Thursday, September 19, 2019

Positives of TV :: Television

Many years ago, almost no one had a television set. Now there are more houses with TV than ever. There is a lot of discussion about whether television is a good or bad influence for family life. There are many negative points and also many positive ones. Now I will run through some of each. One of the first reasons why parents should limit the amount of time their children spend watching TV is that children read less and watch TV more and of course this will lead into a lack of exercise. Therefore parents should help their children watch TV and read equally. Plus encourage them to move a lot due to the increase in number of obese people and practice other activities. Another complaint is that there is too much violence and sexual reference that can be accessed easily by children, this can destroy a young child's mind easily. Watching violent television programs teaches aggressive attitudes and behaviors and the children might try to imitate the bad behavior that these programs show, and bad expression because they wants to act like them as adults by thinking this is the right thing. Moreover, parents must have control and know what programs their children are watching. TV has many positive points, as it is considered an extremely valuable machine that provides us with relaxation and education. For example, People who have been working hard all day will look forward to watch an episode of a favorite show. This period of relaxation will reduce their stress and leaves viewers refreshed and ready to take all works again. Besides it?s a good option for parents who are tried trying to entertain their kids, to sit them down in front of a cartoon to take some rest. However it must not be done frequently. Secondly, the most important point about television is getting education. Children can learn colors, numbers, and letters from programs that shows on televisions like Barney. Also, it provides us with valuable information by covering important events and current news.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Percy Shelley and His Use of Romantic Elements Essay -- Literary Analy

Romanticism, an intellectual and cultural movement during the late 18th to 19th century that followed the Age of Enlightenment, could be described as a rebellion against the social and political norms of the aristocratic society. Merriam-Webster defines Romanticism as â€Å"a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions (Romanticism)†. Historians oftentimes have reflected upon the conscious rejection of conventional societal manners as a characteristic of young poets (Spielvogel 657). Contrary to the rationalistic approach to thought that was typical of the Age of Enlightenment, Romantic literature focused upon human emotion, freedom of thought, individualism, self-reflection and the adoration of the ordinary. Romantic poetry also served as a way to express one of the foremost â€Å"characteristics of Romanticism: love of natureâ₠¬  (Spielvogel 658.) Intuition, free expression of emotion and thought, a return to the sacramental connection with nature and the belief in the goodness of humankind were all critical elements within much of the literature of this time. Percy Bysshe Shelley, a classic example of a Romantic poet, contributed immensely to the legacy of Romanticism. Critical writer Tel Asiado states, â€Å"[h]is poems over flow with intense emotional and radical ideas† (Asiado). During Shelley’s life, he composed many impressive works of poetry that were characterized by the freedom of thought, human emotion, individualism, reflection on the past, thoughts on humanity and dynamic power of nature. Although Matthew Arnold labeled him an "ineffectual angel," 20th-century critics have taken Shelley s... ...tions of Literature. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat, 1965. Print. Hesse, Hermann, Egon Schwarz, and Ingrid Fry. Siddhartha, Demian, and Other Writings. New York: Continuum, 1992. Print. Mazzeno, Laurence W. "Ode To The West Wind." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-2. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. McLean, John L. "Percy Bysshe Shelley." Magill’S Survey Of World Literature, Revised Edition (2009): 1-7. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. "Note On Poems Of 1818, By Mrs. Shelley." [Notes...by Mary Shelley]. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Raymer, John. "Ode To The West Wind." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-2. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume 2. Seventh ed. Vol. 2. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Analysis of learning outcomes with web-based tools

Research QuestionThe past research has shown that the experimental groups learning outcome was higher than the control group. However the follow-up questionnaires and interviews three months after the post-test showed that both the experimental and control groups seemed to retain the same amount of information and procedures learned in the session.The experimental group did show that they coached others more, deliberately applying the procedures and following up with the provided web-site for reviews. Our research will review the two group’s ability to retain the information for long points of time and which method provides the best long term retention rate. The research problem will review if web-based learning tools will help the one group retain the information longer we will retest both group in 6 months and 12 months. Does the use of web-based learning tools provide employees with a source to help them maintain knowledge learned longer? PurposeTo write a quantitative purp ose statement, we must first start with our general topic, which in this case is, interpersonal communication skills. We must include the variables (what are the outcomes and what factors influence those outcomes?), the participants in the study and the research site. As we narrow our topic, we see from the information given that we want to focus our investigation on using web-based instruction to teach interpersonal communication. The study will be conducted for the employer, so we know the subjects will be the employees   of ABC Corporation. We know that a good purpose statement takes the form of â€Å"the effect of x on y†.With the above information in mind, our purpose statement becomes: â€Å"The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of web-based instruction on the acquisition and application of interpersonal skills for employees at ABC Corporation†.Literature SearchThe research question addresses the use of web-based tools and how they can help profess ionals in a work environment learn and retain information better. Researching other companies and how their use of web-based tools have helped improve production, time management, communication skills, and the impact on return on investment would be the main groups of literature research to review.Looking at the different types of research is needed to create a concrete research paper. Benchmarking other companies, colleges and how they are using technology to improve the learning environment of their students, and technology sites to find out what changes in online tools are being developed. Because this research is using adult learners it is important to look at research from college level up. Most research on children and the use of web-based tools would not be useful. If the impact that we show can be compared to the impact other companies have seen then the data that our research fines will be more concrete. There are standard that we will have to follow before the research can even begin. We will need to review the professional ethics in educational assessments and also the ethical standard for developing the research. Review of the accreditations of all research papers we review is also important. When using a quantitative study it is important to justify the research problem and to compare the results with the prior predictions (Creswell, 2005).Ways to Collect DataThe researcher would have to get permission from management to do a research study. They need to determine if employees who have access to a web site after their training retain more information? The representatives of the study would be the employees who went through the four sessions on improving interpersonal communications in the workplace using the web-based tools and the control group that did not use the web.The researcher will show that longer term retaination of information can be enhances by using the web supported tools. Neither group will know they are participating in a planned study because if the study was know ahead of time people would be able to prepare and that would effect the data collected. A quantitative should be used because we will have to compare groups against each other. Managers should fill out questionnaires when employees access web sites. Did the employees solve problems without management becoming involved? Were employees without web sites able to solve problems as often as the web group? Information should be put into categories, those with web support and those without web support. Interviews and Likert scales could be used to evaluate the employees’ use of the web site. Tally sheets and logs should be kept each time a problem is solved with or without web site usage. A checklist inventory or assessment should be used each time a problem is solved with or without using the web site. A numerical chart can be used to compare the results after three months and six months. After the first three months the learning outcomes of the experimental group was higher. This could be shown on a chart or graph. Ten out of forty-four employees were using principles that they had learned. While only 3 out of 50 participants of the control group used knowledge they had learned. Post survey scores increased by 30% over pre survey scores for the experimental group. Observations of the employee’s behavior should be monitored. The groups should be compared at the end of three and six months to see which groups are doing the best job of retaining what they have learned. A personality assessment could also be used to determine if employees using the web site will continue to retain their training information. Data AnalysisThe data analysis process would consist of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative and qualitative data for both groups would be measured against their baseline abilities. This means that changes would be measured first against the behaviors practiced by each group before the intervention took place (for example, the 30% increase over pre-survey scores). Then, the intervention and control groups would be measured against each other in order to identify whether the changes that took place might be said to have occurred as a result of the web-based instruction.The quantitative data measurements would inclu de not only comparisons of the number of persons reporting their use of principles acquired at the seminar (that is, 10 against 3), as this would give a slightly less optimistic outlook for the technology intervention. Rather, percentages will be computed, which would generate a ratio of approximately 23:6 (23% vs. 6%) in favor of the experimental group.Qualitative analysis could be measured by constructing questionnaires that require the respondents to rate their current communication levels using a Likert scale and then applying quantitative measures to tell how many people (compared with baseline levels) detect an improvement in different areas. The questionnaire could also include areas that allow them to comment on the extent to which the improvement has taken place and the areas in which the intervention helped the most. Where verbal descriptions of changes are given, similar responses might be coded and grouped together. The number of occurrences of key words would be noted a s well as the use of qualifiers, such as â€Å"best,† â€Å"somewhat,† â€Å"significantly† or â€Å"dramatically†.Findings and RecommendationsThe problem of the research would be stated and detailed background information given to provide the reader with the proper foundation for the full comprehension of the research. Next, a review of the literature would follow, and this would allow the reader to expand his/her knowledge concerning the current trends and understandings about the subject as they prevail in the general academic circles. It would also grant the writer a chance to demonstrate his/her expertise on the topic.A description of the methodology would explain the methods of data collection and clarify the reasons for choosing these. This would include a description of the population sample, the intervention site and methods, and any other details that pertain to the study. It would also outline any limitations of the research. The findings would then be explicitly presented and a discussion of these findings would ensue.The discussion would include the discovery of any trends and an explanation of why these trends are believed to have occurred. After this, a conclusion would be given that would summarize the main points of the study. Finally, recommendations would be given, both for future intervention (through computer-based instruction) as well as for extensions of the study (such as conducting a similar study on younger persons who already have excellent exposure to technology to find out if results would be even better.) In short, the research would follow (more or less) the Trochim format: introduction, literature review, methods, results/discussion, conclusion/recommendations. ReferencesCreswell, J. (2005). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluation Quantitative and Qualitative Research. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Retrieved September 26, 2006

Monday, September 16, 2019

Fangirl Essay

There are some kinds of love in this universe. Without love, a human being will not be able to live normally and there will be something empty inside their hearts. This can be love for our God, parents, families, lovers, or maybe just for our bestfriends. But now just think about this case: how about love for someone that we have never even met before? Maybe just fangirls who know how it feels, because they are the one who have a non-sense head over heels in love all over the time. What thing that comes in your mind when you hear the word â€Å"fangirls†? Maybe just a bunch of weird girls who are too much obsessed with the artist whom they admire to death. Why are they so weird? Because commonly, fangirls always have their own world, their own strange hobbies, and their own reason for being so crazy. The things such as plastering their idol’s face as their phone wallpaper, sticking so many huge posters at their rooms, overreacting when their favorite songs from their precious boys are played at the public place, sighing desperately when their hardisk is running out of memory due to a bunch of photos and videos that are too precious to be deleted, and other nonsense actions; they just do it naturally and with no other purpose than their own satisfaction over the idols. They just want to feel close with their boys. Moreover, fangirls even often call them as their ‘‘husband’’. See? It seems like fangirls’ imagination is their last hope. The other thing about fangirl is for most of them, every single thing about their boys always matters. That is why they joined some fanbases that keep updating about their boys’ current condition all the time. And believe me it means trully literally, starting from what their idols are doing, if there is any newest clip or tv show, attending some events, or even just being spotted at a supermarket without wearing any make up. They keep sharing the information with the other fangirls all over the world. That’s why for these girls, living in social networking such as twitter and facebook is much more interesting than their own and always-boring-real life. Being a fangirl sometimes can also be very annoying to the people surrounding them. I mean, when their â€Å"love†, or should we call it as an â€Å"obsession† instead? Yeah, stuff like that goes into an extreme level, obviously people may look at them in an oh-i’m-so-irritated-by-this-creature way. For example, when two angirls meet each other for the first time, have a little chit chat, and then find out that they are admiring the same person in a same group, those two will dive into their own world. Those fangirls will easily connected and nonstop talking about the newest news from their idols and ignoring the others who keep staring at them all the times, wondering what they are excitedly talking about. That is the reason wh y people always ignore the fangirls when they started talking about the topic-that-god-and-them-who-only-know. Now, let’s move on some obstacles that might bother most of fangirls in this earth. One of them is that being a fangirl is extremely expensive, since they always have the urge to wipe out their credit cards or spend lots of money to buy every single album, postcard, DVD, photobook, and other merchandise that has their idol’s face on it. This collecting habit will make their wallet pathetically empty. The most ironic thing about this is, when their idols’ groups come to their country and hold a big concert with such a high price ticket, the fangirls would separate into two paths. The first, in the case of fangirls who fortunately come from the have family, or maybe already have salary from their job, they will easily buy the ticket with no hesitation, watch the concert excitedly, and form a smile that will never leave their face for at least one month later. Such a sweet memories~ In the other way, for those who do not have enough money to own the ticket, they will just cry to death all day long, knowing that they will just let their boys come to their country and perform perfectly as always on the stage without witnessing it by themselves. Their sorrowful faces won’t dissapear easily for sure. Do you think fangirl is nothing than just a weirdo because theye’re crying for something that isn’t worth it? They do know it by themselves but they just couldn’t deny the feeling. Even though their obsession towards the boys sometimes makes no sense, there is still some positive things that can be taken from those fangirls. One of them that is, the faith. They always keep the faith, no matter what mistake that their boy’s done, they will find the excuse behind it, apologize them, and continue supporting them as always. That’s why the artist wouldn’t be exist without their loyal, caring, and supporting fans behind them.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Bank Bailout 2008

Bank Bailout Outline I. Introduction II. Background III. Opposition’s point 1, refute, 1st support for thesis. a. Credit Card Act of 2009 b. No Change at all, Banks still operating the same way IV. Opposition’s point 2, refute, 2nd support for thesis. a. Creation of TARP b. $12. 2 trillion dollars of tax dollars were spent wrong c. TARP allowed many banks to allow credit again d. A majority of banks have paid back TARP money e. After TARP, Economy boosted V. Opposition’s point 3, refute, 3rd support for thesis a. Toxic assets cannot be removed easily b. Government takes more cost, then expects c.Economy will decline with removal of assets VI. 4th support for thesis a. Increased national debt b. Politicians were forced to sign this bill c. No solving of problems â€Å"Let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by this house of cards falters† (Bloomberg, 2007). The credit crisis is known as the â€Å"House of Cards†, for years the banking indust ry has transformed many American lives, which has resulted in a troublesome economy. Many factors led to the credit crisis, such as the rise and fall of the housing market, and inaccurate credit ratings helped to create the sub-prime mortgage crisis (Issues & Controversies, 2010).Low interest rates developed easy credit, in which people could get a mortgage and credit cards based on inaccurate credit ratings with the creation of sub-prime mortgages. People have the ability to own a home, with no down payment or fixed income. In August of 2007, the United States began a loss of confidence in securitized mortgages, which resulted in the Federal Reserve injecting $20 trillion dollars into the financial markets to ease the situation (â€Å"Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010).The most important question to be answered in the decade is â€Å"How a loss of $500 billion dollars from the sub-prime mortgage resulted in a $20 trillion dollar loss in equity values and an entire shock to t he world’s financial system† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). The United States government should not have given the financial institutions bailout money, because financial institutions using loop holes in the system to take advantage of their clients, financial institutions operations have stayed the same, and the government’s belief of a tree market economy goes against the bailout.The credit crisis is a â€Å"worldwide financial fiasco, which resulting from sub-prime mortgages, Collateralized Debit Obligations, Frozen credit markets, and credit default swaps† (Jarvis, 2009). The credit crisis brings two people together, people on Main Street and investors. The people on Main Street represent their mortgages or houses, while investors represent their money, which also represents big institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds; sovereign funds (Jarvis, 2009). These groups brought through the financial system, composed of banks and bro kers on Wall Street.As a result of the September 11th attack, Chairman Allen Greenspan lowered interest rates only to 1%, to allow credit to flow; however, investors have a very low return on investment (Snow, 2008). By lowering interest rates, it allows for banks to only borrow money from the Federal Government for 1% plus the surpluses from the Asian and Middle East market, which makes borrowing money easy for banks and to allow leverage (Adding up the Government’s Total Bailout Tab, 2009). The definition of leverage is, â€Å"borrowing money to amplify the outcome of a deal† and is a major way banks make their money (Princeton University, 2010).Wall Street takes out a majority of loans and uses leverage to their advantage, and a heavy flow of capital comes in. In which return, they pay back their original investment. The investors notice that Wall Street is making money very fast, and they want to create a new product to sell to Wall Street. The mortgage connects th e home buyer with a mortgage lender on Wall Street who gives them a mortgage, which is great because housing prices throughout America have been rising (â€Å"Bailed out banks†, 2010).The mortgage lender gets a call from an investment banker who wants to buy the mortgage; and the lender sells it to him, and the investment brokers buys thousands of mortgages. Every month the investment banker gets the payments from all the mortgages that he purchased from the box and cuts the box into three slices â€Å"Safe, Ok and Risky†, and then he packs the slices into the box and calls it a Collateralized debt obligation or â€Å"CDO† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007).However, greed has risen to the investment banker and wants’ more mortgages; however, the lender does not have any more mortgages to sell, because everyone who has qualified for a mortgage already has one; and the birth of the sub-prime mortgage is born. With a standard loan, the homeowner had to prove his wor th of a home, such as a job, good standing citizen, and assets. However, with a subprime mortgage, it was basically like free money. The person did not have to state their income, nor prove that you had a job.The investment banker and the lender are taking a risk, because if a home owner defaults on their mortgage, the lender gets the house and sells the house for a profit because home values have been increasing (Issues & Controversies, 2010). While home values have been increasing, American incomes have been plummeting for years; and because of sub-prime mortgages, the person did not have to prove income, a person with a $30 thousand dollar income; could own a $300 thousand dollar home. Many people defaulted on their mortgages, and foreclosures have been on the rise. In the United States, foreclosures were up 81% in 2008 and up 225% from 206†, which equals out to 19 per 1,000 households (CBS News, 2008). Due to there was a huge increase in foreclosures, instead of housing pr ices increasing; the houses values decreased in value very quickly and resulted in more foreclosures. A $300 thousand dollar mortgages was now only worth $75 thousand dollars. So all the mortgages that was in the investment banker CDO, now are worthless, and no one wants’ to take the CDO, and now the CDO is acting like a bomb (Roney, 2007).The investment banker is now panicking because he borrowed millions of dollars to buy the mortgage, and now he cannot get rid of it; however he is not the only one. Thousands of investment bankers throughout the world have CDO’s on their hand (Bailed out banks, 2010). In result the world’s financial system has become frozen, and everyone starts going bankrupt. As a result of the failure, the United States government rolls out a new program called Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to prevent another bank failure.Under the bank bailout, creation of new legislation to protect the consumer has rapidly increased, and supporters of the bank bailout point to the Credit Card Act of 209. Not only were subprime mortgages affected, but due to the freeze in the credit market in the United States government needed a way to regulate the credit card industry, but also to stimulate spending. Under the Credit Card Act of 2009, they require the financial institutions to give the cardholders 45 day’s notice of any interest rate change and financial institutions are prohibited from using misleading terms such as â€Å"prime or fixed rate† (The White House, 2009).With this legislation in place, it protects the consumer from many of the scams that the mortgage industry used as bait to get clients into buying houses they could not afford, using the subprime mortgages (Roney, 2007). But also it allows for Congress to embrace new regulations placed on the financial institutions. The Credit Card Act of 2009 that has become part of the famous bank bailout, however, it has been shown to protect the consumer, and Co ngress will regulate the new rules placed on financial institutions.For example, â€Å"there is no cap on the interest rate the credit card companies can charge†, and while credit card companies cannot increase you interest rate but only if you are late on a payment, â€Å"However future purchases interest rates can be raised with no reason† (White, 2010). The credit card companies have the ability to raise the interest rate on any purchases, while they must still notify you of the higher interest rate, the ballooning of the interest rate can take place at any time.This is exactly the same measures the financial institutions have used to misinform their consumers and â€Å"kick them when they are down† and â€Å"corrupt the middle class of America† (White, 2010). How the subprime mortgage boomed, had to come from the terms that many of the average consumers cannot understand, and a major aftermath of the subprime/credit crisis, occurred when many people d efaulted on their homes and credit cards (Roney, 2007).Then the mortgage and home will not exist for the family any more, and the credit card companies will balloon their interest rate enough so that the card holders will not be able to pay their credit card/mortgage. In which then the financial institution hounds them and attacks them at their core roots and even calls other family members to alert them of the card holder financial problems because they cannot pay their bills. The banking and financial institution have not taken any actions to prevent another credit crisis from happening again.Supporters of the bank bailout, commonly referred to as TARP, argue that the bailout wiped all the bad toxic assets (CDO’s) which were collected as result of the credit crisis and prevented the assets from hurting the financial institutions. The major recipients were Freddie Mac; and Fannie Mae. Both were government owned enterprises which bought a majority of the sub-prime mortgages ( Roney, 2007). Removing the bad assets from the financial institutions will have a positive effect on the economy because it allows banks to start lending again and unfreeze the markets.Under TARP, some mortgages would require the government to rewrite some of the effected loans, effectively putting more Americans into homes that they will be able to afford and by rewriting the loans also increase the standard of living. John Douglas, general counsel at the FDIC, said, â€Å"It doesn’t make sense to give the authority to anybody else but the FDIC†; he goes on to say â€Å"That’s what the FDIC does, it takes the bad assets out of the banks and manages them and sells them† (Vekshin & Schmidt, 2009). However, the supporters of the bank bailout do not represent correct/valid points/facts.In a study by the IMF of the 124 banking crisis, they have concluded: Existing empirical research has shown that providing assistance to banks and their borrowers can be count erproductive, resulting in increased losses to banks, which often abuse forbearance to take unproductive risks at government expense. The typical result of forbearance is a deeper hole in the net worth of banks, crippling tax burdens to finance bank bailouts, and even more severe credit supply contraction and economic decline than would have occurred in the absence of forbearance. Valencia & Laeven, 2008) As a result of the IMF study, it has concluded that removing the bad toxic assets from the banks could actually hurt the financial institutions and a system as a whole could freeze the credit markets again with a result of an economic decline, instead of an economic incline. Also there is no definition of a troubled market or loan. If the government wants to rewrite troubled mortgages or loans, there are no set criteria to say whether a mortgage or loan should be taken by the government and given to the troubled family.Another point, as Steward said, â€Å"The only way for this pr ogram to work is for enough of the bad mortgages/loans to be purchased to connivance lenders that the problem mortgages cannot hurt the system, or to put in simple terms, the government has to purchase enough mortgages/loans to inspire intra- institution (Stewart, 2008) Furthermore, the institutions will sell the assets that will remain depressed in value; and â€Å"no one is going to sell a asset that has a higher chance of making the institution money (Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010). In result, under TARP the government has a high probability of taking a majority of the loss.With the bank bailout, the economy will decline, and the government will take a great loss of the bank bailout. Supporters of the bank bailout will say that if the government did not step in and inject $20 trillion dollars into the market, an economic collapse could have happened and set America into another Great Depression. A heavy incline of unemployment; foreclosures were through the roof, a majo r decline in incomes (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009). America was becoming a very sick nation, and the bank bailout would help the economy and stimulate the financial institutions to help start lending and unfreeze the credit market.As one writer wrote, â€Å"there was at no time better to inject the financial institutions at this time, if they collapse it may be the sign of the apocalypse† (Bailed out banks, 2010)/ If there was no bank bailout, there is a major chance that this will be a sign of the apocalypse because the United States drives the world and if the major financial institutions such as Bank of America or Merrill Lynch fails then the world economy could ultimately send the world in to another Great Depression.The major reason that the American government should not have passed the bank bailout was the cost to the government. Under the Bush administration, the national debit doubled to a record high $10 trillion dollars (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009) . There are more programs that the government has to pay for such as Social Security. Many economists call this the â€Å"polluter pays† which is defined as â€Å"polluters must pay for the cost of cleaning it up† (Princeton University, 2010).When the financial industry is bailed out of disasters, which a majority of the time throughout history, they have created those disasters. If the banking industry feels like they can be bailed out every time they make a major mistake, then the American people will pay because the bank bailout is directly connected to the taxpayer’s funds (Obama sends warning to Big Banks, 2010).A price tag of $700 billion dollar bailout has hidden costs which can go high as $3 trillion dollars, which can â€Å"be the shortfall between the economies potential output and its actual output from the crisis† (Issues & Controversies, 2010). Another factor in the bank bailout is the morality, because the banks do not pay the costs that are imposed on a world society, which the tax payers pay directly into the banks and then the banks pay back into the government. Also, the political had a major role in deciding to pass the bank bailout.A senator said, â€Å"We had no choice. We had a gun pointed at our heads. Without the bailout, things would have been even worse† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). While politicians did not have an actual gun to their head, figuratively speaking because they had a oversight on â€Å"saving the banks and shareholders† or â€Å"have saved the banks but let the bankers and shareholders go† because of the final tap that American tax payer will have to pay to the bailout the banks that created this mess (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009).The bank bailout was a major mistake in the evolution of the financial world because it did not solve any problems; people can still be charged higher interest rates on their credit cards/mortgages. With TARP, there is no true removal of the bad assets that caused the credit crisis to form the bank bailouts; it only hurts the government because it has to take on the debt. Truly, we have stroke the core of the American people with the credit crisis, but at the same time the financial world has been given more powers and in a free market enterprise, the credit crisis can happen again at any moment.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Using Quantitative Analysis as an Effective Tool

For most of business history, decision making was based on qualitative individual judgements that had only crude data behind them. Retailers decided what to stock based on â€Å"gut instinct† of a prospective buyer, not on the basis of vital models of consumer behavior. The increasing need for quality research, especially in the area of quantitative analysis, has forced many companies to employ managers and leaders with specific training in this field. The successful companies of today utilize quantitative analysis as a tool to find and solve many different problems. These problems can be as diverse as: evaluating financial benefits, projecting future performance, and determining the savings or simplification of a process. Companies such as Coca Cola, Microsoft and Intel are the leaders in their respective fields because, they effectively utilize the tools at hand to make informed decisions. The key element of any â€Å"problem solving† method is to gather the information necess! ary to make an informed decision. Cooper & Schindler (1998) discusses the vital need for quality research and quantitative analysis. By utilizing â€Å"quantitative analysis† (Cooper & Schindler, 1998), we can project growth and opportunities for future business. This case study will focus on three key aspects of quantitative analysis as an effective management tool: (1) quantitative analysis procedure, (2) Cost effective analysis evaluates results or outcomes, and (3) cost impact-determine cost or impact associated with a process. Finally, specific company examples Ballard Power Systems, Atlantic-ACM, and Brix Networks will be cited. Quantitative Analysis Procedure-Select Alternatives with Best Sustainable Advantage Numbers are a businessman†s best friend. They are first of all, the measure of success. They are increasingly a critical tool for almost every kind of analysis and planning. However, let it be said that quantitative analysis is only as good as the data supporting the analysis. Ballard Power Systems, Inc. was founded in 1979 under the name Ballard Research Inc. to conduct research and development in high-energy lithium batteries. In 1983, Ballard began developing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. According to Ballard (2001), the company utilized quantitative analysis procedures to project out their long-term goals. The problem defined was: how to commercialize the fuel cell successfully? The possible alternatives were: (1) market the product on their own, and (2) find strategic partners who would integrate this key component into competitive products. The cost or impact on alternative number (1) was too expensive and too risky. Alternative number (2) was the s! martest and most logical course to follow. The effectiveness of alternative number (2) could be projected out with a much higher degree of certainty than alternative number (1). The value of working in conjunction with partners was simple. By leveraging combined efforts: (1) obtaining capital was simplified, (2) mass production was a reality, (3) access to critical markets was realized, (4) service coverage was assured, and (5) it would lower the manufacturing cost and speed up the development of the fuel cell. Alternative number (2) provided Ballard with the best sustainable advantage. By securing alliances with selected global players in Ballard†s target market, the benefits of clean, efficient, and reliable power in a wide spectrum of potential applications could be delivered effectively. Cost-Effective Analysis-Evaluates Results or Outcomes According to Atlantic-ACM (2001), the company is an international strategy consulting and research firm well known for it†s exclusive analysis of the telecommunicatiuons industry in the United States. One of the types of quantitative studies (Cooper & Schindler, 1998) cost effectiveness analysis was used by Atlantic-ACM to study the U. S wholesale market, wholesale long distance. Using the industry â€Å"carrier report card,† a type of survey that provides a quantitative analysis of the overall size and composition of the current wholesale market, Atlantic-ACM was able to project the qrowth and opportunities for future business in the wholesale long distance market. The survey revealed (Atlantic-ACM, 2001) a shifting industry in which new entrants are actively gaining market share over the traditional â€Å"three players,† MCI, AT&T, and Sprint. The exploding data/internet demand, expanding networks, evolving technologies, developing channels, and de-regulating global markets have lo! ered the cost of long distance time and time again. The statistical data gleaned in the survey showed that wholesalers cannot compete on price alone. The outcome of the survey showed that resellers must receive more support from wholesalers to help drive sales of their products and services to the end users. Cost Impact-Determines Cost or Impact Associated with a Process Brix Networks (2001) commissioned Sage Research to conduct a survey of 148 U. S organizations ranging in size from 500 to more than 10,000 employees. The type of quantitative studies utilized by Sage Research was cost impact. Cost impact determines the cost or impact associated with a process. The process in question was service level agreements. The service level agreement in question is an agreement between enterprise businesses and ISPs. The process is the successful implementation of the SLAs. According to Brix Networks (2001) over half of the enterprise IT professionals surveyed, said that services such as web hosting, e-mail, IP VPNs, with guaranteed SLAs have more than 30% more value than the same services without guaranteed SLAs. Service providers who provide guaranteed SLAs in the service contract were more likely to develop a loyal customer base than providers without SLA guarantees. Considering the fact that approximately one third of enterprises change provi! ders as a result of SLA disputes and nearly one quarter give poor recommendations about their provider to others, it seems fair to say that there is a definite cost impact to providers with no SLAs. Companies wishing to do well in the highly competitive ISP business need effective SLAs as part of their contracts with customers. The outcome of not having SLAs is simple: companies will lose their customer base to companies with SLAs. As this case study has shown, Cooper &Schindler (1998) described three aspects of quantitative analysis: (1) quantitative analysis procedure, (2) Cost-effective analysis-evaluates results or outcomes, and (3) cost impact-determines cost or impact associated with a process. In the examples discussed, Ballard Power Systems realized a need to expand their business globally by merging with strategic partners able to effectively deliver the benefits of clean, efficient, and reliable power in a wide spectrum of potential applications. Utilizing the quantitative analysis procedure to identify alternatives/costs/benefits, estimate the value of each, compare costs to benefits and, finally, select the best alternative with the best sustainable advantage enabled Ballard to reach a decision that would ultimately allow them to reach their goals effectively. Atlantic-ACM utilized cost effective analysis to determine that in order for wholesalers to sell their products effectively they ne! eded to provide resellers with more marketing support to help drive sales of their products and services to end users. Finally, Brix Networks commissioned Sage Research to conduct a survey of 148 businesses ranging in size from 500 to more than 10,000 employees. The survey conducted was a type of quantitative study called cost impact. Cooper & Schindler (1998), defines cost impact as â€Å"determines the cost or impact associated with a process. † The process was the SLA or Service Level Agreement in place between enterprise businesses and ISPs. The results of the study showed that ISPs providing SLA agreements in their contracts were more likely to keep their customer base. However, ISPs with no SLA†s in place were one third more likely to lose their customers because of SLA disputes. In conclusion it is this authors view that a company†s willingness to utilize quantitative analysis as a management tool coupled with good research, will affect the decisions of tomorrow. However, it should be stressed that there is also a danger in numbers. Numbers can often give a false sense of certainty and objectivity and can become a cheap substitute for knowledge, experience and judgement. The challenge for managers and leaders is to know when to ignore the numbers and go with gut instinct.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Protein and Amino Acid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Protein and Amino Acid - Essay Example A lack of amino acids in daily diet will have a greater impact on all cellular development, respiration, or renewal of cells would cease. In total there are only 22 amino acids that join together to form different proteins. In fact amino acid chains combine to form up to 55,000 different proteins, and each protein is used to produce the enzymes, neurotransmitters, and hormones that support normal growth and functioning of all organs, including the heart, brain, liver, intestine, kidneys, and sex organs (Vitaminstuff.com n. pag). Amino acids are categorized into two groups the essential amino acids that should be taken along with diet and non-essential amino acids that are produced by the body. The essential amino acids are isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Non-essential amino acids are those that the body can manufacture from an available source of nitrogen and a carbon skeleton. The nonessential amino acids are arginine, alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine (Vitamin Supplements Guide n. pag). The benefits of taking amino acids as dietary supplements are many these include muscle protein maintenance, proper immune function, affecting neuronal activities in the brain, tissue repair acceleration after burn or trauma, protecting liver from toxic agents, pain relief