Piller, L. B., Ford, C. E., Probstfield, J. L., Oparil, S., Cushman, W. C., †¦ Davis, B. R. (2012). Clinical significance of incident hypokalemia and hyperkalemia in treated hypertensive patients in the antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment to prevent heart attack trial. Hypertension, 59,

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Innovation,, Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Innovation,, - Assignment Example These computer-related programmes make it easier to ask ‘what if’ questions, make any technical changes or to add enhanced features to any existing design, with alterations in manufacturing made easy using visualisation and graphics (Lieu & Sorby, 2009). If consumer safety advocacy groups can be enticed to ask for this new technology, then government agencies tasked with road safety will be interested and call for early adoption. Other factors can significantly impact the adoption of this new proposed technology, such as the availability of research funding and the eventual equity funding to have a start-up firm. The adoption of air bags took thirty years from initial patent application to making it a standard safety feature today (Pressler, 1998). A special steering wheel will cost about US$25 and the heart-rate monitor will cost an additional US$50 (depending on the brand and model), so the two important devices will total approximately US$75 to produce or manufacture. The car alarm rigged to the heart-rate monitor will cost an additional US$25, a microcontroller will cost about US$100 and the GPS device will cost around US$100, so these four important devices (steering wheel with heart-rate monitor, microcontroller, car alarm, and GPS device) will cost a total of US$300, with another US$100 for direct labor costs for the installation. The entire device will substantially go down over time when expertise is acquired in making it, called the learning curve in economics (Jaber, 2011). A positive thing about this new technology is an expected reduction in car or motor vehicle accidents caused by drowsiness (sleepiness), sudden heart attacks or drunken driving (as a breath analyser will be incorporated into the device). People who suffer from hypertension will also be benefitting from this new device. In addition, older people who still want to drive will be safeguarded by the heart-rate monitor, which will serve as a health warning device for any ch anges in their heartbeat or blood pressure. Driving while sleepy is a very dangerous condition, but most drivers usually just ignore this sign because they think (erroneously) that they can still manage to drive safely while in truth, their reflexes slow down and judgment is impaired. There are many ways to avoid such accidents, but the only effective countermeasure against this is to stop driving (Surani & Subramanian, 2011). So, the heart-rate monitor is a preemptive device intended to proactively prevent accidents despite the judgment of people it is safe to drive when, in fact, they are putting themselves in harm’s way and commit errors posing them at risk. The foremost drawback of this new device is the cost because it will definitely add a significant premium to the total purchase price of a vehicle. It is worth noting this had been the same argument put up by people who oppose adding new features or resist adopting a new technology (Postman, 2011), but people have seen the wisdom of using safety features included in a vehicle in order to enhance driver and passenger safety. This is a common initial objection to the proposal (back then) of installing air bags on all vehicles, in which air bags were first offered as just options but later were made required standard features. It is reasonable to expect the same objection to the heart-rate monitor, and the maker of this device will have to undertake a serious marketing campaign to

Creating an Academic Budgeting Scheme for Chris Essay Example for Free

Creating an Academic Budgeting Scheme for Chris Essay A student’s entry into a university could entail a lot of things. For instance, it means that a student, in this particular case Chris, would have to live away from his mom and move into a semi-independent environment. It could thereby be considered as a preparation for the new things to come. Chris needs a lot of changes to be able to adapt. He needs to more responsible in this new chapter in his life, bringing along all of the necessary values that he learned upon growing up. He will have needs, mostly academic in nature. Chris has to have a great deal of addressing these needs with little dependence from his mom because he now lives on his own. This entails additional responsibilities which maybe new to him. Chris is not an isolated case when it comes to budgeting in a university. Everybody went through those adaptations and the processes and means involved may vary from person to person. The difference is, Chris is not from an affluent family. He has to budget his resources well, if not, he will end up starving literally. The case gives us that Chris has a quarterly expenses that averages into $1500. The thought of managing his personal finances during his days in college can probably be the most crucial thing for Chris to fully appreciate the concepts that the subjects presents. It is in this time that he could say that he have learned things the hard way. Finding out solutions to his financial dilemmas may serve as a guide for his towards his future decisions. These same decisions will teach Chris to think quite a lot of times before he spend, keeping in mind the practical applications of what he will learn in his days in college. Life has a way of letting us know that things are not permanent and that can be learned in college the hard way. Say Chris has a $500 allowance left. If he spent half of that today, he will suffer for the rest of the quarter. Another concept of financial management which could aptly be applied here is the concept of savings. Saving or rather allocating finances for each day of the week is one thing Chris could effectively do in order to survive (Sebastian United States. Government Accountability Office. , 2006). Taking the bus for instance in going to campus instead of using his car could be a good start. He will then save gas costs. But in any case, those savings most of the times serve as a buffer or a fallback each time he may ran short. Probably one of the most effective ways of managing Chris’ finances is the painstaking task of listing his expenses on one of his notebooks which he could browse over at the end of the day so as to assess his spending patterns. It could really help him a lot in managing the money he has and thereby helps him in spending the next day or so. That don’t mean Chris has to do the debit and credit thing but at least he knows where the money goes. A lot of people can be quite dumb at times especially when it comes to spending allowances from our parents. We have them first day in the week and we live like rock stars spending it like we don’t care. Nothing’s really wrong if we do it, in any case the money is there to be spent but it won’t hurt if we would think twice before spending (Farr, Shatkin, JIST Works Inc. , United States. Dept. of Labor. , 2007). One concept in Financial Management that Chris could apply is the concept of alternatives. Well, some things can not really be avoided when it is in front of us. For example, his academic expenses, Chris could use the library and find it practical than being in an internet cafe. Maybe it is, but what if there is a cheaper one around just waiting for us to notice? For example, Chris may find a house to stay in at half the cost in university dormitories. He won’t find it unless he looks for it. Furthermore, Chris needs to identify opportunities as they arrive in order for him to be able to grasp control of his source of funding aside from the school loan board and his mom (Financial Management Association International. , 2000). As he moves on to his independence, Chris also has to secure a stable source of income. $750 a month of clearance of his accountabilities is a promising remark and that could entail a lot from this lad who is approaching financial maturity. Opportunities therefore are necessary. For instance, since he likes gaming, attending conventions and joining tournaments could be a source of income. If Chris is really good at it, he could well make a living out of it in college. The opportunity cost however should be taken well into consideration as he also has to attend to his academics. This is one thing that Chris must not be able to forget even if he has to work to support himself. As his teacher said, â€Å"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. †

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Stability of Islamic and Conventional Banks

Stability of Islamic and Conventional Banks 1. Ratio Analysis The performance and the stability of banks can be quantified and measured through the analysis of their financial ratios. We can have several hundreds of ratios at our disposal. However, we will use only those that are common, and of some meaning for the analysis of the banks. Also, it is important to note that we should use only major and comparable ratios in order to fully understand the financial position of these banks as compared to all those ratios that may include some vagueness in the research. Mainly five categories of these financial ratios are used to eliminate the vagueness created by redundant use of the financial heads and items from the financial statements. Hence, the five categories are: (CFA 2009, p498): Profitability Ratios Activity Ratios Liquidity Ratios Solvency Ratios Valuation Ratios However, for the banking industry, which is our main concern, we will use only the first four categories, making an exception of the Valuation category. The financial stability department of the State Bank of Pakistan, which is the central bank of this major economy in the Muslim world, and actively involved in the promotion of Islamic Banking, suggests that the financial ratios fairly reflect the stability, health and the performance of the banks. Hence, these ratios can be used for our purpose. 2. Z-score Instead of just doing the Financial Ratios Analysis, we should also do the analysis of the banks insolvency risk, which is measured by the z-score. This will be done for both the categories of banking systems: Islamic Banks; as well as the Commercial Banks. The statistic based on z-score is calculated with the help of the data on the banks expected profits, the riskiness or the variation in such profits and the capital base of the bank. In other words, the following variables help to calculate the z-score and test it, we need the profit margin, its likelihood of occurrence and the shareholders equity available to compensate in case of the negative margins (losses). A z-score represents the number of standard deviations by which the return on asset have to decrease in order to incur a loss (a negative return). Z-scores can be measured by the following formula: z = (ROA+CAP)/ÏÆ' (ROA) where: ROA (Return on Assets) = Net Income / Total Assets; CAP (Capital to Asset Ratio) = Equity / Total Assets; and ÏÆ' (ROA) = standard deviation of return on assets (proxy for the variation of return). According to the formula, the higher z-score means that the equity base and the return added on it is much higher than the potential risk to the earnings as measured by the standard deviations. Hence, such usage of the z-score testing as the test for measuring risk is recommended by many researches in the field. By the definition of the z-score here, it can be said that it directly relates to the probability of a banks insolvency. It is necessary to evaluate and understand the extent to which Islamic banks are risky as compared to conventional banks. Z-scores will play an integral role in helping us identify the risk profile of Islamic banks. 3. Regression One of the most extensively used statistical measure of conformity is the use of regression and correlation. The extent to which two different datasets match in terms of moving together is evaluated by a regression analysis. This context will look closely at how the dataset we obtained for Islamic and conventional banks will be moving in tandem with the GDP and inflation (CPI) of their respective countries. A pooled regression test will be used to perform the respective tests and statistics generated from the regression such as the R-squared value will be used to make judgments on the relationship between the profitability and growth of Islamic and conventional banks with respect to their national growth and inflation. This test is extremely as it is crucial to understand the synchronization of growth of these banks with their national economies. It would be difficult to make pre-assumptions about either Islamic or conventional banks however, it has generally been seen that while conventional banks were wiped of several billions of dollars, Islamic banks stood their ground and even grew in some countries. Thus, bearing this in mind, a pooled regression test will enable us to identify the polarity of growth of Islamic and conventional banks with their respective economies. Chapter Four: 1.1 Financial Ratio Analysis: Financial statement analysis involves comparing the firms performance with that of other firms in the same industry. In this research, we are comparing banks with banks but having two categories within the banking industry: Islamic banks and the conventional banks. Ratio analysis also involves evaluating trends of the financial position of the firm over a time period. The ratio analysis of the firms financial statements helps the management of the firm to identify problems and deficiencies and then to take actions to try to improve performance. It also helps the decision makers to make operational as well as strategic decisions that would help the firm over a long period of time. Financial statements mainly comprises of the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement. The balance sheet and the cash flow statement both report the firms position at a given point of time. It gives the situation in which the company is standing at that point of time. And the income statement tells about the performance of the companys operations over a certain time period, usually a year. In other words, the financial statement analysis is useful to help anticipate the future conditions and as a starting point for planning actions that will improve the firms future performance. But with these lengthy and complicated financial statements, it is really time consuming for the decision makers and other stake holders to confer something. Hence, the financial ratios are used to help evaluate the financial statements. These ratios are taken from the break down elements of the financial statements. These ratios are easy to read and understand rather than the whole financial statements. Profitability Ratios Profitability is what every firm is seeking. The higher the profitability, the better is the performance of a bank. The profitability ratios show the combined effects of the liquidity, the asset management, and debt on the operations of the company as the profit is what comes out in the end of the income statement and this profit is what is mainly desired by the ownership and the management of a firm. One of the most important and most often looked at category of the ratios is the profitability ratios. These ratios are integral in that they help us estimate the degree to which revenues are converted into profits. A bank may be earning extremely high revenues in comparison to its competitors however, its profitability may be low signifying a lower efficiency. On the other extreme, a low earning bank may have a higher profitability signifying a greater efficiency. Thus, it is important to compare the relative profitability of the two bank streams and analyse them over several years data. Return on Assets: The performance of the firm is often and most commonly looked at through the ratio of net income (return) to total assets. In simple words, return on assets shows that what the company is getting out as net profits from its investment in the assets of the business. The assets in a companys statements are valued on the basis of original cost. Furthermore, the total return is usually the sum of the net income and the interest paid if any on the borrowings, as it is assumed that the assets may be financed by the borrowings. Banks also do have assets employed in their business, including the loans they have offered to the customers. The return is usually the spread between the rate of borrowings and deposits, which is net of all expenses incurred. In case of Islamic banks, the net income is the net profit earned from the investments through different financial instruments such as mudarbah, murabaha, musharakah, ijarah, etc. and the assets of the Islamic banks also comprise of the investments in different schemes through Islamic modes of financing. It can be seen from the graph that the conventional banks experienced a rise in the ROAA (Return on Average Assets) during the booming period from 2002 till 2007. However, in 2007, it started to decline and has been declining since. But, during this same period, ROA for the Islamic Banks have been rising on average. Although, the financial crisis in 2007 hit both banking systems, Islamic banks experienced a relatively lesser impact. It has fallen from 2.6 in 2007 to around 2.1 in 2009. The conventional banks on average were at their peak in 2006 at almost 2.5 and since then, its been falling and has reached 1.6 in 2009. The overall decline of the conventional banks is far greater than the decline in ROAA of the Islamic Banks. Return on Equity: Shareholders, the real owners of the company, are mainly concerned about the return on the equity they have invested in the business. They need to know the profitability of their investment in the company. Hence, the net profit of the company is measured as a ratio of the equity the shareholders have invested in this ratio. The main difference in the return on assets and the return on equity is that usually, the assets are financed by both the investors (such as shareholders) and the lenders (such as the banks); and the equity reflects only the investment by the shareholders. Hence, this measure shows the rate at which the company is returning the investment to its shareholder (in absolute terms and not in cash terms, as cash is paid out in form of dividends). In terms of the banks, the equity will be the shareholders money that they have invested in the bank to make it running. This will not include any loans that the banks management has obtained for its operations or assets. If this measure is giving out high results, it means that investing in a bank as a shareholder is a profitable venture. It can be seen from the graph that from our sample of banks, the conventional banks are slightly returning a better amount than the Islamic banks especially after the crisis of 2007. In this regard, we can say that the Islamic banks have taken a bigger impact as their average Return on Average Equity (ROAE) have fallen from 25 in 2006 to around 11 in 2009 as compared to conventional banks having 26 in 2006 and falling to around 16 in 2009. There can be several possible reasons for such results. It could be that after the crisis, the investments in equity for the Islamic banks have risen, or fallen for the conventional banks. It may be possible that the investors have seen Islamic banks as a safe haven and have taken out their money from conventional banks and put it into the Islamic banks as its equity. However, it could also be possible that with so many closures in the conventional banking, the competition is thinned out and the remaining banks are making higher profits than they would have been when there was more competition. There may be one or more explanations for such results however, the most popular of these is that the very basis that caused the credit crunch crisis was not influential in the operations of an Islamic bank and thus left them unscathed to a great extent. Efficiency Ratios: Efficiency of a company can be measured in many different ways. One of the basic indicator of efficiency is that how much of the earnings are used up as expenses. The ratio of expenses to earnings shows how much is the company efficient. If the ratio is low, then it is considered to be very efficient. If its high, then there must be some problem with the company. If it is high for the whole industry, then it can be seen that the industry is not very profitable. If the ratio is near to one, it signifies serious problems for a company, be it a bank or not. This is because if the earnings and expenses are closer to each other, then there is little room for the profits and denotes that the bank is not able to manage its operations efficiently leading to a very small net profit margin. This would definitely put off investors and is highly undesirable. Hence, the lower the ratio, the better it is. It can be seen that this ratio is quite low for the conventional banks as compared to the Islamic banks, especially after 2004. The conventional banks efficiency is being steadied even during the financial crisis. The expenses are hovering to around 40 percent of the earnings, which is reasonably lower than for the Islamic banks. When looking at the Islamic banks, the expenses rose from 40 percent in 2004 to 80 percent in 2005 and slowly falling back to 60 percent during the financial crisis but staying there during 2009 as well. Hence it is also possible to see that the Islamic banks efficiency have improved during this period as this ratio has fallen significantly. However, in this regard, the Islamic banks are not as efficient as the conventional banks. But we will also not ignore the fact that our sample does not represent the whole Islamic banking industry or the conventional banking industry and the results may be completely different for different samples. Assets Turnover (a type of Activity Ratio): The asset turnover ratio indicates how hard and efficiently the firms assets are being put to use. It is also known as the sales-to-assets ratio. It shows that what each dollar of assets has produced in terms of total revenue (or sales). â€Å"Sales† in the banking industry has different names. For conventional banks, the net interest income is used instead of sales. This is the interest earned from lending minus the interest given out on deposits. However, for Islamic banks, the interest-free system, the net profit on investments of different modes of Islamic finance is used as revenue. This is the major differing element of the income statements of the two systems. From the results of this ratio, it can be seen that the Islamic banks and the conventional banks have a very close and similar trend before the financial crisis as the asset turnover keep on rising till 2006. However, this is worth noting that the ratio for Islamic banks remained a bit higher than that of conventional banks. After the 2007 crisis, the conventional banks asset turnover fell sharply from around 0.08 in 2006 to around 0.055 in 2009. Whereas for Islamic banks; this ratio fell from around 0.089 in 2006 to 0.08 in 2009. Hence, the turnover for Islamic banks was not much affected by the crisis. This result may prove worthwhile to note that Islamic banks were having less risk during the financial crisis than the conventional banks. Though insignificant at the moment, this can be an important dimension in future studies involving Islamic banks and conventional as it provides insight into the risk profile of Islamic banks viz-a-viz conventional banking. Financial Leverage: Solvency ratio shows the financial leverage of a firm. When a firm requires money more than the equity it has risen from its shareholders and from within the business, it needs to borrow. This borrowing can be from anyone including the bank. However, usually it is required to give out fixed rate as interest payment regardless of whether that money is properly utilized and gained from or not. Whether the company is in profit or loss, the interest payments on the debt has to be given out. If the profit is high, the shareholders gain as the leftover profit after interest payments goes to them. However, in case of loss, the shareholders bear the burden as well because the interest payment still has to be paid. Because of this debt increasing the profit rate to shareholders in good times and reducing it in bad times, this debt is said to create financial leverage. Debt to Equity Ratio: The debt to equity ratio is a clear measure of the percentage that a company is indebted to the external sources. It gives out the rate at which the debt is as a multiple of the equity. If the debt is less than the shareholders equity, than this ratio would be less than 1. But if there is more external debt than internal equity, than this ratio will exceed 1. And this could be really problematic for a company. However, in todays world, high debt to equity ratio is considered normal. For a bank, whether a conventional bank or an Islamic bank, this ratio just indicates the ratio of the actual owners to the external lenders. However, in case of crisis, it is usually seen that the banks to go out of the business first had a high debt to equity ratio. Islamic banks usually tend to have lower debt indebted to them. As their core principle of interest free banking may not be fulfilled if they take on debt on interest. So all the debt they have is interest free and such type of debt is difficult to obtain. However, according to the result of this ratio here shows that Islamic banks debt to equity ratio rose significantly during 2004-2005 and was nearly equal to conventional banks ratio, but then it steadied around 1.6 during the financial crisis and after it. On the other hand, during this time period this ratio for conventional banks rose to 2.6 in 2007. And then the effect of the crisis took over and it fell to around 2.1 in 2009. It can be realized from this result that the shock of the crisis made the conventional banks realized that they have stretched too far from how they should be financing themselves. Hence, either they started to pay off their debts to reduce the risk of bankruptcy or the lenders started to get strict control over them. On the other hand, the Islamic banks were more relaxed as they did not have high debts to fear from and continued keeping a similar debt to equity ratio. Liquidity Ratios: Liquidity ratios are the indication for the company to know how much current assets there are to deal with the liabilities. In case of the banks, it shows how much loans are there to give out from the deposits available. Total Loans / Total Deposits: Banks give out loans to the customers (borrowers) are assets as they are receivables. Whereas, the deposits taken from the customers (depositors) are liabilities as they are payables to the depositors upon their request. Deposit is the property of the depositors; hence its the liability on the bank to pay the depositors back their money. This ratio for banks is similar to the current ratio used for other firms. It is similar to the ratio of current assets to the current liabilities. Hence, we can see that for Islamic banks, this ratio is lower than that of the conventional banks. This may be because many different financial instruments are used to finance those who want the funding. So many Islamic banks may not show all the investments as current assets or loans in this case. Also, it may be possible that perhaps a higher profit rate is charged by the Islamic banks as compared to the interest rate charged by the conventional banks and people are reluctant to fulfil their financing needs from Islamic banks in order to avoid higher rates to pay back. As the Islamic banks are growing and gaining consumer confidence, it may also be possible that the people are depositing their savings in Islamic banks much more than they are using its money for their financing needs, for a time being. Here, it is worth noting that the financial crisis did not affect this rate significantly for both the banking systems. Total Loans / Total Assets: As discussed above, total loans can be termed as current assets as they are the receivables. Hence, this ratio is about how much part of the total assets is this receivable loan. For the sample on hand, it is worth noting that the loan to total assets ratio for the conventional banks have slowly declined during the years and not affected significantly by the crisis. However, in the same time period, this ratio for Islamic banks has risen slowly. This may show that other assets for Islamic banks have reduced as compared to main current receivable assets. Growth Analysis: Growth analysis is the analysis used to measure and compare the growth rate of a company for different heads of accounts. It could be growth in sales, growth in assets, growth in liabilities, etc. Deposits Growth: First of all, we will look at the growth of the deposits. Although the deposits for banks are the liabilities, it shows the demand for the bank by the customers. If more and more customers start depositing in a bank, the bank is said to be growing in terms of customer base. In other words, the demand for the bank is rising. From the graph taken from the sample, it can clearly be seen that the growth rate of deposits have risen sharply for the Islamic banks. However, there is a major dip after the financial crisis from 35% to 25% in 2008. But after that, it has risen back to around 34% in 2009. In case of the conventional banks, there has been a growth in the deposits, but much slower than the Islamic banks. Also, there is a major dip in growth rate from around 24% in 2006 to around 11% in 2007. And moreover, the recovery that Islamic banks have shown after the crisis was nowhere to be found in our sample of conventional banks. The deposit growth rate rose from around 11% in 2007 to just around 14% in 2009 as compared to 34% for Islamic banks. Equity Growth: The equity growth directly shows the investors (shareholders) confidence as the deposit growth showed the customer confidence in the bank. Hence, it can be said that this ratio directly measures the success of a bank because if the bank is getting success, the shareholders (investors) will be putting in more money as equity to get higher returns in terms of profits. For our sample of the banks from the two systems, we can see that there are ups and downs during the sample time period. Initially, both the conventional banks and the Islamic banks equity growth have risen till 2005. But much before the crisis happened in 2007, there was a fall in investors confidence since 2005 for the conventional banks. This has been shown by the sharp decline in the equity growth from around 49% in 2005 to a mere 12% in 2007 for the conventional banks. But after that there was a sharp increase next year and then it again fell in 2009. But when we see at the Islamic banks, their equity growth was at its highest during 2006 and 2007 at around 55% when this rate was having a free fall for the conventional banks. However, the equity growth rate for Islamic banks also had a major drop in the aftermath of the crisis in 2008 when it dropped to around 22% but then bounced back in 2009. It is worth noting that the growth rate for the last year have increased for the Islamic banks and decreased for the conventional banks, thus setting out a trend for investors confidence in favour of the Islamic banks. From this financial ratio analysis, it can be observed that the Islamic banks were affected lesser than the conventional banks. 1.2 Z-Scores In this case, z-score is the test for financial stability of the two systems. Conven z-score Islamic z-score Overall Avg z-score 2002 7.046525 11.84681784 9.446672 2003 5.77853 4.605240229 5.191885 2004 10.33028 4.238655854 7.284467 2005 8.640415 4.21893723 6.429676 2006 10.80977 9.34741143 10.07859 2007 7.954082 12.91780713 10.43594 2008 6.356607 4.69090727 5.523757 2009 6.103882 5.737315593 5.920599 Avg 7.877512 7.200386572 7.538949 The table above shows the summary of z-scores for both the banking systems and the overall z-score as an average of both. There are some surprising results here. The z-score for Islamic banks is a little less than that of the conventional banks even though the results of the financial ratio analysis showed that the Islamic banks were exposed to less risk as compared to the conventional banks during this period, especially the period of financial crisis. In other words, the conventional banks are a little more financially stable than the Islamic banks. Looking at the trend of the z-scores during our sample time period, the graph shows that on overall, conventional banks z-score was higher thus showing that they were more insolvent as compared to the Islamic banks. However, it can be seen that there was a fall in z-score before and during the crisis in 2006 and 2007 for conventional banks and only during this period, the Islamic banks were less risky. However, the dip in the aftermath of the crisis for the Islamic banks showed that they became riskier especially after the crisis in 2008 and 2009. It is worth noting here that in 2009, the z-score for the conventional banks has a downward trend and for Islamic banks, it is rising. Hence, in the future, it may be predicted when the things get stabled that the Islamic banks would become less risky and more financially stable. Conventional Islamic ROA Equity/Assets Z-Score ROA Equity/Assets Z-Score Average 2.03 0.08 7.88 2.10 0.10 7.20 In the table above, the average results are shown. There is a higher return on assets for the Islamic bank during the period on average, and also a higher share of equity in assets as compared to the conventional banks. However, the z-score on average is lower for Islamic banks as compared to the conventional banks thus telling that even though there is less ROA and equity share in the assets for the conventional banks, they are more stable financially and have lesser risk for solvency. However, as mentioned earlier, there is a rising trend for the Islamic banks at the moment. Hence, once the dust settles down, we can have a clearer picture of the future of the two systems. However, the slight variations in the z-score do not differentiate the financial stability of the two banking systems by very much. Hence, it would be unwise to conclude something here at this point of time. 1.3 Regression Analysis Overall Regression: SUMMARY OUTPUT Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.803713 R Square 0.645954 Adjusted R Square 0.173893 Standard Error 1.94228 Observations 8

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Architecture Essays -- essays research papers

Influences of Spanish Architecture in Mexico Spanish expeditions conducted during the seventh and eighteenth century has brought a variety of architectural and artistic influences to the different indigenous regions of the New Americas. It is documented that â€Å"the Architecture of Mexico began with the Spanish conquest of the country.† (Mullen, 18) The architecture of Mexico has exhibited much richness and wealth, has displayed the political and religious conditions of the time, and has showed off the countries beauty and grace through different artistic devices, mainly through the ornamentation of buildings. The architecture that developed in Mexico during the military expeditions and colonization of Mexico has brought forth many different types of architecture to Mexico, three in particular, Franciscan, Mexican Baroque and Spanish Colonial Architecture. Historians have documented that the Franciscan, Mexican Baroque and Spanish Colonial Architecture found in Mexico is, â€Å"the transfer of architectural forms, ide as and traditions brought from Spain to the Americas by Spanish settlers† (Grizzard, 167). Historians believe that, â€Å"Spanish colonial architecture was a period of transition from the Spanish Gothic to Spanish Renaissance† (Mullen, 76)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When observing the architecture found in Mexico one has to wonder about how much influence the Spanish Colonialists had on this country. Much of the influence the Spanish Colonialists had on Mexican Architecture came from their conquests over the Native Indians of the Americas. Historically, Mexico has been a war-torn religiously, socially, economically, and political areas of the country. As the Spanish Conquerors dominated the Natives, their influence spread thoroughly throughout the Americas. The result was an aristocratic government where the natives were not given any chance of self-expression. Under these conditions, it was natural for the Architecture of the New Americas to have been brought from Spain. As it has been found throughout the history of the Americas that, â€Å"the church [has] worked in conjunction with the military to dominate the Native Indians.† (Behav, 306). Many of the buildings built by the church and the military have become monumental features of Mexico. The architecture that first pioneered its way through Mexico was the Franciscan order. Most of the buildings bui... ... order to the next has given Mexico much notable architecture that is highly praised. Mexican Architecture can be viewed as being one of the most remarkable types of architecture found throughout the world. Work Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grizzard, Mary. Spanish Colonial Art and Architecture of Mexico and the U.S Southwest. New York: University Press of America, 1986 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mullen, Robert. Architecture and Its Sculpture in Vicegal Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aceland, James H. â€Å"Building and Land† Canadian Architecture. (July 1996) 63-68 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brook, Jeff. â€Å"In Old Mexico.† House Beautiful. (October 2000) 70, 72, 76, 78, 113 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Behav, Richard. Colonial Architecture in Mexico. New York University Press, 1984 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neumeyer, Alfred. â€Å"The Indian Contribution to Architectural decoration in Spanish Colonial America.† The Art Bulletin. (June 1948) 109-121 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kilham, Walter H. â€Å"Impressions of colonial Architecture in Mexico.† Architectural Forum. (February 1921) 39-44, 85-90

Friday, October 11, 2019

Leadership styles in greek mythology Essay

In ancient Greece, certain leadership qualities were seen as more desirable, and by reviewing Greek mythology it is possible to understand what these ancient people valued in their leaders. The tales of Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus show which characteristics were prized by the Greek people, and which were despised. Uranus, son and husband of Gaea, was tyrannical, and fearful, casting his offspring into the underworld. He was obsessed with absolute power. It did not concern him that his children, the Hundred-handed giants and the Cyclopes, burned with rage at him from their Underworld prison. It did not concern him that his mother-wife Gaea suffered dearly knowing the fate of her children. He was a wicked ruler, and his Titan sons and daughters were fearful of him. Even when Gaea urged them to join her in a plot to overthrow Uranus, the Titans, terrified, could not reply. It was only when Cronus, the youngest Titan, finally agreed to help Gaea that Uranus was finally and violently defeated. Cronus dismembered his father and scattered the body parts. The Titans then freed their siblings and made Cronus king. Cronus, however, turned out to be as wicked a king as his father Uranus. Gaea warned Cronus that like his father, his child would overthrow him. Obsessed with avoiding Uranus’s fate, Cronus devoured each of the children born to him and Rhea, his wife. Eventually, Rhea deceived Cronus to keep him from eating the newborn children. Cunningly, Rhea his one child, Zeus, and fed her husband a rock in the place of the shining child. When Zeus grew up, joined with his brother Poseidon and the other children of Cronus in a war resulted in Zeus’s overthrow of Cronus. At last, overpowered, the Titans retreated into Tartarus, where they were bound, imprisoned, for eternity. With the Titans in the depths of the earth, the rule of Zeus began. Unlike his father and grandfather, Zeus ruled the world justly. He assigned each of the deities their respective functions. He created a system of laws, and punished those immortals that broke their sacred word. Zeus also allowed the immortals to benefit mankind. Out of chaotic destruction, Zeus’s rule began and he established such order that no Olympian god would question his authority. Even when the Titans would try to return and overthrow Zeus, they could not defeat him due to the loyalty he had earned from the other Olympians. A reading of these tales shows that the Greeks looked for the qualities of strength and authority in their leaders, along with courage and wisdom. However, these alone were not enough. In order to be a great leader or king, one needed to establish a system of justice and fairness, where those who did wrong would face punishment, and where order would be maintained instead of chaos. Zeus was the model for earthly kings because of his ability to bring order, fairness, and justice along with his great strength.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Psychological Effects of Technology Addiction Essay

Technology is taking over all aspects of life. Education, work and leisure are all becoming increasingly dependent on being able to interact with technology. But what of the academic or career prospects of those who do not want to interact with this technology? Before taking this English 305 class, I tried to avoid computers as much as possible. I didnt have any interest in cyberspace such as chatting, email, and gender swapping. Through this class, I had a chance to contact others through cyberspace. However, I still have a fear of computers. I decided that I want to know more about computers and cyberspace. I will first discuss cyberspace, then I will discuss about technophobia. Its well known that people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldnt ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. The virtual world is quite different from the real world. People cant see a person in cyberspace. People cant see a persons facial expressions and body language. The sensory experience of encountering others in cyberspace-seeing, hearing, and combining seeing and hearing is limited. For the most part, people communicate through typed language. In cyberspace, people will probably never be able to physically interact with each other. There are no handshakes, pats on the back, hugs, or kisses. The limited sensory experiences of cyberspace have some significant disadvantages- as well as some unique advantages – as compared to in-person encounters. Since communicating only with typed text, people have the option of being themselves, expressing only parts of their identity, assuming imaginative identities, or remaining completely anonymous. Anonymity has a disinhibiting effect that cuts two ways. Sometimes people use it to act out some unpleasant need or emotion, often by abusing other people. Anonymity also allows them to be honest and open about some personal issue that they could not discuss in a face-to-face encounter. Sitting quiet and staring at the computer monitor can bring a person to an altered state of consciousness. Some people experience a blending of their mind with that of the other person. Some people experience a state of consciousness that resembles dreams. These altered and dream-like states of consciousness in cyberspace may account for why the Internet is so attractive for some people. It might also help explain some forms of computer and cyberspace addiction. In cyberspace, birds of a feather easily can flock together. Support groups  devoted to helping people with their problems can be a very beneficial feature of cyberspace. For people with antisocial motivations, thats a very negative feature of cyberspace. In most cases, everyone in cyberspace has an equal opportunity to voice his or her opinion. Everyone, regardless of status, wealth, race, gender, etc. starts off on a level playing field. Some people call this the net democracy. Although ones status in the outside world ultimately will have some impact on ones life in cyberspace, there is some truth to this net democracy ideal. Now, I want to write about technophobia, which is a resistance to talking about computers or even thinking about computers. Although technology is taking over all aspects of life, there are up to half of the population is technophobic, possessing negative opinions about, or having anxiety towards, information technology such as personal computers. I found a study the book, Technophobia (Mark J. Brosnan). Thirty-seven per cent of the general public report regularly using a personal computer, a far higher percentage than mobile phones, electronic organizers, pagers, modems, etc. (MORI, 1996). When the factors of anxiety and attitude, or, more specially, of computer anxiety and computer attitude, are combined, the concept of computer phobia indeed begins to emerge. Since I was a technophobic person, I want to know how this psychologically impact peoples life. There was an original assumption that technophobia would be a transitory phenomenon, common amongst older adults who had missed out upon technology in their education. Raubs (1981) early study reported that older people were more anxious than younger people. Other research indicates that the over fifties are less anxious than the under thirties, suggesting that far from reducing anxiety, computer experience can increase anxiety levels (Brosnan pg. 11). However, Anderson (1981), Elder et al. (1987) and Igbaria and Parasuraman (1989) have all found that age has a positive effect upon computer anxiety. As the diffusion of technology throughout many aspects of life has exposed virtually everyone to computerization, the relationship between anxiety, age and experience has become less clear. The only clear relationship between age and computer anxiety would therefore appear to be with respect to ones age when first interacting with a computer. I found a very interesting study, which shows the difference of psychological impact between male and female. Just as technophobia has been reported as affecting more females than males, computer addiction has been   found to be almost exclusively a male phenomenon (Shotton, 1989). Brosnan (1995) identified that in a student population, male students first interaction with computers occurred significantly earlier than female students first interaction with computers. This is significant as Todman and Monaghan (1994) report that early use of computers is associated with more favourable quality of initial experience, which leads to lower anxiety and greater readiness to use computers. A large number of studies found that females report higher levels of computer anxiety than males (it is maybe not true because of my English teacher!). A smaller number of studies report no sex differences in computer anxiety. For example, Anderson (1981) found that males and females did not differ in their levels of anxiety, either before or after a computer literacy course. Temple and Lips (1989) found male students to have taken more computer science course and to be more likely to want to choose it as their major than female students. In conclusion, the findings regarding gender differences in technophobia have not been consistent. Conclusion Whether we refer to the second industrial revolution or the digital revolution there can be little doubt that computer tech nology will play an ever-increasing role within our domestic, leisure and work environments. For the technophobe, this can only mean an increase in the potential sources of anxiety. Through this research, I could find a few things. First, by studying technophobia the full extent of the phenomenon has become apparent. With surveys revealing technophobia in up to 50 per cent of many populations, feelings of computer-related anxiety cannot be dismissed or marginalized. Indeed the sheer numbers of technophobes provide the commercial motivation for continued user-friendliness in hardware and software design. The huge preponderance of technophobia can in itself be empowering, such that an individual does not have to internalize feelings to personal inadequacies. Second, I found that much research has highlighted that feelings are transitory and that sex differences in computer-related attainment can be eradicated when recasting the computer-based task as appropriate for females. The literature on sex differences has been used to emphasize the role of these influences. Technophobia is a legitimate response to technology. Technology is taking over all aspects of life. Education, work and leisure are all becoming increasingly dependent on being able to interact with technology. But what  of the academic or career prospects of those who do not want to interact with this technology? Before taking this English 305 class, I tried to avoid computers as much as possible. I didnt have any interest in cyberspace such as chatting, email, and gender swapping. Through this class, I had a chance to contact others through cyberspace. However, I still have a fear of computers. I decided that I want to know more about computers and cyberspace. I will first discuss cyberspace, then I will discuss about technophobia. Its well known that people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldnt ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. The virtual world is quite different from the real world. People cant see a person in cyberspace. People cant see a persons facial expressions and body language. The sensory experi ence of encountering others in cyberspace-seeing, hearing, and combining seeing and hearing is limited. For the most part, people communicate through typed language. In cyberspace, people will probably never be able to physically interact with each other. There are no handshakes, pats on the back, hugs, or kisses. The limited sensory experiences of cyberspace have some significant disadvantages- as well as some unique advantages – as compared to in-person encounters. Since communicating only with typed text, people have the option of being themselves, expressing only parts of their identity, assuming imaginative identities, or remaining completely anonymous. Anonymity has a disinhibiting effect that cuts two ways. Sometimes people use it to act out some unpleasant need or emotion, often by abusing other people. Anonymity also allows them to be honest and open about some personal issue that they could not discuss in a face-to-face encounter. Sitting quiet and staring at the computer monitor can bring a person to an altered state of consciousness. Some people experience a blending of their mind with that of the other person. Some people experience a state of consciousness that resembles dreams. These altered and dream-like states of consciousness in cyberspace may account for why the Internet is so attractive for some people. It might also help explain some forms of computer and cyberspace addiction. In cyberspace, birds of a feather easily can flock together. Support groups devoted to helping people with their problems can be a very beneficial feature of cyberspace. For people with antisocial motivations, thats a very negative feature of cyberspace. In most cases, everyone in cyberspace has  an equal opportunity to voice his or her opinion. Everyone, regardless of status, wealth, race, gender, etc. starts off on a level playing field. Some people call this the net democracy. Although ones status in the outside world ultimately will have some impact on ones life in cyberspace, there is some truth to this net democracy ideal. Now, I want to write about technophobia, which is a resistance to talking about computers or even thinking about computers. Although technology is taking over all aspects of life, there are up to half of the population is technophobic, possessing negative opinions about, or having anxiety towards, information technology such as personal computers. I found a study the book, Technophobia (Mark J. Brosnan). Thirty-seven per cent of the general public report regularly using a personal computer, a far higher percentage than mobile phones, electronic organizers, pagers, modems, etc. (MORI, 1996). When the factors of anxiety and attitude, or, more specially, of computer anxiety and computer attitude, are combined, the concept of computer phobia indeed begins to emerge. Since I was a technophobic person, I want to know how this psychologically impact peoples life. There was an original assumption that technophobia would be a transitory phenomenon, common amongst older adults who had missed out upon technology in their education. Raubs (1981) early study reported that older people were more anxious than younger people. Other research indicates that the over fifties are less anxious than the under thirties, suggesting that far from reducing anxiety, computer experience can increase anxiety levels (Brosnan pg. 11). However, Anderson (1981), Elder et al. (1987) and Igbaria and Parasuraman (1989) have all found that age has a positive effect upon computer anxiety. As the diffusion of technology throughout many aspects of life has exposed virtually everyone to computerization, the relationship between anxiety, age and experience has become less clear. The only clear relationship between age and computer anxiety would therefore appear to be with respect to ones age when first interacting with a computer. I found a very interesting study, which shows the difference of psychological impact between male and female. Just as technophobia has been reported as affecting more females than males, computer addiction has been found to be almost exclusively a male phenomenon (Shotton, 1989). Brosnan (1995) identified that in a student population, male students first interaction with computers occurred significantly earlier than female  students first interaction with computers. This is significant as Todman and Monaghan (1994) report that early use of computers is associated with more favourable quality of initial experience, which leads to lower anxiety and greater readiness to use computers. A large number of studies found that females report higher levels of computer anxiety than males (it is maybe not true because of my English teacher!). A smaller number of studies report no sex differences in computer anxiety. For example, Anderson (1981) found that males and females did not differ in their levels of anxiety, either before or after a computer literacy course. Temple and Lips (1989) found male students to have taken more computer science course and to be more likely to want to choose it as their major than female students. In conclusion, the findings regarding gender differences in technophobia have not been consistent. Conclusion Whether we refer to the second industrial revolution or the digital revolution there can be little doubt that computer technology will play an ever-increasing role within our domestic, leisure and work environments. For the technophobe, this can only mean an increase in the potential sources of anxiety. Through this research, I could find a few things. First, by studying technophobia the full extent of the phenomenon has become apparent. With surveys revealing technophobia in up to 50 per cent of many populations, feelings of computer-related anxiety cannot be dismissed or marginalized. Indeed the sheer numbers of technophobes provide the commercial motivation for continued user-friendliness in hardware and software design. The huge preponderance of technophobia can in itself be empowering, such that an individual does not have to internalize feelings to personal inadequacies. Second, I found that much research has highlighted that feelings are transitory and that sex differences in computer-related attainment can be eradicated when recasting the computer-based task as appropriate for females. The literature on sex differences has been used to emphasize the role of these influences. Technophobia is a legitimate response to technology.