Monday, December 30, 2019

What are the benefits and shortcoming of only using...

What are the benefits and shortcoming of only using qualitative techniques to make long term financial decisions? (5%) Qualitative techniques are used to make long-term financial decisions among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with great consistency. The qualitative based decisions are made on experiential knowledge of the various factors involved rather than on monetary measurements, yet they have significant impact on profitability. Techniques used for long-term decision-making are interpretive and seek to achieve in-depth understanding of the companys overall situation. Companies use techniques such as SWOT, PESTLEI, human resource management, and Stakeholder analysis to guide their decisions. These techniques are considerate of†¦show more content†¦However the sales boost of focusing on a niche market that already has a following for the high end products is a risk with a high pay off made possible by qualitative analysis. It is widely acknowledged that regardless of cost, it pays for employers to invest in employee morale. Companies that consider the ‘numbers’ over the actual benefits when deciding upon salary decreases, layoffs or canceling benefits, disregard the effect on morale and therefore on productivity and loyalty. Qualitative analysis will consistently acknowledge the people factor of business. Many SMEs quite often value their staff as the foundation of their business and consider the well being and affect on staffing before implementing a financial decision. Sole focus on quantitative data tends to hinder innovation within SMEs. Innovation requires management buy-in into qualitative judgement as a real asset. Companies usually take a number-driven approach to innovation but many of the best decisions were not financially sound. Companies such as Facebook, encourage employees to pitch ideas directly to Mark Zuckerberg emphasizing the importance of insights enervation. Chairman and CEO of GE, Immelt has turned to GEs core customers for actual product and research and development ideas during what he has coined dreaming sessions which quiteShow MoreRelatedNet Present Value1958 Words   |  8 Pagesbeen alleged that the traditional appraisal methods of payback, discounted net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) undervalues the long-term benefits; that traditional financial appraisals assume a far too static view of future industrial activity, under-rating the effects and pace of technological change; that there are many benefits from investments in new technology which are difficult to quantify and are often ignored in the appraisal process; and lastly, it is claimed thatRead MoreReview on What Aspects of Vocabulary Knowledge Do Textbooks Give Attention To1920 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction This paper is devoted to the discussions about three main areas of the selected article-- What aspects of vocabulary knowledge do textbooks give attention to. 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Sunday, December 22, 2019

Marilyn Manson and His Impact on Sub-culture. - 1629 Words

Marilyn Manson has been pushing the envelope of the right to freedom of expression since his controversial shock rock antics began in the early 1990s. His methods are strange and rejected by most of society, as it cannot understand what he is trying to achieve. Many people believe that Marilyn Manson is bizarre, seeing him wearing womens clothing, applying heavy facial makeup, and covering himself with jewelry. His success can be attributed not only to his entertainment abilities, but even more so to the incredible marketing campaign organized to promote himself and his crazy actions. His actions give the media a scapegoat to fall back on and a figure which they can blame all of societys problems. He has amassed a large following†¦show more content†¦Manson also begins to experience his sexuality with women. From his school experiences to his involvement with sexuality, Manson begins terrorizing the people who have mistreated him. He started to experiment with black magic, b egan an enduring drug habit, and displayed his disgust for mainstream citizens by stealing from stores. All of this is what Brian Warner was, and who Marilyn Manson was to become. (Long, Manson and Strauss) As Mansons reputation developed, so did the disturbance surrounding him and his actions. His concerts were regularly protested by civil rights groups, and his music was the target attacks from religious and more specifically, Christian groups. This image was created using Mansons genius for marketing. At the peak of this controversy, Manson had a cover story in Rolling Stone Magazine as well as a best selling autobiography: The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. Why Does He Have Such A Following? Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (Bill of Rights) Manson, along with many other artists, fully embraces their first amendment right to free speech to get their message across. This message mainly appeals to younger generations who can relate to Mansons songs. YoungerShow MoreRelatedThe Creation of Heavy Metal and Its Effect on Society2637 Words   |  11 Pagesyears† Competition plays a great part in Heavy Metal, which is also a great factor that spread Heavy Metal world wide and turned it into many now known Heavy Metal sub genres per say. As Heavy Metal started to grow in the 70’s, band after band tried to sound heavier than the last band which is how these â€Å"sub genres† of metal, like I stated earlier, came to be. The teens in that era, noticed this, â€Å"competition† and many teens started and incorporated, Heavy Metal to their own bands andRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesBehavior 271 Understanding Work Teams 307 Communication 335 Leadership 367 Power and Politics 411 Conflict and Negotiation 445 Foundations of Organization Structure 479 v vi BRIEF CONTENTS 4 The Organization System 16 Organizational Culture 511 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices 543 18 Organizational Change and Stress Management 577 Appendix A Research in Organizational Behavior Comprehensive Cases Indexes Glindex 637 663 616 623 Contents Preface xxii 1 1

Friday, December 13, 2019

Role of Finance Companies Free Essays

string(96) " success looks to be rosy given the support that SMEs receive domestically from the government\." Role of Finance Companies Traditional role of Finance Companies The finance companies are much smaller in scale compared with commercial banks, and they are also saddled with more restrictions which will be discussed later in the report. Traditionally, they relied on their personalized and flexible services to attract clients. This is because there are always consumers who are rejected by the commercial banks because adding these consumers to their portfolios would be uneconomical for these commercial banks as their economies of scale cannot offset the transactional costs these clients would bring because of the small margins these smaller consumers bring. We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Finance Companies or any similar topic only for you Order Now These mainly include people or companies who do not have the capital to meet the relatively higher capital requirements of the commercial banks compared to finance companies. One example would be the current business account for companies. The major banks such as DBS and OCBC also offer low startup requirements, but charge a monthly management fee if their balances fall below $10,000 , not a big amount for businesses but possibly a stretch on new and small scale businesses. Hence, finance companies plug that gap with much lower balance requirements that would be more attractive to these business owners. Another example would be home loans by which finance companies offer a wider range of interest rates for a different range of financing needs compared to commercial banks who offer more generic rates on a whole. Emerging opportunities for Finance Companies Financial companies are however, now exploring new opportunities that they have not been able to capitalize on before. For example, Hong Leong has recently been awarding underwriting rights by the MAS, a traditional stronghold of commercial banks. This has redefined the boundaries that a traditional finance company in Singapore held due to regulations under the finance companies’ act. Wealth management, a relatively fast growing new segment in Singapore, has seen Hong Leong also wrestling in with a slice of the pie that many expected the commercial and investment banks monopolize. Industry Performance Finance companies form a small and unique portion of the financial services sector here in Singapore. A large part of their income comes in the form of interest income from loans and also commission fees for services that they offer. By focusing on domestic opportunities, they have managed to avoid exposure to the credit crisis that many others in the sector have been affected by. This has thus helped all 3 firms in the sector to post stellar results over the past year. As shown below, Singapore’s GDP growth YoY was 7. 7%, a slight moderation from the 8. % in 2006. This represents opportunities as the need for financial services increase as people in Singapore gain affluence. Growth of profit for Finance Companies Growth on EBIT ranged from a low of 38. 7% to a high of 65. 2% riding on increased receivables for all 3 finance companies. This is exceptional considering the cloud that has shrouded the financial sector in recent times. In dollar terms, their p rofits grew by SGD$43million to a total of over SGD$150million. Also, operational efficiency was a strong driver of the profit growth. Revenues remained rather stable and it was the decreased operating costs that led to higher profits according to the financial reports released. This could be due to reasons such as improved technical systems or improved employee proficiencies. Growth of property construction revenue segment There is a strong focus on the â€Å"heartland† consumers and increased demand for housing, particularly in HDB flats, has led to opportunities that finance companies have leveraged on to cement their stake in this niche market. Although commercial banks also offer housing loans, finance companies are able to adapt each individual loan to consumer’s requirements because they enjoy greater flexibility especially for smaller loans that larger financial institutions do not want to accommodate to enjoy the relatively small returns. Looking at the breakdown of loans and advances of Finance Companies, we can see a large part is driven by the building and construction sector in Singapore, which was booming last yea. The building sector was driven by the construction of the 2 integrated resorts and a booming property market last year. A key driver of the industry, construction growth, which represents a large portion of finance companies’ interest income, grew at a rate of 20. 3% in 2007, compared to 3. 6% in 2006. The bull run in the property market, as mentioned, has also contributed to the sector’s good performance. Property agents have described in particular, the HDB resale market as the kingpin of the real estate sector. Projected unit sales are estimated to be at 30,000 by industry players. Average prices rose 17% for 2007. This, coinciding with a new government initiative to encourage singles to live with their parents by providing a grant of up to $9000, has led to a boom for the property market domestically in recent times. The government’s policy to target an eventually population size of 6million citizens would lead to an increased demand for housing as more and more immigrants look to plant their roots here. Thus, we can expect housing loans to continue to be a strong driver of performance for finance companies into the foreseeable future. Increase in SME initiatives The government’s initiative to increase SME competitiveness and promote entrepreneurship has also facilitated the expansion of this revenue segment for financial companies. The founding of organizations such as SPRING help to spur and stimulate the growth of target sectors for these financial companies. Initiatives such as the Micro Loan Programme under SPRING create direct market share for these finance companies for those who are rejected by the commercial banks for loans. A look through the Hong Leong Finance website shows at least 11 initiatives directed at SMEs alone. This shows the importance of this particular revenue segment to finance companies. Therefore, the future of this key driver of finance companies’ success looks to be rosy given the support that SMEs receive domestically from the government. You read "Role of Finance Companies" in category "Papers" It is also important to note that finance companies give incentives by positioning themselves as service providers for smaller enterprises who require greater flexibility in terms of financing requirements. As mentioned earlier in the report, this is due to the fact that it is uneconomical for commercial banks to process some enquiries and loans because they are uneconomical given the scale of operations. Summing up, the performances of finance companies have been exceptional with impressive growth figures. However, as the recession worries and full effects of the sub-prime issues slowly uncover, finance companies may yet be exposed to underlying issues that may influence performances in the near future. Next, we shall examine some of the trends in the finance company sector and try to identify key issues that may offer insights into what we can expect from these finance companies in the future given what we have already discussed. We would also examine a key player to try and gain insights into how these finance companies operate. TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE FINANCE COMPANIES SECTOR: SINGAPORE 1. Consolidation within industry One of the most pervasive trends identified in the last decade in the finance companies sector is the consolidation of the industry. This is evident from the number of finance companies that have ceased operations. Some of these companies were forced out of the industry due to regulatory changes, while others, like OCBC Finance, simply merged with their principal companies. Since 1996, 19 finance companies have surrendered their finance companies’ license, with only 3 main finance companies remaining by the end of 2007. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities of finance companies as a whole have declined dramatically over the past decade, before stabilizing and increasing steadily over the past 3 years to around 10 billion dollars. Finance companies’ assets decreasing before stabilizing and recovering, and consolidation. 1. 1 Regulatory changes One of the catalysts for this consolidation is no doubt the regulatory changes that MAS has put into effect. Since December 1994, the Finance Companies Act was revised to raise the minimum capital requirement for finance companies from $0. to $50 million, and existing finance companies were given until 2003 to gather the required amount. This effectively meant that finance companies which did not have the required capital had to either merge with other players in the industry including banks, or raise the required capital. Hong Leong Singapore Finance, the finance company in Singapore today, is the result of such a merger between Hong Leong and Singapo re Finance. Examples of mergers with their parent banks include Maybank Finance, and Overseas Union Trust, which of course was subsequently absorbed into UOB. It could be argued that even without regulatory changes, mergers and acquisitions are inevitable for the smaller companies to survive. Regardless, the changes put into place by MAS has forced the industry to evolve into one with lesser, but stronger players. 1. 2 Increasing competition In 1998, then DPM Lee Hsien Loong remarked in a parliamentary session that the rationale behind these regulatory changes was to â€Å"enable finance companies to have the resources to compete more effectively and increase public confidence in them. Hence, another major reason for the consolidation in the industry can be attributed to the increasingly intense competition from commercial banks and other financial institutions which provide similar services. Loans and other services catered to SMEs, which the full banks typically deemed unprofitable, were traditionally the strong suit of finance companies. From data gathered on the 3 existing finance companies, loans and services to SMEs forms over 40% o f their portfolios. However, in the past decade, many commercial banks have started divisions to tap into the SME market made popular by finance companies. Finance companies thus now have to contend not only with each other, but commercial banks as well. This means that badly run finance companies simply could not contend with the competition and were targets for other finance companies’ acquisitions to boost their own ability to compete. 1. 3Niche markets Finance companies are usually able to compete with commercial banks because they offer services to niche markets (usually SMEs) which then form a large part of their portfolio. In today’s financial markets, Hong Leong Singapore Finance is known to target clients within the SME, consumer housing and the silver industry. Sing Investments and Finance has loans in the construction and property development sectors amounting to 68% of their loans portfolio. However, the population of such niche markets are usually much smaller than mainstream financial markets, and companies need to be able to capture a larger market share within the niches to be able to offer products with a competitive edge over commercial banks. Under the basic tenets of economics, this means that a only a small number of firms are needed to satisfy demand in such niche markets. Hence, there is necessarily a trend towards consolidation of similar firms within the separate niche markets in a ‘survival of the fittest’-style competition, which is the situation being faced with today. 1. 4 Global mergers and acquisition trends Mergers and acquisitions have been widespread and plentiful in recent times, and although this directly impacts the trend of mergers within the finance companies sector, there are also indirect effects to be discussed. One must consider that the increasing prevalence of large, merger companies necessarily means that the pool of smaller companies, of which finance companies cater to, is steadily decreasing. Such large merger companies usually go to commercial banks for the more sophisticated and diverse range of credit options which finance companies are simply unable to provide, either because of regulatory restrictions from the Finance Companies Act, or because they do not have the resources to do so. Again, this results in a net effect of finance companies having to merge themselves to operate effectively and efficiently to capture this diminishing pool of available business. TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE FINANCE COMPANIES SECTOR: INTERNATIONAL International finance companies Unlike in Singapore, a legal definition of ‘finance company’ exists, there is no clear definition on what constitutes a finance company in the overseas financial markets. However, there is a general consensus that finance companies provide mainly lending services to consumers and small businesses. As with finance companies in Singapore, international finance companies typically target these clients that the major banks overlook, or have specializations in specific industries that make them more attractive to customers seeking credit services within these industries. Unlike Singapore, where only 3 such companies now operate, there are literally thousands of such companies overseas catering to different industries and customer bases, and it will be definitely be out of the scope of this report to discuss each one in detail. Also, the nature of the finance companies sector is such that they are more influenced by regulations and performances of industries within the countries in which they operate, and less affected by global financial trends. A simple example of this is in Singapore, where finance companies have been fairly shielded from the turmoil in overseas financial markets led by the subprime crisis in the US. Instead, they have been doing well, largely owing to the boom in the local property, auto and SME markets. It is thus more appropriate to examine the issues and trends of nternational finance companies in the context of the local markets which they serve, rather than to identify and global trends that affect all financial markets. Hence, we have decided to focus our attention on finance companies operating within 3 countries where financial markets are relatively mature and established, and whose activities are more transparent and in the limelight. These are Australia, Japan and USA. 2. Fin ance companies in Australia The finance companies scene in Australia is thriving, and has witness continued growth in the last 3 years. Another good year was recorded in 2006/2007 with both business and personal lending continuing to grow. Finance companies in Australia have long been a significant sector in the Australian financial services market, offering a wide range of products including business leasing, fleet leasing and personal lending. Such companies provide an alternative source of borrowing to the banks, building societies and credit unions. The two largest finance companies operating in Australia are Esanda and Capital Finance, which collectively represents almost 40% of the sector’s operating profits after tax. Some of the key issues which have impacted profits in the last 2 years include: ? asset growth of 7. 1% leading to an increase in interest income ? increased competition leading to reduced margins and fee income ? increased bad debts expenses ?reduced profits on motor vehicle lending 2. 1 Australia – Reliance on Auto Industry and Industry Trends The auto industry is a major driver of performance of the finance companies sector in Australia, no doubt because the majority of the finance companies are exposed to the sector. This may be in the form of lending to consumers and businesses to purchase their motor vehicles, financing auto dealers’ purchase inventories, or providing fleet management businesses. The growth of finance companies coincides with the auto industry’s boom in the past 5 years, with 4 consecutive years of record sales up to 2005. Provision of loans to purchase large cars dropped 18 percent largely due to the change in consumer purchasing habits from the price hikes in oil. Instead, smaller car sales were up 21 percent, contributing to increased revenues for finance companies. However, the increased affordability of new cars in the last 5 years has created difficulties for finance companies which provide fleet management services, such as BMW Finance and ORIX, since such companies suffer reduced profits on the sale of cars at the end of their lease. In recent times, the focus of many of the larger finance companies have shifted to diversification of services. This is similar to Hong Leong Singapore Finance’s strategy in Singapore, which is to take on the major banks at their own game, such as providing property and construction facilities. GE Money’s expansion into credit cards, mortgages and on-line savings provide another example of Australian finance companies’ diversification. Just as the finance companies are expanding their services to include services provided by major finance players such as banks, so are the majors entering into sectors traditionally dominated by finance companies. This includes areas such as lending secured on receivables, consumer and low-doc lending. This has increased competition among Australian finance companies, which is further crowded by new entrants such as Aussie Home Loans’ plans to target car and personal lending markets. . 2 Australia – Growth in Assets, Personal and Business lending Total assets of the finance companies surveyed increased 7. 1 percent to $37. 5 billion, slightly down from 8. 1 percent growth in the previous year, but this still represents a strong rate of growth. This trend has been observed for the past 4 years, and can largely be at tributed to lending growth in the business and personal sectors. Even though finance companies in Australia only accounts for 5 percent of total Australian loans and advances, their market share is considerably higher in traditionally key markets of business lending and personal lending. This is estimated to be around 10 and 15 percent approximately. Since finance companies in Australia are typically not exposed to the housing mortgage market, they are not affected much by the decline in the housing market that is being experienced in global markets. However, the quality of the assets seem to be an issue for finance companies. Total bad and doubtful debt expense increased 32 percent from 2006. Even when viewed in context in the growth of receivables, the ratio of bad debts to average receivables increased. Hence, unlike in Singapore, it does seem that Australian finance companies suffers somewhat from increase in credit losses. However, this is to be expected since finance companies typically engage in less secure lending to less credit worthy customers in exchange for a higher margin. It must also be said that the amount of credit losses increases pales in comparison with the subprime losses that major international banks have faced even with supposed tighter credit checks. 3. Finance companies in Japan In early 2007, the consumer finance industry of Japan was valued at a total of ? 0 trillion with annual growth of 4%. The key factor influencing this previous growth in the industry might be traced to the equity and real estate bubble burst in the early 1990’s which lowered the collateral of several consumers. This provided a large market segment seeking uncollaterized loans, which were only provided by the consumer finance companies. At the same time, consumer finance companies had an advantage over the banks as they had a wider network of loan offices and had a reputation for quicker loan approval. 3. Japan – Regulatory elimination of ‘grey zone’ lending Significant change is expected in the consumer finance sector of Japan, as new regulations affecting consumer finance companies were passed in December 2006, and are to be withheld by the year 2009. The main crux of the new regulation would be that it lowers that maximum allowed interest rate chargeable on uncollaterized consumers. While the interest rate cap on consumer loans were capped at 20% by the Interest Rate Restriction law, the Capital Subscription law stated that a rate of 29. 9% could be charged, in the event that a written consent to the charges was provided by the consumer. Due to this law, several consumer finance companies in Japan have been providing loans to poor credit clients, at interest rates charged within the ‘grey zone’ (20%-29. 9%). What this new legislation entails would be that these consumer finance companies will need to adapt and reinvent themselves, as they can no longer depend on the ‘grey zone for survival’. What can be expected would be shakeout of the smaller consumer finance companies, consolidation as well as diversification of products. 3. 2 Japan – Regulatory Changes The Japanese Diet revised legislation regarding the Money Lending Business (MLB) law. A previous ceiling of 29. % for consumer loan interest rates set by the Capital Subscription law was repealed and reduced to 20%. This coincides with the ceiling set by the Interest Rates Restriction law, which has an interest rate cap of 20% per annum for such loans. Even then, this cap is only applicable for loans of up to ? 100,000 and below. Fo r loans with principal amounts ranging between ? 100,000 and ? 1,000,000, the cap is only 18% per annum. Loans with principal amounts over ? 1,000,000 are charged a maximum interest rate of 15% per annum. At the same time, the Bank of Japan has in recent years opted to abandon their zero-interest rate policy. At the moment, their interest rates have been set at 0. 5%. It is yet to be seen if there will be any increase in this rate, as it will probably depend on the performance of the Japanese economy as it adapts to this change, as well as the USA downturn. But essentially, with the bottom line raised and the top lines lowered, consumer finance companies are seeing their margins diminishing. The amendment also includes tighter entry restrictions for consumer finance companies, return of excess interest payments made to consumers, as well as restricts the maximum debt a consumer may hold to only one-third of his annual income. At the same time, the lid has been left open for more restrictions to be implemented between now and 2009, during which enforcement for the new regulation is going to be implemented. 3. 3 Japan – Effects on Performance In response to the new legislation, the industry has been suffering since. An estimated loss for the combined consumer loan sector for the fiscal year of 2006 has been made at ? 3 trillion. This can be directly attributed to the diminished market segment as well as several requests for refunds of excess loans from existing consumers. With stock prices of the 4 major players in the industry tumbling even before the announcement of the December 2006 ruling, mostly as a pre-emptive reaction, the situation is dire. This has left the consumer finance companies with the option of either leaving the market, or restructuring themselves to suit the new environment. The two main strategies for remaining in the sector would be expansion and diversification. 3. 4 Japan – Expansion At moment, there is estimated total of 10,000 registered money-lenders in Japan. Of these, there are only 4 major players (Aiful Corp. , Acom Co. , Promise Co. Takefuji Corp. ) that are currently listed on the Japanese stock exchange, whilst the rest are all individually casting small shadows. However, considering the increased requirements for operations as well as the diminished margins, it is now harder to maintain operations as a small player. More sophisticated risk management and cost-cutting are all necessary aspects that need impleme ntation for survival. It is expected that a large proportion of these smaller companies will eventually consolidate to be able to mount a substantial fight for survival or be forced to cease operations. Current estimates are that the eventually, Japan will only be left with 3,000 consumer finance companies. Already, that trend is starting to take shape. The current estimate of 10,000 registered money lenders have already dwindled from a previous figure of 14,000 as of February 2007. Two of the larger players, Acom and Promise have also taken a step further than anyone else in the industry, by negotiating partnerships with major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group respectively. This strengthens their competitiveness, as these consumer finance companies will be able to provide the bank with their expertise in handling smaller and riskier consumer loans, whilst the banks will be able to support these companies as they transcend into a more developed state. 3. 5 Japan – Diversification of Products Traditionally, the Japanese consumer finance companies could be classified into two main group; those dealing in consumer loans; and those providing credit card services. While the former group has been hit hard directly by the new regulation, the latter has been relatively unscathed. The main reason would be that interest rates for credit cards were already below the 20% limitation. Consumer finance companies are now finding that there is an unexplored market that they can now explore, to make up for their losses in the consumer loan segment. To compound incentives for this strategy, the credit market has yet to truly blossom in Japan yet, due to a prior preference for cash instead. For example, credit card shopping only accounts for 10% of consumption in Japan, and this is relative to the 25% figure for the United States. 3Finance companies in USA There are many companies in the USA which provide consumer and business finance services in all sectors of the financial markets. Being the world’s largest financial market, USA has a very diverse group of finance companies that cater to auto, personal, small enterprise, insurance, and mortgage lending, among others. Citi Financial, HSBC Finance, GE Money, Prudential Finance, Zurich Financial, and Capital One are just a few examples of such finance companies. Just as in Singapore and other nations, these finance companies typically serve clients who are either too small or have poor credit ratings to obtain loans from the larger banks. The consumer finance industry in the USA is too large to be discussed in full detail in this report. Hence we will only be discussing a particular type of finance company which in the past year has come under scrutiny from all corners of the financial markets – subprime mortgage lenders. While major commercial and investment banks have all taken in losses amounting to USD 170b from writing down Colleteralized Debt Obligations and Mortgage Backed Securities, mortgage finance companies in the USA have mostly been responsible for the origination of such losses. 3. 1 USA – Subprime mortgage lending by finance companies Subprime mortgage lending by finance companies enabled consumers in the USA with poor credit histories to obtain loans to purchase homes with higher interest rates than that charged by banks. These consumers were previously unable to obtain such loans from the major banks and lenders due to their poor credit histories. To entice consumers to accept such higher interest rates, these finance companies typically include ‘teaser rates’ during the initial periods of the loan where the interest rates were lower, and the rates were then subsequently increased significantly after the introductory period. Because many consumers could no longer afford the high interest payments after the introductory period, many were forced to refinance their subprime loans with another subprime loan. This was acceptable pre-2005 since housing prices were on the rise, and this meant that home owners were building equity which enabled them to refinance loans easily. However, after 2005, home prices started to decline and fell below the value of the loan, and thus could not be used as collateral for refinancing. A steep rise in defaults and foreclosures caused more than 100 finance companies in the US to file for bankruptcy beginning late 2006. Even New Century Financial Corporation, then the nation’s second largest mortgage lender, was not spared. Excessive risk taking and making loans to subprime customers meant that such finance companies were exposing themselves to moral hazard excessively. 3. 2 USA – Securitization of subprime loans Many a subprime finance company did not actually hold on to the subprime loans as assets after making them. Instead they securitized, or sold off the loans to issuers and special purpose vehicles. These financial vehicles bought these loans and other investment grade instruments and repackaged them into the CDOs and MBSes that were to blame for the credit problems in financial markets today. These instruments were subsequently bought up by investment and commercial banks, and hedge funds, due to the impression that the risk from the subprime loans have been adequately spread out. However, this was not the case, since once defaults and foreclosures started to hit the issuers, the values of the CDOs were compromised, resulting in huge write downs by banks. What followed was a large credit crunch in financial markets, the effects of which are still unresolved today. Hence, what was supposed to be a mortgage finance sector problem has been spread to all areas of the financial markets through loans securitization, which was started by finance companies in the US. Regulatory Issues The Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108) was established in 1967 to regulate the growing finance companies sector. Listed in the Act are several restrictions that limit the activities of the finance companies. The purpose of these limitations is to protect investors, by controlling the exposure of the company to riskier asset classes and transactions, since finance companies are less able to diversify such risks away than the major banks. These limitations may include capital structure requirements, restrictions on dealings, necessary approval for expansion and others as well. In essence, the provisions within the Finance Companies Act require that finance companies seek MAS for approval to engage in activities other than the most basic lending and depositing services. Since the major banks have a similar set of banking rules and regulations to adhere to, we will be focusing our discussion on a few key regulatory provisions which are specific to the Finance Companies Act. One regulation of particular interest has already been briefly mentioned in the previous sections of this report. In s7 of the Finance Company Act, there are strict capital requirements in place for finance companies. S7 provides that a registered finance company will need a minimum of $50 million in issued and paid up capital. What this requirement does is to limit the industry to only the stronger players. This requirement, as put in place since January 1995, might be responsible for the running out of the several smaller finance companies, and serves as well as a substantially high barrier to entry. S23 of the Finance Companies Act lists out some of the prohibitions of dealings by finance companies. In particular, s23(1)(e) and (f) aims to limit the amount of risk which the finance companies are able to take. This is done by restricting the issuance of substantial loans which exceed 50% of their total credit facilities, and also by prohibiting unsecured loans and advances exceeding S$5,000. It can be seen from these regulations that MAS understands the higher risk nature of the customers served by finance companies, and tries to protect both the customers and the companies from over-exposure to such risks. While s23(1)(b) prevents investments in foreign currency, gold and other precious metals, and s23(1)(c) prevents any acquisition of shares, stock, debt and other convertible securities in foreign denominations, exemption from these restrictions might be granted as stated under s23(2)(a)(b). S23(2)(a)(b) states would be that concessions in these aspects might be granted depending on the ruling of MAS. Furthermore, s53 gives room for the authorities to exempt a finance company for some or all of the provisions in the Act. We feel that this shows that MAS recognizes that not all finance companies are ready to take on such dealings yet, but that they are not shutting the door on such transactions in the future. Prospects Future developments of Finance Companies Effects of the credit crunch In the short run, we would expect that finance companies would experience a udden growth in their revenue segments due to commercial banks tightening credit. The sub-prime meltdown in the United States has severe implications for all industries. However, rather than affecting the finance companies negatively, we foresee that there is a possibility that they might profit from it instead. With several banks being hit severely, we are currently observing the beginnings of a credit crunch as banks start to tighten their credit and adopting a more conservative stance in negotiating loans. This would even be true in Singapore, as we uncover the extent of Asian banks exposure to collateralized debt obligations. DBS Bank has already booked S$200 million worth of write-downs while UOB has S$45 million worth of write-down. These commercial banks have reportedly tightened credit measures with more reluctance to take on risky debts. What this might imply would be that more consumers will have their loan applications rejected from banks, and will therefore look to finance companies for their capital needs instead. At the same time, the market for loans is expected to grow by 13% in 2008. While this is lower than the 20% growth recorded in 2007, it represents that the market is still expanding despite the tightening of credit by major lenders. At the moment, the total loans made by finance companies are sitting at S$8,389 million. The total loans made by commercial banks, however, stands at S$201,424 million. The above figures indicate that if banks were to lose even a small percentage of their market share in loans to finance companies, this would translate to a potentially significant percentage of loans growth for these finance companies. Hence, if finance companies are able to take advantage of the loss in confidence of the banks, and the tightening of credit by said banks to capture the market left behind by the banks in the wake of the sub-prime crisis, there will be room for growth. Consolidation of the segment In the long run however, we adopt a more pessimistic stance towards the development of finance companies. One of the trends that we mentioned was that of consolidation of the finance companies in the past decade. Three such finance companies remain and have performed relatively well over the past few years or so. However, commercial banks are encroaching into traditional strongholds of these finance companies, such as SMEs and smaller personal loans which were once considered unprofitable to service. This is as commercial banks now want to profit from the higher yielding consumer base that these finance companies rely on as they continue to look into other profitable segments that they have neglected in the past. DBS, OCBC and UOB have in the past decade started moving towards these opportunities that they had forgone in the past. There is also increased competition from new entrants such as GE Money and SingPost who now offer consumers more consumer finance choices instead of the remaining 3 finance companies. This increased competition may reduce revenues in the future, especially for Singapura Finance and Sing Investments, since Hong Leong is far and away the major player in this sector and may be able to better cope with these changes. These 2 smaller firms might find it more difficult to continue to perform as well when banks use their financial muscle and influence to try and break into this market. Thus, we foresee a real possibility of further consolidation and perhaps a change in the structure of the future finance company here in Singapore. Hong Leong Finance is special, in the sense that it is much bigger than the other finance companies in the scene. To brand it as a finance company in the same breath as the other 2 does not do Hong Leong’s reputation justice. However, when compared to the commercial banks, they still do not measure up as significant competition. The other 2 finance companies seem to stand little chance should the commercial banks and corporations start infringing on this niche segment that they have survived on. The implications of these is the sign that the finance companies are in a sunset industry and with the exception of Hong Leong, finance companies might struggle to eke out an existence once competition gets more intense. It may revert to a situation where the smaller firms have to merge or be acquired by a larger finance company, in this case, Hong Leong, or risk not being able to survive in the segment. Hong Leong, as mentioned, is unique in the sense that it is such a dominant force in the finance company sector, but yet unable to make the step up to be on the same level as even the smaller commercial banks. In the near future, we could see Hong Leong forming an entire classification on its own, as the alternative to the commercial banks. Following the entry of commercial banks and other competitors into its traditional revenue segments, Hong Leong has been actively looking for other opportunities to diversify its revenue generating segments. We have mentioned some of these earlier in the report. Recently, Hong Leong was commissioned to take up underwriting duties which provides it with a new area of development where they could vary their income sources. It has also established a wealth management arm in light of the growing sector in Asia as a whole. How to cite Role of Finance Companies, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Diagnostic Summary Paper AUTISM Essay Example For Students

Diagnostic Summary Paper AUTISM Essay Autism is a disorder that impairs the development of a persons capacity to interact with, communicate with, and also maintain regular normal bonds with the outside world. This disorder was described in 1943 by Leo Kanner, an American psychologist. Autism is considered one of the more common developmental disabilities, and appears before the age of three. It is known to be four or five times more common in males than in females. It most cited statistic is that autism occurs in 4. 5 out of 10,000 live births. The estimate of children having autistic qualities is reported to be 15 to 20 out of 10,000. The gender statement noted before is not uncommon, since many developmental disabilities have a greater male to female ratio. Autistic characteristics are different from birth. Two more common characteristics that may be exhibited are the arching of the back while being held, to avoid contact, and also failing to anticipate being picked up (limpness in the body). Infants with autism are described as being either very passive, or very agitated. Sometimes during infancy there will be cases of head rocking, and or banging, against the crib, but this is not always the case. Approximately one-third of children develop normally until the ages of 1 1/2 to 3, and then the symptoms emerge, referred to as regressive autism. During childhood, there is a commonality of the affected child insisting routine. The reasoning is that the child is not able to cope with novel situations. Wearing the same clothes, or eating the same foods during meals, are examples. Tantrums can occur when these perseverative behaviors occur. Twenty years ago, most autistic individuals were institutionalized. Now only the most severe cases live in institutions. During adulthood, autistic individuals are known to live with their parents, in residential institutions, and some do live independently. Because there are so many forms of this disorder, it has been said that there is no true adjective to describe every type of person with autistic symptoms, or autism. My research shows that there are no physiological tests that can be performed to determine whether a person has autism. The diagnosis is given when a person exhibits the characteristics of the disorder. Note: In the last five years, researchers have agreed that those who display autistic characteristics are commonly suffering from other related but distinct disorders, such as Asperger Syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Landau Kleffner syndrome, Rett syndrome, and Williams syndrome. Physiological researchers have discovered abnormalities within the brain, but the reason for the abnormalities is not known, and it is not known where the relation to autism lies. These abnormalities range from underdeveloped areas in the limbic system, to Vernal lobules VI and VII, being smaller than average. Biochemical research has found elevated beta- endorphins, relating to pain tolerance in autistic action. In the cognitive realm, there is much talk of the theory of mind, or the inability to realize that other people have their own unique view of the world. Some Cognitive theorists think that the autistic person isnt able to understand that other people have different thoughts, plans, and perspectives than their own. Cognitive theorists also examine the 10% statistic of savant skills, an ability that is considered remarkable by most standards. These savant skills are usually spatial in nature. Interventions and therapies are difficult. Family theorists try to work with the family of the patient, to try to develop appropriate behaviors. There is no reported drug that can be considered primary for the patient, although Ritalin is dispensed in many cases. Behaviorists look at the changing of behavior through positive reinforcement, behavior recess, and in turn examine the self-stimulatory and self-injurious behaviors. .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .postImageUrl , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:hover , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:visited , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:active { border:0!important; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:active , .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud5c5f97fcb5baa0656234d76798d24dd:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Oedipus Rex6 Essay Physiological work such as visual training, and auditory integration training, is used to reduce sensitivities to sounds above normal range, or to sounds the patient can consider painful. When it comes to autism, the most important thing to remember is that parents and doctors in the medical field are now realizing that there can be treatments, and interventions, that can be effective. In addition, note that Federal Law now requires the states to provide early intervention services for autistic children between the ages of one to three. The services exist to provide tools to develop the children academically, and socially. Words: 714 .

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Computer Buying Essays - Home Computer, Computer, Homework

Computer Buying Today, computers are common. Even the most conservative analysts suggest that over forty percent of Canadian homes have one, and this figure rises dramatically to well over sixty percent in urban centers, particularly in homes when there are school-aged children or adults with professional or managerial jobs. Buying a computer can be a daunting task, particularly if you're new to the high technology marketplace. You will be spending anywhere from one to several thousand dollars on the computer equipment alone, so you'll need to do homework first. According to one old IBM advertisement, the average person spends fifteen weeks, five days, twenty- three hours and fifty-eight minutes searching for a new computer. If you're like most consumers, you'll spend that time checking with a number of sources for the information you need to make decisions. In order to save time and energy for buying a computer, you must following the three steps: setting you up to doing your homework, focusing on the homework itself to help you make decisions, and nailing your decision down to closing the sale. These three steps will not only saving your time and energy, it will also provide you the guidance you'll need to buy your computer. Your fist step along the way to purchase your computer is to do your homework. Homework might include the following: learning the lingo, doing some research, visiting a few stores and dealing with salespeople. First, you should learn the lingo. Knowing the Lingo will save you a lot of times toward buying computer because you will face many opportunities to use it. For example, without knowing these jargon, you might have difficulty understanding when you read the computer materials; you might have difficulty understanding the conversation with computer salespeople. As a result, it is worth of spending sometime to understand the meaning of lingo. For example: Hardware, Software, Chip, CPU, PC, ROM, RAM. Second, you should do some research to getting more information about computer. You can research through local daily newspaper. Local daily newspaper may have a computer section. There are also monthly computer newspapers. In Canada, there are a number of free Canadian publications such as the Computer Paper, Our Computer Player (Vancouver), Toronto Computes, Ottawa Monitor, Winnipeg Computer Post are some of the examples you can search from. If you have access to the Internet, it might also be a good place for doing some research. Furthermore, the Internet also has various newsgroups that specialize in the subject. There are also a variety of independent sites on the Web hosted by individual with a mission to provide analysis. Finally, we come to visiting the computer stores and dealing with the salespeople. Shopping around three to five different computer stores is also helpful toward buying a computer. Many computer stores offer similar computer products with different price and warranty. It is wise to talk to the salespeople, asking as many question as you have. Don't fret if you think your expertise is not the state of the art. In fact, if you are willing to learn as you shop and take your time, you will end up making an informed choice. The second step is focuses on the homework itself by providing distinctions among the basic hardware options that will help you to make some fundamental choices. As a result, there are several points that you should know: the type, the feature, and the location of buying computer. First point, you have to consider what type of the computer do you need. It is usually the first choice every computer shopper has to make is between an IBM -compatible, which is also known simply as a PC (for personal computer), and an Apple Macintosh. The two rivals are built with different operating systems, which until recently meant that software made for one of them couldn't run on the other. In other ward, if you want the lowest price and the widest possible choice of software, go with a PC. If ease of use matters most to you, then you should pick a Macintosh. The second point you should consider is the feature of the computer. You should ask yourself " How much computer power do you need? " Whether you commit to a Mac or a PC, you want computing power adequate to your personal needs plus some room to grow- without spending for features you'll never use. It's important getting to know the three essential computer components: the microprocessor, Random-access memory, and Hard drive capacity. Understanding just those three components might have been

Monday, November 25, 2019

Hydroponic Vegetable production Essays

Hydroponic Vegetable production Essays Hydroponic Vegetable production Essay Hydroponic Vegetable production Essay Hydroponico Vegetable OProduction0 BY CYF Hydroponics has often been thought of as the future of growing, what many people do not realize is that the concept has been around for a very long time and already has been applied to agriculture. Hydroponics is not Just for flowers; in fact with its growing popularity in the past decade hydroponics has begun to be used for commercial vegetable production around the world. It is attracting to farmers because it presents them with a way to grow in areas and times they might not have been able to otherwise. This can mean that soil quality is not a factor and that the armers can have more control over their own microclimate within a greenhouse. Hydroponics suggests that anyone anywhere can grow his or her own high quality produce under limited conditions. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil. It is the fastest growing sector of agriculture, and it could very well dominate food production in the future. Hydroponics id defined as the science of growing or the production of plants in nutrient rich solutions or moist inert material instead of soil. Hydroponics comes from Latin, the word hydro meaning water, and ponos meaning labor, hydroponics s water working. It is important to know that water alone is not enough to support plants growth. Traditionally soil gives plants anchorage for their root systems and supports vertical growth, it is a source of nutrients, fresh organic matter, and has water holding capabilities. Hydroponics must use fertilizers in their ionic form and supply plants with their essential minerals and nutrients through a nutrient solution. Artificial anchorage is used such as stakes or trellising. One benefit is that it is a more sterile environment than the soil. Soil can contain many toxins and pollutants as well s undesirable insect life and disease pathogens. With hydroponics it is likely that a recall, like the one we had a few years back on spinach that became contaminated with e-coli, would be entirely avoided. Farmers growing hydroponic crops and researchers see many benefits to this method. Higher yields are common and a higher yield per square foot is a given because plants can be grown densely and in vertical or upright ways. Produce from a hydroponic greenhouse is often of very high quality because it has not been subject to the stresses brought on by outside weather conditions and does not bear scars of amage cause by outside factors. It is easier to protect crops from pests and supplement the sun and increase production. Universities and research facilities for medicine and even NASA study hydroponic methods and use them for control experiments. Facilities can have a fully controlled indoor environment where they can research different affects by introducing variables, or like NASA study possibilities for one day growing plants in outer space or even on the moon. Hydroponics has been around for a long time but has began to take a strong foothold only in this past decade or so. It is a common misconception that NASA invented hydroponics; this is false. The first record of anything resembling hydroponics is by Sir Francis Bacon back in 1627 in his book Sylva sylvarum printed the year after his death in which he introduces a concept he called water culture. Water culture became a popular research technique. In 1699 John Woodward published his water culture experiments on spearmint in which he made the conclusion that plants grew better in unfiltered water. By the 1800s we knew that the reason for this is that there are essential nutrients that plants require for growth and ome are found in minerals present in unfiltered water. 1859-65 German botanists Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop developed techniques of soil-less cultivation using nutrient solutions. The growth of plants without soil became known as solution culture, which is a technique that we still use today. In 1929, at the University of California in Berkeley, professor William Frederick Gericke began to publicly promote what he first termed aquaculture. Gericke created a stir by growing vine tomatoes twenty-five feet high in his backyard without the use of soil. William Gericke coined he modern day term Hydroponics in 1937 because aquaculture was already used to refer to aquatic organisms. He was reluctant at first to share his secrets and did not publish any details on his experiments until after he retired from UC Berkeley in 1940. During WWII in a place called Wake Island vegetables were grown hydroponically to feed to passengers on Pan American Airlines when they stopped at this refueling station. Wake Island is a rocky atoll; which has no soil on it in which to grow and it would have been too expensive to airlift in fresh vegetables. Disney orld opened an exhibit called The Land Pavilion in 1982 in their famous EPCOT center, which features a variety of hydroponic growing techniques. Nowadays hydroponics is not Just limited to researchers it has become available to the average citizen and is only beginning to be applied to agriculture in a much broader spectrum this past decade. The benefits of greenhouse hydroponic production are many. In controlled environment the farmer can have control over temperature, humidity, water, nutrients, C02 levels, and even light periods. One main benefit is that no soil is equired, that means there is nothing to till and much labor is eliminated from the growing process. Growing can be done regardless of soil quality and composition. A huge benefit is that water can stay in the system and be reused. Even though water is the main carrier of nutrients hydro systems are able to deliver Just the right amount of water and can reduce waste. Water can be re-circulated in the system and water use is typically 50-90% less than that used for soil crops which are subject to leaching and drainage capabilities. Plant roots can drown hydro takes this into ccount by using highly oxygenated water and preventing anaerobic conditions. So has complete control over nutrition and nutrition costs are lower and applications are more effective and efficient. Plants can absorb the nutrients much faster when they are suspended in water instead of clinging to soil particles. Yields are usually higher and of better quality with more stable results. Because hydro can be grown very densely and even vertically on shelves farmers are able to grow a larger number of plants in a much smaller area. Land use is reduced greatly and allows for farms to e closer to urban areas where they have a shorter distance to travel from harvest to local markets and kitchens. Many hydroponic researchers boast that produce harvested is of higher nutritional value and considered fresher because some crops, like lettuce, can be harvested with roots and remain fresh longer. Pests and disease are easier to contain and get rid of in controlled environments and the sterile environment allows for use of Integrated Pests Management programs that focus on biological controls and reduce the use of harmful pesticides. Disadvantages of hydroponic farming can be the loss ofa buffer, soil, any failure n the system , equipment failure, power outage, can lead to very quick death or damage of an entire crop. Pathogens can breed in these high moisture environments and young plants are susceptible to verticillium wilt and can die from dampening-off. In extreme environments water temperatures must be monitored and controlled so that you dont have any freezing or cooking of your roots. It is much easier and less expensive to heat or warm water in the system than to keep it cool. In desert regions enclosed systems are preferred to prevent loss of water through evaporation. The most common disadvantage is the extremely high cost of start-up and equipment. Since hydroponics is a growing technology the USDA and other organizations often have grants available for farmers working in hydroponics. In 2012 Living Water Farms was the recipient of one of the USDAs Value Added Producer Grants which are awarded to sustainable business ideas. Crop choice is taken into consideration because of the costs involved and certain limitation. Commonly lettuce is probably the vegetable most often grown hydroponically because it is quick and easy. Farmers can go from planting to arvesting a lettuce crop in as little as 30-45 days that allows them to get about 10 harvests out in one year. Tomatoes are another huge hydro crop, some of the largest North American Hydroponic farms focus on tomatoes production, from beefsteak, to vine ripe and cherry. Euro Fresh Farms in Arizona harvest approximately 250,000 tomatoes daily in mid summer. Euro Fresh Farms are also certified pesticide residue free and practice land and water conservation, solar panels are integrated into the design of the greenhouses to further reduce energy costs and the companys carbon footprint. After harvest, excess plant material is composted and waste is reduced. Euro Fresh Farms are not organic but they boast a ten plus year history of contamination free produce and claim to be better than organic because they dont use animal fertilizers which can contain food borne illness like e-coli and salmonella. The other crop they grow besides tomatoes are cucumbers. They are certified by the North American Greenhouse Hothouse Vegetable Growers, and dont use any GMOs. Locally Kennys Strawberry Farm is a great place to visit to see hydroponics working to produce fresh strawberries. The Temecula Valley farm has a u-pick hydro ground away from the reach of rodents and soil borne pathogens. They claim to be all natural and have heartier and healthier strawberries which are not picked until they reach ideal ripeness and redness. Their motto is we grow em You pick em where you can have a family outing and pick strawberries without ever getting dirty. Hydroponic farms in general tend to be smaller, because of costs and provide local markets and restaurants. Most are family businesses that practice sustainability and conservation. They produce a variety of vegetables and herbs, even feed for ivestock. Around the world hydroponics are already being used. There are huge hydro-lettuce fields in Japan, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, and places like the Philippines. Countries like Pakistan are reducing their need for imported produce and are actually beginning to export produce themselves. In the past their soil was considered useless for cultivation, but with hydroponics they are a growing success. In Conclusion, hydroponics is indeed a growing industry and I suspect that as our land gets more populated and developed we will see a rise in this industry. It can be sustainable and health conscience. You can grow more in a small area so it is welcoming to smaller property owners and perfect for urban areas. With each technological advance we get more precision out of every crop. REFERENCES All Season Greens I Easily Produce Your Own Low Cost, Highly Nutritious, Living Feed, 365 Days a Year! All Season Greens I Easily Produce Your Own Low Cost, Highly Nutritious, Living Feed, 365 Days a Year! N. p. , n. d. Web. 3 May 2013.. Beyond Sustainability. Windset Farms. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.. Certified, Greenhouse, Vegetables, Growers. Certified Greenhouse/Hothouse Vegetable Producers Association of North America. , n. d. Web. 01 May 2013.. Drought and Heat? Some Farmers Try Hydroponics. NET. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 May 2013.. Hydroponics in Action Organic Basil, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Herbs and Other Tasty Produce Year Round. N. p. , n. d. Web. 01 May 2013.. Rana, Imran. High-tech Agriculture: The Extraordinary Profits of Hydroponic Vegetable Farming. The Express Tribune High-tech Agriculture The Extraordinary Profits of Hydroponic Vegetable Farming Comments. N. p. , 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 May 2013.. Strawberry Farm. Kennys Strawberry Farm. N. p. , n. d. web. 2 May 2013..

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How Managerial Changes Influence Organisational Behaviour Issues Research Paper

How Managerial Changes Influence Organisational Behaviour Issues - Research Paper Example One of the main obstacles to the smooth implementation of the change management process is the lack of awareness of the context of change by the workmen and unions. While the top management team is aware of the context in which these changes are being talked about, the workmen and unions are not well informed in this respect. A change seeking management has to overcome the stresses to which the system and the people have to undergo. Leadership is, therefore, required to create the necessary confidence to overcome the stresses and challenges in the change process. A successful leadership has to keep open the channels of communications within the organization and with the outside world. The leader must recognize authority and power system changes in the attitudes, behaviors, and interpersonal relationship of people (Tennenbam, 1999, p.177). As such organization problems can be overcome by four factors, namely, structural, technical, task and people. However, the capacity of individuals and groups in some organizations are underestimated. This is due to a variety of causes emerging from the organization structure, procedures and the traditions of a group of people working within the organization. Human Resource Management is, perhaps, the oldest and most widely researched subject in management. Yet, as technologies change, cultural diversities occur and people's expectations undergo fundamental shifts towards newer and newer dimensions. For instance, professionals are gaining more say in the running of organizations. Even where governance is by people who own the majority stakes, their own positions and the respect they command are contingent upon their competence rather than ownership. " Management is the art of getting things done through other people. Management is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business. Without it, the resources of production remain resources and never become production." (Hersey & Blanchard, 2002, p.211) Â  

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Formal Reports Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Reports - Assignment Example Encl. Report on Impact of RFID technology 2012 Annual Report Prepared by Ron Moser RFID strategy leader Report Distributed July 19, 2013 Prepared for The Board of Directors Wal-Mart Abstract RFID technology has so far been advantageous for the company in relation to inventory management and supply chain management. Since implementation of this technology required high investment, therefore in initial years the returns were below expectations, but in long run it can prove to be profitable because through improved inventory management it can enhance sales thus leading to higher revenues for the company. RFID can ensure that goods are always available on the shelves thus catering to customers becomes easy and customer satisfaction which has always been the motto of Wal-Mart becomes ensured. Also, inventory visibility is another advantage of RFID which keeps tracks of the whereabouts of items whether in backroom or shelves. This requires less use of manual orders and workers can devote m ore time to customers. RFID has also reduced inaccuracy in inventory record. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract †¦..................................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. 3 Introduction †¦..................................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... .................................8 Impact on sales values ..................................................................................9 Impact on the profit structure ......................................................................10 Conclusion and recommendations †¦........†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 References ...............................................................................................................12 Introduction The main area of Wal-Mart that is benefitted by RFID is the improvement of supply chain management. RFID can be extremely beneficial for retailers and production aspect of the supply chain. RFID is an electronic substitue of barcodes. In combination with mobile computing and online technologies, RFID can help the company to efficiently manage and upkeep its stocks. This technology can eliminate manual labour for identification of products and their storage. I t helps the company to manage its stocks and assets from anywhere in the world and helps management to make appropriate decisions (Bhatta, 1-2). The reason of this paper is to see the benefits of RFID on Wal-Mart, to see how its product functions have changed for the better after implementation of this technology. RFID helps in keeping accurate track of stocks thus leading to positive replacement of stocks, and can bring improvement in gross margins and unit volumes. Impact of RFID technology Principle advantages of RFID technology It was in 2005 that Wal-Mart implemented RFID for the first time in its supply chain in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance satisfaction level of consumers (Chen, 13). These are the standard goals for which RFID is used in supply chain management industry. There are numerous benefits of RFID. It has

Monday, November 18, 2019

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations Essay

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations - Essay Example The study is developed on the basis of a mixed approach where both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. In order to undertake the analysis, the opinions of respondents have been collected through questionnaire method. From the research analysis, it has been found that total rewards which comprise both the elements of tangible and non-tangible rewards can effectively impact on the job satisfaction of the employees. As different employees have different needs, thus their motivational aspects can also differ. Nowadays, only better pay is not sufficient for employees to stay in an organisation. They also desire for other forms of motivation along with tangible rewards. In this context, the total reward package enables organisations to balance organisational objectives with the requirement of individual employees from organisations which in turn lead to enhanced productivity. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Findings 6 Discussion 21 Conclusion 26 Recomm endations 28 References 30 Introduction Reward is a set of approaches which is intended for managing the human resources in an organisation. The major purpose of reward is to motivate employees to accomplish higher performance. ... The fundamental idea of reward is to motivate greater performance through certain activities and to emphasise their reoccurrence. The consequence of reward can result in a sense of achievement which in turn can lead towards higher performance. Rewards are of two kinds which are tangible/monetary rewards and non-tangible/non-monetary rewards. Tangible rewards are pay, incentives and compensation among others which are the basic conditions for employees to work in an organisation. On the other hand, intangible rewards are those which can lead to motivation of employees towards high performance such as recognition, better work culture and training and development among others. Together tangible and intangible rewards can generate job satisfaction for the employees. Job satisfaction occurs when an employee receives those facilities which he/she expects from an organisation. There is significant relationship that exists between job satisfaction and reward provided by an organisation. Rewa rds act as a basis for job satisfaction of employees. However, significant differences exist among the employees about expectations from an organisation. Thus, the aspect of job satisfaction within the employees can also be differing according to demographic factors such as age, gender and psychographics variables. Due to this reason, the term total reward has gained much acceptance among organisations in order to ensure better job satisfaction and enhance productivity (Flamholtz, 1996). The total reward includes all elements of rewards which are useful for enticing, encouraging and retaining employees. It is aimed at providing all employees a positive work environment where they can put much effort towards accomplishment of organisational objectives. In present days, total

Friday, November 15, 2019

Conflicts Between Modern And Traditional Culture Cultural Studies Essay

Conflicts Between Modern And Traditional Culture Cultural Studies Essay Probably the most noticeable change towards society in the last few years has been the manifestation of the word change. We talk of changing our processes and ways of doing things, how to introduce new methods, products, and practices into a fast developing world, that can sometimes be resistant to change whether it is good or bad. However when we refuse to give in to this impending storm of modernity which is set out to change our well-established practices conflict arises. This conflict is being fought but countries all over the world who are on the verge of losing their deep rooted principles, its culture to modernity or westernization. Change or modernity can be used interchangeably they are be presented in two forms its either positive or negative. As a result of globalization some cultures and traditions are been lost. When change emerges in such a way that it condemns your own traditions viewing them as old and stale, such situations give rise to conflicts like in the case of Michael Obi. The fact that both modern methods and traditional ways are both important and valuable for our community cannot be over emphasized. What is it about tradition that makes it so important to people, that even as the respond to change they still dont want to part with it? We usually think of traditions as something that is passed down through the generations, they can also be started again by doing the same thing for three years in a row to positive emotions and feelings of love. Traditions today are our most prized possessions that stay the same it reminds and links us to our past, our roots, and our family. Eventually as we yiel d to change we can only come to the realization that modern methods and traditions are both important to us, and with the help of our knowledge and experience we have gained over the years we can confidently say that a common ground can be established on which modernity and tradition can coexist in such a way that it benefits the parties involved. Chinua Achebes Dead Mens Path is a short story, where the writer embellished the conflicts between modern and traditional culture of a society. For someone to understand this short story you have to dig deeper into the plot, the conflict, the characters, and the whole setting itself in order to fully understand what the writer is trying to convey to the readers. This story tries to highlight some aspects of human nature through the character of Michael Obi. Michael appears to have adopted the ways of the western world or the modern society. He has a very ambitious dream to modernize the school where he has been deployed. Mr. Michael Obi is a reflection of how blind the human mind can be at times. His aspirations have gotten into his head too much that he loses respect of other cultures which he himself is from by virtue of his name Obi which is an Ibo name. Obis high aspirations have certainly infiltrated his mind in such a way that in his conversation with the priest of Ani he conde mns the traditions of the village when he says: The whole purpose of our school, he said finally, is to eradicate just such beliefs as that. Dead men do not require footpaths. The whole idea is just fantastic. Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas. Obi feels appalled at how their traditions blot the splendor of the school that he runs. He is too engrossed over creating a good image of himself and the inspectors, that he feels the inhabitants and their petty customs are a big obstacle to attaining his goal. Although the belief of the village people appears to be illogical and futile, any agent of change should be open-minded and respectful to their beliefs and practices. Michael Obi fails to accept the varieties of cultures existing in his community, and by imposing what he thought is right he gets his reward: a bad report from the government inspector. A man who couldnt think of a more civilized way of achieving his dreams, thus, yielded to the bad influences of modernization and affecting the peaceful spiritual beliefs of the occupants in the village. In the character of Nancy, Michael Obis wife we are able to see that she has fully adopted modern ways of doing thing. He character symbolizes the western influence. The school r epresents the attempt to separate tradition from modernity, and on a greater extent eradicate superstitious belief completely from the future. The school is where young minds are molded and is a perfect place to begin inserting ideas of change.   One of such similar situations was an incident that happened many years ago in my own native land. The name of my village is amokwe which means in our community which is called ibuzor there were many villagers who were pagans. This traditional worship had been in existence even after the missionary came in and built a church. Most of these traditionalists subsequently became parishioners at St Patricks Catholic Church. Some of the villagers denounced their beliefs and accepted Christianity and some swung both ways they still stick to their traditional beliefs and Christianity. During a certain period the parish had a new priest who openly preached about how diabolical the traditional beliefs were and how they hindered the progress of the people. The teachings of this priest infuriated some parishioners. They held a meeting with other members of the community and came up with a solution. The decided to strip him of his cloths and make him walk with his boxers round the village. Usuall y public disgrace was the highest form of punishment you could face. It basically entailed that you had to walk around the village with no cloths and palm fronds were tied on your waist and head while people followed you at your back and sang songs and flogged you occasionally. This happened to be the punishment that the meeting concluded. Some days later early in morning the villagers set out to the residence of the priest and subjected him to the above explained punishment. This went on for some hours till they reached the local government head quarters called UDI were through the advert of some policemen the priest was speared and released. The case was reported to the bishop of Enugu diocese. The bishop came in and took the priest along with the Blessed Sacrament. The act of taking the Blessed Sacrament meant that masses could not be celebrated at that parish. For one year the community was without Sunday service. After a while some elders came to an agreement and decided to go back and plead with the bishop to reinstate a priest to celebrate Sunday services and have the Blessed Sacrament retuned. Though the bishop agreed a meeting was held with the entire community was a conclusion was drawn. This solution was exactly what the priest of Ani said. Let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch which basically means lets let everyone live. This meant that whoever chose to stick to their traditional belief was left to do what they wanted as long as they didnt cross or condemn each others practices. They basically had to learn to coexist in peace and harmony. This coexistence was finally achieved with time and things gradually returned back to normal. Although today I can say 90% of the villagers are now Christians but there are still the remaining 10% that still practice these traditional religions.   Traditions are very important but when these traditions start to affect us negatively its best we do away with the bad aspect of it or make an effort to modify it into something positive. In our lives today we can only posses maturity when were able respect the various beliefs of people around us; even if, we think it is absurd. These stories explained above re basically reminding us that tradition and modernity should not exist as exclusive entities; rather they should complement each other. It is necessary for Traditions to progress with modernity, yet it should not be destroy the past as was portrayed by Michael Obi when he said, Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas. Well indeed must look at the past with reverence than with disgust because no matter how modern one maybe our tradition makes us complete. There should always be an ideal blend of modernity and belief each person posses. The plot however is somewhat unfinished for full understanding it will depend on what the readers imagination may perceive. Every now and then human beings become overwhelmed with joy that we forget that there are people around us who may be affected by our careless actions. Michael Obi is a foreigner to that place just like the priest but as a head principal or public figure he should have observed their culture and not impose his own way. Given the wrong education, the students may be detrimental to society, in the same way that Mr. Obi has been detrimental to the village people. In our world today, the younger generations are too busy trying to advance their everyday life by having everything explained scientifically. They tend to neglect the beliefs of their ancestors. However, the destruction of the school created a turning point for the people to accept that the beliefs of the ancestors are as powerful as the innovations of the western world. No matter how powerful a structure may appear to be if its components are empty on the inside, there is practically no doubt that it will disintegrate. The obstruction of this path could mean that education in Africa becomes not a real education of impartial learning but a shrouded way of reaping of the people of their heritage and wealth. The schools purpose becomes not to teach but to create wealth for the colonial masters. The school is a symbol of oppression to the people of Africa where they are mocked in the face by being referred to as some crude, backward and illiterate people, simply because they lack the op timism and contemporary thoughts of their colonial masters or the western world. Sources   Gusfield, Joseph R. Tradition and Modernity: misplaced Polarities in the Study of Social Change.American Journal of Psychology  72.4 (1967): 351-62.  Jstor, Web. . Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor. Modernism in Late Imperial British West Africa: The Work of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, 1946-56.  Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians  65.2 (June 2006): 188-215.  JSTOR. Web. .

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Grief and Bereavement Essay -- essays research papers fc

Grief and Bereavement CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION â€Å"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.† Matthew 5:4 Crisis involved with loss of other human being is the intensive of all types of crises. This paper I will be talking mainly about grief through people loss, as it is something, which happens suddenly, and which can also lead into intense grief. In this paper I want to also talk about how we as a Christian and especially as a pastor will be able to cope with or help a person that is undergoing this grief situation. This is because many of the times when we see someone undergoing this kind of crisis of grief, we tend to ignore it or we try to take over the grief to ourselves. Worst of all this when we try to convince the person that is in this crisis that it is not there at all. Grieving is an overall response to a number of different kinds of problems. Grief is not something that people is bound to experience but something that has consistently occurred in the lives of many. A loss may not necessarily initiate an experience of grief. But if there is an attachment emotionally to that loss then there might be grief. Grief is a part of human life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CHAPTER II TERMINOLOGY What is Grief? According to Webster’s Dictionary Grief is mentioned as intense emotional suffering caused by loss, misfortune, injury or evils of any kind, sorrow, and regret. Grief is considered to be a normal response to loss of any significant thing or person. Grief brings about a lack of meaning in the life of the person he, or she feels empty and sadness fills in. There are two kinds of grief and these are Normal grief and Morbid grief. Normal Grief It is seen as when individuals or family members who have been deeply affected by a death or anticipated death, who are able to openly grieve with each other and accept help from others as they experience the various stages of the grief process. Some of the symptoms seen in this kind of grief, empty feelings, sighing deeply, lack of appetite, overeating out of tension, unable to sleep. Sometimes there is a struggle with the way one feels about his or her relationship with the Lord. Some of them feel like God is has gone away from them. Most of them have trouble rejoicing in the Lord. Sometimes they over spiritualise the loss and hold back the question of God’s involvement in the loss. Morbid Gr... ... his way of normal living. Pastors needs to understand these three stages or phases of grief and should be able to help the griever with the knowledge of these. And along side all this we should be able to pray for the griever at all time, asking God to give him comfort. Most of all I would suggest that we should be able to Love and Care for the grieving person and help him to cope to a new way of life. BIBLIOGRAPHY Crick, Robert, D. Min., Grief, death, dying, and Bereavement: A general overview of the Dynamics of Grief: Helping People in Crisis, ed. Donald S. Aultman. Cleveland: Church of God School of Ministry, 2003. McMahan, Oliver, Scriptural Counselling, A God-centered Method. Cleveland: Pathway Press, 1995. Simpson, Carl Dr., Professor for European Theological Seminary, Lecture from Pastoral Counselling, 07. April 2005, Freundenstadt-Kniebis, Germany. Switzer, David K., The Minister as Crisis Counsellor, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974. The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984 Webster, Noah L.L.D, Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1966.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Filipino food for thought Essay

Food is a very important part of a Filipino’s life. No gathering would be complete without the lechon and so many other Filipino delicacies that we so enjoy. In my personal observation, it can be said that Filipinos seem to live simply for the pleasure of eating. You can’t visit a home without being offered a drink and food from the people there. It seems that food and the Filipino have been deeply rooted together. It may be that through food that brings the Filipino family close together. Indeed, we have come a long way from simply catching our prey and eating it raw and bloody. We have turned cooking and baking into an art form. Of course, through the help of modern inventions, cooking has evolved so much that it doesn’t even take you the whole day to prepare a meal that tastes like a feast! Microwaves and electric stoves replace all those clay pots and stone oven used a long time ago. Everything we need comes in neat little packages that just need to be opened, reheated and, Voila! Dinner is served. It wasn’t this easy during the time of our grandmothers although there were many improvements in the culinary arts. Women still had to slave over hot stoves, go to the market each morning to buy fresh ingredients and transform it to the sumptuous meals we all enjoy. Hard as it was to prepare food, this was the daily chores women did together that has bound them into one close-knit family. Yes, modern equipment have made lives so much easier, but some things in life that can’t be replaced by machines. In addition, some very important things are completely lost thanks to the modernization. Just imagine this quaint little scene in the lives of our grandmothers in the provinces. Come the day of the feast of whoever their patron saint, all of the women would gather in houses to start the preparations for the feast. Congregating in a specific spot (most usually the house of the wealthiest neighbor), they would formulate their game plan. Who would cook this and that, who would be in-charge of doing every little thing imaginable. For almost a week every year, they would busily go about their cooking with the other women in their village. This secret ritual is somewhat like the essay of straightening hair as a secret society. These cooking pros are in fact secret societies of the village women where children and men aren’t allowed, secret recipes kept within themselves and only when a girl reaches the right age would she be assimilated into the group. One would never think of this at this particular angle. With the dawn of technological advance, traditions are being replaced with the convenience of modern living. Nowadays, food preparation has become something too bothersome to worry over. Microwavables and ready-to-eat meals are the way to go especially in the busy lifestyle of the people, like some who hold two jobs to keep up with the expenses. Gone are the days when food preparation was a tradition. It has become a meaningless process most especially for the people in the cities. It is true that modernization is God’s gift to mankind. Everything has become so simple and effortless. Food cooked in minutes rather than hours, people can communicate to each other all over the world with just a press of a button and so many more. The advantages of improvement are undeniable. Yet, when it comes down to the basics, we must think; is it really worth it? Does this so-called improvement really improve the people I am with as well as myself? Is what we are giving up or paying for the price of modernization worth it? Personally, I find that some things are meant to be forever. There may be changes and yet the basic essence can remain the same. People who dwell in the modern world, living a modern life have forgotten what really matters. Custom and traditions make a country what who they are. The personality of each and everyone is molded by the way they are brought up or according to what belief the parents have reflects on their children. Modernization takes away the tradition that has been passed on from parent to child. Tradition is not the only thing that can describe what kind of people we are. What we eat also shows us the people we have become or have been. Take for example dinuguan, which is made of pork meat, blood and heart. It sounds kind of disgusting but it is simply divine! Tastes aside, it tells the people of what kind of people we were. It shows us that long before, we were not the stiff and super-civilized people we think we want to be now. Dinuguan seems like dish made by savages, according to the standard set by foreigners, but who is to judge us? Many of our creme ala creme of society have flatly refuse to eat any more of this delicacy. Why? Honestly, I think they are afraid to let the real Filipino inside them shine through lest it would ruin their high-class standards they have set for themselves. Another delicacy that tells so much of us Filipinos is the native bagoong. This is a pungent Filipino sauce made out of tiny shrimps and salt. The process of making bagoong is quite simple. All the ingredients are mixed together and stirred in a special way, by means of the feet. The makers of the bagoong would go up on a stone â€Å"bowl† where all the ingredients and secret spices are put together, then the fun begins. There is no special style on how to make this, but if you look at it seems so much like the grapes that are turned into the greatest wine. Who knows, maybe this is the best way to make bagoong? I think that this lowly sauce captures the true essence of the Filipino people. You see, we were conquered so many times, first were the Spaniards, then Americans and the Japanese. The longest being the Spaniards, we have experienced so much pain and suffering from them, the Friars and the government officials, who neither cared for the country or the people. They just wanted to get a piece of the wealth and resources of this poor native country down there. Time and time again, we were stepped upon and crushed by these so-called leaders of the church and state, and yet we survived only to become stronger and more powerful than before. It did take a long time before we reached our goals, but we did get there. Just like bagoong, its stepped on, everything is mashed into tiny pieces, and it seemed that everything (shrimps and spices) were lost in this gooey mess. Ironically, the longer they stepped on the bagoong, the tastier it got, the better the sauce. Some even say the feet had something to do with it. Yes, we Pinoys did get crushed, we were stepped on but then we have managed to make the most out of our situation. All those oppressors left a mark on us, which we accepted and turned to our advantage, very much like the effect of stomping does on the bagoong. What we eat makes us what we are. It sounds kind of funny to think of eating this way. If France can eat steak that makes them feel their power, or drink wine, Filipinos must also have something that shows the world what they are. The bagoong, mashed shrimp that doesn’t really look appealing, tells the world of its history. The many culinary dishes made up of so many different things show that even if we are all have diverse cultures and have so many differences, we Filipinos can still make something great together as one country. We may have Muslims in the South and Christians in Manila and Aborigines up in the north, but one thing is for sure. We are all Filipinos and no matter what, we are united as one people. How we prepare our food reflects our culture and tradition, even if modern technology is taking the place of so many things, our basic core is still the same. We should be proud of what we have achieved.