How to Write an Argumentative Essay

Argumentative essays may seem like theyre made to be nothing more than combative – and not a great way to win over the heart and mind of your teacher. However, writing a good argumentative essay has less to do with being combative and more to do with playing to your audience. In fact, with a bit of planning and little grunt work you can easily turn an argumentative essay assignment into your opportunity to become your teachers favorite student. Know Your Audience If youve been lucky enough to get to choose your topic for the essay, choose one you know your teacher feels passionately about. Check out their Facebook profile for starters. Even if they have it set to be pretty restricted from Public view, you should still be able to get a few bit of information. Maybe they show their favorite books, bands or TV shows. Look for patterns in the things they enjoy, the books or movies they mention in class and times when they talk openly abut their own perspective. In other words, simply pay attention to your teacher. Check out the bumper stickers on their car as this is one way many people often express themselves more honestly, even if they tend to be more guarded on their social media pages or within the classroom. Once you have a topic in mind, dont automatically assume youll need to be on the same side as your teacher. After all, an educator will be able to spot pandering a mile away, so dont go overboard or the whole thing could backfire on you. Instead, adopt the position your research leads to. An argumentative essay requires writers to do a lot of detailed research in order to fully explain a problem, consider possible solutions, alternatives or positions and then make a definitive statement about it. Your teacher may appreciate the fact that you are in agreement, but unless youve done the work to back it up, he or she will see it as brown-nosing which could easily affect your grade. Do the Work A well written argumentative essay should have these key characteristics: A definitive thesis in the first paragraph. Your thesis should explain why the topic is important, how it can affect the larger world and why readers should be interested enough to develop their own opinion. The introduction and thesis of your essay should be outlined or roughly written before you begin the body of your essay, but it is fine to go back and tweak or revise both the thesis and the introduction as you get further into your research and your essay develops more fully. Well written transitions between paragraphs. Every essay has three basic sections – the introduction, the body and the conclusion. Transitioning between these sections gives you a chance to show off your true writing skills. Transitioning between these sections is often difficult for students but if you can tweak these areas, they can offer the perfect way to showcase your writing skills. Ultimately, teachers want their students to be able to communicate effectively and showcasing these kinds of skills scores big points when it comes to grading. Evidence, support and a lack of bias. A well written argumentative essay draws conclusions based on evidence, not emotion. Keep your writing calm, cool and collected so that the evidence can speak pretty much for itself. Sticking to this also takes a lot of the pressure off your shoulders as you can simply use studies, anecdotes, research and historical articles in order to build your case. Some research will speak well enough for itself, so be careful not to over-state a point. A conclusion that offers something new. The conclusion of your essay shouldnt simply be a rehashing of your introduction. When reviewing your conclusion, compare it to your original thesis. While the spirit should be the same, your conclusion should be a reflection of both the core issue and the evidence reviewed throughout the essay. Writing an argumentative essay doesnt have to mean drawing battle lines in your class – or with your instructor. Choosing a topic you know your teacher cares about can give you a leg up in terms of scoring a few extra points, but youll still need to do the work to back it up. Ultimately, becoming a teachers favorite student is about addressing them on a personal level and showing that youre able to tackle difficult subjects, complicated research and historical records with a keen eye for observation and a fresh perspective.

Walter Richard Sickert and Jack the Ripper essays

Walter Richard Sickert and Jack the Ripper essays I want you take everything you know about forensic science; finger printing, DNA, blood splatter analysis, criminal profiling etc. and throw it out the window. Now, I want you to attempt to catch a killing machine fluent in German, Latin, French, and English. A psychopath that is driven by his deranged mind, hate for women, inablity to perform sexually and overall lack of a conscince who is killing alchaholic prostitutes in the East End, the worst neighbor hood in London .Your name is Scotland Yard inspector, John Grieve, and the man your looking for is named Walter Richard Sickert, The World knows him by the name Jack the Ripper and you lacking the scientific possibilities that we are fortunate enough to have now, know him by that name too. He has sent you and other police officials like you countless letters and notes but without any physical leads the investigation is sunk. Jack the Ripper was the one of the most violent serial killers in history. The fact that he was never caught would tarnish the reputation of London police for decades. and to him it was a great laugh and something that he would not let them forget as long as he was still killing. It is generally accepted by those who study him that he kill at least five women, however it could have been more like twenty five, there is no way to know when he stopped killing or if he ever did. The five that he certianly killed were Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Mary Kelly and Emily Dimmock. When they were murdered in the fall of 1888 they would have been known as unfortunates, so poor that they sold their body for every drink, and put those drinks before all else, before the rent, before food and always before cleanliness. The victims were old, generally in their thirties and forties. Most had the life of the streets written across their faces, and other body parts, dirty fingern ails, old stinking clothes and inside their bodies they were plagued by vene...

Variables The Internet Users and Democracy Score Research Paper

Variables The Internet Users and Democracy Score - Research Paper Example This research paper examines that In most of the third world countries, the development process has not been fully conceptualized. Slums are on the extreme end of capital cities and people survive on less than a dollar a day. The rate of internet consumption is still not high and democracy is in its primary stages. Information is only limited to a few number of people and the rest, the low-income earners, are subjected to doctored information that is useless. Opinion leaders are left with the mandate of spreading this information, a role with which they perform with zeal and zest in propagating lies. The rules and regulations that govern internet consumption have been tightened to ensure minimal or no criticism is directed to the Government. Again, it all depends with the Government of the day. From the above theoretical argument, it’s imperative to note that certain factors ought to be put into consideration. These factors include internet connectivity and ignorance from the target group of people. This group of people may not be willing to use the internet like in the third world countries mostly in Africa, the level of ignorance is very high. This theory seeks to establish a footing in the long run on the principal independent variable which forms an analysis the relationship between democracy and the independent variables. The result of this will form a multivariate linear regression model to establish the exact number in terms of variance democratization across nations can be accounted for by the internet.

Nuclear pharmacy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nuclear pharmacy - Research Paper Example The new method of diagnosing and treating diseases presents a number of both advantages and disadvantages al of which affects its acceptance as the discussion below portrays. Nuclear pharmacy works by detecting radiations coming from the body of a patient. The doctors inject a radiotracer in the blood vessels of a patient. As the radiotracer flows in the veins of the patient, it emits gamma radiations since it decays in the process. A gamma camera scans the radiations thereby creating an image. This provides a vivid visual aid in the diagnosis process. The process carries out the diagnosis process by analyzing the functionality of the various organs in the body. Such is an effective method of diagnosis since it analyses the functionality of the individual organs. The process of diagnosis differs from other conventional methods that analyses the anatomical and structural appearance of the organs. Analyzing the anatomy and structures of the organs does not provide a vivid portrayal of the effects of the tumors among other infections that impair the functionality of the organs. This implies that nuclear pharmacy offers a realistic way of diagnosing diseases thereby advising equally effective modes of treatments. Nuclear pharmacy comprises of two fundamental parts known as the radioisotope and a carrier molecule. The radioisotope is a unique chemical element with an unstable nucleus. The unstable nucleus decays to a stable nucleus thereby emitting radiations. A carrier molecule just as the name suggests is a chemical molecule that carries the radioisotope. During a process of diagnosis, a doctor injects the carrier molecule with radioisotope into the veins of the patient. The carrier molecules travels throughout the body of the patient including the heart and lungs which are always the most difficult to diagnose. The gamma camera records the

Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Death Penalty - Research Paper Example There are different views and opinions regarding the question and this paper will try to address the arguments for and the arguments against. The paper will also analyze the ethics in the justice system regarding the death penalty. Those who are against the death sentence have their concrete reasons why they think that it should not exist. They define the penalty as an unbearable denunciation of civil liberties and term it as being inconsistent with the basic values of the democratic society. They believe that the penalty is a theory that is uncivilized, unmerited, and unfair in practice. Most who argue against it are of the view that the system of the penalty is applied in an unjust and unfair manner against people. This unfairness largely depends on the amount of money they have, their attorneys’ skills, the victim’s race, and the place of occurrence of the crime (American Civil Liberties Union). It is true that human life is valuable. This can even be justified by the Bible during the creation process when God created man in His image. Therefore, those against the death penalty are of the belief that even the most horrible murderers ought not to be killed themselves. The offender’s life value cannot be destroyed due to his or her bad conduct even in the case where they have killed another person. They argue that life should be preserved. Every other person has an absolute human right to life. This is defined by the Bill of Rights. This right to life is a right for every person even those that have committed a murder. By imposing a death penalty and executing a murderer, the state violates that person’s rights. However, some argue that when a person commits a murderous act, then that individual gives up his or her right to life (Ethic Guide). This is a familiar argument in opposition to the death sentence and it insists that in the imposition of capital punishment, innocent people sometimes are killed for flaws or mistakes in the

Impact of Privatization on Firms Performance

Impact of Privatization on Firms Performance 1.0 Introduction Privatization throughout the 1980s has been considered to be the solutions to the problems associated State Owned Enterprise (SOE)s both in the developed and developing economies and even in the socialist economies (Vickers and Yarrow 1995). In reality privatization is an economies policy and other times a political policy that is difficult to achieve mostly when is implemented in a corrupt setting like in most developing countries. However it is wise for a competitive and well regulated business environment structure to be established before privatization takes place. In recent times there has been a significant increase in the privatization of SOEs. Megginson et al (2004), suggest that political persuasion by government as a result of poor and unsatisfactory financial and operational results by SOEs has cause the transfer of ownership to private investor who will impact their business discipline in order to improve the level of performance for the newly privatized SOEs. While Aktan (1995) suggest that privatization goes beyond the sale of SOEs, assets or shares to individuals or private firms but in a broad meaning, it is to restrict government role and function in providing economic activities and put forward some methods or policies in order to strengthen free market economy. Privatization is often meant to be the transfer of control and ownership of government asset or firm to private investors. It could be partial or whole, through private placement or public offer of share via the capital market as well as through the distribution of vouchers. The major purpose of privatization is to grow and develop the economic by creating competition that can bring about efficiency ***. It will be right for the logical argument of this research study to compare or examine the different view of academics on what privatization means. Parker et al (2005) states that privatization is used to cover many arrays of different policies like liberalization, commercialization but in one of its studies, Privatization in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence and the Policies lessons, suggest that privatization means the transfers of productive asset from the state to the private sector, but also stressed that the most important factors to be considered is the introduction of effective competition and regulatory measures alongside with existing firms and for government to accept the political changes that occurs when privatization takes place. While, Beesley (1997) suggest that privatization is the formation of a companys act company and the subsequent sale of at least 50percent of the total shares of a company to private shareholders. However it is obvious now that privatization starts with the government transfer of its assets or a controlling share to private investors or shareholders in order to stimulate econom ic development. Privatization as an inherent part of government efforts to rationalize the SOEs. Its mostly done to reduce the burden on National Budget, improve efficiency of individual enterprise and ensure wider distribution of business ownership among its citizens and other foreign investors. However in most cases it brings about the introduction of market force (Demand and Supply forces) into the economy. Privatization can be set up to achieve different objectives depending on the Political, Economy and Social condition of each individual Country. This is due to the fact that what is applicable in the UK for instance will most likely not applicable in Russia due to the differences in techniques or method of privatization, general government objectives, SOEs condition, firms sectors activities and the countries characteristics. According to Bennett (2003) there are different methods used during privatization, either one used has its own advantage and disadvantage. The share option method is the mostly used method, it involves the sales of SOEs through the issue of shares to the public through stock market. For this method to be successfully implemented, the local country privatizing its SOEs must have an established Stock market where the trading of these shares should take place. Also there should enough public awareness to sell shares. While the private placement option which involves the sale of SOEs to the highest bidder helps government rise substantial revenue but the issues involved here, is the highest bidder will always want to get back their money back in time by exploiting the consumers. This option is mostly done in developing countries where there stock market is still very weak and there are trying to get foreign investor to invest. Lastly the voucher method which is common with Eastern Europe an countries like, Russia, Czech Republic etc, tends towards alleviating poverty. It involves the allocation of SOEs shares to virtually all local qualified citizens of a state in order for both the poor and rich to be co-owners of the SOE. But in most case the poor ones are more likely to sell their share to the rich one who will then have a controlling stake. 1.1 Background to the Study The telecoms industry is a sizable sector offering a wide range of products and services as well as employment opportunities across virtually all professional, skilled and unskilled discipline in the economy. However the industry has expanded and develop rapidly since late 1980s, in the 1990s and even more rapidly in most recent times due its consistency in constant need for Research and Development (RD), technological change on both the service providers and suppliers sides respectively in other to satisfy its market and be more efficient to maximize profitability. The telecommunication industry whether in a developed or developing economies has had its impact towards the growth and development of virtually all parts of an economy ranging from the political, social, financial, technological sectors over its 100 years of existence. However like every other service providing sector, it provides services to the local market and international market where business strategic is always aimed at gaining competitive advantage in the existence of competition and tight regulatory business environment in terms of providing service to users, expanding its economies of scale and scope and equity expansion. Many countries grant monopoly power to their local telecoms but establish an office that will regulate their activities and in other cases some merge their postal services and telecoms services together, example is the United Kingdom (UK). The UK Telecommunication has been in existence dating back to 1879, with its first telephone exchange established in Coleman Street, London. 1896 saw the Post Office take over the private sector trunk services while in 1912, all national telephone company exchange was controlled by the Post Office as a monopoly supplier of telephone service in the UK. The Post office had two departments the postal service and telecom. As a rule as stated by Ratto-Nielsen, telephone operations, the postal service where subsidized while labor union where paid high rents to organize labor. However in 1969, the Post office become a State Public Corporation and after the Carter Report of the Post Office Review Corporation was published, the 1981 the British Telecoms Act 1981 became law and the postal and telecoms of the Post Office became the responsibilities of two separate Corporation namely; The Post Office and British Telecoms (BT) Cable and Wireless, which was privatized. While BT was created as a Public Corporation charged with the responsibilities for Telecommunications, Supplies, Installations and Maintenance. The first competitive rivalry in the industry was the granting of license in 1982 to Mercury Communication Limited (MCL) to operate a fixed Link network in order to compete with BT. This only made a little impact as BT has a huge competitive advantage over MCL because it already had the market share, established and experienced Skilled employees and existing contracts with leading telecoms equipments manufacturers and service providers to operate and even if a year later both where give the advantage to operate without rival firms providing fixed link networks in the UK for seven years The Government White Paper published, proposed for the sale of 51percent of BT and the creation of a telecoms regulatory body, to be named Office of Telecommunication (Oftel) whose duties where to supervise all the activities going on in the telecoms industry and to also prosecute those who do not comply with the set rules and regulation of the industry as well as protect services users from exploitation. Two years later Oftel was signed into law and then administration of Margret Thatcher creating BT as a Limited Company wholly owned by the Government as BT Plc but was later privatized by selling off 50.2percent Shares to the Public. BT is one of the world oldest telecommunication Firm and dates back to be the first ever British telecom firm which also had the sole monopoly of providing telecom services in the UK with the backup of British Government. During the period, from 1878 the UK telephone service was been provided by the private sector companies, National Telephone Company (NTC) who were also faced with competition from the General Post Office (GPO) and in 1896 the GPO took over operation of the telephone service from and became a monopoly market for the in 1912 controlling the entire telecoms market in the UK. In 1965, some finding made by a working party was presented to the government which there found substantial enough. This lead them to split GPO into two divisions; the Post and Telecommunication which gave birth to BT and five units Post, Telecommunication, Savings, Giro and National Data Processing Services respectively. The Post Office act of 1969 made the Post Office to be controlled by the government and established as a public corporation. This gave them the sole right to run the telecoms system with listed power to authorize others to run such systems. However the Post Office retained its telecommunication monopoly. The Carter Committee of 1977 suggest for the restructuring of the Post Office into two separate units and further renaming of the Post Office to British Telecoms but it also remained a part of the Post Office. In 1981, the introduction of British Telecommunication act transfer the provision of telecommunication from the Post Office as a resulting establishing two different corporations a bold step to create competition in the utility industry (Telecoms). This empowered the trade and industry ministry and the British Telecoms the right to grant Licenses to other telecoms operators to run telecommunication systems therefore creating competition in the sector. However, in July 1982 the government officially announced her intention to privatize BT by selling up to 51 percent of BT shares to private investors. In 1984, more than 50 percent of BT was sold to the public through share option, then the largest ever most successful SOE privatization exercise in the history of privatization leaving the government with just forty 47.6 percent. This was about the most radical and the largest scale privatization exercise ever had in the history of Britain. However most investor where scared that it was going to fail. It was but in 1991 the government share of BT was reduced to 21.8 percent by rising up to  £5 billion and creating about 750,000 new shareholders of BT. In reality, the privatization of BT opened the telecoms market for other operates to come into the market, invest in the sector and breaking the monopoly advantage had by BT over the years by fighting for market shares through intense competitive business environment. This however forced BT into having fairer business policies, improved technology to optimize productivity as well as to raise its level of efficiency as government regulatory body would introduced a price cap system. On the other side this allowed other firms to spring up and compete with BT in the telecom sector bringing about maximum utilization of available resources, cost cutting and efficiency. Telecoms consumers where the most rewarded people as operator gave them the best deals ever in order to gain market shares. BT Plc is now run in over 170 countries all over the world and faced with about 150 other telecoms operator. This has forced them virtually to constantly to research and develop their existing technolog y as well as acquire new ones in order to keep pace with their consumers new and market share. 1.2 Rationale for this Study In this research study aims to examine the impact of privatization in the telecom sector in the UK post privatization era. Also it will examine if the method of privatization contributes to both the operational and financial performance*** 1.3 Objectives to the Study My objectives will be subdivided into two sections aimed at determining to what extends privatization affected BT performance in terms of one; financial performance By looking the determinants working capital management, Share price movement and it covariance relative to the telecoms sector and FTSE 100 and Financial annual report Secondly; operational performance Level of efficiency Market Share strategy Competition and Regulation 1.4 Limitation There are inevitable limitation to this research study caused by the different economy situation post privatization era of BT. This can be ranging from some systematic economy problems to specific economy problems that can either be a general issue associated with all other sectors of the economy or rather that has to do alone with the telecoms sector or BT performance over time. Also political issues that arise for political interference in BT or the telecom sector which can either be from change of government. Finally as a research study there will be minor statistical error but this research study still represent a substandard measurement of BT post privatization operational and financial performance within the very dynamic, rapid, competitive and volatile telecom sector indices and the FTSE 100 at large. 1.5 Research Questions Why would one witness a difference in performance in terms of operational and financial factors when a firm is managed by government compared to when been managed by the private individual or investors? 1.6 Structure of the Study In Chapter two, this study will focus on the methods of privatization while chapter three of this research is literature review which includes theoretical framework and a review of relevant literatures. The theoretical framework will look at the different theories of privatization, how those theories where applied during privatization and the impact it had in the telecoms sector. Also the literature will critically review the impact of privatization in the telecoms sector focus mainly on the operational and financial performance of SOEs before and after privatization. While Chapter four will discuss the methodology adopted to achieve this study. Chapter four will be analysis of datas and stating of findings. Finally Chapter five would be conclusion. Chapter two 2.0 Methods of Privatization 2.1 Introduction This chapter will focus on the different methods of privatizations ranging from share issue method to voucher or the mass method and finally the asset sales method. It will also discuss the justification why a particular method is chosen rather than the other toward the achievement of privatization exercise and finally the advantage and disadvantages of each method used. 2.2 Share Issue Method This method of privatization involves the sale of all or part of SOE to investor through a public share offer which are similar to initial public offer (IPO) in the private sector via the stock market. This is structured to raise money for the government, divest them also from ownership and for them to achieve political objectives. However in the words of Megginson (2005) this method is the largest and most successful method to transfer SOEs to private ownership. Yet it is the most dramatic because if it turns out successfully or fails respectively it becomes the most political and economy bad or good decision depending on what happens. However, the process of using this method involves the passing through three steps; How to transfer control: This involves whether to sell the whole SOEs strategically to the public once or step by step. If the last option is chosen then government will have to determine what percent should be sold initially and subsequently but the most important thing here is for the government to put up tight regulation to control corporate decisions after the privatization exercise. How to price the offer: The pricing decision requires whether government should do the pricing by tender offer, a booking-building exercise or a fixed price but whatever the decision government makes it must be in advance. However the government always issue out SOEs share below the true market value as an incentive to encourage investors to buy shares. Finally, how to allocate the shares: This depends on who the government intends to favor most, it could be the employees, labor unions or potential investors and even foreign investors. Also it could make use an investment banker as lead underwriter or favor national champion. Meanwhile this method of privatization needs the existence of a capital market and also has some comparative advantage over the other methods which is rationale behind why it can be used in some situation rather than the others. In most case SOEs share prices are underpriced relative to the market price, hence foregone government revenue that will make investor make a premium on top of there investment The needs to expand the stock market operational capacity to accommodate new issued equities Advantage Can raise huge amount of revenue for the government The strategy employed can be use to create wealth evenly for local investors by allocating a set percentage of share to every region within the country. This usually occurs in situation where there is less inequality of income The use of share option, most likely develops the capital market. It is also used when the SOE to be privatized is large and profitable. For example BT, It also transforms the size and efficiency of both the nations investment banking sector and its capital market. Disadvantage It is time consuming to organize It is extremely expensive to coordinate due to the fact that before the share are put to sale the government have to hire and pay consultants 3. Transaction cost is another issue. It include cost of sales, advertising, underwriting. 2.3 Asset Sales Method This method involve the sale of the whole or part of SOE clearly for cash to individual investors, group of investors or an existing corporation with or without experience in that sector (Meggison 2005). Vuylsteke et al (1995), suggest that transaction here can occur in different forms from direct acquisition by a similar corporate firm or private placement to targeting various institutional investors. However there are different procedures to follow in this method of privatization exercise. This includes; firstly the full competitive process which involves a privatization process of pre-qualification of bidders to win the final bid to take-over the said SOE. While the second procedure involves the use of direct negotiations between investors and government representatives to take-over the said SOE which usually involve the search for a larger number of investors. Both process would usually involve the investor who are either new or have an excellent record of both operational and financial performance in the past. This though is not a major concern for the government or standard to win the bid but can only be as confidence booster for both the government, SOE labor unions and management. However the governments have strict interest in the bidders that can meet their financial requirements as well as all other agreement without violating. Advantages It brings about a speedy and flexible negotiation towards the sales of SOE between the individual or group of investors and the government body that is interested in the transfer of the SOE to private hands. It can yield more revenue for the government as the highest bidder wins the ownership of SOE to be privatized It is the most reliable method of privatization in economies where the stock market is underdeveloped as well as encourage to a great extend property right theory. It attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cash flow income into the economies of the local country. It can also bring about innovation in technology, management skills and expertise especially when these SOE are bought over by foreigners. Disadvantages It is the least transparent method of privatization as the government might only target to sell to the group of investor that favors they own political objectives. It can bring about exploitation as the new investor might be under pressure to pay back loans and t the same time maximums profit within a short period of time. The group of investors or individual investor might not have the required technical expertise or skill and experience to run the new privatized SOE. These are mostly common with local investors favored by the government or are new in business. 2.4 Voucher Method This is also known as mass privatization, usually common in Eastern Europe. It is a method whereby eligible citizens of a nation can use vouchers that are distributed free or at nominal cost. This gives holders the right to bid for stake for SOEs or other assets been privatized. This method is mostly used in transition economies like in the Central and especially Eastern economies respectively to bring about fundamental change in the ownership of business asset in these economies, although not always change in effective control (Meggison 2005). However, low income distribution level prompted most nations in Eastern Europe to adopt this method of privatization as it became clear that the only viable way to privatize and maintain significant domestic ownership was the voucher method if not only individuals with the wealth to acquire shares which were communist, criminal and foreigners would buy up everything. (Parker and Saal 2003) This method of privatization as suggested by Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1994) shows that the reason to purse and specifically design the program is largely dictated by politics. This involves the divestment of SOE through the distribution of vouchers to a nations citizenry that people can use to bid for the SOEs on offer. This method has been used in mass privatization exercise programs mostly in transaction economies in the Czech Republic, Russia and other Eastern and Central Europe countries. However this method has been really successful in the past but most recently are failing because there do not attract new capital or management to the privatized SOEs. Experience has also shown that it do not provide effective ownership structure for the new privatized SOE instead insiders end up controlling most of the more valuable companies and ordinary investors receive claims of the weakest and least promising SOEs. Advantage It ensures a wide share of shares ownership, where as a lot of people would have been too poor to buy and own a share. Disadvantage It yielded no cash inflow to the government or firms and thus there were no transfers of technology, capital and expertise from foreign investors or multinational companies to the privatized companies. It also gave the new owners of the privatized who where existing managers and employee little incentives to effectively restructure the firms operation and reduce the amount of staff needed in order to cut cost. In most cases, government never gave up the full control of important privatized companies to private owners other than managers because government still heard a majority shareholding and thus felt that the firms will be too strategic to be left unsupervised. This was because government wanted to ensure that no serious staff cut which would have impact on operational restructuring as the exercise was politically rational but economically deliberate. Government allowed the politicization of credit extension also made the newly privatized firms continue to enjoy soft budget constraint for an infinite amount of time also contributed to one of the weakness of voucher privatization. 3.0 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 3.1 Introduction The privatization of SOEs has over time been a big and important issue in the growth and development of the economy. This has lead to the development of many theories which explains the ideas behind what is expected in principle and practice in privatization exercise. This chapter will however discuss the relevant theoretical and empirical literatures of this research study objectives and rationale. This involves critically examining the theories that have been developed over time by different authors and how their impact privatization as regards the objectives of this study. This will also state why privatization is vital for the growth and development of some sectors and why, it will not in some other sectors within the economy. Finally, analysis on how privatization affects the performance of a firm will also be discussed. 3.2 Factors Determining Privatization SOE were highly inefficient and grow at a very slow pace, too much bureaucratic issue can cause no room for quick decision making, innovative changes. Also constant government political intervention as well as administration changes is an issue. It is also over dominated by the power of Labor Trade Union (Veljnovski 1987). However after the successful privatization of BT in 1984 by the Thatchers administration, it became an economic policy that can be used to reduce the financial pressure on government budget as well as the concern to prevent SOEs from failing in terms of its inefficient use of financial and operational resources. But could this be a means to wealth creation for investors, who through the spread and acquisition of shares ownership, restructuring and refocusing of SOEs economic objectives as well as cutting of trade labor unions influence and power will see SOE to maximize both there operational and financial performances. An argument that must be stressed here is that of the difficulty in interpreting the indictors of both operational and financial performance of SOEs post privatization within and outside the business environment economy. Take for example; poor financial performance may be consistent with high rate of internal efficiency if the formal is as a result of government policy of price control. However, since SOEs frequently respond to anticipated market failures, profit maximization and similar related measures might not necessary, be a reliable indicator for their poor performances over time (Ramanadham 1993). Rather this study will support that failure of SOEs, could be as a result of rapid demand for their goods and services faced by their steady but slow growth to reach maximum productivity movement rather than to totally shift production function to meet all demands and avoid poor operational and financial performance. Yarrow (1986), however argued against privatization stating that competition and more forceful accountability will even be better than privatization in promoting both financial and operational efficiency but his argument has a limitation, it only focused on a small number of company within UK. Ramanadham (1993) pointed out that the objective of privatization is realized more if it becomes successful within a short period of time either by stock market price rise or increase in the level of efficiency or productivity bringing about instance economic growth and development. But when reverse is the case (if it fails), which happens some time it even makes privatization more undesirable. So it is best re-engineer SOE by over hauling it, as well s to set up a transparent regulatory frame work to remedy what might be a failure when the objectives of privatization are not met as anticipated in order to level the firms operational and financial performance post privatization. In a further argument by Megginson et al (1994) whose strong support from recent theoretical and empirical perspective, that private firms will always outperform SOEs stating that privatization itself will always increase both the financial and operational efficiency of firms irrespective of the business environment. While another view by Moore (1992) who argued that the act of privatization promotes economic efficiency and public confidence (one of the major objectives of property right theory) in the system of industrial capitalism and thus SOEs should be sold off before efficiency gains can be realized. He also argued that the success of privatization transforms business attitude towards ownership, economic responsibility and towards the improvement of corporate performances. It also allows government play an important role of regulation the business environment leaving the ownership of firms in the hand of investors and individuals who will perform better as there are faced with scare resource and market forces. It is clear now that different factors can lead to privatization especially when SOEs has underperform operationally and financially causing political pressure, budget deficit and waste of scare resource for the government and even to the extent of administrative failure. 3.4 Evaluation of the theories of Privatization Principal Agent Theory Vickers and Yarrow (1995) points out that a problem exist in the principal agent theory as the principal interest greatly lies in profit maximization and high return for investment therefore this aim might conflict with that of the agent who might pursue other objectives apart from profitability. Further stating that since the formal do not have full information concerning what is happening within the SOE and cannot fully control the attitude of the agents who might be over ambitious and purse his own objectives, this will certainly create monitoring problems for the principal. This in fact creates both financial and operational problems directly or indirectly.** However when shareholders can influence the behaviors of agents (management) through vote as the only way to keep them in check, the agent might however work at a more efficient level and focus on a set objective towards profit maximization. On the other hand when the rate of efficiency increases, it leads to higher revenue which is mostly one of the objectives, to brings about higher income and dividend for its shareholders.** Property Right Theory This is a set of right to control assets. It is a consequently grants of authority made to an investor or a group of investors through right of issue of share or control either public or private and acknowledged by other persons or organizations (Lindblom, 1977) De Soto (2006) argues that lack of formal property right is what has kept developing economies from been developed stating that it limits the amount of goods and services that can be exchanged in the market in order to have a sustainable long term economy growth. While Easterly (2001) opinion is quite similar to the views of Soto, Easterly suggests that property right is a s

Not Just a Number: Critical Numeracy for Adults :: Numeracy Mathematics Education Essays

Not Just a Number: Critical Numeracy for Adults "It is difficult to understand why so many people must struggle with concepts that are actually simpler than most of the ideas they deal with every day. It is far easier to calculate a percentage than it is to drive a car." (Dewdney 1993, p. 1) To many people, the words "math" and "simple" do not belong in the same sentence. Math has such an aura of difficulty around it that even people who are quite competent in other areas of life are not ashamed to admit they can't "do" math. Innumeracy is more socially acceptable and tolerated than illiteracy (Dewdney 1993; Withnall 1995). Rather than discussing specific ways to teach math to adults, this Digest looks at emerging perspectives on numeracy and their social, cultural, and political implications as a context for new ways of thinking about adult numeracy instruction. What Is Numeracy? Numeracy involves the functional, social, and cultural dimensions of mathematics. Numeracy is the type of math skills needed to function in everyday life, in the home, workplace, and community (Withnall 1995). Although not always recognized as such, math is used in many everyday situations-cooking, shopping, crafts, financial transactions, traveling, using VCRs and microwave ovens, interpreting information in the media, taking medications. Different people need different sets of math skills, and their numeracy needs change in response to changes in life circumstances, such as buying a car or house or learning a new hobby (Gal 1993; Withnall 1995). Like literacy, numeracy "is not a fixed entity to be earned and possessed once and for all" (Steen 1990, p. 214), nor a skill one either has or doesn't have. Instead, people's skills are situated along a continuum of different purposes for and levels of accomplishment with numbers. Beyond daily living skills, numeracy is now being defined as knowledge that empowers citizens for life in their particular society (Bishop et al. 1993). Thus, numeracy has economic, social, and political consequences for individuals, organizations, and society. Low levels of numeracy limit access to education, training, and jobs; on the job, it can hinder performance and productivity. Lack of numeracy skills can cause overdependence on experts and professionals and uncritical acceptance of charlatans and the claims of pseudoscience (Dewdney 1993). Inability to interpret numerical information can be costly financially; it can limit full citizen participation and make people vulnerable to political or economic manipulation.

US Bank Corp. Analysis

The two Institutions chosen or comparison are Wells Fargo (WFM) and Bank of America (BACK). To evaluate the overall strength the major assets, liabilities, capital, risk, liquidity and operating decisions of the three chosen institutions will be discussed. Balance Sheet Analysis Out of the three banks US bank is the smallest in regards to assets with Bank of America being the largest followed by Wells Fargo. When comparing total assets to total liabilities USB finds itself in the weakest position having a total debt to total assets ratio of 0. 11 . Commercial banks are known to leverage themselves highly and leverage Is normal in the Industry.However In comparison to BACH'S ratio of 1 . 124 and Wife's ratio of 0. 89 this relatively high leverage Is a cause for concern. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp†¦ Chairman Sheila Fair has advocated for the US Bank to reduce their leverage to half believing that their financial position poses too great a risk. The industry averages for long t erm debt to equity and total debt to equity ratios are 64. 36 and 177. 19 respectively. In respect to this, US Bank finds itself taking the middle ground between Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Wells Fargo seems to be In equity ratio of 84. 6, well below the industry average. The most indebted institution would be Bank of America who's ratios of 120. 09 and 249. 67 are well above the industry average. US Bank in comparison has a long term debt to equity ratio of 67. 93 which is right around the industry average while their total debt to equity is far below it at 139. 98. Despite being in good position relative to the industry and the two chosen similar financial institutions in these metrics, this indicator should be held with skepticism as many believe that all commercial banking institutions are unreasonably leveraged.One of the reasons for US Banks highly leveraged position ay lay in the management's decision to acquire more banks through IBID-assisted deals. It is stated that, â€Å"In total, the firm has acquired $35 billion of banking assets through these deals at minimal costs. † Though these deals have been stated to be not significant enough to pose such a threat. They are still campaigning to acquire even more assets. Assets All three companies have real estate loans as their largest asset category. This includes residential loans, commercial real estate, and other loans secured by farmland.These loans can be considered safe as they are secured with liens on the reporter however they are illiquid and would be considered a long term asset. Wells Fargo has the largest amount of real estate loans as a percentage of their assets at 35. 81%, followed by US Banks 32. 18% and finally Bank of America's far smaller 20. 97%. All the banks second largest assets are debt securities over one year and they all have similar sizes as percentage of total assets. Commercial and industrials are the third largest asset for Wells Fargo and US Bank and they hold s imilar sizes as percentage of assets.Bank of America's third largest asset however is trading assets which should be more marketable. Much of the securities held by US Bank are not held for sale which makes them susceptible to interest rate risk. It is unclear how much of the banks loans use a floating interest rate but we can assume which would better help determine the risks involved. With US Banks fairly high percentage of real estate loans and commercial and industrial loans which are usually long term these risks to the bank are significant. The largest liability for the three financial institutions are interest bearing deposits.Wells Fargo holds the largest proportion at 50. 14% followed by US Bank at 47. 70% and then Bank of America at 32. 0%. US Bank holds and Wells Fargo have similar proportions of this liability. While these liabilities accrue interest the banks do have to expect frequent cash outflows from this. The three banks third largest liabilities are interested-bea ring deposits with US Bank having the largest proportion of 23. 36%, followed by Wells Fargo at 21. 93% and Bank of America at 18. 97%. These proportions seems relatively similar to each other but with US Banks higher proportion they should be weary.These interested bearing accounts are likely to be checking outs and while they do not accrue interest you can expect frequent editorials from customers which should keep them weary of loaning out too much money. Finally all three banks have listed other borrowed money as their third capitalized leases. Bank of America has the largest proportion of 14. 24%. Next is US Bank with 13. 66% and then Wells Fargo with 9. 62%. These proportions also seem quite similar too each other. Interest Revenue, last Quarter US Bank largest source of revenue is on fully taxable income on loans and leases at 44%.This proportion is comparable to Bank of America that accounts for 41% of their revenues. What is surprising is the large mount of revenue Wells Fa rgo receives from interest and fees on which accounts for 76% of their revenues. While US Bank only receives 42% of its income in the same category. Interested Revenue, Last Quarter The largest sources of interested income for the chosen financial institutions vary greatly which makes it difficult to compare US Banks position in comparison to the other financial institutions.The largest category listed in sources of interested income for US Bank was stated as unspecified at 18% and 19% for Wells Fargo. The largest source for Bank of America is investment banking fees and commissions. Expenses Last Quarter Largest Expenses US Bank amount % of expenses Interest on other borrowings & trade Lab 987,000 2 Interest on time deposits Cash from operating activities has been steadily increasing which is a good sign but so is cash from financing activities which is much larger. As commercial bank it can be expected that they finance their operation with a significantly large portion of debt. H owever in combination with their highly averaged position with their competitors this could be a cause for concern in their financial viability. Corporate Risk Profile: As a company that operates in the financial services, U. S. Banks largest exposure of risk comes from credit risk, operational, residual value, interest rate, market, liquidity and reputation risk.U. S. Bank has spent many years working to perfect managing these risks. For credit risk, U. S. Bank has incorporated â€Å"well-defined, centralized credit policies, uniform underwriting criteria, and ongoing risk monitoring and review processes for all commercial and consumer credit exposures† (SEC. Gob). US Bank has developed a very strenuous and extensive procedure in order to evaluate the credit risk that it handles on a day to day basis. Another way US Bank manages its credit risk is â€Å"through diversification of its loan portfolio and limit setting by product type criteria and concentrations† (SEC.Go b). US Bank divides its overall loan portfolio into three separate segments to, following the â€Å"don't put all your eggs in the same basket† theory. The three portions of the portfolio consist of commercial lending, consumer lending and covered loans. The risks associated with commercial lending include a rarity of factors including many risks associated with the borrower's business such as industry, geography, the loan's purpose, how the borrower will repay, debt capacity among others.In order to prioritize these risks and keep them all organized, US Bank assigns risk ratings to these characteristics in attempt to create the ability to focus on specific risks depending on importance. As far as the consumer lending sector goes, this encompasses â€Å"residential mortgages, credit card loans, and other retail loans such as revolving consumer lines, auto loans and leases, student loans, and home equity loans and lines† (SEC. Gob). The risk characteristic of this secti on of the portfolio is focused on the borrower and their keenness to pay off the loan as well as prior repayment history.The 3rd portion of the loan portfolio is the covered loan segment. Before touching on the risk of this venture, it must first be noted that there are loss sharing agreements between US Bank and the IBID that ultimately â€Å"reduce the risk of future credit losses to the company' (SEC. Gob). The risks that are associated with covered loans are â€Å"consistent with the segment they would otherwise be included in had the loss share coverage not been in place† (SEC. Gob). Another important aspect of US Bank to take into account is the sub-prime lending side of the banking industry.

Forest Gump essays

Forest Gump essays Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what youre gonna get. This is probably the most popular quote from Forest Gump. It simply states how Forest felt about life. He lived his life according to his values. Three of the important values that he lived by were being non-judgmental, helping people, and loyalty. Forest Gump faced many obstacles in his life, but he still stayed strong, and he became the best person he could be. The first value that Forest Gump lived by was being non-judgmental and accepting people for who they are. Jenny had a lot of faults and was not always there for Forest, but he never gave up on her. She was always coming and going out of his life, but he was always there when she came back. Bubba, one of Forests friends, was of a different race and background, but Forest accepted him without even looking at those things. Lt. Dan, another friend, was not an easy person to get to know and get close to, but Forest was still his friend. Forest always took the positive with the negative. He showed this value in accepting his own limits and his strengths. The second value that Forest Gump lived by was helping others. Jenny had problems at home, and at nights, she would come over to Forests to sleep. He would always let her stay with him. He never asked what was wrong at her home, but he knew she needed him, so he let her stay, because he knew he was protecting her. When Forest was in the war, and they were being bombed, he was determined to save anyone he could. He ran back and forth rescuing fellow soldiers. Lt. Dan was handicapped from the war and became very depressed. He did not feel like living anymore, but Forest became his friend and helped him to overcome his disabilities and enjoy life. The third value that Forest lived by was loyalty. Forest always helped his mother out around the house, and when she got sick, he immediately went to her. He ran his b ...

Essay about Black Band Disease

Essay about Black Band Disease Essay about Black Band Disease Black Band Disease By Mitchell Jones Tolerating a very narrow range of environmental conditions including temperature, salinity, and solar radiation, reefs are very sensitive to damage from environmental changes. Corals, in particular, are susceptible to a number of diseases including black band disease, white band disease, and coral bleaching. Black band disease was first described in the early 1970s as a black band moving on the surface of star corals and brain corals. It destroys live tissue as it moves over the surface of the colonies, leaving behind bare white skeleton. This disease may kill entire colonies within a matter of a few months, however tissue loss from a colony can be only partial with recovery after the black band disappears. This black band consists primarily of the filamentous cyanobacterium Phormidium corallyticum along with other microorganisms. Research has shown that the death of coral tissue is caused by lack of oxygen as well as exposure to hydrogen sulfide in the tissue adjacent to this black bacterial band The black band microbial consortium consists of an assortment of photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic bacteria that co-exist synergistically. The consortium has three functionally and physically dominant members as well as numerous heterotrophic members whose role in the disease is as yet unknown. The three functionally dominant members are populations of cyanobacteria and sulfide-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria. The black band disease microbial consortium is structurally and functionally identical to cyanobacterial-dominated microbial mats found in other illuminated, sulfide-rich environments. Black band disease occurs when corals are stressed by environmental factors including sedimentation, nutrient levels, pollution, and high water temperatures but a main cause is cyanobacteria. Several species of cyanobacteria have been found associated with black band disease, the most well-known of which is Phormidium corallyticum. Sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, dominated by Beggiatoa, are present in well-developed bands and exhibit visible vertical migrations within the band matrix. When present on the band surface Beggiatoa appears white due to intracellular

Human Biology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Biology - Assignment Example It has been analyzed that the onset of the disease begins by the fourth decade of the life in an individual and by the sixth decade of life, 80 percent of the people will present with this pathology in any single joint of their body (Robbins et al 2005; Sharma et al 2007). Many changes occur in the human body with the increase of age. The reduction in the working and efficiency of the muscles, reduction in the force of the muscles as well as reduced capacity of movement production are age related muscular changes. Changes in the ligaments also take place with age which includes decreased strength as well as elasticity of the ligaments. The ligaments and the muscles serve the purpose of providing steadiness to the movements of joints. These changes alter the mechanical nature of the joints and hence are associated with osteoarthritis as they result in decreased capacity of the joint to adapt to weight and stress and hence damage to the cartilage of the joint occurs with strain. Furthe rmore, muscles also tend to reduce the shock from affecting the joints and hence reduced muscle functioning also leads to damaging the joint. These damages may be associated with the accumulation of inflammatory cells within the joint cartilage (Conn 2006; Forceia et al 2000). The cartilage of the joints is made up of collagen type II, proteogylcans and glycosaminoglycans. The cartilaginous tissue also consists of water. This structure of the cartilage assists in the free movements of joints and serves to distribute the weight in a proper manner. But with age, the functional and structural capacity of this tissue reduces. This leads to damage to the tissue with stress and again predisposes to osteoarthritis. With aging, the water content of the cartilage also increases and the supportive structures which include collagen and proteoglycan also tend to reduce. The damage to the joints results in the presence of inflammatory cells within the joint (Robbins et al 2005; Forciea et al 200 0) Osteoarthritis is a condition which presents with tenderness in the joints and difficulty in the movement of joints in the morning. It is believed that the process of the disease early but it presents with symptoms at a later age. The joints which are mainly affected are the knee, hip and the joints of the finger. The disease usually does not affect all the joints of the body but is limited to a few joints (Robbins et al 2005). Osteoporosis is a pathological disease of the bones of the skeleton. It results due to a reduction in the mass of the bone which makes the patient susceptible to fractures of the bones of the body. Ageing is considered to be a very important and primary cause of this disease. The fractures that result due to the decreased bone mass are associated with 1 million cases of fractures in the United States annually (Robbins et al 2005). Changes in the structure of the bone tend to occur with age. The density of the bone becomes reduced and changes with change. O n an annual basis, every normal individual loses 2 percent of their bone density. Thus the minerals of the bones tend to reduce with age making the bones weaker and more susceptible to fracture. This accounts for an osteoporotic change of the bone (National Institutes of Health 2004). Cellular changes occur in the bones as well with age. The bone forming cells which are referred to as the

International Financial Managementsunyu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Financial Managementsunyu - Essay Example These techniques are ideal for an exporter who wishes to have stable cash flows subject to foreign exchange risk. It is concluded that multinational businesses and investors that engage in import or export of products and services or those that make foreign investments across the global economy should be aware of the risk exposures and the most appropriate hedging strategy for each type of risk. It is also suggested that special attention be given to economic exposure because it substantially impact the firm’s market value and expected future cash flows and even affects the competitive position of a firm that does not sell or operate overseas. By examining a range of academic materials, recently published book, magazine articles, journal articles and internet sites on the topic this report identifies the nature of the exchange rate risk faced by an exporter then describe the market strategies available for hedging the risk. Foreign exchange exposure comes about if an investor or a firm has an open position (un-hedged condition subject to exchange rate risk) in a foreign currency. There are two types of open position, open long and open short position (Homaifar, 2004). Open long position is one where a firm expects to receive foreign currency in future while open short position is one where the investor needs to pay foreign currency in future (Siddaiah, 2009). Foreign exchange risk therefore refers to the possibility or likelihood that a foreign currency may move in a direction that is detrimental to the investor. Specific risk in open log position is that the foreign currency may weaken against the domestic currency thereby decreasing the local currency equivalent (Poitras, 2002). On the other hand, specific risk in open short position is that the foreign currency may strengthen against the domestic currency thereby increasing the domestic currency equivalent