Addressing Barriers to Learning and Closing

Addressing Barriers to Learning and closing the Achievement Gap: New Directions for Student Support Closing We all recognize the urgency arising from the demands made by the No Child Left Behind Act. Many schools are being designated as low performing. Increasing accountability demands require demonstrating progress for students who are â€Å"economically disadvantaged, from racial and ethnic minority groups, have disabilities, or have limited English proficiency. † All schools will be evaluated on criteria designed to identify sites that are â€Å"persistently dangerous. With increasing ccountability tor student outcomes and dwindling budgets, it is essential to rethink use of existing learning support resources to maximize a school's capability for addressing barriers to student learning and teaching. Beyond the Learning Gap Americans increasingly are aware of this learning gap and are seeking ways to address it. The international comparisons grab the front-page headlines, and officials try to Infer recommendations from how one country performs compared with the performance of another.Policymakers carefully study, state by state, scores on the ost recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, as if one could divine a strategy, from the scores, for improving performance. Scores of all local schools are printed in the newspaper, and school boards and parents discuss why students In some schools score much lower than others. As important as it is to know how well students are learning, examinations of achievement scores alone can never reveal how the scores might be improved.We also need information on the classroom processes on teaching that are contributing to the scores. unfortunately, many olicymakers have ignored this fact, making decisions about the future of education without even the most rudimentary information about what is happening In classrooms. In 1995, faced with low reading and mathematics performance on the National Assessment of E ducauonal Progress, California's superintendent of public instruction formed two task forces, one for mathematics and one for reading, to study the situation and propose solutions.California, after all, was highly respected for Curriculum Frameworks that guide reading and mathematics instruction in the state. The Frameworks provided a comprehensive outline for what students should learn and guidelines for appropriate Instructional methods. If the Frameworks were so good, why was achievement so low? In meetings of California's mathematics task force, the discussion often turned to the Frameworks. Were the teaching methods or curricular emphases recommended in the Mathematics Framework perhaps to blame for students' low achievement?A debate ensued among members of the task force, a debate that has been reflected more broadly in public debate around the country etween proponents of â€Å"reform† teaching and those in favor of more â€Å"traditional† teaching methods. Some believed that the Frameworks were not working and should tOf2 the discussion was a key fact: the state of California had collected no data on the extent to which the Frameworks had been implemented in the state's classrooms.This did not stop the state, however, from undertaking a revision of its Mathematics Framework. But on what basis could the Framework be revised? Without knowing what teachers were doing, how could the effectiveness of the Framework be determined? We do not mean to single out California; no state that we know of regularly collects and uses data directly related to instructional processes in the classroom. Policymakers adopt a program, then wait to see if student achievement scores will rise.If scores do not go up and this is most often what happens, especially in the short run – they begin hearing complaints that the policy isn't working. Momentum builds, experts meet, and soon there is a new recommendation, then a change of course, often in the opposite direction. Significantly, this whole process goes on without ever collecting data on whether or not the original program as even implemented in classrooms or, if implemented, how effective it was in promoting student learning.If we wish to make wise decisions, we need to know what is going on in typical classrooms. Fortunately, the same TIMSS that generated a new wave of concern about students' achievement also collected a wealth of information about educational factors that might help us understand the different levels of performance in different countries. TIMSS researchers analyzed textbooks; asked administrators, teachers, and students about their beliefs and practices; and ideotaped teachers teaching typical lessons.The TIMSS video study of teaching, which forms the basis for this book, is especially significant because it provides a penetrating and unparalleled look into classrooms in three different countries. For the first time, we had a full video record of a representative sample of U. S. classrooms. More than that, we had the same kind of information from Germany and Japan. We could now compare more than achievement scores. We could examine similarities and differences in the instructional methods that lay behind these scores.

Methods of Birth Assesstment

Damien Gatson Psy -225 Human sexuality Jimletta Vareena-Thomas August 05, 2012 Methods of Birth Assessment Childrearing is the one of the most crucial times in a mother’s and father’s life and is An journey into parenthood that finally turns into a journey of becoming an adult. The Child birthing practice allows us to decide on which birth methods we prefer, but some childbearing are not by choice. There are much that has been written about childbearing practices, whether it; the wrong way or the right way, which also chosen by different culture.Personally child bearing changes have changed and are unalike in different cultures. There are some differences that are quite intemperate and obvious whereas others are definitely more subtle, despite there are apparent differences, and there are similarities that are inherent when it comes to giving birth. The delivery of a baby is one of life’s most valuable moments, and the view of a new life. Labor can also be an unp leasant, painful, and can bring the feasibility of difficulty or problem for both mother and baby. The birthing of a baby is a process that requires intervention from a medical rofessional facility which help guide the mother through labor and delivery. That’s why they have different methods of birth assessment that is out there like vaginal birth and cesarean which are both done in the hospitals or birthing centers. It is very important to always be ready and make preparations, to prepare a birth plan before coming to the hospital and let the staff be aware of your preference of choices. Sometimes prior to your arrival there or a written birth method plan that might be pre-approved by your OB-GYN due to certain health issues, to ease he stress for the mother and her baby during labor. There is no guaranteed way to fore see the future or what the birthing will be like no matter which choice is selected. That is why it is important to think about all or questions on the list a nd things that are important to you in making any health care decision unless otherwise. Like natural birth for most upcoming mothers, a natural birth help increase The probability of a healthier and easier recovery, which can be caused by post-intervention. The positive part of natural child birth allows for the baby and the mother to experience a atural birth also help reduces the exposure to all the narcotics drugs, being hook up with IV lines, or headache and backache due to a possible side effect of epidurals that is given through labor. Also the pros with natural childbirth also lessen the likelihood of separating the mother from her child allows the mother and the infant to have a natural bond and being able to have immediate contact and have a successful breastfeeding bond after giving birth. The most important event that your partner can be involved in the process to help guide you with breathing exercises, and visualization.The cons of natural childbirth is experiencing th e Natural childbirth which is painful, and a scary experience which does not eliminate pain and allows the mothers to feel very connected with childbirth from the pushing that comes with the labor The only choices that the mothers have Is the choice of the different breathing techniques, certain meditation, and changing of their positions to help lighten the pain that they feel during delivering. Natural labor can lead to longer intense labor which most mothers have low toleration for pain and causes weakness through the process of pushing and affect both the other and the baby with complication situations and loss of blood. The other form of birth methods has some benefits of planning a C-section which knows the scheduled date ahead of time from your Ob-Gyn. Also for those mothers who look forward to this special day, but also being prepared, a having scheduling a Cesarean until instead of waiting to go into labor which can make childbirth seem much more can make child more easy. S ince there is no way to control the act of natural labor will happen to place before scheduled date. One of the main objectives is to preserve the vaginal.Which is common since once you give childbirth the body goes through changes? Like there are signs that one can experience when having a vaginal birth like feeling an unconfined leakage of urine even not able to control your bowel movements which result from vaginal birth. When having Contractions during labor there are signs which can cause severe distress, which many of us would choose to avoid if possible. Additionally, though the soreness after a Cesarean is far worse than the aching and soreness following a vaginal delivery because the incision has to heal and you’ll be sore.If the avoidance can be allowed this will enable a better child birth and on the other hand there may be times that other methods may be necessary. There may be certain times that a different birthing method may help prevent complications due to me dical reasons like a baby that is in a breech position or when a mother and a baby are having complications such as hypertension, diabetes, STD’s, herpes, and HIV. These methods can have severe difficulty and emotional although doctors agree to these methods they can have serious birthing complications due to medical and family history .They have tremendous complications and different emotional and physical effects and should be taken into consideration and should be consulted with a medical professional. Also C- sections are done in a life-saving surgical procedure that saves the lives of many babies and their mothers, doctors give their medical input on how women should give birth. The cons of cesarean is that many cesarean sections are unnecessary and how the average hospital charges are much greater for cesarean than vaginal birth, and may offer hospitals scope scope for rofit. Many cesarean sections are unnecessary hospital charges are much and how sections are unnecessa ry and how costly for cesarean than vaginal birth. Women who have cesarean need to stay in the hospital for more days to make sure the mothers are healing correctly and to be able to get to their normal route and also a cesarean can take longer to feel back to themselves. There are increased risks of breathing problems for the baby that have been shown through the process of labor and vaginal deliveries and that it helps babies' lungs evelop so that as soon as they are born, they can breathe on their own. Without going through labor, babies after planned C- sections are more likely to suffer from respiratory distress syndrome or other breathing complications. Premature babies are also more likely to have breathing problems due to incompletely developed lungs. One way to reduce the chances of this is to be sure to schedule the C-section for no earlier than 39 weeks of pregnancy. There are always certain risks in some pregnancies. If a woman plans to have more than one child, it is mp ortant to know that having a C-section for the first baby most likely guarantees that the rest of the children will be delivered by C-section. After each operation, the body forms scar tissue or adhesions during the healing process. This makes each subsequent surgery that much more difficult and more risky. Therefore, C-sections by choice are not the ideal solution for every woman. Reference http://www. livestrong. com/article/12132-cesarean-section-choice-pros-cons/#ixzz22j4e6kPf http://www. ehow. com/about_6632752_child-rearing-practices. html#ixzz22iip5Vts Methods of Birth Assesstment Damien Gatson Psy -225 Human sexuality Jimletta Vareena-Thomas August 05, 2012 Methods of Birth Assessment Childrearing is the one of the most crucial times in a mother’s and father’s life and is An journey into parenthood that finally turns into a journey of becoming an adult. The Child birthing practice allows us to decide on which birth methods we prefer, but some childbearing are not by choice. There are much that has been written about childbearing practices, whether it; the wrong way or the right way, which also chosen by different culture.Personally child bearing changes have changed and are unalike in different cultures. There are some differences that are quite intemperate and obvious whereas others are definitely more subtle, despite there are apparent differences, and there are similarities that are inherent when it comes to giving birth. The delivery of a baby is one of life’s most valuable moments, and the view of a new life. Labor can also be an unp leasant, painful, and can bring the feasibility of difficulty or problem for both mother and baby. The birthing of a baby is a process that requires intervention from a medical rofessional facility which help guide the mother through labor and delivery. That’s why they have different methods of birth assessment that is out there like vaginal birth and cesarean which are both done in the hospitals or birthing centers. It is very important to always be ready and make preparations, to prepare a birth plan before coming to the hospital and let the staff be aware of your preference of choices. Sometimes prior to your arrival there or a written birth method plan that might be pre-approved by your OB-GYN due to certain health issues, to ease he stress for the mother and her baby during labor. There is no guaranteed way to fore see the future or what the birthing will be like no matter which choice is selected. That is why it is important to think about all or questions on the list a nd things that are important to you in making any health care decision unless otherwise. Like natural birth for most upcoming mothers, a natural birth help increase The probability of a healthier and easier recovery, which can be caused by post-intervention. The positive part of natural child birth allows for the baby and the mother to experience a atural birth also help reduces the exposure to all the narcotics drugs, being hook up with IV lines, or headache and backache due to a possible side effect of epidurals that is given through labor. Also the pros with natural childbirth also lessen the likelihood of separating the mother from her child allows the mother and the infant to have a natural bond and being able to have immediate contact and have a successful breastfeeding bond after giving birth. The most important event that your partner can be involved in the process to help guide you with breathing exercises, and visualization.The cons of natural childbirth is experiencing th e Natural childbirth which is painful, and a scary experience which does not eliminate pain and allows the mothers to feel very connected with childbirth from the pushing that comes with the labor The only choices that the mothers have Is the choice of the different breathing techniques, certain meditation, and changing of their positions to help lighten the pain that they feel during delivering. Natural labor can lead to longer intense labor which most mothers have low toleration for pain and causes weakness through the process of pushing and affect both the other and the baby with complication situations and loss of blood. The other form of birth methods has some benefits of planning a C-section which knows the scheduled date ahead of time from your Ob-Gyn. Also for those mothers who look forward to this special day, but also being prepared, a having scheduling a Cesarean until instead of waiting to go into labor which can make childbirth seem much more can make child more easy. S ince there is no way to control the act of natural labor will happen to place before scheduled date. One of the main objectives is to preserve the vaginal.Which is common since once you give childbirth the body goes through changes? Like there are signs that one can experience when having a vaginal birth like feeling an unconfined leakage of urine even not able to control your bowel movements which result from vaginal birth. When having Contractions during labor there are signs which can cause severe distress, which many of us would choose to avoid if possible. Additionally, though the soreness after a Cesarean is far worse than the aching and soreness following a vaginal delivery because the incision has to heal and you’ll be sore.If the avoidance can be allowed this will enable a better child birth and on the other hand there may be times that other methods may be necessary. There may be certain times that a different birthing method may help prevent complications due to me dical reasons like a baby that is in a breech position or when a mother and a baby are having complications such as hypertension, diabetes, STD’s, herpes, and HIV. These methods can have severe difficulty and emotional although doctors agree to these methods they can have serious birthing complications due to medical and family history .They have tremendous complications and different emotional and physical effects and should be taken into consideration and should be consulted with a medical professional. Also C- sections are done in a life-saving surgical procedure that saves the lives of many babies and their mothers, doctors give their medical input on how women should give birth. The cons of cesarean is that many cesarean sections are unnecessary and how the average hospital charges are much greater for cesarean than vaginal birth, and may offer hospitals scope scope for rofit. Many cesarean sections are unnecessary hospital charges are much and how sections are unnecessa ry and how costly for cesarean than vaginal birth. Women who have cesarean need to stay in the hospital for more days to make sure the mothers are healing correctly and to be able to get to their normal route and also a cesarean can take longer to feel back to themselves. There are increased risks of breathing problems for the baby that have been shown through the process of labor and vaginal deliveries and that it helps babies' lungs evelop so that as soon as they are born, they can breathe on their own. Without going through labor, babies after planned C- sections are more likely to suffer from respiratory distress syndrome or other breathing complications. Premature babies are also more likely to have breathing problems due to incompletely developed lungs. One way to reduce the chances of this is to be sure to schedule the C-section for no earlier than 39 weeks of pregnancy. There are always certain risks in some pregnancies. If a woman plans to have more than one child, it is mp ortant to know that having a C-section for the first baby most likely guarantees that the rest of the children will be delivered by C-section. After each operation, the body forms scar tissue or adhesions during the healing process. This makes each subsequent surgery that much more difficult and more risky. Therefore, C-sections by choice are not the ideal solution for every woman. Reference http://www. livestrong. com/article/12132-cesarean-section-choice-pros-cons/#ixzz22j4e6kPf http://www. ehow. com/about_6632752_child-rearing-practices. html#ixzz22iip5Vts

Quantitative Article #2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quantitative Article #2 - Research Paper Example 137). The second population under study included emergency department (ED) nurses working at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin. A sample of 22 patients that needed NG tube reinsertion of tube placement check that presented themselves at the hospital participated in the study. The sample precluded patients who had certain medical complications including those who experienced vomiting tachypnea, and fever (Ho, Rainer & Graham, 2013, p. 138). Non-probability sampling was applied for the patients since not all patients had an equal chance of representation. Those with complications did not have a chance to be included as part of the sample. For the patients, accidental sampling was applied considering that only those patients who met the criteria and availed themselves at the hospital during the study period were featured in the study. Although opportunity sampling is often associated with bias and therefore reduces the representativeness of the sample and the generalisability of th e findings of the study, it was appropriate for this study since the samples were later randomized which served to increase the generalisabilility of the findings. The sampling plan applied was also appropriate considering time constraints and the limited number of patients that visit the hospital who are part of the population under study. While a sample of 22 patients seems small, the number has the capacity to produce reliable and generalizable results. A sample of 30 nurses participated in the study. The sampling of nurses was done in two stages. Given that all the nurses in the hospital had equal chance of participating in the study, probability sampling applied for the first stage of sampling. The second stage of sampling was based on convenience sampling considering that all those who returned their questionnaires featured in the study irrespective of

Database systems and Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Database systems and Administration - Essay Example These three tables handle information regarding products being developed by the organization, countries in which it operates and employees that work for the organization. Since the organization sells various kinds of batteries it is evident that to maintain the record of the sales it makes it would need a sales table. The organization would also have to maintain the record of inventory and the products that are available. Finally to maintain records regarding the wages and designation of each employee a separate table of Job is created to help evaluate the position of an individual within the organizational structure. To help distinguish each entity from the other each record within each entity is assigned a unique alphanumeric character that helps in distinguishing one record from the other. Other entities that is present within a certain table further help in elaborating the data regarding a particular record. For example in the country table the attributes of country name and coun try description allows an individual to understand what the country ID stands for. These fields can significantly aid the organization when they are carrying out a presentation or are creating their annual reports that need to be presented to the organizational heads of the organization. Integrity rules: The relational tables are shown below: Product Inventory No Attribute name 1 Inventory ID 2 Product ID 3 Country ID 4 Quantity Sales No Attribute name 1 Transaction ID 2 Money Obtained 3 Products shipped 4 Product ID Employee Country No Attribute name 1 Country ID 2 Country Description 3 Country Name Department No Attribute name 1 Department ID 2 Department Name 3 Country ID Job No Attribute name 1 Job ID 2 Description 3 Qualification required 4 Salary The rules of integrity are given as follows: Primary keys for each record must be unique, cannot be null and must be in accordance to the data variable set for it. A unique primary key helps in distinguishing one record from the other . The value of a foreign key that is present within another table must be in accordance to the value that is present in the table where that particular field is the primary key. In short the value placed in a foreign key field must also be present in the field where it is a primary key. An employee cannot be assigned more than one country ID against his or her record. This means that an employee would only be assigned the country ID in which he or she works. This would help prevent any confusion that may arise from the fact that an employee is incharge of two departments that exist in different countries. Issues due to the use of un-normalized tables: The use of un-normalized database may cause a great deal of confusion while updating the data. If one of the users has accessed a particular record that is present i

Abacus in the world Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abacus in the world - Research Paper Example mechanical frame containing several rods on which are mounted wooden beads which can be slid manually into different positions and combinations to represent numbers† (188). Materials used to make early abacuses in different regions varied. For example, among the Maya and Aztec people of Mesoamerica, maize kernels threaded on strings were used instead of beads, while the Inca people who lived in Peru centuries ago had an abacus that was made up of a â€Å"tray with compartments that were arranged in rows in which counters were moved in order to make calculations† (Keoke and Porterfield 1). The abacus originated from the Middle East thousands of years ago. Jain asserts that its evolution took place in 3000 B.C. (7). Darling points out that â€Å"the word appears to come from the Hebrew á ºÅ¡bá ºÅ¡q (dust) or the Phoenician abak (sand) via the Greek abax, which refers to a small tray covered with sand to hold the pebbles steady† (3). Over the centuries, there have been different types of abacuses. The first type was called suanpan and was used in China in 1300 (Barnes-Svarney and Svarney 349). There is no agreement regarding who invented this type of abacus but it is that believed it was the Chinese, Japanese or Koreans. Barnes-Svarney and Svarney affirm that â€Å"although merchants used this type of abacus for standard addition and subtraction operations, it could also be used to determine square and cube roots of numbers† (349). The other type of abacus was the soroban or the Japanese abacus. Apart from the fact that it lacked a bead in the upper and lower deck of every column, it was very similar to the Chinese abacus. The Roman abacus also had one bead lacking from the upper and lower deck of every column making it very similar to the Japanese abacus. According to Barnes-Svarney and Svarney, â€Å"the Russians also have their own version of an abacus; it uses ten beads on each wire, and a single deck† (349). To separate the two wires, a wire with fewer beads is

What are the key skills of leadership in present-day organization Essay

What are the key skills of leadership in present-day organization - Essay Example Great man theory articulates a leader is a supernatural being in the eyes of his employees. Effective leadership in the present organization requires perfection of several skills purported by several leadership theories. Both Vertical and horizontal leadership leads to culmination of power and influence across organizations circles. This is because it involves others in vexing organizational problems, success and making heroes in others. Many underuse vertical leadership because sucking up to the boss and serving an effective junior is tedious. Proper upward management calls for investing in communication, boss's priorities, preference, and decision-making styles. If insight is gained in this investment then an employee creates support for the boss and vice versa (Strati 1999). Communication deficit is common in most organizations; therefore managers should be quick to point out the problem lest risk the team ineffectiveness. Huczynski & Andrze (1985) enunciates that A leader’s goal should be mastery of interpersonal communication and strengthen it via one on one, fu ll staff, social media emails and be keen listener. In accordance with trait theory, some leadership skills are inborn. Leaders inherit this trait and leadership comes easily to them. Such leaders portray figures of authority and have communication with everyone they interact. Critical thinking skills envision leaders as vigilant in identifying and challenging assumptions behind the organizations actions or inactions. A leader should be wary of unproven theories, inferences, and generalizations while in times of emergency they should think decisively on their feet. To do so managers have to counter check on their biases when they blur their decisions and be independent thinkers. As a leader, make it a milestone to know each of your employees on a personal level. Management leadership theory supports the motivator acts by stating that ideal leadership considers the input of workers to effective leaders. The leaders dwell on encouraging participation and contribution of ideas. The the ory focuses on group performance and supervision organization. Behavioral theory believes that leaders are made and not born; they acquire leadership through teaching and observation. Such leaders learn through training on how to provide feedback to employees. They do so by embracing the â€Å"feedback contact lenses† which enable you to view people, and their importance. These â€Å"lenses† help you be alert to discover opportunities, help people on their performance and their importance in the organizations. Huczynski & Andrze (1985) clarifies that a leader should upgrade their interaction quality constantly. Embracing internal emails and coffee meetings with employs help strengthen the art of feedback. Strategic thinking, another leadership skill, involves getting the greater picture of the organization as well as its future. This means stepping aside from your work to view the entire office from a neutral point. This helps you set priorities in alignment with major goals, learn new items and discover the unexplored. Leadership Behavioral theory advocate for a leader to encourage innovation by encouraging and rewarding people who takes risks. Comparatively, network and communication connections should be formed between leaders and followers. Relationship theory advocates for teamwork or collaboration as a role model for effective networking. It depicts a spanning of old boundaries and breaking ice. The main barriers for networking or discomfort, distance with other experts and dissonance. To avoid these setbacks leaders should: stay in touch with others; change your assumptions about roles, learn about other

Back to reality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Back to reality - Essay Example 2) Potential problems and issues in developing sourcing strategies The essence of outsourcing for any given organization is to lower the costs involved in executing the outsourced functions. This is because; the practice is associated with minimizing costs, based on the fact that it does not involve direct hiring of employees by an organization (CIPS, 2012 n.p.). Thus, through contracting for the provision of such services, an organization passes on the responsibility of hiring and retaining staffs to the contracted firm. This strategy has however proved to be more costly than it was anticipated. After a thorough scrutiny of the costs involved in this strategy, it was observed that, despite the fact that the federal employees are highly paid, the US government paid the contractors 1.83 times higher than its employees on average (Williams, 2012 n.p.). Thus, the strategy has proved to be a cost incurrence affair in the guise of cost minimization. This is because; outsourcing for contra ctors to offer services on behalf of an organization results to three elements of costs minimization, which may work to the disadvantage of the organization. First, to save on their costs incurrence and improve their profitability, the firms contracted by an organization embarks on the cost minimizing strategy by reducing quality or resource utilization. Therefore, they may reduce the number of staff they hire, to minimize their expenditure, which on the other hand results to poor service delivery to the organization’s customers (Brown & Wilson, 2012 p58). Secondly, a firm can minimize its costs by transfer savings, where the firm engages in hiring employees at a lower cost, through paying them less. However, the problem associated with this concept is that employee protection shields the employees against such practices, which would mean that the firm might be forced to hire employees of a lower caliber, who might not have the expertise, skills and experiences desired by the organization outsourcing the services (McGovern & Quelch, 2005 p19). Alternatively, the firm offering the outsourced services can minimize its costs through efficiency savings, which involves the use of highly qualified staffs, better work processes and equipments, and high technology usage (Compton & Jessop, 2001 p40). Nevertheless, to achieve efficiency saving, there are other costs involved before the economies of scale is attained. Therefore, in a nutshell, outsourcing of suppliers and contractors is no longer a cost saving strategy. As it turns out, outsourcing has become a costly affair for the organizations involved, prompting the need to revert into in-sourcing and back-sourcing (Emmett & Crocker, 2006 p22). 3) Potential problems and issues in relationship with key suppliers There are potential problems that can be experienced with key suppliers in the outsourcing markets. First, the issue of different expectations between the supplier and the outsourcing company can result to a failed business relationship. The expectations of the supplier and the outsourcing organization should tally, to ensure that the supplier offers services to the customers of the organization, as expected by the organiza

Financial strength and developments of Lonmin Plc Essay

Financial strength and developments of Lonmin Plc - Essay Example Headquartered in Britain, Lonmin Plc’s selling is extended worldwide and the company’s flagship possessions is located in Marikana mine in South Africa. It has its effective operations in Canada and the group has total employees over 28,276 (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The business also has joint ventures with Vakle and Walbridge. The company searches for PGM mineralization in Ontario and Northern Ireland project which is an initial stage exploration opportunity for the company (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). 1.3. Turnover of Lonmin Plc As indicated from Lonmin Plc’s annual report, the yearly turnover produced by the business in the year 2014 is observed to be 582.4 billion (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The revenue of the company is observed to be decreasing over the past five years as the operating expense of the company is increasing. The platinum sales of the group accounted for 701,831 ounces and for PGM sales it was 1,383,945 ounces. Asset turnover of Lonmin Plc is found to be $4,384.5 Million which deceased over the past five years (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The consensus forecast amongst 20 polled investments analysts who covers the company advised the investors to grip their position in the group. The forecasts of the analysts indicate that the company in the near future is expected to outperform the market. Lonmin Plc is listed in the London stock exchange and Johannesburg stock exchange and has been observed to major shares in the market.

Ethical decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical decision making - Essay Example In individualism approach that course of action is moral which would provide maximum individual benefit. According to this approach moral course of action would promote the best long term interest of the individual (Salisbury University, Ethics and Social Responsibility). In this case if Antonio takes the entire matter from Kevin and deal with it by himself, it would definitely provide maximum benefit for him in the long run. Apparently it might not seem to be the best option as Antonio might lose his job in the process. But if he could manage the situation it would definitely prove that he has strong principles and managerial skills. This would certainly be beneficial for him in the long run. Even if he loses this job, he can represent this incident as an example of strong ethics and principles in future. 2) If I would have been in the position of Antonio, I would have chosen the third option which is mentioned above. If decision is taken realistically then suppressing the entire matter would provide the best result in the short term. This decision would have been at the conventional level of moral development, because in conventional level decisions or actions are taken by comparing overall views on that action in the society. There are several important reasons behind this. First of all this is information age, as a result if any organization really want to know about the past experience of any candidate, it can easily do that despite of all the attempts of hiding information from candidate’s end.

Australian History (see topic below) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Australian History (see topic below) - Essay Example It had played significant role that is uniquely vibrant Australia as written in history. The making of Australia which was heading to be as it was in the first half of the twentieth century would have never been possible if not of its British influence which was obtained from its mother empire, Great Britain. It cannot be argued that there was willingness in the part of Australia to embrace dependent relationship within the British Empire. Its best option was to rely on its British Empire so as to survive and not lost its identity. It can be noted that Australia did not seek independence from British control but Britishness was embraced in order that it can have its identity (Evans et al. 1997). Dependence of Australia on its ‘mother country’ lies in the fact that it had to establish its cultural influence and economic and security link (Morkel 2001). This was for initial survival that for over the span of time was the foundation of Australia in its establishment. From a dictionary definition, dependence is synonymous to reliance, trust and subordination. Within the course of Australian history, its reliance to the power of Great Britain meant power, security and survival in its end. It ended up to a deeper trust and mutual agreement which Australia had to take, for collaboration with Great Britain in their quest to conquer the other part of the globe. Australia’s active participation in Britain’s quest to win the world can be clearly manifested in its participation to world wars. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps day or also known as ‘Anzac’ day is a national celebration in Australia that is viewed sacred and also an act of heroism (Inglis 1997). This only signifies the impeccable support that Australia was willing to give for its mother country. As part of its subordination to mother country, Australia never condemned Britain for their quest to dominion over the

Time and Chart Essay Example for Free

Time and Chart Essay Note: Thanks to Alan Profitt, a member of MHT, for providing the text for this paper. FSC offers PVT and MFI indicators along with a beautiful chart to help you in MHT. SAY AGAIN? Freestockcharts. com (FSC) by Worden offers, not only a beautiful chart with very good indicators (almost more than you can comprehend), but it really is free. In the Morning Hours Trading (MHT) chat room you will hear many refer to an indicator only on FSC. It is Price Volume Trend (PVT). Money Flow Index (MFI) is a more common indicator available on many other sites. This discussion is to help you set up FSC and become familiar with how to use PVT and MFI. After logging in to Freestockcharts. com, you will see a very nice chart. Something like this. Please note the arrow pointing to â€Å"settings† (#1). By clicking on it, you can change plot styles, color, etc. I have set candlesticks red and green. Many other options are available for whatever your desires. The arrow pointing to â€Å"Price History† (#2) allows you to adjust the price presentation on the chart. Just above the stock symbol and â€Å"Add Indicator† (#3) buttons is a button called â€Å"Draw† (#4). By clicking on it you can add many favorite trader activities such as Fibonacci lines, pivot points etc. to the main chart. You will notice the yellow horizontal line (#5) on the chart which is yesterday’s closing price. Just to the left of â€Å"settings†, on the same line you will see a small down arrow which you can click to change time frame of the chart, i. e. , 1 min 5 min etc. (#6). On the same line again left of the time frame selector is the â€Å"Add Indicator† button (#7). Here is where you add what I feel is the best part of FSC. You will find Price Volume Trend listed alphabetically on the drop down list. Clicking on it adds the new chart as shown below with MFI added. On this chart you will see that it is the yellow line. (To change colors click on the words â€Å"Price Volume Trend† within the chart, â€Å"Edit†, and change the plot color. ) Also, as you see above, you can add the â€Å"Money Flow Index† by again clicking on PVT and instead of editing go to â€Å"Add Indicator†, scroll down to MFI. The purpose of adding the MFI to the PVT chart is to get the top green and bottom red lines. The numbers to the far right don’t mean anything for our purposes here. You can change them to generally go from 0 -100 by repeatedly clicking on the carrot symbol on the bottom outside of the numbers (#9). In the background on this chart, notice faint white lines. These are important because they indicate when the time has come to execute the trade. We are not talking about the brighter white line just above times. The very bottom time line is adjusted by the slider (#10). Most of the time I have seven hours set. The best part of the PVT, MFI chart is, what I feel is the quicker indication than RSI and MA crossing for signals when to buy or sell a stock. You absolutely need to verify with your other favorite indications for picking the time to execute a trade as discussed by Bob’s must read. Many in our chat room only use this though and you will hear a â€Å"PVT setup† referenced. At 2:45 on the above chart, youll see a PVT indication to buy as it touched the bottom faint white line (#11). Folks, that’s it! PVT hits the bottom buy, set your stops, target gain, etc. If you are trending when it hits the top, then sell or go short if you’re not in already. Ive provided a second example below. This is from 11-16-09 at about 12:15. Ive added RSI with a tight setting of 7 and then added a moving average onto the RSI indicator. This creates a moving average of RSI and allows you to see cross over patterns. You can see the crossover pattern that occured with RSI at the same time that PVT touched the bottom white line, giving a confirmation signal. While this is not necessary, it is sometimes good to have several indicators confirming your decision to enter a trade. The next example is of a short trade. In the chart below (also taken from 11-16-09), you can see how PVT hits the top line and, at the same time, RSI makes a quick downward crossover of its moving average. Another great feature of FSC is the Watch lists. While it is a great feature, it is a little difficult to understand the setup. So, here it goes. The #12 indicates where you click to bring up various Watch Lists. You will see â€Å"All, Main, Scan, Component, etc. † Click on Component, and most of us use either S P 500 Component Stocks or Russell 2 or3000 component stocks. THESE ARE THE ONES YOU USE ON YOUR OWN TO PICK GAP UPS OR DOWNS AFTER BOB’S PICKS. Needless to say you will get MANY stocks and to eliminate penny stocks you might want to use a smaller population. Try them all out to find your own grazing area. In order to sort your list, click on â€Å"add column†. Shown here in orange (#13). All you want to use is â€Å"Symbol and Todays %†. You can delete anything else that’s default. Edit the symbol icon by clicking on it and change the column width to 60 if it’s not already there (#14). Todays % shows as â€Å"% Change†. Click on it and change column width to 50 colors your choice and decimal places 2. Once the above is done you have, just to the right of sort, in orange, and % Change, a blue up or down arrow with accompanying green stairs just before â€Å"Asc or Desc†. By clicking on this you change the order of the lists in your Portfolio to see the gap up or down. The right arrow above shows a small grey border which has two small hash marks in the middle. By grabbing the hash marks you can slide your portfolio column vertically (#15). Why is this important? Because this is the place you want to enter Bob’s Gap stocks. Click on â€Å"Create Portfolio† and enter the name you want to call Bob’s list. I have named mine MHT; others call it Bob’s list. (I also have my own individual portfolio. ) Here is where you add Bob’s gap up and down picks he announces at 8:15. You can put both on one list and use the Asc/Desc, or by clicking on the % Change next to â€Å"Symbol†, to get the gap ups or down. Throughout the morning, I constantly review this list for PVT setups, as well as listen for Bob’s picks. The third and bottom section of this left hand column is for current news for the stock you have picked on the main chart. Another great feature so that you don’t have to leave to find out any breaking news on other programs. The height can also be adjusted by using the hash marks in the little grey border, to minimize or expand. The use of PVT is a great addition to anyone’s trading repertory, but it does have two limitations. First, it could lag behind on thinly traded stocks because it gets data from only the BATS Exchange. It does not use all the exchanges. This normally presents little or no problems on stocks with over 500,000 shares traded daily. Secondly, when you change the time frame from 1 min to 5 or 15 min etc, you need to be aware that the time frame goes from hourly to daily or monthly. Great for investors and those wishing to view history, but of limited value to day traders I think. Due to FSC only using the BATTS exchange, if only offers indications during normal trading hours. No pre or post market. Once youve created your portfolio of stocks (your watch list), you can click on the stock and it will populate your chart. You can also press the space bar to access each symbols chart. After youve created your ideal layout, youll want to go the File menu in order to save and name your chart (# 16). You can also learn to create your own scans and set up audible alerts by using the Help menu. This presentation is strictly to demonstrate how to set up Free Stock Charts so that you can trade in Morning Hour Trading and be on the same page as most others. Please read Bob’s other must read sections to become successful in our group. His advice on how and when to make trades is invaluable.

Discussion Bill of Rights Essay Example for Free

Discussion Bill of Rights Essay The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights lists freedoms not specifically identified in the main body of the Constitution. These freedoms are freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for any capital or infamous crime; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States. Originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, however, most were subsequently applied to the government of each state by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, through a process known as incorporation. On June 8, 1789 Representative James Madison introduced a series of thirty-nine amendments to the constitution in the House of Representatives. Among his recommendations Madison proposed opening up the Constitution and inserting specific rights limiting the power of Congress in Article One, Section 9. Seven of these limitations would became part of the ten ratified Bill of Rights amendments. Ultimately, on September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution and submitted them to the states for ratification. Contrary to Madisons original proposal that the articles be incorporated into the main body of the Constitution, they were proposed as supplemental additions to it. On December 15, 1791, Articles Three–Twelve, having been ratified by the required number of states, became Amendments One–Ten of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights has had much judicial impact for 150 years of its  existence, but was the basis for many Supreme Court decisions of the 20th and 21st centuries. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

How does macroeconomics factors affect smes in tanzania

How does macroeconomics factors affect smes in tanzania Essay one talked about how macroeconomics factors such as inflation, monetary policy, taxation and international trade affect the economy of Tanzania as a whole. As stated in essay one, this essay will discuss about how these microeconomics factors affect the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) or occasionally known as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Tanzania. In Tanzania (SME Development Policy, 2002), it is at present increasingly recognized that SMEs play an important job in employment contribution, income generation and stimulation of growth in both rural and urban sectors. SMEs can easily be set up given that their requirements in terms of capital, technology, management, etc. are not as demanding compared to large enterprises. SME Development Policy (2002) wrote different countries use different measures of size according to their development level. In the perspective of Tanzania, micro enterprises are those employing up to 4 employees or utilizing capital amounting up to Tshs.5 million. Small enterprises are those that are employing between 5 and 49 employees or with capital investment amounting from Tshs.5 million to Tshs.200 million. Medium enterprises are those employing between 50 and 99 employees or utilize capital investment amounting from Tshs.200 million to Tshs.800 million. The above information can be summarized using the table below: In 2002, the Government of Tanzania (quoted by Aikaeli, 2007) stated that it is estimated that about a third of the GDP originates from the SME sector and employs approximately 20% of the Tanzanian work force. This data shows that SME sector plays a significant role in the economy. According to Morwa (2006), following the privatization drive and the civil and public service reforms which began to take place in the early 1990s in Tanzania, the country observed a considerable increase in the number of SMEs over the last one decade. SME Development Policy (2002) argued that due to the existence of a number of restrictions hindering the development of Tanzania SME sector such as unfavorable legal and regulatory framework, undeveloped infrastructure, poor business development services, limited access of SMEs to finance, ineffective and poorly coordinated institutional support framework etc., the full potential of this sector has yet to be tapped. The anticipated result is to have a considerably increased contribution of the SME sector to economic development of Tanzania. Monetary policy and its contribution to the SMEs in Tanzania: As described in essay one, the Bank of Tanzania is the central bank of Tanzania and in 1995, according to Wikipedia (2010) the bank had one single main objective, which was monetary policy. One of the problems that SMEs in Tanzania face is limited access to finance. The government decided to set up the following schemes to tackle with this problem: Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme (SME-CGS): According to BOT (2010), this scheme was set up by the government during the financial year 2004/5. It is executed by the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) in alliance with Financial Institutions. SME-CGS is devised to promote and support SMEs by building up an enabling environment for expansion and making possible access to financial resources, thus speeding up economic growth and job creation. Economic Empowerment Programme (J.K. Fund): In the financial year 2006/7, the government kept aside about Tshs.21 billion. Mkukuta (2008) stated that the motive of the fund is to offer special consideration loans through normal banking practices to empower SMEs, and especially those that are in the rural and urban areas. The execution of the programme is categorized into two phases. The first phase was assigned Tshs.10.5 billion, which were issued under Credit Guarantee Scheme. The CRDB and NMB banks were selected to partake in the first phase. The second phase was also assigned with Tshs.10.5 billion, which were issued to banks and non-bank financial institutions to offer loans mostly to districts that CRDB and NMB banks were not able to cover during the first phase. According to Mkukuta (2008), as of 30th September 2008, loans worth of Tshs.39 billion were issued from the first phase allocation, whereby the CRDB bank issued about Tshs.22.8 billion and 26,384 entrepreneurs profited from this. NMB bank issued about Tshs.16.2 billion and 21,955 entrepreneurs profited from this. In total, the number of entrepreneurs that profited was 48,370. Mwananchi Empowerment Fund: This scheme was commenced in January 2008. According to Mkukuta (2008), since it was launched with limited capital resources of about Tshs.400 million, the government decided to launch the scheme in five regions in the first phase and carry on with other regions subject to the availability of funds. The first phase regions included Lindi, Mtwara, Manyara, Singida and Rukwa. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the CRDB Bank and the National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC), whereby NEEC had agreed to deposit about Tshs.400 million to the CRDB Bank as cash guarantee. The scheme seeks to empower Tanzania citizens to access capital and loans and take part in the economic activities of the country. The following are the objectives of the Fund as given by Mkukuta (2008): Widen investment knowledge among Tanzanians Enhance employment opportunities Offer a connection among institutions, companies and corporations that are registered under the Economic Empowerment Act by bringing coordination in their activities, counseling and developing them Offer loans to private individuals, corporations and institutions under credit guarantee scheme or non-guarantee scheme. Mkukuta (2008) concluded that until 30th September 2008, a total loan worth Tshs.143,770,000 has been issued to two of the first phase regions; Lindi and Mtwara. CRDB BANK LTD TANZANIA: Masuke (2010) stated in his presentation that CRDB Bank is a private commercial bank that was set up in July 1996. CRDB Bank is one of the banks in Tanzania that cannot escape doing and expanding business with the SMEs sector. This is because of the intense competition for the small corporate market. Because of this predicament, CRDB Bank has been compelled to adjust their traditional banking philosophy and practice and seek out methodologies of dealing with the crisis built-in in financing of SMEs in Tanzania. According to CRDB Bank (Masuke, 2010), SMEs are those with: Number of staff between 1 and 100 in the midst of them are relatives of the entrepreneur Capital investment of between Tshs.5 million to Tshs.800 million Requirement of businesses loan amounting Tshs.1 million to Tshs.100 million Annual sales turnover of Tshs.20 million to Tshs.500 million One of the problems faced by SMEs is getting finance from banks. CRDB Bank carried out a survey to uncover what was hampering SMEs from accessing finance. Masuke (2010) wrote that the following were the results: SMEs sector is viewed as a high risk and costly to finance SMEs have poor auditing and accounting framework Lack of enough guarantee schemes to back-up financing SMEs Inadequate knowledge of business operations Failure of borrowers to organize and present applications/business plan that meets the banks requirements. Failure of SMEs to fulfill collateral requirements. According to Masuke (2010), the following are the initiatives that CRDB Bank took to support SMEs: Devise modified products for SMEs: The bank developed two credit products for SMEs: working capital loan and investment loan. The repayment style developed is by installments. In working capital loan, the minimum repayment period was developed to be 3months and the maximum 12months while in investment loan, the minimum repayment period is 12months and the maximum 60months. Capacity building for CRDB staff and SME customers: In building capacity for CRDB staff, the bank had to hire new staffs who specially deal with SMEs. Furthermore, all employed staffs had to go through an intensive training. In building capacity for SMEs, the bank offers free business and loan management training to SMEs. In addition, after training the trainees are provided with booklet called SME Toolkit, which can be used as a reference. Increase the range of collaterals accepted by the bank: Before CRDB Bank implemented the SMEs concept, it used to call for just traditional collateral. But now, the bank has broadened the range of acceptable collaterals to include non-traditional collaterals e.g. Residential License, properties with offer letters, used motor vehicles and machines etc. Introduction of customer relationship concept at branch level: The bank extended the relationship concept to branch level, which can allow the bank to build a strong relationship with its SMEs. The SME concept was executed as a project in 2005. Since then, the project has been a hit with remarkable growth in terms of portfolio and number of customers. International trade and SMEs: Tanzanias ability to face global economic challenges depends on the stage of development of its SMEs. According to OECD Bologna conference (2000), there are four requirements for development of competitive SMEs that meet the criteria to get involved in cross-border business: Provision of effective business support services Availability of long-term finance Availability of a good state of information and communication technology infrastructure Existence of appropriate social capital The following are the strategies that SMEs can adopt when involving in international activities (Young, 1987): Exporting Foreign direct investments (FDI) Strategic alliance Joint ventures Licensing, etc. According to Saiguran (2007), some of the problems that SMEs in Tanzania face include: Lack of appropriate information, knowledge and skills Challenge of small and competitive domestic market Inadequate and inefficient infrastructural facilities Multiplicity of taxes The following are some of the initiatives that were set up in order to promote international trade in Tanzania: The Board of External Trade (BET): This scheme was set up in 1978. The scheme is responsible for: International markets searching Synchronizing foreign businesses requiring to trade in Tanzania Sorting out and helping out involvement in overseas trade fairs, exhibitions, and missions Carrying out Research and Development on external trade According to BET (2007), since the time the scheme was set up, it has been synchronizing and carrying out training programmes in all areas of international trade, holding specialized exhibitions and carrying out market research. Mini-Tiger Plan 2020: this scheme is fed into the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP). According to Aikaeli (2007), this scheme is responsible for: Promote competitiveness of Tanzanian products on the global markets Promote exports Create special economic zones. The zones that were created included: Tanzania Export Processing Zones, which was set up by the parliament Act of 2002 and Zanzibar Free Trade Economic Zones Authority (ZFTEZA), which was created in 1992 SMEs Export Credit Guarantee Scheme: this scheme was set up in 2003 by the government of Tanzania through the central bank. The aim of the scheme is to facilitate export trade. According to BOT (2006), the scheme is geared to support SMEs in line with the National SMEs Development Policy. In order to assist the mentioned above scheme in minimizing problems that are affect by SMEs in relation to international trade, the government in collaboration with private non-governmental organization (NGOs) organizes workshops and seminars to sensitize and educate people on how to cope with the existing global challenges. For example, SMEs Competitive Facility (SCF) of Tanzania organized a course with jingle Track IT, Trace IT Tanzania: Competitiveness for Tanzania. According to SCF (2006), SCF grants opportunity for businesses that desire to build up or add to their ability to trade and export. Regardless of all the problems that SMEs face in Tanzania in relation to international trade (Aikaeli, 2007), SMEs still have the potential to effectively compete and gain the benefits of the rapid expending international trade. AMKA: DAR-ES-SALAAM, TANZANIA Tomesen and Gibson (1998) stated that AMKA is a Swahili word meaning awareness or awaken. It is an NGO in Tanzania which specializes in export and marketing-oriented business development services (BDS) to Tanzania SMEs. AMKA was founded in 1994. Its main goal is to: Increase the incomes and numbers of Tanzanians (employees and/or producers) involved in exportsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [And] increase the value of agricultural output in Tanzania via exportsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. (Tomesen and Gibson, 1998) In other words, Tomesen and Gibson (1998) wrote AMKAs export/market-focuses technique is to improve business performance by increasing efficiency and turnover through improved access to new markets (domestic and foreign). In quest of the goal, AMKA carries out a variety of activities that target the SME sector. These create a balancing market/export-focused portfolio of services and can basically be categorized into two groups: Training and advisory services providing training in small business development skills and business planning for export. Trade promotion and intermediary services AMKA acts as an agent between producers and customers. It offers market information on export, assist producers who need export facilities and eases the connection between the producers and alternative trade organizations, which are the customers. AMKA also helps producers and intermediary organizations to take part in trade fairs and offer ethical and quality standard audits of producers for external customers and carries out market research AMKAs key income source is the Department for International Development (DFID). In 1994, it endorsed a 4 year funding of $557,053, which was to assist in forming the organization (AMKA). Nevertheless, the awareness strategy of lessening reliance on one donor has been successful. Reliance on DFID funding has lessened from 94% in 1994/5 to 40% IN 1997/8. Important funds from other donors began to enter into the organization. The percentage of internally generated funds has risen from 5% in 1994/95 to 41% in 1997/98. According to Tomesen and Gibson (1998), AMKA successfully serves two groups of customers: SMEs in Tanzania Overseas customers These customers are mainly in two sectors: food-processing and handicraft production. The customer base is extremely different in terms of the organization structure, the number of employees, their activities and main products. The customer enterprises size ranges from 4 to 446 employees. Customer enterprises have a range of structures of ownership, which include: producer groups (groups of self-employed people), co-operative societies, privately limited companies, parastatals, and associations. Originally, AMKAs focus was to develop intermediaries (co-operatives and associations) who could, in turn, deliver services to producers. Nevertheless, AMKA has shifted deliberately towards to offering more services to producers itself directly mainly because of the weakness of these intermediaries and the complexity in increasing their ability. In general, Tomesen and Gibson (1998) concluded that it is obvious that AMKA has had a positive impact on the economy of Tanzania in general and on producers, SMEs in particular. Because of AMKA, some businesses were rescued; others, for the first time, were introduced to exports, or had export sales increased. Effects of Inflation on SMEs in Tanzania: As described in the first essay, Thompson and Vane (1979) argued that inflation can be caused by a simultaneous fall in the value of money. Inflation had continuously pressure Bank of Tanzania in the year 2009-10 due to its double digit and is expected to remain the same due to government expenditure ahead of October elections, the anticipated dry weather and the deteriorating of the shilling. The rate of inflation affects SMEs access to finance. As described in essay one, a high rate of inflation restricts SMEs from access to finance from the banks and other financial institutions while a low rate of inflation widens the SMEs chances of accessing funds. Because of this, inflation is considered as one of the factors that get in the way of the growth of SMEs in Tanzania, in a way that it puts off investors. Investors prefer to invest in countries where currencies are stable and rates of inflation are low. In order to help the SMEs sector, the central bank of Tanzania has set up a chain of strict fiscal measures to control inflation. Professor Benno Ndulu, the governor of the Bank of Tanzania (cited by Emerging Markets Business News, 2010), in an exclusive interview in Dar es Salaam said his institution was acting quickly and resolutely to turn around the rising rate of inflation. He said the bank would remain alert against the risk of higher food and fuel prices firing up the inflations upward spiral. He continued to say that increasing inflation was a worldwide happening and that the Bank was working round the clock to have power over money liquidity in the economy as one of the measures to deal with the problem. As an economics expert, Prof. Ndulu suggested that Tanzania as a nation requires to produce more food for its rapidly increasing population to trim down reliance on costly imported food products, which add up to inflationary pressures. He challenged regulators such as the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) and others to make certain that when prices of fuel at the global market dro p, such positive changes should be experienced by Tanzania too. The Bank of Tanzania also controls the growth of money in order to control inflation. According to Ballali (2004), controlling the growth of money enables the bank to have influence over the rates of inflation. In controlling the growth of money, the bank targets broad money, M2, which is currency in circulation outside banks, and total deposits detained by commercial banks, not including foreign currency deposits. BANK OF TANZANIA (BOT): The Bank of Tanzania is responsible for controlling the rate of inflation. Ballali (2004) wrote the objective of monetary policy is to attain a low and stable rate of inflation, which has a link with the key objective of the Bank of Tanzania, which is price stability. Therefore, the bank has an obligation of making sure that it sets up monetary conditions that are in agreement with low and stable inflation. According to Ballali (2004), the focus of the Bank of Tanzania is on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which it uses to determine inflation. The rate of change in the overall CPI is known as the headline inflation rate. The inflation rate, not including food prices is regularly known as the non-food inflation rate. Non-food inflation rate is used to calculate price movements, which are mostly influenced by policy factors, but can also be often affected by external factors. The Bank of Tanzania also keeps an eye on food prices and their index. This is for the reason that food prices are occasionally influenced by non-monetary factors like drought and floods, which can have an effect on inflation significantly in spite of the attitude of monetary policy. The rate of change in food price index is known as the food inflation rate. Ballali (2004) stated that by controlling the growth of money supply, Central Banks have influence over inflation. The Bank of Tanzania targets broad money, M2, which is described as currency in circulation outside banks, and total deposits detained by commercial banks, not including foreign currency deposits. M2 is selected for the reason that it is the monetary aggregate that is estimated to have closest relationship with the rate of inflation. Central Banks usually have influence over reserve money (base money, or central bank money), as stated by Ballali (2004) which is directly connected to money supply in order to control the growth of M2. Reserve money is described as the liabilities of a Central Bank, which consist of currency detained outside banks and banks reserves detained by the Central Bank. Taxation and its effect on SMEs: According to Mittah (2009), there are two classifications of SMEs: SMEs formal these are potential taxpayers who comply with the tax laws, are well structured and keeps records SMEs informal these are not well structured and have complexities in keeping records. Most of the micro taxpayers fall under informal sector There are advantages in grouping taxpayers, which according to Kimungu and Kileva (2007) include: Simple to manage. Simple to recognize. Simple to educate or counsel on taxation issues. Risk minimization. Higher compliance. The tax system is unfavorable for SMEs development. According to SME Development Policy (2002), the business community has the following perception about Tanzanias taxes: The rates of taxes are higher in relation to neighboring countries in the region Taxes are many and collected by a variety of authorities including: the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), some Central Government Ministries (e.g. Lands, Natural Resources Environment Tourism Energy and Minerals etc.) and Local government Authorities. These are some of the reasons why entrepreneurs are ignorant of tax matters and the cost of acting in agreement with tax regulations is regarded as high. While taxation of businesses is a requirement for national economic development, the current tax system inflicts a major weight on SMEs. The following are the strategies that are set up in order to promote compliances in paying tax by the SMEs: Simplify tax systems: for SMEs the tax system is considered to be complicated. Simplifying the tax system can promote voluntary compliance in paying tax. Mittah (2009) stated that Tanzania has opted for the introduction of presumptive tax system to reinstate income tax, VAT and stamp duties. Presumptive tax system was set up in July 2004 with the intention of minimizing the problems that are faced by SMEs taxpayers in abiding by with the laws of tax. Introduce tax incentives to foster SMEs: tax incentives like low tax rate to those who comply with the tax laws can encourage SMEs to comply and abide by with the tax laws. The Sustainable Industrial Development Policy SIDP (1996 2020): SME Development Policy (2002) reported that this scheme was set up in order to place specific stress on encouragement of small and medium industries through the following measures: Supporting current and new promotion institutions Simplification of taxation Licensing and registration of SMEs Progress access to financial services. Persuades informal sector businesses to grow and be formalized. TANZANIA REVENUE AUTHORITY (TRA): TANZANIA TRA is one of the government companies that are responsible for the application of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to SMEs in Tanzania. VAT was set up in Tanzania on 1st July 1998. Formerly, VAT was known as Sales Tax, but it was replaced because it was unable to create adequate revenue as it was narrow-based. According to TRA (2010) in Tanzania, there are two valid rates of VAT: Standard rate, which is 20% Zero rate, which is 0%. This is generally valid to exports. TRA (2010) gave the following main reasons for setting up VAT: Widen the tax base Achieve economic neutrality Encourage exports Achieve its administrative advantages According to TRA (2010), small businesses are those with yearly taxable turnover of not more than Tshs.40 million. By 31st December 2004, Tanzania had about 355,750 businesses that were registered as small size businesses. This group contributes about 0.44% to the TRA domestic revenue collections. Medium size businesses are those with the yearly taxable turnover exceeding Tshs.40 million, but whose yearly total domestic tax payments to TRA do not go beyond Tshs.400 million. By 31st December 2004, the businesses that were registered as medium size businesses for VAT were about 6,815. This group contributes about 13.2% to TRA total domestic revenue collection. Businesses whose yearly aggregate tax payments to TRA exceed Tshs.400 million are categorized as large taxpayers. TRA has registered about 200 businesses as large taxpayers, including non VAT registered traders such as banks and insurance companies, which entirely deliver free from VAT services. This group contributes about 18% o f TRA total domestic revenue collections. From July to December 2004, about Tshs.2,015.2 million of presumptive tax was accumulated from small businesses. TRAs target was to accumulated tax amounting to Tshs.2,887.3 million, leading to a performance rate of 70%. The key reason for not accomplishing their target was caused by the administrative complicatedness of monitoring the businesses under the informal sector, who do not keep records. About Tshs.60,084.8 million was accumulated from medium size businesses during the first half of Tanzanias financial year 2004/5. TRAs target was to accumulated tax amounting to Tshs.59,212 million, leading to a performance rate of 101%. TRA (2010) stated the following were the reasons for good performance from the medium size businesses: There was close follow-up of monthly tax collections in which the estimated collections are verified by 15th of every month. Recovery of outstanding amount of tax Effective audits Close monitoring of those businesses who do not keep records Tight controls over special free of VAT and VAT repayments Staff training Carrying out of the Departmental Actions Plans The challenges facing Tanzania with respect to taxation of SMEs are in particular to those in the formal sector. Kimungu and Kileva (2007) listed the challenges as: Identification Registration Non compliance Poor of non record keeping Kimungu and Kileva (2007) stated in order to tax SMEs, the TRA has engaged in various activities: Taxpayer education and sensitization Block management system door to door survey Presumptive approach to taxation Assessment procedures Collection formalities and procedures. Conclusion: An assessment of every feature involved in macro-economy i.e. inflation affects, implications of taxation, role of monetary policy and role of international trade suggest variable results. Research has revealed that the SME sector plays a significant role in the economy of Tanzania. The results showed that a third of the GDP originates from the SME sector and employs approximately 20% of the Tanzanian work force. Research has also shown that SME sector has many challenges, which need to be addressed effectively. Given the significance of the sector and the need to transform it to a vibrant and dynamic one, it is essential to put in place strategies that will ease the elimination of those challenges so that it can achieve the desired results. One of the problems that SMEs in Tanzania face, in relation to monetary policy is limited access to finance. This problem exists because the SME sector is viewed as a high risk and costly to finance sector. In order to try eliminating this challenge, the government in collaboration with other financial institutions developed schemes such as SME-CGS, J.K. Fund, etc. which were set up with a main objective of helping the SME sector to have access finance. SMEs also face challenges with international trade. The challenge is caused by SMEs lack of knowledge, information and skills needed to effectively compete in a global environment. Apart from setting up different schemes that tackle this challenge, the government in collaboration with private non-governmental organization (NGOs) also organizes workshops and seminars to sensitize and educate people on how to cope with the existing global challenges. Inflation is considered as one of the factors that get in the way of the growth of SMEs in Tanzania, in a way that it puts off investors. Investors prefer to invest in countries where currencies are stable and rates of inflation are low. The rate of inflation also affects SMEs access to finance. A high rate of inflation restricts SMEs from access to finance while a low rate of inflation widens the SMEs chances of accessing funds. In order to help the SMEs sector, the central bank of Tanzania has set up a chain of strict fiscal measures to control inflation. The tax system is considered as being unfavorable for SMEs development. Business community perceive the rates of Tanzania taxes as being high, complicated and that taxes are many and collected by a variety of authorities. In order to tackle this problem, the tax system need to be simplified so that the SME sector can understand how the whole system works and introduction of tax incentives to foster the SME sector to comply to tax laws.

Lost Freedom Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For many ages freedom has been one of the main priorities in human life. People are determined to have freedom of spirit, religion, opinion, speech; they aspire to be free to decide where and with whom to live, where to work, what to wear, and how to live their lives in general. However, a lot of people are deprived of freedom one way or another, either they are physically imprisoned or influenced by circumstances and life situations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical imprisonment is one of the most devastating experiences for a human being, and affects a person in many ways, physically and mentally. Some of the factors that endanger the physical health of imprisoned people are poor environmental conditions, lack of healthy food, medicine, immediate con...

Depiction of Nature in Ernest Hemingways Unfinished Story, The Last Go

The Depiction of Nature in Ernest Hemingway's Unfinished Story, The Last Good Country Ecological criticism in the 1990s has declared many works, including Ernest Hemingway's novels like The Old Man and the Sea, and many of his nonfiction works and short stories as nature-oriented masterpieces. "The Last Good Country," one of Ernest Hemingway's later short stories, however, still remains to be reinterpreted as more than merely, "a metaphor for childhood innocence" (Werlock 131), and his usual "imaginative use of the natural world" (Fleming 2). Unlike other short stories in Hemingway's early days, this unfinished story has a unique background on writing. No other Nick Adams story had previously been planned to be a form of novel. But Hemingway left the draft halfway in order to concentrate on another mythical tale of romance, The Garden of Eden. Since 1990 when Mark Spilka opened up a revolutionary "quarrel" over Hemingway's sexual ambivalence in the novel, modern critics have frequently referred to a hypothetically incestuous relationship between Nick and his younger sister Littless in "The Last Good Country" as an indication that Hemingway in his later days was fascinated with the androgynous characters.*1 Meanwhile, originating with Malcolm Cowley's reference to the primitivism of Hemingway's fictional heroes in the 1940s, environmentally conscious arguments have gradually become the mainstream of critical support for Hemingway's nature writings. Ranging from the early collection of short stories, In Our Time, to the later masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway's landscapes provide the natural resources for his heroes as Western archetypes to heal their wounds or the settings in which they manifest their male... ...ll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens, GA: U of Georgia P, 1996. 204-22. Spilka, Mark. Hemingway's Quarrel with Androgyny. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1990. ---. "Original Sin in 'The Last Good Country': Or, The Return of Catherine Barkley." The Modernists: Studies in a Literary Phenomenon. Ed. Lawrence B. Gamache and Ian S. MacNiven. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson U P, 1987. 210-33. Sylvester, Bickford. "The Sexual Impasse to Romantic Order in Hemingway's Fiction: A Farewell to Arms, Othello, 'Orpen,' and the Hemingway Canon." Hemingway: Up in Michigan Perspectives. Ed. Frederic J. Svoboda and Joseph J. Waldmeir. East Lansing: Michigan State U P, 1995. 177-87. Werlock, Abby H. P. "Women in the Garden: Hemingway's 'Summer People' and 'The Last Good Country'." Ernest Hemingway: The Oak Park Legacy. Ed. James Nagel. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 1996. 124-44.