English GCSE Poetry (Art Wars) Flashcard

English GCSE Poetry (Art Wars)

masai tribe essays

masai tribe essays The Masai have always been different from other African tribes. Their bright red robes set them apart visually. With a spear in hand, they are calm and courageous regardless of the danger. The armed British troops who drove the Masai from their lands in the late 19th century had a great respect for the Masai. In common with the wildlife with which they co-exist, the Masai need a lot of land. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya, they live by herding cattle and goats. They believe Engai (their chief god) gave them all the cattle in the world. They referred to the neighboring tribes of farmers and hunter-gatherers as Ndorobo, meaning poor folk. This is because the Masai measured wealth by the number of cattle, so people without cattle, or those who eat the meat of wild animals are considered poor. The Masai dont have fixed ranches with permanent buildings. Instead they construct a boma (village) for a group of families. The boma is a circle of huts,one per family, enclosed within a circular fence of thorn bushes. the women of each household construct the hut from cattle dung and clay. Periodically, the group will abandon their boma and construct a new one in an area with better water and grazing. The Masai tribe are East African nomadic people speaking Maa, which is an Eastern Nilotic language. Like other tribes, they are a nation only in the sense that they speak one language, follow a common way of life, and observe the same customs and beliefs. They have a barely sufficient, yet fairly homogeneous traditions of immigration, beginning with an ancestor called Maasinda who made a gigantic ladder which enabled the forefathers of the tribe to climb up the long cliff from the Rudoph basin to the Uasin Gishu plateau north of Kitale. From there they deployed in six main sub-tribes over the central part of the Kenya highlands and southwards, down the line of the Rift Valley, into Tanganyika. The Masai went into a...

The Oxford English Dictionary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

The Oxford English Dictionary - Essay Example However, the Oxford English Dictionary is regarded as the most comprehensive source of English words. (Kite) It contained about 400,000 words by the time it was first published. As a project, it was initially called A New English Dictionary or Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society (Winchester). The development of the OED was a long process. People started working on the material in 1857 (Winchester). However, the first time it was published was in 1884 (Kite), three decades after initial work began. The group who worked on the OED decided it was more efficient to publish the book in fascicles or installments. The first edition of the book had ten installments and was completed in 1928. (Kite) The OED is a result of an idea from an association in Great Britain which studies the language. The Philological Society of London decided to collect and consolidate all the definitions of every English word in existence. (Gray) Some members grew dissatisfied with the existing dictionaries because there were words not included or defined in these reference materials. Richard Chevenix Trench, Herbert Coleridge, and Frederick Furnivall and the committee they formed initially searched for unlisted and undefined words in the dictionaries of the 19th century. (Winchester) Eventually, their task evolved into that of creating a truly all-inclusive dictionary and because the task was too big for a few people volunteers were asked to help out. (Winchester) Another task to complete was that of managing the entire compilation process altogether. Furnivall approached lexicographer James Murry for the editor position and the society tied up with Oxford University for the publication of the new di ctionary. (Gray) The process of creating the content for this new comprehensive dictionary was not an easy job. To be as far-reaching as possible, volunteers were told to note down word usage from books onto slips of paper or â€Å"quotation slips† which were then sent to back to Murray.

Religion is the Cause of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Religion is the Cause of War - Essay Example Basic human nature has proven over the course of the past centuries that humans ultimately seek to be defined based upon what they are, what they are not, and how they view themselves as well is how others view them. Many times this level of distinction was defined on terms of geographical origin, ethnicity, race, gender, language, or another means of separating and defining people (Eberle, 2012). However, arguably one of the most important means by which individuals from a variety of different locations, races, languages, and/or ethnicities can be divided is with regards to the division that religion so often provides. More powerful than the determinants which have already been listed, religion divides people based upon a nebulous belief system. Due to the fact that personal belief is almost invariably tied to worldview in the way that the individual perceives their surroundings and the reality in which they live, the reader can come to a basic understanding and realization for why such a multitude of many different religions, schisms, and splinter groups exist within the current paradigm. Accordingly, rather than stating that religion is the root cause of all global conflict, it will be the understanding that this analysis will point towards and defined that religion is one of the primal motivators for both current and past conflict. Due to the powerful way in which religion unites a wide variety of individuals from different walks of life, races, ethnicities, languages, and geographical origin, it represents one of the more dangerous aspects of the means by which individuals to find themselves and â€Å"the other†. One does not need to look very hard in order to identify some of the ways in which religion of the past has helps to motivate individuals to commit heinous atrocities. For instance, even a cursory review of tissue of the Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Islam, illustrates a number of instances recorded in their respective holy books in which t he followers of these religions were encouraged to commit unspeakable atrocities upon heathens/nonbelievers/infidels or any other such group that their supposed deity commanded that they destroy. Although opponents to such an understanding of religion would merely point to the fact that this occurred many thousands of years ago and cannot be understood as representative of current faith and the means by which war is waged, one need look no further than the situations around the globe represented within the following: the Bosnia conflict, the war in East Timor, the war ensued on, repression of minority religious groups in countries as diverse as Iran, Egypt, Mali, Burma, India, Armenia, as well as a host of others (Eberle, 2012). Ultimately, although religion can be a powerful force for good in the world, the fact of the matter is that it all too often is hijacked as a means of differentiating one people group from another, encouraging one form of strife directed at another, or merel y making one group or entity feel somehow superior to another (Henne, 2012). In such a way, religion can be seen as the ultimate division whereby elements of classism, racism, and a host of other judgments are included as a means of defining who is ultimately worthy of life and who is not. In such a way, it can easily be understood by the reader why religion has a powerful role in encouraging violence towards other groups and/or nations that can somehow be dehumanized by a given belief system. This has of course happened far to many times within the past as religion has been used, and still is used as a motivator to create something of a faceless enemy which can more readily be destroyed without questions of conscience.

The Management of Corporate Security (To what extent is it important Essay

The Management of Corporate Security (To what extent is it important that security managers have a good understanding of the lat - Essay Example In order for a corporate protection to be effective, there has to be an excellent perceptive of the matters that are taking place in the civilization. The company has to be responsive of the surroundings and what is taking place in the general public (McCrie 2006). This paper is going to analyze the extend of understanding that security managers have to go in the latest politics, economy, society, technology, ecology and legal (P.E.S.T.E.L) trends and developments that shall be seen as important for the corporate security. Cybercrimes Many reports have come out in the recent news that computer has now been a target in committing crimes. These are the kinds of crime that put in use a computer and a network where there are several computers interlinked with one another (Santanam, Sethumadhavan and    Virendra 2011). These offences are committed against individuals and in most cases against groups like the corporations. It is always the responsibility of any corporation to make sure t hat the security and close functioning of all the company’s affairs are well overseen. This is in terms of the continuity, safety and the most importantly the security (Santanam, Sethumadhavan and    Virendra 2011). These crimes threaten the security of these companies and also their finances. The issues that are found in this mode of crime are like cracking, copyright infringement et cetera. For the corporations, governments and other non-state bodies that engage in these illegal actions, they always engage in espionage, financial theft and some other cross-border crimes (Santanam, Sethumadhavan and    Virendra 2011). According to Santanam, Sethumadhavan and Virendra (2011), in today’s world, things are much connected than before. For a corporation to be able to engage in its deals and make much profit it needs to have a reliable communication channel with the outside world. This raises the risks of falling into theft, fraud and other abuses that are committed in the cyber world where almost all communications are handled (Santanam, Sethumadhavan and    Virendra 2011). Therefore, there is crucial importance in understanding the different areas in society like politics and economy at a broader view because as the management of this corporation is becoming more and more reliant on the latest technologies, there is also becoming extremely vulnerable to the cyber attacks. Corporate security breaches These occur when the hackers exploit the employees through means of some social engineering and other scams (Cubbage and  Brooks 2012). Since late eighties, computer crimes that have been politically motivated have been growing rapidly. These kinds of threats arise from the states and individuals or certain groups that are tired in some political agendas. These is clearly depicted or demonstrated as in 2007 cyber attacks against Estonia (Cubbage and  Brooks 2012). There were enormous disruptions to the public services like banking services and some communicating services. The United Kingdom is one of the developed nations that depend on its own information infrastructure, as one mode of delivering world power both in the financial realm and political arena. The threat was realized in the year 2008, and it did not only center on the secrets of the state but also to the commercial and economic interests (Cubbage and  Brooks 2012). Owing to these, companies like those that deal with finance,

Recommendation For Cimb Group Finance Essay

Recommendation For Cimb Group Finance Essay Maybank Bhd is the largest financial services provider in Malaysia since its incorporation. It has been leading in the banking industry for several years. Maybank was founded by Khoo Teck Puat on 31 May 1960 and commenced operations on 12 September 1960. On 17 February 1962, Maybank was listed on the Bursa Malaysia. The Maybank Group today has over 46,000 employees serving more than 22 million customers globally. Maybank offers a full range of commercials, corporate and private services including commercial banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, insurance, stock broking, offshore banking, leasing and hire purchase, factoring, nominee services, trustee services, asset management, venture capital and Internet banking. Maybank has an international network that covering in 20 countries namely Cambodia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Bahrain, China, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Pakistan of over 2200 braches. Maybank also enlarged its network to New York and London. Furthermore, Maybank was the first bank from Malaysia that success granted the right to establish a branch office in China. The groups key operating subsidiaries including Maybank Investment Bank Berhad, Kim Eng Holdings Ltd, Maybank Islamic Berhad, Etiqa, Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk. In addition, the key overseas unit subsidiaries of Maybank include PT Bank international Tbk (BII), Maybank Philippines Inc., Maybank (PNG) Ltd in Papua New Guinea and Maybank International (L) in Labuan. (Maybank Overview) 1 Background of CIMB Group The creations of CIMB Group take more than 75 years since year 1924. It has merged few banks in Malaysia and finally forms CIMB Group until now. CIMB Bhd was listed on Bursa Malaysia in January 2003. And in year 2006, CIMB Group was launched as a Regional Universal Bank by the merger of Commerce International Merchant Bankers, Bumiputra-Commerce Bank and Southern Bank. Nowadays, CIMB Group is the second largest financial services provider in Malaysia. (History of CIMB Group) Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, CIMB Group retail network of over 1100 branches are covering 18 countries in ASEAN with over 43000 employees. CIMB Groups main markets are Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia by across the following areas which are Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, Treasury Markets, Group Strategy Strategic Investments, and comprising Investment Banking and Corporate Banking. (Profile of CIMB Group) CIMB Group offers a full range of financial products and services, covering corporate and investment banking, consumer banking, treasury, insurance and assets management. CIMB Group have operates under several corporate entities including CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank, CIMB Niaga, CIMB Islamic, CIMB Securities International and CIMB Thai. (Profile of CIMB Group) 2 Ratio of Maybank and CIMB Group May Bank CIMB Group Return on Equity Capital (ROE) 61.78% 15.17% Return on Assets (ROA) 1.12% 1.36% Net Interest Margin 1.74% 2.22% Net Non interest Margin 1.00% 1.32% Net Operating Margin 1.49% 3.55% EPS 61.4sen 54.2sen Earning Spread 2.17% 3.12% Return on equity capital (ROE) is the amount of net income  returned  as a percentage  of shareholders equity.  Return on equity capital  measures a corporations profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the money shareholders have invested.  The ROE of CIMB group is 15.17% in 2011 and the ROE of May Bank is 61.78% in 2011. In this number shown that the CIMB Group have a greater ROE compare to May Bank. This shows that CIMB Group has more shareholders invested and it generate more profit than May Bank. As a result, shareholder able to receive more return from their money invested in CIMB Group. As the net profit increases, dividend pay to the shareholder will also increases since corporation had make a great profit for the year. CIMB Group had shown a good financial position of company based on the high return on common stock equity (ROE). They had spent wisely on their investment during the year. It is worth to invest as the higher stoc k price hold by the company. It had success to maximize shareholder wealth. 3Return on asset (ROA) is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets.  ROA gives an idea  as to how efficient  management is  at using its assets to generate earnings. In year 2011, ROA of CIMB Group and May Bank is 1.36% and 1.12% respectively. That indicating CIMB Group earning about RM 0.014 for each ringgit in assets and May Bang earning about RM 0.011 for each ringgit in assets. Comparing the numbers, CIMB Group have a bit higher of ROA compare to May Bank. This mean the CIMB Group gets higher return generated in relative to the total capital provided than May Bank. Thus, CIMB Group is doing better in investment to generate profits than May Bank. Net interest margin is a performance metric that examines how  successful a corporations investment  decisions are compared to its debt situations. The net interest margin of CIMB Group is 2.22% and interest margin for May bank is 1.7%. Both of them have generated positive value of net interest margin. It denotes that the firms make an optimal decision, because the amount of returns  generated were greater than interest expenses by investments. The figure also show CIMB Group have a higher net interest margin compare to May Bank. This mean CIMB Group is more optimal in making decision. Net non-interest margin is the measurement of the amount of non-interest revenues of the financial firm has been able to collect relative to the amount of noninterest cost incurred. In 2011, the net non-interest margin of CIMB Group and May Bank is 1.32% and 1% relatively. The result shown that, CIMB Group has higher net non-interest margin. This mean CIMB Group shows better performance in the non-interest revenue compare to May Bank. Net operating margin is a measurement of what proportion of a companys revenue is left over after paying for variable costs of production. The net operating margin for CIMB Group is 3.55% and net operating margin for May Bank is 1.49% in 2011. This  means that  CIMB Group makes RM 0.036 for every ringgit of sales and May Bank makes RM 0.015 for every ringgit sales. In the calculation show CIMB Group have better operating performance compare to May Bank. 4Earnings per share are a portion of a corporations profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. EPS for CIMB Group is 54.2sen and EPS for May Bank is 61.4sen.Both companies have the positive value of EPS which indicates that they are earning profit. According to the EPS between these two banks, we found that May Bank has higher EPS compare to CIMB Group. This indicated that May Bank has higher profitability and performance compare to CIMB Group. Earning spread is measurement of the effectiveness of a financial firms intermediation function in borrowing and lending money and also the intensity of competition in the firms market area. In 2011, CIMB Group has 3.12% of earning spread and May Bank has 2.17% of earning spread. According to the calculation, CIMB Group has higher earning spread compare to May Bank. This mean CIMB Group is more effective in borrowing and lending money and also the intensity of competition in the firms market area compare to May Bank. 5 Risk Analysis for Maybank Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) is the largest bank in Malaysia. Maybank provides a wide range of service and product to their customers. Over the decades, just like other financial institutions, Maybank had undergone technologic revolution. Nowadays, customer can made transaction or payment through bank electronic support system (maybank2u). However, this system may not operate or function well. For example, some users have experience of unable to receive Maybank TAC number through their phone. It causes inconvenience to Maybanks customer because they cannot made payment via Maybank2u. There was an announcement on Maybank website. It stated, We are experiencing a general issue with TACs from Maybank2u at the moment. Some users may experience delays in receiving it. The bank is exposed to operation risk. Besides that, public receive fraudulent telephone calls, emails or SMS claiming to be from Maybank. Those fraudulent telephone calls, emails or SMS will request personal and confidential account details such as personal identification number, passwords, conformation of credit card transaction, and so on from Maybank user. Consequently, their money or credit card will be embezzled. There are a few cases happened and it caused public unconfident to bank. Public will start panic and withdraw money from bank. The banks liquidity condition will decrease and be exposed to liquidity risk. According to Perbadanan Insurance Deposit Malaysia (PIDM), on May 2010, the Prime Minister Dato Sri MohdNajib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, who is also our Finance Minister, had announced the increase in deposit insurance limit to RM 250,000 from previous RM 60,000 with effective from 31st December 2010. This will create credit risk, management risk and liquidity risk. Increase of deposit insurance limit cause moral hazard problem to rise. Maybank may invest in through those risky investments or holding risky asset. Maybank will be less incentive to protect banks benefit and does not mind to hold high risky asset because PIDM will pay off insurance limit up to RM 250,000. 6Next, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announces to raise Statutory Reserve Requirement (SRR) Ratio from 3.00% to 4.00%, effective from 16 July 2011. Increased in Reserve Requirement Ratio causes Maybank ability to lending out decreased. Thus, Maybank become more prudent in approving loan with appropriate review and documentation. It can be seen by nonperforming loan ratio of 1.30% in 2011 compare with 1.63% in 2010. When nonperforming loan ratios of Maybank decrease, it will cause credit risk to reduce too. Risk weighted capital ratio of Maybank in 2011 is 15.36% (assuming full investment of Dividend Reinvestment Plan). Thus, it will expose to liquidity risk and credit risk. Risk weight also known as the capital adequacy framework. The minimum regulatory of capital adequacy requirement for the risk weighted capital ratio is 8% according to BNM rules. Since risk weighted capital ratio of Maybank exceed minimum requirement of capital adequacy, we can know that Maybank is well-capitalized. Maybank has good liquidity condition and Maybank can loan this amount of money to generate more outcome. However, it will increase the credit risk. Maybank may lend loan to those customer who has high risk. Furthermore, The star in 2011 stated that Maybank had issue RM 1 billion of subordinated notes under its notes programmer of up to RM 3 billion. Maybank said the subordinated notes including two tranche. Tranche 1 is RM 750million with tenure of 10 years on a 10 non-called 5 basis and Tranche 2 is RM 250 million with tenure of 12 years on 12 non-called 7 basis. The subordinated notes received a strong support from investors. Capital of Maybank will increase by issuing RM 1 billion of notes. Hence, Maybank will not be facing capital risk.Maybank may face market risk due to change of market risk. Maybank may be able to determine the interest rate. Consequently, Maybank will face significant losses. 7From 11 May 2011, Maybank announced to increase its deposit and base lending rates (BLR). Deposits rate will be risen up to 30 basis points. However BLR will increase by 30 basis to 6.60% p.a from previous 6.30% p.a. It will give impact to capital risk, liquidity risk and market risk. BLR is the cost of borrowing money. Increasing BLR causes addition payment added on shoulder on borrower. Deposit rate increase will attract depositors keep their money in Maybank. From Maybank annual report 2011, the Groups customer deposit grew 19.0% to RM 282.0billion while it increased 14.9% to RM 201.5billion at the Bank level. Last but not least, Maybank also exposed to market risk. In June 2011, Board of director of Maybank had declared that they had stopped the plan that take over RHB Capital Bhd and would not to pursue the possible merger at this movement. When this merger negotiations breakdown, Maybank share price had decline 2 sen to close at RM 8.82. It is due to great disappointment from investors. Risk Analysis for CIMB Group As we know, every business will contain risk while for CIMB Group will also wont be in the exception. To prevent those losses, CIMB Group had employed Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Framework to manage the risk that might face by CIMB Group since year 2008. At first, the most common risk that will face by a bank is credit risk. Credit risk is the risk which means the declining of assets value for a firm while the loan is one of the important assets that will face this type of risk for a bank. For CIMB Group, they had done some analysis to analyst the credit risk and try to figure out the way to reduce the increasing of the credit risk such as geographic distribution. Geographic distribution is the way of managing the portfolio differently according each country and the value of the loan that provide for each country also will be different. For example the CIMBBG in Malaysia and Singapore, due to headquartered for CIMB Group is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia therefore the main credit exposure is much higher for Malaysia which is RM191435925000 compare to Singapore which only have RM16373165000. Besides that, the group risk management will monitor the establish credit limits by daily in tend to reduce the credit risk that will take by CIMB too . 8 Next is about the liquidity risk. Liquidity risk is about the probability of firm cant transform the assets into fund in order to make profit or other purpose. From the risk weighted capital ratio that stated by CIMB Group in year 2011 is around 16.8% which shows the increase of value compare to year 2010 which only have 15%. The announcement of the amount will cause reduce of chance for CIMB Group expose to the liquidity risk and also credit risk as well. According the rule set by Bank Negara Malaysia which is the minimum regulatory of capital adequacy requirement for the risk weighted capital ratio is 8%. By comparing, we will know that the liquidity of CIMB Group is in good condition which will reduce the liquidity risk and credit risk too. This will increase the confident of customers and investment towards CIMB Group in the same time. On April year 2011, one of the articles from The Star state out that CIMB Group had earlier secured several US dollar term loan facilities but will all-in pricing of 0.9%-0.98% per annum which is above the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). This situation tends let CIMB Group get reduce for liquidity risk but will increase the debt of CIMB Group. On 30 September 2011, CIMB Group announced that they had a market capitalisation of approximately RM51.8 billion. With this high amount of market capitalisation, the liquidity risk that will face by CIMB Group will be greatly reduced at the same time CIMB Group also been proved that dint face the capital risk as well. Besides that, markets risk also one of the risks that might face by CIMB Group. Market risk is about the probability that the firm loss the position in the market which is the value of firms investment portfolio declining due to economic changes or some of the events that will impact the market. In year 2011, the Dato Sri NazirRazak, Group Chief Executive of CIMB Group stated Our primary disappointment was our share price which significantly underperformed benchmarks. This situation will cause CIMB Group expose to the market risk. Public or investor might lose confidence toward CIMB Group. 9At 2nd February year 2011, one of the article stated that CIMB said industrial production in emerging markets is growing faster than these developed countries, and this will support liquidity flows into the emerging markets. Furthermore, on April year 2011, CIMB Group had involve in sukuk issue and in the same time CIMB Group deputy CEO and  treasurer, Datuk Lee K Kwan come out with a statement The current market environment remains very conducive for corporate issuers including banks to tap the fixed income markets. This kind of statements will tend to reduce the market risk that face by CIMB Group Reputation risk is about the negative publicity impact that might cause the customers of the firm not to use the services of the firm. For CIMB Group, in order to reduce this kind of risk, some of the activities were carry out in tend to maintain good relation with public. In year 2011, Breakthrough brought a van for benefit of 10 farming families in a remote village near Lundu in Sarawak by getting the fund that provide by CIMB Foundation. This activity had reduced the chance that CIMB Group expose in reputation risk. Operational risk is about the losses that cause by the failures happen in organisations internal activities. Basel II Pillar 3 disclosures for year 2011 stated that in July 2011,CIMB Group had strengthened their infrastructure and the operational risk management department had been created to taking care the measure of operational risk for CIMB Group. Therefore CIMB Group has greater chance to reduce the operational risk. 10 Recommendation for Maybank Market risk Market risk composes by 4 elements which are interest rate risk, foreign exchange rate risk, commodity price risk and equity price risk. In order to reduce the risk, Maybank need to determine whether Maybank has interest-sensitive assets or interest-sensitive liabilities in the period. Market rate of interest is determined by the market and bank only can become price taker and accept the interest rate given. If Maybank has interest-sensitive asset, Maybank will suffer losses if the interest rates decrease. While if Maybank has interest-sensitive liabilities, Maybank will suffer losses if the interest risk increase. From the annual report of Maybank, we can know that Maybank has a negative gap of cumulative interest rate. In order to reduce the risk, Maybank should try to increase interest-sensitive assets and reduce interest-sensitive liabilities. Besides that, Maybank can use various hedging tools to reduce the effect of the currency exposure in the appropriate circumstance. In addi tion, Maybank can reduce the exposure to market risk through swaps and features or offset it from the on and off balance sheet activities. Operating risk Fraud management is the main cause of increase operating risk. In year 2011, there are many cases about fraudulent telephone calls, SMS or emails requiring bank users personal financial information. Many people had been cheated and lost a huge amount of money. This cases increase the fear of public. To minimize the fraud, announcement made on the website of Maybank is insufficient. Maybank should undertake a series of initiatives to ensure that the risk arising from the fraud can be reduced as lower as possible. Maybank can implement Anti-Fraud Road show, Awareness Programme and Introduction of Fraud rules to reduce the fraud. It can increase the awareness from public about fraud and criminal activities. Besides that, it also can prevent Maybank employees cooperate with those criminal group by disclose Maybank users information. 11 Credit Risk Maybank need to have strong emphasis in creating and enhancing credit risk awareness to reduce the exposure of credit risk. Besides that, Maybank also need to maintain weighted capital ratio at 8%. In order to minimize the credit risk, Maybank should be more prudent on screening borrowers application, repayment ability of borrower, credit standing, valuable of collateral and guarantor of borrower. If the borrower unable to offset the loan, the collateral may reduce the credit risk as much as possible. Furthermore, Maybank can use debt restructuring to reduce non-performance loan. Banks balance sheet may be burden and facing credit risk due to increase bad loan. Those borrowers who are unable to repay the loan can negotiate with Maybank. Debt restructuring can reduce the bad loan and provide a win-win situation for Maybank and borrower who unable to offset the loan or mortgage. Liquidity Risk Basically liquidity risk can be defined as funding liquidity risk and market liquidity risk. If bank has a high level of liquidity risk, the bank will face short-of cash and bank run. According to annual report of Maybank 2011, exposure to liquidity risk can be reduced through contracting derivatives where the underlying items are widely traded. Maybank should not hold too much high risky assets because heavier use of purchased funds will cause a shortage of liquidity. Maybank also can diversify funding source to raise the fund. In the point of view, Maybank will have sufficient amount to meet those daily transaction. Furthermore, Maybank can implement a plan or strategy to handle different liquidity crisis scenarios especially during economic crisis. 12 In conclusion, those various risks that exposed in Maybank are influencing to each other. If the management is inefficiency, it will increase the management risk. The management risk will create market risk. Maybank unable to determine the market interest rate, Maybank will face significant losses and affect bank capital. Credit risk may increase and the liquidity conditions of Maybank reduce. Reduce in liquidity condition causes Maybank in ability to fully approve loan demand. Asset quality may decrease and affect the earning performance of Maybank. Recommendation for CIMB Group Credit Risk In order for CIMB Group get expose into the credit risk, CIMB Group can try to strengthen up the condition for their customer to get the loan. The detail of financial statement of customers should be checked clearly before lending out the loan. Training for the staff should carry out, so the staff can know the way how to keep follow up with the customer if the loan haven pays back on time. With this way the chance getting the charge-offs will be reduce and the losses of firm will tend to reduce too. Those analyses that done before should be carry on so that CIMB Group can easily figure out those problem customers and avoid getting into the risk. CIMB Group can even try to have the credit insurance so that they can claim from the insurance for to cover the losses. Liquidity Risk As we know, a firm with high liquidity risk will bring the firm get into bad situation. Therefore CIMB Group should try their best in managing their assets in tend to reduce the liquidity risk. By maintain or keep increasing the risk weighted capital ratio will be helpful to CIMB Group. High risk weighted capital ratio would means the firm will had large amount of cash to carry out the activities. CIMB Group can try to come out with a small group that only deal with liquidity of the firm. This might help CIMB Group to know more the liquidity status for their firm. Besides that, by not holding too much of the high risk assets can reduce the liquidity risk too. This is due to high risk assets will cause firm get losses and the fund will be stuck with those high risk assets. Maintain a good relationship with other competitors also a way to prevent increase the risk. For example, CIMB Group and May Bank maintain a good relationship. When something went wrong for CIMB Group, May Bank migh t willing to help CIMB Group in order to solve the problem. Market Risk 13Market risk had involved two types of risk which is price risk and interest rate risk. For price risk, market survey can be always carrying out for get to know the need of the market. Market survey might let CIMB Group get to know the trend of the market and the reason or fraud might affect the market price. So CIMB Group can react faster to capture the market before others. While for interest risk, CIMB Group has no choice but to be aware with the economic changes or the event that might affect the market. This can help CIMB Group to avoid suffer from the losses due to the changes of interest rate. Operational Risk For CIMB Group to avoid the operational risk, one of the solutions is training for the staff. After training, those staffs will be knows well for the whole operating system of CIMB Group. Therefore the human mistake can be lower down. For those data and networking system should be always been taking care by those qualify skilled worker. This will be lower down the system error that might occur. Even got error occur, those qualify skilled worker can try to fix it in time to prevent the huge amount of losses. For those ATM machine should always been taking care for time to time to prevent error occur and can repair in time if any problem with the machine. Reputation Risk CIMB Group should always be aware when dealing with public. This is because if misunderstanding or problem occur will tend bring negative impact to the image of CIMB Group. When this situation happen, the confident of customer towards CIMB Group will be pulling down and CIMB Group will expose in the reputation risk as well. Therefore those activities such as raising fund for people who needed be carry out in order to build up a good image for the public. As conclusion, to prevent CIMB Group get into different type of risks, the risk management department in CIMB Group had played the important role. Risk measurement should be done time by time so that when problem occur, the series of actions can be taken just in time. While for the insurance is to cover the losses when something unexpected occur so that the firm can be more focus on their main business. 14

The Meaning of Success Essay -- Expository Essays

The Meaning of Success Success has to do with having the freedom to make choices and being the person we want to be. Even though each of us determine what success is, we can follow some factors for having a successful life. The first factor is hard work and discipline. Achieving what can be termed as a major triumph such as success in our work or personal victory after a long, hard slog can bring a wonderful sense of happiness when we get to the peak. This climb to success can be difficult in terms of maintaining the discipline needed to achieve the ultimate task and is more suited to those brave souls who are prepared to live on the edge and do anything it takes to achieve their goals. Probably the biggest key to success is dogged determination. Every successful person has failed, most h... The Meaning of Success Essay -- Expository Essays The Meaning of Success Success has to do with having the freedom to make choices and being the person we want to be. Even though each of us determine what success is, we can follow some factors for having a successful life. The first factor is hard work and discipline. Achieving what can be termed as a major triumph such as success in our work or personal victory after a long, hard slog can bring a wonderful sense of happiness when we get to the peak. This climb to success can be difficult in terms of maintaining the discipline needed to achieve the ultimate task and is more suited to those brave souls who are prepared to live on the edge and do anything it takes to achieve their goals. Probably the biggest key to success is dogged determination. Every successful person has failed, most h...

Mcdonald’s Market Structure

Introduction By the late- 1990s fast-food chain McDonalds had enjoyed 40 years of exceptional performance. McDonald's brand mission is to be a customers' favorite place and way to eat. McDonald's worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience – People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. They are committed to continuously improving theirs operations and enhancing customers' experience. McDonalds place the customer experience at the core of all they do. McDonald’s customers are the reason for their existence.So, McDonalds’s demonstrate appreciation by providing them with high quality food and superior service in a clean, welcoming environment, at a great value. Their goal is quality, service, cleanliness and value for each and every customer, each and every time. McDonalds are committed to people. They provide opportunity, nurture talent, develop leaders and reward achievement. They believe that a team of well-trained individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, working together in an environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement, is essential to continued success.McDonald’s business model, depicted by three-legged stool of owner or operators, suppliers, and company employees, is foundation, and balancing the interests of all three groups is a key. McDonalds operate their business ethically. Sound ethics is good business. At McDonald’s, they hold their selves and conduct the business to high standards of fairness, honesty, and integrity. McDonalds are individually accountable and collectively responsible. McDonalds give back to our communities.They take seriously the responsibilities that come with being a leader. McDonald’s help their customers build better communities, support Ronald McDonald House Charities, and leverage their size, scope and resources to help make the world a better place. McDonald s grow their business profitably. McDonald’s is a publicly traded company. As such, they work to provide sustained profitable growth for their shareholders. This requires a continuous focus on McDonald’s customers and the health of our system. McDonalds strive continually to improve.They are a learning organization that aims to anticipate and respond to changing customer, employee and system needs through constant evolution and innovation. Task 1 History of McDonalds The  McDonald's  restaurant concept was introduced in  San Bernardino, California  by  Dick and Mac McDonald  of  Manchester, New Hampshire. It was modified and expanded by their business partner,  Ray Kroc, of  Oak Park, Illinois, who later bought out the business interests of the McDonald brothers in the concept and went on to found  McDonald's Corporation.In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers, they closed down th eir successful carhop  drive-in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. The carhops were eliminated to make McDonald's a  self-serve  operation. Mac and Dick McDonald had taken great care in setting up their kitchen like an  assembly line  to ensure maximum efficiency. The restaurant's name was again changed, this time to simply â€Å"McDonald's,† and reopened its doors on December 12, 1948.In 1960, the McDonald's advertising campaign â€Å"Look for the  Golden Arches† gave sales a big boost. Kroc believed that advertising was an investment that would in the end come back many times over and advertising has always played a key role in the development of the McDonald's Corporation. Indeed, McDonald's ads have been some of the most identifiable over the years. In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo. A year later, the company sold i ts billionth hamburger and introduced  Ronald McDonald, a red-haired clown designed to appeal to children.Arise of Burger King In the late 1970s, competition from other hamburger chains such as  Burger King began to intensify. Experts believed that the fast-food industry had become as big as it ever would, so the companies began to battle fiercely for market share. A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing in the early 1980s became known as the â€Å"burger wars. † Burger King suggested to customers: â€Å"have it your way† and had attracted many customer and affected McDonald's sales and market share.The predecessor to what is now the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King was founded in 1953 in  Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King. Inspired by the  McDonald brothers'  original store location in  San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners, Keith J. Kramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns, began searchi ng for a concept to open a new restaurant around. After purchasing the rights to two pieces of equipment called â€Å"Insta† machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler.The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to carry the device. After the original company began to falter in 1959, it was purchased by its Miami, Florida, franchisees James McLamore and David R. Edgerton. The two initiated a corporate restructuring of the chain; the first step was to rename the company Burger King. The duo ran the company as an independent entity for eight years, eventually expanding to over 250 locations in the United States, when they sold it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967. |McDonalds| Burger King| The first original McDonalds opened in 1948, a restaurant created by Mac & Dick McDonalds in St. Bernandino| Burger King was founded in 1953 in  Jacksonville, Florida, as Insta-Burger King by , Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns| Establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. |   Equipment called â€Å"Insta† machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler| In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo. Expanding to over 250 locations in the United States| Delight each customer with unmatched quality, service, cleanliness and value every time| Dedicated to supporting and investing in our people – employees, franchisees, suppliers and restaurant guests  | Place the customer experience at the core| â€Å"Customers always right†Ã‚  | Comparison of purposes of McDonalds & Burger King Task 2 McDonalds Internal Environment The most important factor comes from the internal company or precisely the management itself.Managers must work closely with other department to come out with a strong marketing plan to boost McDonalds sales and efficiency of the operation. For example, the company management has a clear goals regarding importance of retaining customers by offering satisfaction to all its customers. Supplier Supplier is an important factor in the relation with McDonalds and its consumer. To have a good, continuous and no disruption supply, McDonalds must build a strong relationship with the suppliers. McDonalds must also consider that in the business market environment, it is competing with other fast food operators.Any strike, supply shortages and increasing of prices in market must be monitored closely by McDonalds to ensure it will not affect its bottom line performance. Simple economic rules, the more the input cost, the more the company’s overall cost and pricing will be and thus it affect the volume of sales to customers. However, pricing is not as important as close relationship and integration that McDonalds must achieve with vendors to ensure sust ainability of supplier. Distributers Marketing intermediaries are company that helps other company to promote, sell and distribute the goods to final buyers.McDonalds is a franchise-based business, which headquartered in United States and with franchisee around the world. Franchise system is part of marketing intermediaries to actual corporate McDonalds in United States, which helps to popularize, distribute and expand McDonald’s business concept around the globe. However, in the midst to expand the marketing of its brand around the world it must choose a strong creditable franchisee to ensure their business performance is in line with standards set by corporate. McDonalds also need logistic or physical distribution firm especially to help in distribution nd transportation of goods and materials around the country to its restaurant. Customers Customers whether it is business or household buyer are important factor in microenvironment where McDonalds operates. For McDonalds it is more on household consumers, which is changing fast in the market trend. McDonalds must have a clear market segmentation to differentiate the consumers group and has a special marketing attention to each of them such as kiddies, adult, working professional and teenagers with different taste of its food.Every consumer’s trend will affect the company bottom-line performance and if McDonalds cannot change or adapt to the changes of consumer behavior it might risk losing the market. Competitors Fast food industry has a wide range of competitors from small to big size in term of financial capabilities. For example in Malaysia, we have Kenny Roger’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W and Marry Brown and to smaller scale, we have Ramli burger stall around the street corner serving the niche market. These are competitors of McDonalds, which McDonalds must compete by offering a differentiation in term of value and satisfaction to its customers.Any values and benefits that McDonalds can u tilize to differentiate it apart from all can be a strong marketing point to reach and conquer the market. Marketer must constantly understand ever-changing customer’s needs, needs by special group and develop strategies to strengthen the company positioning in domestic market. Employers The good things for this company is it provide a good training to all staff and especially to those involve in management level. Even in Malaysia, many management staff sent to Chicago to training on managing the operation of McDonald’s outlet.Hamburger University in Illinois Chicago has graduated more than 70,000 managers who leads and manage the operation of McDonald’s outlet in the standard push upon them. Culture of training also prevails at McDonalds with over 32 hours of training for all new employees to ensure they understand the requirement and aspiration of McDonalds for continuation of best fast food restaurant service provider to the customers. McDonalds keen to train its own people and mission to be the best talent developer of people with the most committed individuals to Quality Service, Cleanliness and Value (QSC&V) in the world.Task 3 McDonald’s Pestle Analysis McDonald’s is comprised of more than 30,000 local restaurants and serves 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. The company is the largest food retailer in the world and is part of the current way of life. In order to remain competitive and an iconic, McDonald’s has developed programs and strategies for organizational behavior in its market environment. As a result, McDonald’s presented an excellent opportunity to observe external macro environment which called Pestle. Pestle stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors.POLITICAL FACTOR The international operations of McDonald’s are highly influenced by the individual country’s policies enforced by each government. For instance, there are certain groups in Malaysia, Europe and the United States that take actions pertaining to the health implications of eating fast food. They have indicated that harmful elements like cholesterol and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. On the other hand, the company is controlled by the individual policies and regulations of operations.Specific markets focus on different areas of concern such as that of health, worker protection, and environment. All these elements are seen in the government control of the licensing of the restaurants in the respective states of the country. For instance, there is an impending legal dispute in the McDonald’s franchise in Malaysia where certain infringement of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food. There are also other studies those points to the infringement of McDonald’s Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market.Like an y business venture, these McDonald’s stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market like Malaysia. Since it is apparent that the company is expanding continuously, it is wise to deal directly with the proper authorities in the respective markets that they intend to operate in. This way, the company can adopt a good way of establishing good relationship with the government. It is advisable that the company rests on the good graces of the government on which they will be penetrating.To do this, all they have to do is accomplish all the prescribed acts and satisfy all the prerequisites for doing business. The company must also be acquainted with the law in order to know what their responsibilities and their possible liabilities. Also McDonalds should protect its workers by ensuring all the hiring, compensation, training or repatriation in accordance to the labour laws. ECONOMICAL FACTOR Orga nizations in the fast food industry are not excused from any disputes and troubles. Specifically, they do have their individual concerns involving economic factors.Branches and franchises of McDonald’s have the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economies of the respective countries are hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates. The customers consequently are faced with a stalemate of going over their individual budgets whether or not they should use up more on these foreign fast food chains like McDonalds. Hence, these chains may have to put up with the issues of the effects of the economic environment. Particularly, their problem depends on the response of the consumers on these fundamentals and how it could influence their general sales.In regarding the operations of the company, McDonald’s tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific country’s territories if there is a dearth of supply. Exchange rate fluctuations wi ll also play a significant role in the operations of the company. The company’s international supply as well as the existing exchange rates is merely a part of the overall components needed to guarantee success for the foreign operations of McDonald’s. Moreover, it is imperative that the company be cognizant of the existing tax requirements needed by the individual governments on which they operate.This basically ensures the smooth operations of the McDonald’s franchises. In the same regard, the company will also have to consider the economic standing of the country on which they operate on. The rate at which the economy of that particular country grows determines the purchasing power of the consumers in that country. Hence, if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak country, their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adjustments to maintain the economies of scale.I deally before penetrating the market, the company must carry out a well conducted market research, especially in the movements in the economic environment which McDonalds had done before entering the global market due to which the company has been able to bear the frequency of the shifts in the inflation rate as well as the fluctuations in the exchange rates which affects the operations of any company. SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS Articles on the international strategies of McDonald’s seem to function on several fields to guarantee lucrative returns for the organization.To illustrate, the organization improves on establishing a positive mind-set from their core consumers. McDonald’s indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. It has also been noted that the company have given the markets such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia, an option with regards to their dining needs. McDonald’s has launched a sensibly valued set of food that t enders a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates.Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonald’s franchises. The multifaceted character of business nowadays is reflected in the harsh significance of the information on the subject of the existing market. This procedure is essentially identified in the field as market research. Information with regards to the appeal and potential fields of the market would double as obstructions to the success of the company if this area of the operations is neglected.In the case of McDonald’s they establish a good system in determining the needs of the market. The company uses concepts of consumer behavior product personality and purchasing decisions to its advantage which is clearly evident in case of Malaysia as the company was quick in removing their Pork products from Malaysia’s menu. It is said to have a major influe nce on the understanding of the prospective performance of the organization in a particular market. McDonalds should obtain the relevant information from the target market in addition to the individual customers of the organization.It is imperative that before a franchise is granted to a particular market, a well drafted and comprehensive market research should be conducted initially so as to establish the acts that would conform to good customs, public policies, and morals of the said Country’s society. Similarly, the company should find out the shifts in areas like the consumer behavior and purchasing patterns of the market. Fundamentally, this is the key condition for executing a suitable customer relationship management system.Also the company should constantly survey and learn about local culture to better understand and design the best product for them. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS McDonald’s generates a demand for its own products. The company’s key tool for mar keting is by means of Online Facebook and Google ads, Collaboration with these websites to promote sales in India, television advertisements, banners and hoardings. There are similarly some claims that McDonald’s are inclined to interest the younger populations more. Other demonstration of such a marketing strategy is apparent in the commercials they use.They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace, Ronald and Ham burglar. Other advertising operations employ popular celebrities to promote their products. The ‘like’ has become endorsers for McDonald’s worldwide â€Å"I’m loving it† campaign. Moreover, the operations of McDonald’s have significantly been infused with new technology. Elements like the inventory system and the management of the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with.The integration of technolog y in the operations of McDonalds tends to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context McDonalds use the internet to their advantage. The cost-effectiveness, interactivity and real- time effects of the communications are a good way to find suppliers. It is also a good way to correspond with the respective McDonald’s headquarters in every Country.The company must also look into the use of IT to enhance their inventory operations. As the operations in its inbound and outbound logistics improve, the company will expect significant savings and reduction of costs in the operations. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS The social responsibilities of McDonald’s on the country are influential to the operations of the company. These involve accusations of environmental damage. Among the reasons why they are charged with such claims is the employ of non-biodegradable substances for their drinks glasses and Styrofoam coffers for the meals.Several civic groups in Malaysia have made actions to make the McDonald’s franchises in Malaysia aware of the rather abundant use of Styrofoam containers and the resultant abuse of the environment. The company should find out the environmental regime that governs the operations in every market. It should also monitor the waste disposal of the company. McDonald’s should minimize the use of Styrofoam materials and plastic cups. Constant updating of the social corporate responsibility is imperative and implements â€Å"Go Green†.This should also entail that the headquarters should take in hand, a manner of internal control of those that would infringe upon this company objective. LEGAL FACTORS There has been the recurrent bellowing in opposition to the fast food industry. This has similarly made McDonald’s apply a more careful considera tion on their corporate social responsibilities. On the whole, this addressed the need of the company to form its corporate reputation to a more positive one and a more socially responsible company. The reputation of McDonald’s is apparently a huge matter.Seen on the website of the company, it seems that they have acquired strides to take in hand the key social censures that they have been berating them in the past decades. The company has provided their customers the relevant data that they need with reference to the nutritional substances of their products. This is to attend to the arguments of obesity charged against the products of the company. In the same way, the consumers provided freedom in choosing whether or not they want to purchase their meals. This is tied up with the socio-cultural attributes of the market on which they operate.For instance, operations in predominantly Muslim countries require their meat to conform to the Halal requirements of the law. In the sa me regard, those that operate in countries in the European Union should conform to the existing laws banning the use of genetically modified meat products in their food. This was prime reason which forced McDonalds to eliminate beef, pork and Mutton out of India’s product menu. Other legal concepts like tax obligations, employment standards, and quality requirements are only a few of important elements on which the company has to take into consideration.Otherwise, smooth operations shall be hard to achieve. As a certified fast food operator, there are many regulations and procedures that McDonalds should follow. McDonalds should protect its integrity and consumer confidence by ensuring all materials and process are as claimed or must followed. Other legal requirement that the business owner should follow as stipulated in laws are such as operating hours, business registration, tax requirement, labour and employment laws and quality & environment certification (such as ISO) in which the outlet has been certified.The legal requirement is important because the offenders will be fined or have their business prohibited from operating which can be disastrous. The company should hire local counsels to deal with the legal conflicts in individual markets on which the company may encounter. This shall ensure the company that the lawyers that will handle their legal affairs are more versed with the legal regime that would ease out certain problems on their operations. Task 4 Impact of European Union’s Policies on McDonald The European Union (EU) is a unification of  27 member states united to create a political and economic community throughout Europe.Though the idea of the EU might sound simple at the outset, the European Union has a rich history and a unique organization, both of which aid in its current success and its ability to fulfill its mission for the 21st Century. The European Union Policies have an impact on McDonald’s market environment . Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Cooperation on economic and political matters is based on several forms of cooperation procedures. A fundamental principle when coordinating their economic policies is that Member States are responsible for their national economic policy.As a result of the crisis, Member States have strengthened the coordination of economic policy. However, Member States continue to place strong emphasis on national sovereignty in economic matters while adhering to common rules. McDonalds Cooperation is registered under (ECOFIN) and has to seek for consultation or in co-decision with the European Council every year. Although each EU Member State is responsible for determining its own tax policy, the EU still cooperates on relevant aspects of taxation. This applies especially to policies which affect international trade and trade among the Member States.The Member States therefore cooperate on certain aspects of taxation with cross-border effects. For instanc e, McDonalds have differentiated taxation rate in various country based on the country exchange rate. Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) From the very beginning, the free movement for workers has  been one of the basic rights within the European Community and this was the focal point of the first social and employment policy of the EU. The McDonald normally makes decisions in co-decision with the European Council.This procedure applies for instance when the Council passes legislation about the working environment, conditions at work, and the free movement of workers of McDonalds. The EU has the mandate to compliment McDonald’s initiatives in the area of health for the purpose of protecting people from health threats and diseases, promoting healthy lifestyles and helping national authorities in the EU to cooperate on health issues. This is especially relevant when it comes to burgers of McDonalds which is high in cholesterol and may lead to heart disease.Therefore, McDonalds have to modify the ingredient of the burgers. Competitiveness (COMPET) The McDonalds has to follow with industrial policy since the establishment of the EU. A milestone in the EU industrial policy is the establishment of the Single Market, which created a large home market for industry providing businesses with the opportunity to mass produce and profit from large-scale operation like McDonalds. Today, industrial policy is subject to the co-decision procedure, meaning that Competitiveness in business is legalistic. For an example, Burger King is legal competitor for McDonalds.The European research and innovation cooperation and the close connection between research, innovation and education play a decisive role in securing future growth. Therefore, the EU gives high priority to this area and allocates considerable funds annually to finance the McDonalds research programmer. Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRI) Through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the EU wants to ensure an economically viable agricultural sector that produces safe, high-quality food based on environmentally sustainable production. Moreover, the CAP contributes to ensuring good business and living conditions in rural areas.By requiring farmers to deliver public goods in return for the financial support, the Common Agricultural Policy is to ensure that beneficiaries deliver public goods on a range of relevant aspects, such as an improved environment and climate, innovation, technology and food quality of McDonalds. EU consumers should be confident that the foods on the market are healthy, safe, of high quality and produced with respect for animal welfare. Improvements of food safety levels in the EU through the harmonization of standards will be of high importance of McDonalds.EU countries have adopted common rules for McDonald’s hygiene and self-monitoring and common rules for authorities’ monitoring of the food industry. An EU inspectorate also mon itors whether the McDonalds implement food legislation correctly. Task 5 Global Factors That Affect McDonalds Businesses are affected by an external environment as much as they are affected by the competitors. Global factors influencing business are legal, political, social, technological and economic. Understanding of these factors is important while developing a business strategy. Social factorsThese factors are related to changes in social structures. These factors provide insights into behavior, tastes, and lifestyles patterns of a population. Buying patterns are greatly influenced by the changes in the structure of the population, and in consumer lifestyles. Age, gender, etc. all determine the buying patterns and understanding of such changes is critical for developing strategies which are in line with the market situations. In a global environment it is important that McDonald’s business strategies are designed keeping in mind the social and cultural differences that va ry from country to country.Consumer religion, language, lifestyle patterns are all important information for successful business management. Legal factors These factors that influence McDonalds business strategies are related to changes in government laws and regulations. For a successful business operation it is important that the businesses consider the legal issues involved in a particular situation and should have the capability to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave. Laws keep changing over a period of time.From the point of view of business it is important that they are aware of these changes in the areas of consumer protection legislation, environmental legislation, health & safety and employment law, etc. Economic factors These factors involve changes in the global economy. A rise in living standards would ultimately imply an increase in demand for products thereby, providing greater opportunities for McDonald to make profits. An eco nomy witnesses fluctuations in economic activities. This would imply that in case of a rise in economic activity the demand of the product will increase and hence the price will increase.In case of reduction in demand the prices will go down. Business strategies should be developed keeping in mind these fluctuations. Other economic changes that affect business include changes in the interest rate, wage rates, and the rate of inflation. In case of low interest rates and increase in demand McDonald will be encouraged to expand and take risks. Therefore, business strategies should have room for such fluctuations. Political factors This refers to the changes in government and government policies. Political factors greatly influence the operation of McDonald. This has gained significant importance off late.For example: McDonalds is operated in the European Union have to adopt directives and regulations created by the EU. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of bus inesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Business must consider the stability of the political environment, government’s policy on the economy. Technological factors These factors greatly influence McDonald’s strategies as they provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new innovations, and inventions. This helps the McDonalds to reduce costs and develop new products.With the advent of modern communication technologies, technological factors have gained great impetus in the business arena. Huge volumes of information can be securely shared by means of databases thereby enabling vast cost reductions, and improvements in service. Organizations need to consider the latest relevant technological advancements for their business and to stay competitive. Technology helps business to gain competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. While designing the business strategies firms must consider if use of technology will allow the fir m to manufacture products and services at a lower cost.Firms can select new modes of distributions with the help of technology. It has become easier for companies to communicate with their customer in any part of the world. Conclusion From the beginning in 1948 as a fast food restaurant in Southern California, McDonalds grew by the end of the twentieth century into the world’s largest food service organization, having served up more than 100 billion hamburgers in half a century of operation. In conclusion, McDonalds are executing all these customers’ service improvement programs to constantly portraying itself as a friendly, healthy and quality food provider to customers.McDonalds is trying to build long-term relationship with customers to ensure the retention rate in the market where competition is tough between all the fast food restaurant operators. The purpose of this paper work is to analyze McDonald’s with its competitor; Burger King, internal microenviron ment, Pestle analyze, impact of EU Policies and global factors on McDonalds. Hereby, I strongly believe that I have reached your expectation on this case study. References McDonald (2012). A short history of McDonald. Available from: http://www. articlesbase. com/a-short-histoty-of-mcdonalds03920. tml [Accessed on 20/2/13] Frank Newman (2009). Burger King: A short Story. Available from: http://www. 21e5-11e4-dsas3-00134fascesds04. html. [Accessed on 20/2/13] Edita Novana (2003). McDonald’s Cooperation Analyze. Available from: http://www. mcdonalds. com-analyze-cooperate-profile-corp. [Accessed on 22/03/12] Edward Dean (2009). European Union Policies. Available from: http://www. ec. europa. eu/policies/index-en. html. [Accessed on 26/2/13] Anita Cameron (2011). Global Issues that affect Business. Available from: http://www. enziarticales. com/? Global-Issues-That-Affect-Business. html. [Accessed on 28/2/13]

Dahalokely - Facts and Figures

Dahalokely - Facts and Figures Name: Dahalokely (Malagasy for small bandit); pronounced DAH-hah-LOW-keh-lee Habitat: Woodlands of Madagascar Historical Period: Mid-Late Cretaceous (90 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 12 feet long and 300-500 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Moderate size; bipedal posture; distinctively shaped vertebrae About Dahalokely Like many regions of the earth, the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar (off the eastern coast of Africa) harbors a huge gap in its fossil record, stretching all the way from the late Jurassic to the late Cretaceous periods. The importance of Dahalokely (which was announced to the world in 2013) is that this meat-eating dinosaur lived 90 million years ago, shaving about 20 million years off the far end of Madagascars almost 100-million-year fossil gap. (Its important to bear in mind that Madagascar wasnt always an island; a couple of million years after Dahalokely lived, this landmass split off from the Indian subcontinent, which itself had yet to collide with the underside of Eurasia.) What does the provenance of Dahalokely, combined with the history of Madagascar, tell us about the distribution of theropod dinosaurs in during late Cretaceous period? Since Dahalokely has been tentatively classified as a modestly sized abelisaura breed of meat-eating predator ultimately descended from the South American Abelisaurusthis may be a hint that it was ancestral to Indian and Madagascan theropods of the later Cretaceous, like Masiakasaurus and Rajasaurus. However, given the scarcity of Dahalokelys fossil remainsall we have for now is the partial skeleton of a subadult specimen, lacking the skullmore evidence will be needed to conclusively establish this link.

QCF 3 UNIT 616 Essay Example

QCF 3 UNIT 616 Essay Example QCF 3 UNIT 616 Essay QCF 3 UNIT 616 Essay unit 616 1 . 1 . 2. 1 . 2. 2. 2. 3. 2. 4. 5. 1 . 5. 3. 5. 4. 5. 6. 5. 7 There are several current legislation, guidelines, policies and protocols relevant to the administration of medication. These are The medicines Act (1968), Misuse of Drugs Act (1971), Misuse of Drugs Regulations (2007), Health Act (2000) The Care Standards Act (2000), Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations (2002) Control of Substances Hazards to Health (2002), Hazard Waste Regulations, Controlled Waste Regulations (1992), The Handling of Medic9ines in Social Care and The Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines; a Team Approach. Organisational policy and procedures should include how to receive and record medication, safe storage, prescribing, dispensing, administration, monitoring and disposal. Common types of medicines are General Sales List Medicines also know as over the counter medincines, Pharmacy Medicines, prescription only medicines and controlled drugs. These are catorgorised into Analgesic (painkillers) which are split into 4 main groups these are Non-opioid, Opioid, Neuropathis, Anti-migraine, Anti-angina, Anti-arthritis, Antibiotics, Anti-coagulants, Anti-depressants, Anti-hypertensives, Anxiolytics, Laxatives, Statins and Steroids. Each medicine is used to treat conditions and each have different effects and possible side effects. For example Non-opioid medicines can cause side effects such as gastric irritation or liver damage and they can be used to reduce pain or to have an anti-inflammatory effect. Whereas Anxiolytics can be used to reduce anxiety and stress, but can have side effects such as reduced concentration, slowing down of mental agility and reasoning skills and can cause hort term memory. Some medications require serum concentration to be measured to ensure the person receives the optimal dose and to avoid toxicity or damage to the body. These include Insulin, Lithium, Warafarin, Digoxin and Statins. Reactions to medication are extremely common. In fact, 15-30% of all hospitalised patients will experience an unintended reaction as a result of medications. To recognise these reactions the packaging should be read fully to highlight what side effects may occur. They will inform you what you should do if you develop a side effect. If you are nsure you should contact your doctor. Common side effects include rashes, stiffness, breathing difficulties, shaking, swelling, headaches, nausea, drowsiness, vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea, weight gain etc. Staff must monitor and record any adverse reactions and the service users doctor should be contacted if medication is stopped until informed otherwise. There are several different ways that medicines can be administered these are: Oral, sublingually, inhalation, intramuscular injection, intravenous injection, rectal administration, vaginal administration, topical dministration, transdermal patch, percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy or by naso gastric tube. There are several types of medication, each has a purpose and function needed for their administration via the different routes. Tablets, capsules, liquids, suspensions and mixtures are taken via the oral route. Delivery is straight to the lungs. The delivery route is inhalation. Intramuscular injections are injected directly into large muscles, usually the legs or the bottom. These are performed by a doctor or nurse. Intravenous injections are medicines that re injected into the veins, which is of benefit when a situation in life threatening. Instillation administration is when medicine is in liquid or suspension form and is instilled via the eye, nose or ears. Drops are available for ear wax removal, glaucoma, dry eyes or eye infections. Nose drops and sprays are available for allergic conditions such as hay fever. Rectal administration is absorbed very quickly by the body. Suppositories can be inserted high into the rectum. Rectal diazepam can be prescribed as treatment for dealing with severe epileptic seizure. Training is required for administration Pessaries or applicators containing creams are effective for treatment of vaginal thrush during the vaginal administration route. Topical administration is when creams, ointments and gels are applied directly to the skin to treat skin conditions. They can also be used as a delivery route for analgesics (painkillers). Gloves are worn to protect against absorbtion of medication through the skin. Examples of types of medicines used for the Transdermal path route include fentanyl patch, hormone replacement therapy and nicotine patches. The drug is released slowly from the patch over a period of time and is absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. For people who are unable to swallow medicines the Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy and Naso Gastric tube routes can be used to administer medication. When administering medication staff must identify the medication correctly, identify the person correctly, know what the medicine is intended to do and know whether any special precautions are needed. If there is a problem with the administration of medication individuals should seek medical ssistance by ringing the doctor or in an emergency by calling 999. The house manager should also be informed as well as social workers, relevant staff and parents if relevant. It is important to confirm that individuals takes the medication and does not pass it to others as the condition may not be alleviated and may become worse. If the medication is passed and taken to other they may have possible side effects. Out of date and part-used medication should be disposed of at the correct pharmacy. This is then recorded and kept in a file within the workplace.

The impact of Pay for Performance program Assignment

The impact of Pay for Performance program - Assignment Example This essay discusses that there have been many different approaches applied before to ensure quality health care service in nursing homes. Two of the most used tools were the reimbursement system and the surveillance and enforcement system. The reimbursement system covered residential care and quality of life via payments to the providers in accordance with the standards set by the federal Nursing Home Reform Law, 1987. And surveillance and enforcement system made sure that these standards were met by the providers and if they are not, then to penalize them through penalties and fines until the deficiencies are corrected. However, for numerous reasons these systems did not prove to be effective enough in improving health care standards and simply too many residents suffered every day. Providers often complained that they were more or less underpaid to do a better job. Under these circumstances, agencies came up with ‘Pay for Performance’ program to ensure better health c are facilities by rewarding nurses and physicians according to their performances and improving the overall standard of care they’ve been providing. Pay for Performance (P4P), is a growing program that encourages health care providers to provide better health care facilities by rewarding them on the basis of their performances. The program focuses on three key features namely: participation, achievement and rewards. Participation implies that all the employees of an organization participate and contribute beyond the standard levels. Achievement stresses on reducing costs and at the same time increasing profits. It also focuses on productivity by emphasizing on group rather than individual performances. Whereas rewards are usually in the shape of cash prizes given at regular intervals based on outstanding performances (American Nurse Association, 2006). Compensation is a system of exchange. Participants are given certain targets to achieve and in return are rewarded with eithe r money or valuable assets. Compensation can be either direct or indirect. Direct compensation involves actual money given to workers and consists of base pay, incentive pay, merit pay and deferred pay whereas indirect compensation does not involve any money. Instead it includes protection programs such as health, pension, social security and other insurance services. Benefits on the other hand are the non-financial form of reimbursement offered in addition to cash salary to enrich workers’ living standards. Some of these benefits include health/medical benefits, educational assistance providing tuition reimbursements and cost of books, work/life benefits including life insurance programs, long or short term disability, cancer/critical illness plans, vision and dental coverage and most importantly retirement and pension plan for retirees since a large number of workers approach retirement every year (Report by Center of Health Program Development and Management, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2003). Challenges associated with Pay of Performance strategy There are a number of challenges or concerns faced by the Pay for Performance strategy. The first being its potential negative impacts on nursing through its worsening documentation load. Since the program requires a lot of documentation for keeping the record, through which nursing providers are monitored and are awarded based on their performance, more than 30 percent of the allocated time is spent on documentation of their work (American Hospitals Association, 2003; Pg 2004). One also questions the validity of these documentations since according to the analysis of the Centre for Medicare Advocacy, it is typical that providers self report their data in pay for performance programs. This leads to false documentation. Another challenge that comes to mind is that institutions tend to focus entirely on specific points targeted by the schemes rather than broader aspects

The Rise of Jews in Hollywood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Rise of Jews in Hollywood - Essay Example This essay will also evaluate the impact of the Jews in Hollywood by talking about Jewish film studio owners, producers, directors, actors and actresses. The Hollywood District is located in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Its cultural identity and frame presents Hollywood as a historical center for movie stars and studios. The term Hollywood is currently used to refer to the American cinema since much of the entertainment industry has diffused to the surrounding locations. Jews inhabited the United States of America early in the 17th century. However, they were denied the ability to own offices and perform actively in societal affairs. Despite this condition, more Jews are still immigrating to the United States in search of greener pastures. Research shows that a vast majority of the Jews globally are situated in the United States and several other parts of Israel. Therefore, most individuals claimed that the Jews were in control of Hollywood. In retort to this opinion , the Americans were truly upset by this point of view considering the entertainment industry in their midst. Only a mere 22% of the Americans believed that the television and movie industries were run by the Jews, compared to over 50% of the people who supported the idea in the late 60s. This reveals how America has gotten dumb; hence, the Jews are totally taking over the entertainment industry in Hollywood (Stein, par. 1). According to an ad adapted from the New York Times, the Screen Actors Guild contract that was signed by top executives in the entertainment industries proved that the most of them were Jewish. Such included the President of News Corp, the chairman of Paramount Pictures, Chief Executive and chairman of Walt Disney Company, the chairman of Sony Pictures, CBS Corp’s Chief Executive, and the Chief Executive of NBC Universal. This reveals that the Jewish have substantially taken over the entertainment industry in Hollywood (Stein par. 2). In addition, the Amer ican society has established strong enmity between them and the Jews. The enemies of the Jews repeatedly point out that the movie industry of America is in the hands of the Jewish community. The Jewish immigrants from Europe are the ones who run and organize movie studios in this country. They are the ones who founded the movie studios and also involved studio productions as part of their business ventures in the United States (Falk, par. 1). The Jewish moguls in the entertainment industry combined ideas in order to develop films that portray the American culture and the exploitation of the poor individuals in the society by the rich. Likewise, the Jews also invented the musicals, talking films, and Technicolor. These inventions heightened the movie industry for a period of 40 years (1920-1960). The movie producers tried to come up with excellent and imaginable ideas based on movie scripts. However, their imaginative capacity in the movie production did not linger around Jewish them es even during the 2nd World War that left most of their families persecuted in Europe. This was quite shameful to the Jewish movie tycoons considering that they sympathized with Native Americans and the Aborigines of Australia, but, completely forgot about their fellow Jews (Falk par. 5). The Jewish studio bosses were not the only individuals from the Jewish society who were in the entertainm