Advanced Medical Technology Corp Essay

There are numerous factors, apart form the amount involved and security or collateral offered, a bank or any lending institution considers when granting a loan to potential borrowers. Some of the most important are a business/company’s financial standing, its financial obligations, the purpose for borrowing, past financial dealings of the borrower and its existing businesses with other entities. All of these are important factors to determine whether or not a bank shall tie its money down to the borrower. Advanced Medical Technology Corporation (AMT), a growing company, is eagerly interested in borrowing capital from Western National Bank of San Francisco, California in the amount of $8 million to maintain its current market position and to exploit new markets. The president of AMT believes that given the current standing of the company, sales will continue to grow in the same pace. Here are the issues Western National Bank of San Francisco should look into and study in order to come up with a decision regarding the loan request of AMT: (1)Current financial condition The financial statements of AMT for the years 1983, 1984 an 1985 shows that the company has been experiencing net losses for the past three years, primarily brought about by heavy spending on research and development. However, despite the losses, it seems that the company’s net profit margin has been improving in a continuing velocity. From 1983 to 1984, the net profit margin of the company improved considerably from -9.77% to -5.44%. This continued the following year with a net profit margin of -4.82. From this, we can infer that should the company continue its aggressive and competitive market stance, its net income would continue to improve. However, given the percentage of increase, the company will still continue to see negative income in the coming years. Reviewing the company’s financial statements also shows that company is realizing negative return on assets. Albeit negative, AMT’s return on assets improved significantly from -14.1% in 1983 to -7.15% in 1984. This growth in ROA continued the following year. Because AMT relies heavily on credit lines to finance its needs for research and development, it is important to look into the ability of the company to pay off its debt given its current earnings and assets. The current ratio of the company is decreasing. In 1983, it had a current ratio of 2.57. It dropped down to 1.78 in 1985. This shows the ability of AMT to pay-off its short-term debt. With the current ratio of the company, it may be safe to infer that the company has the ability fulfill its short-term obligations. (2)Security/Collateral The possible sources of security for the bank are accounts receivables, inventories and investments. AMT has a total of almost $6 million outstanding receivables in 1985. Given the aging of accounts receivable that year, it seems that there is a lot of room for improvement in the AR collection of the company. AMT should also implement a more rigorous investigation prior to granting a credit line to clients or customers. This is to ensure that the company attains a more acceptable average collection period. The investment of AMT totaling a little more than $1 million may be a good source of security for Western National Bank of San Francisco, California. Recommendation Given the factors stated above, this paper does not recommend the granting of the requested line of credit in the amount of $8 million. The ratio analysis clearly shows that AMT will continue to see negative returns and profits in the coming years. Its heavy investment in research and development leads to disproportionate operational expenses, which subsequently results to net losses. While the president of AMT is confident that sales will continue to increase at unprecedented pace, this may not be enough for the company to generate profits from its assets and investments. Given this, AMT is most likely to have a difficult time in managing and paying off a loan in this amount.

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Alexander Pope wrote a long poem which he called Dunciad. He had no patience with the half learned and the ill-learned. He branded them all dunces and poetasters and made them the theme of his Dunciad. Like Iliad, it was not an epic but a satire wherein he said A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring. The problem with such people, said Pope, was not that they did not know much; but that they thought they knew everything. Therefore he advised them to master their subjects thoroughly or abjure them once for all.To think that one knows everything is like living in a fool's paradise. It is a comforting thought as far as it goes, if one can stop with it. But curiously enough one thought leads to another and that sets things moving. Satisfaction leads to arrogance and that opens the Pandora's Box. Arrogance knows no fear, no second thoughts. Discrimination vanishes and with a foolish sense of confidence the arrogant will venture to do anything. Sur ely, fools tread where angels fear. We know man falls by pride; and therefore the moment he becomes swollen headed, his fall begins.But he will not fall alone. He will cause a disaster; and many an innocent man will go down with him. Like a drowning man he drags with him anyone he can lay hands upon. When you think that you are Mr. Know – all, you will probably begin to act like a No – all. Many an innocent man will believe what you say. If they simply wonder like the rustics who stared at the village pedagogue and wondered how a small head could carry so much, no mischief is done. But if they also believe what you say, they are at once on the wrong side of the fence.Some of the religious fanatics are guilty of such a sin. They do not know what actually a religion is for. They cannot realize that it is for man's good – to bring comfort in moments of sorrow and distress, to guide him in times of illusion and indecision and to lead him out from darkness and ignora nce. They harangue about the superiority of their god, decry the people of other faiths call them infidels and declare holy wars in the name of God and religion. The ignorant masses who believe them take to arms and cut the throats of innocent people. eligion which is expected to bring comfort and sunshine in the lives of people will spread distress and darkness. People who cannot understand that the essence of religion is understanding, tolerance, compassion and service will think that they are pundits and prophets. Pope rightly advises such false prophets ‘to drink deep' or else ‘taste not the Pierian Spring'. People who believe in racial superiority are no better. They talk of blue blood, azure eyes, blonde hair and fair skin and look down upon others.They too suffer from the limitations of little knowledge. They do not realize that we all belong to one race – the race of man, whether the colour of the skin is white or yellow, brown or black and that these vari ations are the ways of nature to add beauty and variety to its creation. Every artist knows that he needs to vary his colours, combine and recombine them, to produce the needed effect and make his creations look more and more beautiful. But these half learned people who do not know this much, practice racial discrimination and spell disaster.

Umass Dartmouth Reflection

I am currently on year six at Umass Dartmouth, and thus far it has been quite the journey. I have been a commuter for all six years and my experience hasn't been too enjoyable. If I could restart my college experience I am not sure if I would not even put this school as a possibility. I have experienced some positive experiences at this school, but the negative aspects definitely outweigh the positive. However, this current semester has really changed my view on the University. Umass Dartmouth's campus is definitely unique.One thing that has always bothered me about Umass Dartmouth is the look of the buildings. The outside and inside of the buildings definitely help to impact the negative feeling I get about the campus. The campus is so gray looking that it makes me feel somewhat â€Å"gray'. The classrooms are very uncomfortable regarding seating, temperature, and desk space. One positive aspect of the campus is the layout. Personally as a commuter student I really like the â€Å" ring road† effect. I feel it makes the campus really navigable.A big negative when I think about Umass Dartmouth is how I feel as though a large majority of the staff does not care about the students. I have had many experiences ith different departments of the school being very rude to me in different situations. I feel as though the advisors at least should be interested in your wellbeing at this school, but even with most advisors I have had awful experiences. I have switched majors a few times so I have experienced many different advisors.Not every employee of the university has given me a negative experience. I have had a few professors who I felt were very dedicated to making sure I was learning and understanding the material. This is an aspect that I feel is very important, so I am rateful to have had the experience to be taught by some very educated, caring professors. The core business classes that I started taking as an operations management manger were a very good b ase to my major. The classes really helped to give me a broad understanding of different business areas.The class sizes for these classes were medium sized which I thought was perfect for these types of classes. Most of the professors I had for these classes I felt taught me the material very well. However, I did come across one or two professors that I feel really did not benefit me at all. I really find it unfortunate there are professors in this university who do not teach the material well at all. At the end of a semester looking back at a class and feeling like I can take close to nothing from it really frustrates me.I feel as though the university should really be monitoring the classes and spectating them. So far the operations management major required classes have been very good. The sizes of the classes are perfect. I have found all my classes very interesting, and felt the material is being taught very efficiently. I have learned more this semester than any other semester at Umass Dartmouth. One thing that I really have enjoyed this semester is the amount of class interaction. I have experienced a lot of class discussions and have done a lot of presentations.I absolutely hated presentations at much more confident in giving presentations and participating in class discussions. Another part of this semester I have enjoyed regarding my major required classes was a recent trip I took toa manufacturing plant that one of my professors setup. I felt this was extremely beneficial. Being able to actually go toa real life plant and see concepts being used in real life really opened my eyes, and made me really excited to raduate and start my career to apply concepts I have learned.My experience at Umass Dartmouth started out negative, but as I continued through it seemed to start to improve. This current semester has really impacted me positively. I feel as though these operations management courses are really starting to prepare me very well for my career. I really feel as though Umass Dartmouth's campus is a very big negative for myself as well as for other students. If they Just added a little more color to every building it would really help to improve the atmosphere!

A Comparative Study of Journalistic Ethics

1. Introduction In the past, people used to rely heavily on the traditional mainstream media when obtaining information. As a result, the newspaper world boomed and developed extensively during the 70s . With rapid development of Internet journalism by the end of the twentieth century , visual convergence of media has become more pronounced . Hence, the printed newspaper industry diminished sharply with only 14circulations left in 2011 .Such a scenario could be explained further by Hall’s estimation that people living in the developed world incline to get news from the Internet rather than buying hard copies in the twenty-first century . A continuous expansion on network journalism would gradually out-bid the mainstream printed newspaper industry as online attainment of information has become increasingly predominant . Yet, persistent erosion in circulation on Print was foreseeable. Take the Washington Post Company as an example, with growing online competition, 7. % of profit fell was reported in its printed newspaper division last year. For each dollar added to online revenue, the WaPo lost five dollars on print. Shrinkage of the print sector revealed the importance of a diversified structure in the purpose of offsetting the tremendous lost in print and meeting the ever-changing market demand . A similar logic also works within the local media press. In response to the keen competition, Next Media Limited keeps diversifying its business by introducing the Apple Action News (our targeted media channel) chiefly to absorb the new generation.According to the statistical data from the Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations Ltd. , the founding of the Apple Action News has raised company’s profit by 4. 8% from 2006 to 2008. To take a more in-depth analysis about this scenario, the following paragraphs would focus on explaining how the proliferation of technologies influences the print newspaper in term of new production process and reporters' professio nalism. 2. Methodology The objective of this research was to investigate the Journalistic Ethics between Apple Daily and Apple Action News.The study is based on an A1 printed newspaper namely â€Å" †and its animated version called â€Å" † dated 22nd April,2011. As the whole study is only based on the 2 media texts, the issue of how Journalistic Professionalism has changed with the Internet might not be thoroughly reflected; therefore, some relevant reading materials were located from the internet, printed books and online journals to make the research more comprehensive. The findings mainly divided into 2 sections whereas each section could be partition into 2 parts.As for the analysis, the first part demonstrated a discussion with the major differences between Apple Daily and Apple Action News in the process of news production; followed by the part on the major differences between the new media and traditional news in terms of journalistic ethic and professional s tandards. It is found that the professional standard of the targeted texts are more or less the same, there are only slight variations in some criteria. In the discussion section, emphasis is put on the pros and cons of the new news media and the future development of news media respectively.The positive and negative influences of news media would be discussed in a macroscopic manner. With thrives in technological development, new news media has brought a remarkable breakthrough to the development of journalism. It is expected that gradual and piecemeal changes will be coming up in purpose of extending market share. 3. Analysis 3. 1 Process of News Production Generally speaking, the production of news operates through multiple tasks of meaning-making. News gathering is the initial stage of the news fabrication process.It is followed by a series of procedures like putting information into message, graphic editing, as well as publishing. With reference to both the A1 newspaper headlin ed â€Å" † from Apple Daily and â€Å" † from Apple Action News dated 22nd April,2011 , the issue of how the process of news production has changed with the Internet will be discussed further. Figure 2 The traditional news process 3. 1. 1 News Gathering Gatekeeping Journalism primarily looked at gatekeepers as selectors or human information filters.Shoemaker defined gatekeeping as â€Å"the process by which billions of messages that are available in the world were being cut down and transforming into hundreds of messages that reach a given person on a given day† . Nevertheless, gatekeeping occurs at all levels of the media structure. It ranges from reporter’s decision on sources selection to editor’s decision on which story to be covered or printed; media outlet owners or even advertisers are sometimes involved in process of decision making. The production of printed newspaper involves fewer gatekeepers when compared with the production of media ted news.At the very beginning, journalist of both the printed section and the animated department would go through similar procedures. Soon after the release of â€Å"warning letter† by OMD, journalists would gather comments from different parties concerned such as Miss Mak Yin Ting, the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and the Legislative councilors Emily Lau Wai-Hing were both interviewed. While the journalist was preparing the draft, the graphic designer would enrich the story by choosing relevant photos. In our case, it is the picture with Dr. Raymond Ch'ien Kuo Fung and Sir Chung Kong Chow.As time went on, the draft has already gone through major procedures involving different gatekeepers, i. e. the journalists and the graphic designers etc. As for animated news version, it is noted that there will be a few more gatekeepers. Animators, script writers and dubbing artists would work in accordance with different occasions. In our case, the script writers would write the script and handover to the dubbing artists to voice over the story. Then, the animator would be responsible for the video formatting. He /She made use of different multimedia special effects to edit the news in order to make news more interesting and attractive.For instance, past MTR advertisements was inserted as background or analog sound was used to report the MTRC poster. Agenda-setting McCombs and Shaw (1972) have explored the Agenda-setting effect that the news media, by display of news, determine what people think about. Through the day-by-day selection of news stories and decisions about how to interpret these stories, newsmakers provide us about what are the important issues of the day . From the above examples, the following paragraphs will focus on how the Agenda-setting affecting our perspective. On 22nd April,2011, with reference to the suggested click through rate ( , â€Å" † which is a C1 news was placed at the top of the agenda. Howe ver, â€Å" † was placed at the A1 on the Apple Daily printed version. Obviously, there is a complete different Agenda-setting between the two. The animated news tends to select entertainment news whereas political news was selected in the printed version. For most media organizations, especially those market-oriented, newsmakers would consider what their readers can accept or have interest to know about when selecting and interpreting the news . Back to our topic, difference in target readers of the online news and printed news indeed matters.The newsmaker understands that the seriousness of the issue in A1, the direct relation to one’s daily life are concerns of the newspaper reader, that is why the newsmakers select the â€Å" † in the A1. On the contrary, the readers of animated news may be fond of more relaxed, juicy, entertaining news while surfing the net during leisure time. The situation can be revealed from table of top ten highest click rate ( ) in April , majority of the news listed is sensational such as â€Å" ! † ranked first with about 443466 clicks, â€Å"! †came fifth with 297366 clicks and â€Å" ranked the eighth with 286133 clicks. It can be seen that Internet users tend to read exciting and spicy news. That is why entertainment news about Suen Xing drug abuse was placed on top of the on-line news agenda to attract more on-line readers. In short, with reference to different target readers, newsmakers will have a different Agenda-setting. Notwithstanding, the sense of Agenda-setting will directly affect readers’ cognition of â€Å"newsworthy items†. 3. 1. 2News writing Framing Framing allows journalists to emphasize some aspects they want and downplay other aspects by selection, elaboration and exclusion .To determine whether new technology would shed a light in process of framing; the following will demonstrate an assessment with respect to five criteria, 1) language implication, 2) inter viewee’s identity, 3) interviewee’s quote, 4) tone of presentation and 5) headline implication. 1. Language implication In terms of language implication, it is obvious that both the printed version and the animated version have attempted to use subjective phrases and negative wordings. It may be explained by journalists’ strong intention to devalue as well as to shape a negative image on MTRC.Yet, there are many ways to tell the same story. A single word can change meaning a lot. An extract from the animated version reads â€Å" , †, the choice of biased words functioned to gain attention whereas Printed News of plain languages or mild wordings presented the same message as â€Å"OMD , †. In short, new technology implies a stronger meanings or higher levels of subjectivity with regard to langue use. 2. Interviewee identities Concerning the interviewee’s identities, both the targeted media texts selected mainly negative comments or opinions f rom different parties concerned.None of the comments extracted was Pro-MTRC. It is believed that journalists tend to seek one’s assent in dissatisfying with the immoral behaviours of the MTRC; journalists made good use of the interviewees’ testimonial through upholding the authoritative comments in motivating their readers. For example, the targeted texts have selected the criticisms likeâ€Å" † and â€Å" (MTRC) ! † from Miss Mak Yin-ting, the Chairperson of HKJA, who is convincing to public and eligible to typify the journalists as a whole.It is found that animated news seemed to present the more negative image towards MTRC than that of the printed newspaper. It may be explained by time limits in online news; the journalists downplayed some aspects by selection, elaboration and exclusion in order to show the readers the key points and let readers grasp the main ideas within a short period of time . Hence, it is considered to be natural that the animate d version did not show any interviews on behalf of government or MTRC. However, printed newspaper did incorporate more extensive comments providing readers a thoughtful understanding towards the reporting issue.The newspaper journalists could have begun the story on the front page and carrying over to one or more inside pages which involves readers† jumping pages†. 3. Interviewee quotes As for interviewee quote, similar logic is also practiced. The slight difference is noted by more quotations are shown in newspaper. As both journalists were upholding a strong negative message that parties concerned were totally disappointed with what MTRC did. Hence, they mainly quoted interviewees’ negative comment. These quotations functioned to solidify the message about MTRC’s immoral act.Apart from the journalist comments and remarks from the Chairperson of HKJA and media veteran Mr. Ng Chi-sum, journalist in newspaper also quoted interviewee’s negative comment on government as well. For example â€Å" , †¦Ã¢â‚¬  from Miss Mak Yin-ting. The journalists attempted to emphasize the irresponsibility of the government, which did not report in the animated news. 4. Tone of presentation For the tone of presentation, newspaper mainly criticizes the MTRC through plain languages whereas the animated news mainly presented the news verbally with the voice over. The story was reported like story-telling.Reporter’s judgment was obviously shown in the animated news. The tone used, thereby, of critic may belong to stronger reporters’ feelings and emotions. The sentences â€Å"?! , ,! † from the Script of Apple Action News revealed more identification with the reporter’s stance than that of the printed ones. 5. Headline implication â€Å" †and â€Å" † both acted on a negative implication on the MTRC. Negative words â€Å" † was used in both headlines to describing MTRC’s misbehaviors, journ alists tends to framed their readers’ mind by fostering the message that â€Å"MTRC was conscienceless†. Typically, â€Å" framed with a large font size in the printed newspaper functioned to catch reader attention. This matched with Orson Welles saying â€Å"If the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough. † In regard to the subheading of the printed newspaper copy, â€Å" †, â€Å" † and â€Å" † further upheld the above idea and at the same time showed MTRC’s disrespectful towards Journalism. In short, to a small extent, new technology has shed a light in process of framing. Notwithstanding, with reference to the targeted media texts, the language implication and the tone of presentation made certain effects on shaping one’s perception. . 1. 3News editing Editing includes suggestions for sentence structure, word usage, and vocabulary. Examples are given of editing for objectivity, handling wire copy, proofreadin g, developing stories, and compiling. Other aspects of news editing skills include polishing headlines, typography, makeup, and news judgment . The editing of the news between traditional and online media is different. First of all, animated news has a higher flexibility. Editor needs to decide the typesetting of different news in newspaper by personal experience because previous sales volume cannot show which type of news is reader wanted.It is difficult to immediately respond to the market demand. In contrast, through the click-through rate of different animated news in the website, editor can predict what type of news, presumably entertainment news, is audience’s favourite. It is found that â€Å" † placed in A1 ranked the third namely â€Å" † in the suggested animated news’ agenda, while â€Å" † was placed at the top. Hence, new technology allows quicker and direct responses in regard to audience’s taste. In terms of news coverage, e ditor can make news more interesting and attractive by advancement of technology.Traditional media can take advantage of multimedia technology to add special effect when reporting the news. In the newspaper, it mainly depends on words with a few photos to depict the image of MTRC in the news. However, animated news are of video format, which allow editor to add lots of special effects, such as inserting MTR advertisements as background while playing the process of interview and analog sound to report the MTRC poster which was spoofed. As a result, advanced technology allows editor to make use of different multimedia special effects to edit the news in order to make news more interesting and attractive.Yet, newspaper was far more comprehensive than animated news. Because of the consideration of play time, file size, the maximum duration of animated news is around 2 minutes. Therefore shorter, simplified news with more visualized elements is generated on-line. As for the printed newsp aper, a more comprehensive reporting is allowed. Thus, advancement of technology may risk oversimplifying the news content. In brief, there is no doubt advanced technology can help editor to typeset the sequence of news to satisfy demand of market.It can make news become more interesting and attractive for audience to watch. However, it may have certain bad effects on the comprehensiveness of news as the play time limits the range of news content. Concerning the above section, there are some differences between the two targeted media texts. Though they share similar meaning making procedures, more gatekeeper and different agenda setting, more framing as well as more editing are found in the animated news. 3. 2The major differences between the new media and traditional news in terms of ethical/professional standardsWhile the proliferation of technologies gives rise to the growth of animated news and online TV news, there is growing concern about its impact on journalists’ prof essionalism. The following paragraphs would demonstrate a discussion on the degree of changes with respect to 5 criteria: 1) Truth, 2) Accuracy, 3) objectivity, 4) Balance, and 5) Fairness. It is discovered that 2 out of 5 criteria for evaluating Journalists’ professionalism listed above have certain degree of changes. They are the accuracy and the fairness. The other criteria are remained more or less the same. 3. 2. Similarities on Journalists’ Professionalism after Introducing Online Platform First, there is little or even no change to the truthfulness of news while news media presentation is changed from print to online media. Similar truthfulness of news issue is found in both print newspaper and online video of Apple Daily . Kovack and Rosenstiel regard truthfulness as the foundation of the sense of security that grows form awareness and as the essence of news . In this sense, journalists are asked to report what someone has said and base on what they have seen, which can be recorded and checked .Both the animated version and the Printed version have reported the issue about the release of warning letter from OMD highlighting that the letters concerned the right to cancel or reschedule any media insertion when there is any negative reporting in the newspaper publication. Apparently, it is known that both versions are based on the information gathered from OMD and they were being verified accordingly. Therefore, different presentations of news issues do not affect the truthfulness of news. Second, there is no significant difference between the online and print news articles in term of the degree of objectivity.Both the news articles of Apple Daily, either in print and as video, are presented with great subjectivity. Frost has defined objectivity as the following statement -â€Å"it means that the journalists should not let his or her subjective feelings or views intrude into a report†. In other words, one should stands aloof from any decision-making, being neutral and taking neither side . It is found that both online and print versions demonstrated a subjective reporting. Reporters of online and print versions subjectively considered MTR as shameless, revealed by headlines â€Å" on print and â€Å"! † on video. The only difference between them is that the former was written with standard Chinese while the latter was expressed in oral Cantonese. Furthermore, in the print newspaper, the reporters described the letters from OMD as â€Å" † in quotation marks and criticized the Hong Kong Government using sentences like â€Å" , , †. For the online video, there is sentence of â€Å" like?! † by the voice-over. The editors subjectively decided what the response of MTR Company was.These show that the reporters has subjectively included their opinions into the news report and tried to make decision for the readers. In general, the subjective opinions of the reporters on print and online pl atform occupied a similar proportion of the whole content. Although the way of presentation has been changed, it does not affect the degree of objectivity of journalists towards the news events. Third, introducing news article in video version does not change the extent of balance which originally exists in print newspaper.In case of producing animated news and print newspaper for Apple Daily, reporters were still incapable of balancing the opinions from two sides. How balance to the facts and audiences’ understanding can only be shown to some extent by including both sides of opinions towards the disputes equally in the news articles . For example, while reviewing the same news articles on print newspaper and online video of Apple Daily dated 22nd April 2011, nearly half of the articles were occupied by the negative opinions towards MTR from professionals.The print news articles mainly included the negative opinions from â€Å" †, supported by â€Å" † and seni or government official. For online video, there are negative opinions from professionals including â€Å" †, â€Å" † and â€Å" †. None of the opinion on both the print and online platform showed positive views towards this news issue. However, it is surprised to see that there was no criticism on the Hong Kong Government, who acts as the shareholder of MTR Company, in the animated news of Apple Daily.Yet, with the fact that video has limited time to include criticism towards the Hong Kong Government when comparing with the relatively unlimited space of a printed publication. 3. 2. 2 Differences on Journalists’ Professionalism after Introducing Online Platform As we have mentioned before, only the accuracy and the fairness in journalists’ professionalism offer changes after the presentation of news articles change from print to online . The accuracy of news article is greatly promoted to a higher level by the technologies. Frost considers accuracy as an important component of information-gathering.Readers expect that the information they are being fed is properly sourced. Therefore, the journalists must do all he can to minimize mistakes, distortions and untruthfulness . Increasing accuracy can be shown in the news video â€Å" †. All the opinions from the professionals are quoted with their names, titles and even photos. The opinions are recorded from the interviews and delivered in the online video as conversations. The possibility for making mistakes or misinterpreting their views can be lowered since information is directly uploaded or included in the news articles in video format.For print newspaper, when compared with online video of the same news article, it shows a lower level of accuracy. Just like the online video, the print news articles has included the names and titles of some professionals – â€Å" † and â€Å" †. However, photos are not provided. Opinions from interviewees are expre ssed in written words, which have been put to a process of translation by the reporters. It is difficult for the reader to verify the content of the opinions if they have not listened to the actual conversations.Although the readers have expected that the information is properly sourced and accurate, there is still higher possibility of selecting or omitting some of the content by the reporters in the print news article. Moreover, speech of an anonymous government official and the spokesperson of Hong Kong Government as shareholder of MTR are given in this print news article. The reporters have not included their names and titles when they are writing the news articles. Therefore, when comparing the overall performance of animated news and print newspaper on accuracy, the animated news has relatively done better than the print one.Besides, a sharp decrease in fairness is found in new media presentations. â€Å"Fairness is the idea that the journalist gives all sides of the argument a fair hearing† . That means the reporters for new media have not given chances to both parties of the conflicts to explain or defend themselves. A sense of fair play can be seen in the same print news article of Apple Daily dated 22nd April 2011. On one hand, the reporters have included the negative opinions against MTR Company and the Hong Kong Government as the shareholder of MTR.On the another hand, the print news articles also contained the declaration from MTR’s Public Relations Department, stating that their company does not aim to cancel all the advertisements booked in the publication after there are accidents concerning MTR and they always respect the freedom of press. Also, the reporters allowed the spokesperson of Hong Kong Government to defend themselves by saying that the letter has not be mentioned in the Board of Directors of MTR, even the senior government official – â€Å" † has not read it.The regular meeting for the Board of Directors of MTR is about the discussion of future planning but not daily operations of MTR. Lastly, the reporters have also called the editor of Ming Bao â€Å" † to explain more on the cause of this issue. On the contrary, the animated news only contains the criticisms against MTR Company. They do not give any opportunity for the accused party to defend and response to those negative judgments. It may be explained by the limited capacity available in the animated news. In this sense, additional information or counter-argument are omitted in order to save capacity for main content.However, this would lead to an unfair situation to one side of party. To sum up, the journalists’ professionalism generally remains more or less the same after new media presentation is introduced, such as online TV news and animated news. Although some of the components of professional standards do have variations with the new media presentation – increased accuracy and decreased fairness, the re is not much change in the overall performance of journalists when executing their professionalism in news production process. 4. Discussion and Suggestions 4. Pros and Cons of the emergence of the news media In the media corporations’ point of view under market-driven journalism, single-copy sale of newspaper only count for a small proportion of revenue, which mainly relies on advertising. Commercials are more willing to advertise on Internet nowadays . While advertisers assess the effect of various existing medium, print media becomes less competitive when comparing to online media. The emergence of online media could be an alternative way to attract more advertising revenue. In this contemporary era, society emphasizes â€Å"multimedia and digitalization†.The younger generations rely more on imageries than words, hence, has a higher acceptance in pictures. Inevitably, 3D animations that the new media introduced can help audiences in understanding the whole sequenc e of events, especially when it comes to sudden accidents or injuries. Animations can describe and visualize the whole process of incidents; let audiences become the witnesses. The news can be more clearly reported by reproducing the pictures which are impossible to be filmed . That's why modern audiences would also find animated news reporting more entertaining.The emergence of new news media is indivisible with the development of technology. Internet allows audiences to obtain the latest news instantly and ubiquitously. According to Jason Seiken, editor of washingtonpost. com at the time, â€Å"we put it up immediately. Any time there was any sort of update that went up immediately† . Reporters would update the latest news on web as soon as possible right after the incident happened. As well, as a characteristic of Internet, new news media has a high mobility that audiences can read the news anywhere and anytime, as long as they can access o Internet. Moreover, as suggested by Seikan , there is a capacity of online media for interactivity. Media corporations make use of the interactivity of Internet enabling a two-way communication. Audiences can express their own point of view about particular news on web. Apart from the news reporting context written by reporters, audiences can also read from other perspectives. News media becomes a sharing platform among audiences. Animated news media no wonder can attract more modern audiences, however, some may doubt the trustworthiness of the designed imageries .Animators produce realistic imagined videos merely based on a few descriptive sentences which they did not witness. First impression is the strongest. Some audiences may take those animations for granted which is unfair to the victims. This would severely violate journalistic professionalism and cause ethical issues. In this way, animated news has to deal with some obscene topics, for instance, violence and pornography. Since animated news includes image s and sounds, everyone, as well for teens and kids, can easily access to it on Internet; its influences should not be neglected.Besides, different reporters and animators may have different imaginations upon the same reporting. During the process of animation making, more or less would involve in subjective determinations and willingness. To make videos more entertaining, for example, animated news would sedulously sketch the faces of offenders more ugly and fierce. These kinds of manipulation would make the reporting imbalance and lack objectivity. Above and beyond, the emergence of visualization creates a high burden for journalists.Media corporations as to minimize costs, they require reporters to know various skills; therefore, reporters nowadays are â€Å"backpackers†. One has to record videos, take photos and jog notes at the same time. After that, he/she has to type the reporting and post it on web immediately. Reporters are no longer writers who use a pen to write, in stead, story tellers who also use audio and visual to express . 4. 2 The future development of news media Less than a decade ago, the rapid growth in technology has surpassed the earlier world in which information propagation was only limited to press newspaper, radio and television .Nowadays, diverse channels are used to publish news and information. Hence, traditional newspapers facing keen competition may be outbid by the emergence of new news platform. First and foremost, it is important to note that readers no longer want to stay passive in attaining information. As a matter of fact, printed news is a one way delivery; it is less likely for the readers to take part in the news production. However, taking the advantage of quick information transmission, online news stimulates the two-way communication.Readers can submit information or news stories to the press in assisting the news making. In this way, readers could actively participate in journalism by giving extensive feedback s to the media outlets . Secondly, animated news with innovative ideas may become the mainstream of the journalism. The emergence of Apple Action-news is a good proof. It has provoked a cut-throat competition in the press market and brought about considerable changes. Other newspaper corporations have attempted to increase their competitiveness by gradually extending their business online.For instance, Oriental Daily, the direct competitor of Apple Daily, has shortly developed on. cc to absorb the new generation customers as a way to compete with Apple Daily. The reality shows a continuous multimedia trend is existed in the journalism. In the future, because of successful of Apple Action-news or on. cc, numerous of printed newspaper’ companies may be tended to establish online news especially animated news to increase the number of readers. In addition, emphasis on fast pace delivery would the future trend . Even the news delivery now is quicker than past.But the journalism i s not halt in this moment. They will try to solve the technical problem of technology especially the diversity problem of news to accelerate the speed of publishing. This implies that more technology will be employed in news publication to lessen all sorts of locational constraints. To sum up, as the emergence of animated news has provoked a cut-throat competition in the press market and brought about considerable changes. Heavy reliance on technology seems to be a foreseeable trend in the near future. 5. ConclusionIn considering the impact of new technology on the journalistic industry, the news production process and journalistic professionalism would be the key aspects for our investigation. The introduction of new media has brought about changes in every stages of news production. Although animated news are still undergoing similar procedures, more gatekeepers such as animators, script writers and dubbing artists are involved in the new media presentation like video format. Gate keepers create a new Agenda-setting for the online news which targets the leisure-oriented readers.Entertainment news, instead of political one, is put at the top of the agenda for the sake of readership. With reference to the framing process in news writing stage, verbal words with stronger meanings are found in the online media text. Generally greater proportion of negative comments is shown in the animated news in relation to the interviewees’ identities and quotes. It may be explained by the limited time available for a comprehensive content. Moreover, the online media text expresses a stronger tone and emotions from the reporters with voice-over which may be seen as an attempt to invite more identification.Headline for online version are consistent with that in the printed news. Yet, both headlines have acted on a negative implication on the related party – MTRC. In the age of technology advancement, new limitations are imposed in the journalistic industry, which is the limited capacity of animated news. Content are packed within a very short period of time. Particular parts of the news event might be amplified to stress its importance while more perplexities are excluded. The new media affects the framing process to a certain extent, possibly leading to a higher level of subjectivity of reporters.The journalists may intentionally or unintentionally include more personal opinions or biases in the news articles and exert a greater effect on shaping one’s perception through framing with the new media presentation. This situation may become more difficult under the age of technological advancement. For news editing process, the new media has extended the flexibility of journalism to significant level. Click-through rate are used to help with the prediction of audiences’ favourite, giving a quicker response than ever before.Editors make use of different multimedia special effects to generate more interesting and attractive news. Ho wever, the risk of oversimplifying the news content by the new media remains in doubt. From the above, new media actually contribute to the remarkable change in the news production process. New media presentation has also drawn an impact onto the journalists’ ethical standard. Our research shows that some components of the journalists’ professionalism vary to a certain extent under the new media. The accuracy of the targeted media text is raised to a higher level by advanced technology.This is because interviews can be directly delivered in the animated news as conversation, avoiding the misinterpretation by the journalists. As for fairness, a sharp decrease is found in the new media presentation. Limited capacity available in the animated news is the main factor for it. Counter-argument are omitted in order to save capacity for the main content, however, resulting in being unfair to one side of the party. Under our examination, the truthfulness of animated news remain s the same as the printed one since both online and printed versions are relying on the same source of information.Also, we note that the degree of objectivity and balance in new media is kept at a similar level as that of the printed newspaper with respect to the proportion occupied by the opinions of either side of the parties. Basically, the journalists are able to keep their overall performance of professional standard to a similar level with new media presentation. The advantages and disadvantages of new media in regard to the journalism is also a hot topic in discussion. The emergence of online media could be an alternative way to attract more advertising revenue.Also, animation of online news can help audiences in understanding the whole sequence of events by reproducing the pictures which are impossible to be filmed. High mobility of new news media enables the audiences to read the news anywhere and anytime, as long as they can access to Internet. More importantly, interacti vity is embodied in the online platform so that sharing is possible among audiences. On one hand, new media offers us a lot of convenience. On the other hand, the trustworthiness of the designed imageries is still in doubt.The journalists are questioned for not witnessing the reality for their video making. It may result in the severely violation of journalistic professionalism and causing ethical issues. Easy access to the obscene topics like violence and pornography and loose regulation on internet are also a main concern for journalistic ethic. Furthermore, video making is all about subjective determinations and willingness. Exaggerating sketches in animated news would make the reporting imbalance and lack objectivity. Lastly, the emergence of visualization creates a high burden for journalists.Despite the worries, a continuous multimedia trend is anticipated in the journalistic industry. Readers no longer want to stay passive in attaining information. The two-way communication v ia internet will enable the readers to actively participate in journalism by leaving feedbacks to the media outlets. Also, animated news with innovative ideas may become the mainstream of the journalism. Increasing attempt in expanding the business of corporations online will be seen in the near future. Besides, more emphasis will be put on the fast pace delivery by then.The technician for the journalistic industry will eliminate the technical problem of technology, especially the diversity problem of news, with their best abilities. Thus, more technology will be employed in news publication to lessen all sorts of locational constraints and to accelerate the speed of publishing. 6. Works Cited Allan, Stuart. â€Å"The Emerging Forms and Practices of Online Journalism† Journalism: Critical Issues. Maidenhead: Open UP, 2005. Print. Bardoel, Jo and Deuze, Mark. â€Å"Network Journalism: Converging Competences of Media Professionals and Professionalism† Australian Journali sm Review. 3. 2 (2001): n. p. Amsterdam School of Communications Research. Web. 31 March 2011. Bruns, Axel. â€Å"Gatekeeping. † Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production. New York: Lang, 2009. Print. Cheng, Ka-wai â€Å"A Comparative Study of News Media in Hong Kong and Taiwan. † Journal of Communication 2004. Cooke, Lynne. â€Å"A visual convergence of print, television, and the internet: charting 40 years of design change in news presentation. † New Media & Society 7. 1 2005. Domingo, David, Quandt, Thorsten, Heinonen, Ari, Paulueesn, Steve, Singer, Jane B. and Vujnovin Marinc.Journalism Practice: Participatory Journalism Practices in the Media and Beyond. British: Routledge, 2008. . Filloux, Frederic. â€Å"The Publisher’s Dilemma. † Monday Note. 27 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. . Frost, Chris. â€Å"Media Morality. † Media Ethics and Self-regulation. Great Britain: Pearson, 2000. Print. Gbandia, Silas. â€Å"New Media and its Effects on Journalism and Media Development-citizen Journalism. † Journal of Communication 2003. Gibb, Cheryl K. and Warhover, Tom. Getting the Whole Story: Reporting and Writing the News. New York: Guilford Press, 2002. Print. Hall, J.Online Journalism–a Critical Primer. London: Pluto Press, 2001. Koch, Tom. Journalism for the 21st Century: Online Information, Electronic Databases and the News. New York: Praeger, 1991. Kovack, Bill, and Rom Rosenstiel. â€Å"Truth: The First and Most Confusing Principle. † The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect. New York: Three Rivers, 2007. Print. McCombs, M. E. & Shaw, D. L. (1972). â€Å"The agenda-setting function of mass media†. In Boyd-Barrett, O. & Newbold, C. (eds). Approaches to Media: A Reader. Arnold. Shoemaker, P. Gatekeeping.Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 1991. â€Å"The Numbers of Distribution Apple Daily between 2006 to 2008† 20 Jan. 2010. Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations Ltd. 14 April 2011 . Rudin, Richard, and Trevor Ibbotson. â€Å"History and Development† An Introduction to Journalism: Essential Techniques and Background Knowledge. Oxford: Focal, 2002. Print. Westley, Bruce H. News Editing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1972. Print. , + , ,2009? 1? 4 , , ,2005? 5 ; http://www. rthk. org. hk/mediadigest/200502. html; , - , ,2010? 4

Information technology in the business world: its advantages and disadvantages Essay

Information technology in the business world: its advantages and disadvantages. Communication technology is one of the most important facilities of information technology (IT) for the people around the world. It changed the human life by made it easier to communicate between each other also it make the world look like small village. People now communicate between each other’s by different ways comparison to the past. As a result businesses also change and develop by using communication technology. The companies have many benefits and many barriers by using communication technology; the discussion will be limited to this area. This essay will argue that information technology has advantages and disadvantages when used it in business. One of the advantages is that Internet can help companies to communicating effectively with clients. Also companies can use it to build a good relationship with their customers. Now most companies provide a website to market their goods and give more detailed about company’s business. Moreover, Most companies now use a virtual communication to deal or exchange information. In the other hand, communication technologies have many disadvantages that breakdown the business. The First common disadvantage among in companies that employees using company computer for dubious purposes. Also, using internet in workplace for a long time could be affect body and brain health. In addition, employees mobile phones are not secure because of the digital criminal. Internet helped companies to communicate effectively with their customers. It will help the companies to save their time and money while they finish their work online such as: online business deals and advertise their products. Researches show that companies who use the internet develop faster than others. In addition, many clients use internet to read about companies products. According to Vallee (2002, p. 109): ‘the whole world has access to your products, in proportion to the access people have individually to the internet’. The internet is very  useful for companies and helps to them to communicate with their clients. Internet can help companies to build a good relationship with their customers. It can be by sending email to advertise the new products so the customer will find that company interested on him/her and this will strengthen the interaction between them. Most of the customers preferred to deal with that companies give him/her an attention. Kleindl (2002, p.15) explain that ‘Businesses must learn to gain customers trust.’ Thus, it can be concluded that companies can make a good relationship with customers by using internet. Due to the evolution of Information Technology, most companies design a website to displaying company information and products. They have encouraged customers to visit their website to find information about the new products and know the general idea about the company work. Also most of this website provides section that the customer can buy the company products so the customer will save the time by order the products from his place. According to Vallee (1999, p. 74): ‘the websites of most large businesses merely offer general information and job ads, with little else. On the whole, design a website for the company can be very useful to the work. Now days most of the big international companies found that virtual communications are very useful. They can use it to hold a virtual conference between companies in different countries at any time and any day. Most companies find it helpful because it saves their money and time. For example: the companies who want to discuss a business deal should asset time and place to meet but with a virtual communication there is no need to all of these. Hurwitz (2009) consider that ‘The reality is you can get away with a lot more in person than you can in a virtual meeting. In an in-person meeting there is enough going on and enough possibilities of interaction that it works’. Therefore, virtual conference becomes more useful for companies and businesses. The uncontrolled Usage of computers in work places has many disadvantages that impede the progress of work. Many employees use companies’ computers for dubious purposes. Also they may surf the internet during office hours. Therefore, the employees may not perform the work required of them in limited time. Caplan (2006, p. 64) explains that ‘cyber  loafing and personal web use may inhibit productivity’. To summarise, the use of computer in the work place sometimes leads to a downturn in employee performance. Using internet in workplace for a long time could affect the worker health. It is a common problem among companies that employees use the int ernet for a long time. Many of them suffer from different health problem and neurological problems that caused by internet such as: posture and tension, difficulty in breathing, problem in blood circulation and eye health. In addition, if the employees exposure this problem he/she will reduce the level of work (Mcdowell 2001). According to Mcdowell (2001): ‘Those of us who sit at computer screens for long periods every day are already in danger of unsettling our health if this sort of activity is not balanced by a whole lot of contrasting activity. An addict is one who will concentrate their mind and body around one sort of activity to the exclusion of almost all others.’ In all, employees who sitting in front of the computer screen for a long time could affect their health. Unsecure mobile phone has become a common problem for employees by digital criminals. They target the employees’ mobile phone by using new and develop programs. These programs can break the mobile phone security to steal the important information and tampering with the contents of the phone. Moreover, they can send the data to their computers or to other mobile phone. According to Dibben (2009, p. 27): ‘If they responded, the criminals could then access phone users personal data and send it elsewhere.’ Thus, it can be concluded that hackers attack the workers mobile phones by new software to take the important information. In conclusion, the essay has argued that information technology has brought advantages and disadvantages to communication in business. Companies can communicate effectively with their customers by internet. In addition, Companies now try to have a good relationship with their customers by using internet. What is more, companies now design a website to attractions people and provide a products in it. As well as that, virtual communication is one of the important things in the business area. On the other hand, using information technology in business has disadvantages that imbed the work. For instance, employees use the company computers for personal interests in the official worki ng hours. Moreover, using internet for a long time in the  work could affect health problems. Thus, mobile phone could attack by professional criminals. List of references Caplan, S E 2006, ‘Problematic internet use in the workplace’, in M Anadarajan, T S H Teo & C A Simmers (eds), The internet and workplace transformation, Armonk, New York, viewed 26 August 2009, Dibben, K 2009, ‘Hi-tech crime: phones hit by virus’, The Sunday mail, 28 Jun, p. 27. Kleindl, B A 2002, Strategic electronic marketing: managing e-business, 2nd edn, Thomson South-Western, Cleveland, USA. Vallee, D 1999, Leading your business into the future with the internet, St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton. Hurwitz, J 2009, http://jshurwitz.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/whats-the-future-of-the-virtual-conference/ Mcdowell, R 2001,

Human Resource Information System-101 Assignment

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Music History Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Music History - Research Paper Example It was usually a part of mourning also, except in cases, such as, when Admetus while mourning his wife, ordered that â€Å"neither lyre nor pipe is to be heard in the town for twelve months." (West 14). Often religious festivals or ceremonies would begin with a procession with music, such as chorale accompanied by the pipes and/or the lyre. The people might be dancing or have dancers with them. Processionals are thought to be the oldest form of Greek music. It is believed that the earliest recorded occasion was a procession from Messina to sacrifice on Delos (West 15). Every part of Greek life had some kind of music that was traditionally used. Following is a description of the most well known types: Hymns were sung by a chorus to the gods, except Apollo and Dionysus, which had their own special songs, the paean, a song of joy, and the dithyramb, a choral song of prayer or supplication. The Dithyramb eventually became secularized and metamorphosed into the drama form tragedy. The Hy porcheme was a song and a dance. The Prosodion was used for processionals to altars and temples at the beginning and ending of festivals. Enkomion was a song of praise for men, as was the Epinikion used to honor the winner of athletic competition. A Skolion was sung by guests at a banquet. An Erotikon was an erotic song or poem for gods and goddesses and also men and women. The Hymenaios was used for weddings during the processional, at the banquet and in front of the bridal suite. The Threnos was a funeral dirge, sung by a chorus solemnly in either very low or very high pitch. Maidens would sing a Partheneion . Many of these have echoes in current church and classical music ("Lyric Genres."). 2. Describe the evolution of notation from the concept of neumes to the development of the staff and the idea of nota. Music likely dates back to the earliest civilizations, even hunter gatherer populations , but it was not until the Greeks created a form of musical notation that we have any records of written musical notation. There is a piece of music carved on a tombstone called the Seikilos Epitaph, found in Turkey, and may be from the 1st century AD. This is evidence that ancient Greeks used music notation since the 3rd or 4th centuries BC. Boethius (c.AD 470–AD 525) applied the first 15 letters of the alphabet to the notes in use at the end of the Roman period in the five textbooks he wrote on ancient music while in prison. A system called neumes, using Greek language symbols, was used in about the 6th century AD to record the Gregorian chants. This system only reminded a singer or musician of the â€Å"shape â€Å" of a memorized song. It was not until the tenth cent ury that Heightened Neumes were arranged above and below a line to indicate rising and falling pitch. In the twelfth century, Guido D’Arezzo placed letters on lines to indicate pitch. The staves developed over the next four centuries with different numbers of lines, but in the sixteenth century the five line staff became standard. Early music was all written down by the church and aristocracy, as paper and quills were expensive and most people could not read words either ("History of Music Notation - evolution, printing, specialisation and computers."). There was no system for tempo and measure until about the seventeenth century. It was not until the legitimization of polyphonic music, forbidden at first by Pope John XXII in 1322 (See Appendix A for his writings.), that other parts of our modern notation developed to fulfil its needs ("Polyphony Is

To investigate and analyse the tax avoidance of Starbucks in UK Essay

To investigate and analyse the tax avoidance of Starbucks in UK - Essay Example The failure of the world major corporations to honour their tax responsibilities is not a new case of challenges facing the establishment of ethics  in  the business community. The extent of the implications of tax avoidance reflects accordingly across all nations, from the poorest to the most developed. The United Kingdom is not exception with corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks among others facing such cases. The case of such occurrences elicits angry comments and reactions from the residents and protest groups of human rights, as the tax dues constitute a key cause of implied financial crisis in the country. Starbucks Corporation is a US based coffee giant retailer (Behar & Goldstein, 2007, p 23). The coffee menu famously baffles the customers (Simon, 2009, p 56). The corporation has functioned in the UK for over 14 years since entering the markets in 1998. The Starbucks Corporation, since entering the UK market it has established over 750 stores and employs about 8500 employees in the country (Gilbert, 2009, p 65). The company also enjoys a warm reception in the country, engaging in its daily operations accordingly. However, in recent years, reports of its non-remittance of taxes have continued to cause confusion as to the profitability of the corporation (Pham-Gia, 2009, p 21). Consequently, the company continues to suffer from the claims as they extensively impact its reputation and operations. The failure of the major corporation to honour its tax pay cuts constitutes both legal and ethical issues of business operation. In view of the evidence realized in the cases that ensued in the corporation operations, the key factor of consideration includes the tax liabilities of the company, irrespective of the profits they realize. Notably, the corporation has in recent years been registering a steady growth curve, with an increase in profits. This trend in growth reflected

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Microeconomics - Essay Example The theory of â€Å"invisible hand† proposed by the father of economics, Adam Smith, refers to this theory of price. According to Smith, prices are the sacrifice made by customers in order to make a utility gain through consumption of the good or service and the gain made by producers by selling the product that they have produced. Therefore, any rational consumer would be willing to make lesser sacrifice for a comparatively larger amount of gain. On the other hand, producers or sellers would desire to be willing to earn more by selling their product than the sacrifice they have made during producing the good. The market comes to equilibrium at the point at which both the decisions regarding buying and selling the good intersect with one another. This phenomenon is termed as the invisible hand, since the market operates without intervention by any third party (Mankiw 26). Figure: Free market equilibrium (Source: Author’s creation) Three important functions are played by price mechanism in a competitive market economy. These are signaling function, rationalling function and incentive function. Signaling function Prices of goods and services in a competitive market economy demonstrate the rate of availability or scarcity of resources in the market. It indicates whether resource is allocated adequately in different sectors in the economy (Adil 71). In the long run, high price level signals producers to enter the market, while customers are signaled to leave the market and look for cheaper substitutes. Therefore, supply rise and demand falls. Figure: Signaling effect (Source: Author’s creation) Rationalling function Prices can ration scarce resources when market demand is much higher than market supply. If market demand is higher, price would rise, thereby making the good available to those customers only that have the demand for the good backed by purchasing power. It helps to bring the market to equilibrium from a position of disequilibrium b y equaling demand with supply (Boyes and ?Michael 26). Incentive function Price mechanism plays an active and important role in the market economy. Price of a good is the incentive for both buyer and seller to buy or sell the product. For successful running of a competitive market, prices should be efficient enough to incentive the economic agents to involve into economic transactions. Figure: Rationing and incentive effect (Source: Author’s creation) If there is excess demand it raises price. Incentive effect allows suppliers to increase supply while rationalling effect makes buyers to reduce demand. This leads to a new equilibrium (from e to e2). Answer 2: Demand and supply are two basic forces that operate in a competitive market structure. Price plays an important role in determining the equilibrium quantity of demand and supply in this type of economy. Although economic theory simplistically states that there is negative relationship between price of a product and its de mand and positive relationship between price of the product and its supply; there is a difference between expansion and increase in demand or supply for a good or service and contraction or decrease in demand or supply for a good or service (Friedman 13). Expansion or contraction in demand or supply Demand (or supply) can change either due to change in price of the good (or service) or due to change in other variables affecting price.

Report on Public Key Encryption Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Human Resources in Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

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International marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 9

International marketing - Essay Example Two parts of the common methodology are especially striking. In the first place, organizations regularly seek after this new business opportunity with an attention to minimizing danger and venture the complete inverse of the methodology normally supported for bona fide start-up circumstances. Second, from a showcasing point of view, numerous organizations break the establishing standard of promoting that a firm ought to begin by examining the business, and afterward, and at exactly that point, settle on its offer regarding items, administrations, and advertising projects. This paper will analyze into Harvey Nichols recently announcement that it targets to open a new store in Doha Festival City area in specifically at Sale Al Hamad Mana in partnership with the Qatari group of business. Macro environmental components influencing the apparel business are those which lie outside little organizations and their rivals. Entrepreneurs have less control of these outer components, and their effect on transforming them is insignificant. Rather, little organizations must adjust to these macro environmental elements, which incorporate customer qualities, innovation, government impact and the economy. The way little organizations adjust to macro environmental elements decides both their capacity to separate themselves from key contenders and general success (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010) Consumer components incorporate standards, cultures, the way of life, demographics as well as the change in population. These components influence the clothing business in diverse ways. Case in point, a little attire maker needs to make styles that engage those of distinctive societies, particularly if those social gatherings speak to sufficiently expansive fragments of its market. Oppositely, dress makers, wholesalers and retailers abstain from making an excess of garments things that fall outside the standards of society, for example, styles worn 100 years

International finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International finance - Essay Example By actually knowing the exchange rate of the other currency (one year from the base year), banks and individuals earn an effective interest rate rather than the simple interest rate that would have been earned if the funds are left deposited in the bank. Using the theory of purchasing power parity, explain how inflation impacts exchange rates. Based on the theory of purchasing power parity, what can we infer about the difference in inflation between Ireland and the USA during the year your lottery winnings were invested? First, in order to explain how inflation impact exchange rates, it is necessary to define purchasing power parity. The Dictionary of Economics defines purchasing power parity as â€Å"a theory which states that the exchange rate between one currency and another is in equilibrium when their domestic purchasing powers at that rate of exchange are equivalent†. Since after one year, the rate of exchange became US$1 = Euro 1.30, there was a 4 per cent inflation in Ireland which caused a devaluation in their exchange rate. The inflation rate was computed as follows: (1.30 – 1.20)/1.20. While there was no mention of any change in exchange rate in the US, it can be inferred that there was no inflation increase. Therefore, the value of its currency remained the

Finals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Finals - Assignment Example Malthus identified the substance wage, with foodstuff the workers’ wages is what workers eat. Rapid increase of food crops is not possible because supply of fertile land is limited and technical improvements do not come fast enough. To Ricardo, economic rent is paid to the owner of the land for the use original and indestructible power of the soil. This rent is not the same as returns derived from improvements made on the land that result to rise of the profit rather than rents. Malthus considered higher rents for landowners as salutary thing. Ricardo believed rent to be unearned income. Landowners who have to work longer hours for the bushel of wheat, sell it at same price as farmers who own the richest delta land. Rent does not determine the prices of grain rather than grain decides the amount of the rent. Answer to question 5. Both contemporary and modern critics have very often regarded Malthus, as an eminently inconsistent writer. Not only was he accused of not reasoning well (Ricardo himself wrote for instance, His arguments are not very cogent; indeed, I am often puzzled to find any connection between the premises and conclusions of his propositions’ Ricardo’s was highly influenced by sparked spare abstraction of English economy of parliamentary debate than proposed corn laws which prohibited importation of grain until the price of domestic grain increased to a specific amount. The central conflict arose from industrialist against landowners who had expanded cultivated acreage. Corns laws had favored only a few at expense of their own capital accumulation thus higher prices meant industrialists had to pay for higher wages. Since most of landowners were parliamentary, thus Corn Law passed easily, debate on these law defined interest of various economic units (groups).Malthus lavished praise on land lords and Ricardo attached the consequences, thus legislative issues become context in economic analysis and revelation of class conflict- how national income to be distributed among landlords manufacturer and workers. Malthus argued that taxation reduces disposable income thus are left worse off. Thus, Corns laws are unfavorable. Answer to question 6. Mill turns economics into a viable philosophical area of inquiry by exploring what people really want and what economics can measure and assess. Mill’s approach to economics is based on his belief in the superiority of socialism, in which economic production would be driven by cooperatives owned by the workers. To this end, Mill argues that the laws of production may be natural laws, but the laws of distribution are created and enacted by human beings. In other words, wealth is the natural product of labor, but the distribution of wealth is determined by the decisions and the will of actual people (the elite) and is not simply part of the order of nature. Mill carries this view quite far, maintaining that human laws and institutions can and should determine how w ealth is distributed. Thus, for Mill, economics is closely tied to social philosophy and politics. Private property being assumed as a fact, we have next to enumerate the different classes of persons to whom it gives rise; whose concurrence, or at least whose permission, is necessary to production, and who are therefore able to stipulate for a share of the produce. We have to inquire, according to what laws the produce distributes itself among these classes, by the spontaneous

Is China a 'rule maker' or a 'rule taker' in the international system Essay

Is China a 'rule maker' or a 'rule taker' in the international system - Essay Example Such a multi-stakeholder system is classified by an increasingly liberal multilateral order and increasingly flexible attitude toward the sovereignty of the state. The perception that China has served as a rule-taker for a long time but is now undergoing a radical transformation to become a rule-maker that is making new game rules in favor of its national interests, is commonly help by both realists and neoliberals. â€Å"A more powerful China, the thinking goes, is likely to promote a statist and more hierarchical brand of international governance that is inconsistent with the open, multilateral governance architecture that has emerged and developed since the end of World War II under American and European guidance† (Kennedy and Cheng, 2012, p. 9). Transformation in China’s foreign policy since the mid-20th century In the Mao Era between 1949 and 1978, there was a fundamental opposition of China to the global architecture that was derided as the capitalist West’ s puppet. However, since the early 1980s, integration of China into the different regimes of the international system improved rapidly. ... enge the traditional regimes, though as soon as China gets in a more powerful position, it would inevitably reshape the international institutions and norms to suit its own preferences. Therefore, the engagement and compliance presently shown by China toward the international order cannot be thought of as long-lasting. â€Å"Since the 1990s China sought to improve relations with as many of its neighbors as possible, including settling leftover border disputes with the former Soviet Union† (Lanteigne, 2013, p. 3). The longevity of China’s global engagement There is a lot of subjectivity about goals and course in the recent foreign policy of China (Sutter, 2012, p. 3). The global engagement of China is not as temporal as it is perceived to be by some, and there are numerous reasons for that; firstly, in spite of the fact that the current international system was not invented by China, it is consistent with the interests of China in different ways. China has increased its military and economic power substantially within the current order’s context. Secondly, people and institutions that have more political and economic strength in China have taken advantage of the engagement of China in the present international system. China would continue favoring the status quo till the time these institutions are in power in China and the ruling elite favors them. Thirdly, over the passage of time, China has become so deeply grounded in the international order that outright opposition or disengagement is very difficult to achieve. A lot of Chinese companies have started to integrate into the networks of production on a global scale, and depend upon growing such linkages in order to survive and expand. The government of China has made a formal pledge to comply with numerous treaties

Ethnographic film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethnographic film - Essay Example There has no actual date that states the origin of this film. The initial instances of these films were the footages that projectionists and film makers took during their travels. They took footages of distant cultures in the places they visited. Colonizers also used them to educate the countries they colonized during their travels. They viewed them later during the journey or after returning home. Some argue that they begum in 1895 when Lumiere shown his film named ‘Arrival of Train’. During that time, the travelling agents also shown their clips during their travel. However, the anthropologist disagrees that this inspired the production of ethnographic films. They claim that the people who acted this film did not have acting experience and non-western. The cultures of this people had no exposure to the modern world and lived in the non-urban area. These factors disregard that these films originated during that time. After the First World War museums and universities st arted using ethnological films in their anthropological teachings. Commercial producers such as Paul Fejos trained anthropologists on how to use filming tools during their researches. They also collaborated with institutions and museums to produce high quality movies (Beate 67). Robert J Flaherty produced and shown his film â€Å"Nanook of the North’ in 1920. The film consisted of documentaries and stage crafts. He intended to naturalistically to portray people who lived in the arctic regions. He did not have any anthropology background but the subjects in his movie interacted with him well. People saw his pictures portray the unknown Eskimo way of life real. This made him the godfather of ethnological films together with his previous films he had recorded. Later in Gregory and Mead released their film ‘Hunter’. It documented the complex rituals that take place in New Guinea. This became the most viewed ethnographic films in different American institutions. Othe r ethnographic films that followed: Napoleon Chagnon, The story of a Kung Woman and The Feast. Marcel, Dieterlen and Rouch flourished production of ethnographic films in France. Discovery of 16mm cameras and light tape-recorders led to evolution of Visual anthropology. Then followed enhancement of filming techniques in visual anthropology by Rouch. Then Robert and Karl introduced editing and filming as a serious research technique. Then ‘Dead Birds’, a film produced later combined all these enhancements during its filming and production. In 1970’s, Judith and MacDougall started to produce ethnographic films with subtitles. Later different production techniques such as reflex ion and experimental montages become introduced in filming of ethnographic films by Minh-Ha. These summarize a brief history of how ethnographic films evolved in the world. There have been conflicts between the filmmakers and the archaeologist. Archaeologists argue that the ethnological films they produce do not satisfy the required criteria. Lack of scientific knowledge among the filmmakers contributes to this problem. They further argue that the filmmakers only primarily concerned with meeting documentary film conventions. This makes them not to meet the convention of ethnological films. These conventions require their images and sound tracks to be anthropological in nature. The film makers depend on verbal or written words to make their films anthropological. This again makes them fail to meet the conve

Kodak & Fujifilm Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Kodak & Fujifilm - Research Paper Example In order to gain sustainable competitive advantage, the company builds its innovation platform on its technological heritage. The company has a unique design strategy which is always looking for opportunities across every product’s entire life cycle. As a result, the company is able to offer unique solutions at every stage of the product life cycle. For instance, customers are offered to choose among various applications such as offset plates, printing solutions, packaging solution and workflow systems in order to enhance the efficiency of their services and products. The company’s capabilities in material science and deposition have also resulted in innovative and alternative products such as fuel cells, batteries, solar panels and biotech products such as films for tissue regeneration, disposable sensors, and antimicrobials. The innovation expertise of the company has also forayed into fields such as biochemistry and bio-fuels. Â  In order to gain sustainable competi tive advantage, the company builds its innovation platform on its technological heritage. The company has a unique design strategy which is always looking for opportunities across every product’s entire life cycle. As a result, the company is able to offer unique solutions at every stage of the product life cycle. For instance, customers are offered to choose among various applications such as offset plates, printing solutions, packaging solution and workflow systems in order to enhance the efficiency of their services and products.

Business Plan Degree Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Plan Degree - Assignment Example Mission Statement of the Business Plan: First and foremost I would like to state the Mission Statement of our Business Plan. The Mission Statement of Thame Valley Golf Club should be to make it a professional Golf Club, making it a profitable one utilizing all its facilities to the maximum capacity. Thame valley golf club is situated in Oxfordshire, approximately 4 miles north of Thame Town centre. It consists of a par 36 full-length 9-hole course. The course is situated 10 miles north east of the city of oxford and 4 miles north of Thame town centre, Alysbury is about 10 miles away and High Wycombe is around 2 miles to the southeast. Motorway access is reasonably good as the M40 is only 5 miles away and M4 is around 25 miles away. The course is currently of 9 holes but land is available to build a further 9 holes in the future. There is only one set of Tees for the course. There is a practice putting green adjacent to the clubhouse and a large teaching and practice area. No PGA professional has been in place. Hence lessons have not been promoted. A local PGA Pro is running on ad hoc basis. The arrangement with the local PGA Pro is terminated with a mutually agreed settlement. At present a small shop selling regular day-to-day items and accessories is run by the owner's daughter. A new shop will be established near the test tee, where there exists an outbuilding, which will be made secured now. The Pro has to make the interiors of the shop. Facilities available: Male Female changing and shower rooms. Administrative offices Cafeteria style eating area Golf shop Current shop membership, Membership and Green Fees. The membership is growing steadily. Currently the membership stands at 419 comprising 196 men, 22 women, 99 seniors (Male), 19 seniors (Female) and 11 juniors. The owner targets to increase the membership to 700 with Men Ladies and juniors as main target group. The cost of the membership is as follows: Entrance Fee 175 Adult yearly subscription 385 Senior Yearly subscription 225 Junior 85 Social 15 Visitor 9 midweek ,, 12 a weekends ,, With members 8 The no. of round played by visitors averages at 35 and that of 30 rounds by members. Target round for visitors doubled at 50 rounds. External: Surroundings: There are 8 primary schools, 2 secondary comprehensives, several colleges and Oxford University in the surrounding. There are also two leisure centres and 3 private health clubs within 10 miles surroundings. Until recently there were 2 golf shops but due to fierce competition one of them has shut down. Competition: There are two more golf clubs in the surroundings: 1. The Old Established Private Members Club There is the St. Annes club, which is a private club situates around 9 miles from Aylasbury. It is a 103 years old club. This as professionally designed reputed golf club. It has a small practice area used by the professional for teaching. There is a small shop but is not well stocked.

Market Equilibration Process Paper Essay Example for Free

Market Equilibration Process Paper Essay The market equilibration process occurs when the market can reach and maintain a balance between the supply and demand. It also includes what manufacturers take in consideration of what can help lead their firms so they can maximize profits with units sold and match what consumers are willing to spend on an item. This will lead to market equilibration. With family, finances must have equilibration to maintain a good life. Prior to making major purchases or planning vacations, there are several options to consider. What should be done is assess the family finances. Each family need to account for all income during each pay period, then figure what they are going to pay as monthly expenses like rent, electricity, water, credit cards, cell phones, cables and putting money into the family savings. This information will help to determine the families’ income so they can plan their next major purchase or family vacation. If planning a vacation there needs to be consideration for the total cost and what is available to spend, and second is the real income effect, has there been a change in a families’ purchasing power. The law of demand according to McConnel (2009) states, â€Å" Other things equal, as price falls, the quantity demanded rises, and as price rises, the quantity demanded falls.† When there is a change in determinants of demand in the family for examples; income of the family, the cost of an item, and the expectations of the family. Each of these determinants will have an effect on the demand. The demand will either shift to the right with an increase or to the left indicating a decrease. The law of supply according to McConell, (2009) states, â€Å" As prices rises, the quantinty supplied rises; as price falls, the quantity supplied falls.† So with higher prices production is increased and profits are increased. Changes in family income will affect the supply determinants. This will cause a shift to the left to decrease the supply. These determinants  includes resource prices, job market, employment, taxes, and prices of other goods. Efficient markets theory states that all working financial markets react at the very moment to any new information for families, this means the price in vacation is placed at that very moment, and any family has a chance to act on it or not. At times, the resources are lacking and the consumer demand outweighs the available supply or the supply is greater than the demand. This is when the equilibrium shifts and causes either a shortage or a surplus. With shortages in this case there is an excess in the demand or low supply of income. This will result in a price increase and those prices will prevail. Then when there is a surplus of an income this will cause the family to have more expendable income. To obtain market equilibrium there has to be a balance between both supply and demand. References Economics Online. (n.d). Market Equiblrium. Retrieved from http://www.economicsonline.uk/competitive_markets/Market_equlibrium.html McConell, C. R., Brue, S. L., Flynn, S. M. (2009). Economics, Principles, Problems, and Policies (18th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill. NASDAQ. (n.d). Efficient marets theory (EMT). Retrieved from http://www.nasdaq.com/investing/glossary/e/efficient-market-theory

The public education system Essay Example for Free

The public education system Essay â€Å"Effectiveness in the principal-ship is the extent to which all learners in the school are doing as well as they should be doing.† (Webster, 1, 1994) The public education system has perhaps never faced more challenges than it does today. With increasing diversity in the school system, teachers and administration have to be prepared to teach students with minimal English. Increased violence in schools has created a situation where providing security for students takes precedence to learning. Drug use among students and domestic violence place teachers and administration in a social services role, rather than focused on education. Increased accountability standards with an ever-shrinking budget challenges teacher’s time to be responsive to individual student needs. Each of these challenges are faced by the school as a whole, with increased pressure placed on the role of the principal to meet these needs. The role of the principal has changed over the past twenty to thirty years. Ideally the principal should be responsible for creating a climate of learning, and assuring that teachers have the resources they need to do their job effectively. â€Å"The principal establishes a climate for excellence, puts forth a vision for continuous improvement in student performance, promotes excellence in teaching, and commits to sustained, comprehensive professional development for all staff members. The principal ensures that curriculum, instructional strategies, and assessment of student progress are coherent components in the teaching and learning process. In short, the principal engages herself or himself as an instructional leader.† (Tirozzi, 1, 2001) Educational research, focusing on school effectiveness, often examines the concept of the principal as leader as one of the critical factors. Research indicates that the role of principal as leader in creating a climate that can lead to higher student academic performance, â€Å"conditions such as setting high standards and goals, planning and coordinating with staff, having an orientation toward innovation, frequent monitoring of staff and student performance, and involving parents and the community.† (Blank, 1, 1987) This increased emphasis on the principal as a leader, has ultimately changed the role of the school principal. Historically, principals wereelected and played the role of educator. The increased need for the principal to take the part of leader requires the principal to also take on the role of administrator. Along with this role, there is a increased emphasis on the principal as a primary contributor to the educational effectiveness of the school. This expanding role of the principal has created a new set of expectations, including fulfilling the role of leader as both educator and administrator, including responsibility for the school curriculum. During the 1980s, school districts introduced programs to increase school effectiveness, including greater instructional leadership by principals. (Blank, 1, 1987) According to Elaine Fink and Lauren Resnick, there is widespread appeal for principals to assume the role of leaders in education, but this role is not being fulfilled in practice. â€Å"In practice, though, few principals act as genuine instructional leaders. Their days are filled with the activities of management: scheduling, reporting, handling relations with parents and the community, and dealing with the multiple crises and special situations that are inevitable in schools. Most principals spend relatively little time in classrooms and even less time analyzing instruction with teachers. They may arrange time for teachers meetings and professional development, but they rarely provide intellectual leadership for growth in teaching skill.† (Fink Resnick, 1, 2001) Fink and Resnick depict principals as becoming more and more distanced from the issues of education and instruction and increasingly focused on administrative and budgetary issues. According to Fink, building an effective community of principals should focus on the craft of teaching and learning and the building of strong interpersonal relationships. The role of principal maintains five major controls or sources of power or authority including the authority (1) to exert administrative control, (2) to exert aggressive instructional leadership, (3) to control the evaluative framework of the school, (4) to control the distribution of rewards, and (5) to control the timing and flow of information and resources in the school. (Webster, 44, 1994) The effective principal has the ability to define what tasks ar e important and create a framework in which those tasks can be accomplished. The effective principal should focus on the role of â€Å"principal teacher,† or that which is the teacher of teachers. Effective principals, who have the responsibility of teaching both new and experienced teachers, must be knowledgeable about a wide variety of teaching strategies, with a focus on that which will enhance learner growth. Effective principal must possess problem-solving as a skill. The effective principal should operate as a leader. (Webster, 93, 1994) Leadership is often defined as the ability to influence others in the group, focused on the two basic functions of leadership: task and human. Task effectiveness relates to teaching as the major task and learner growth as the outcome. The second function of human effectiveness recognizes that teachers and other staff members need occasional strengthening, refocusing, morale boosting, and listening to, as well as remediation and correction. According to Webster, task effectiveness and human effectiveness roles of leaders overlap, across all domains. Principals must display task effectiveness in the learning or learner-centered domain as well as in the management domain. (Webster, 46, 1994) Portin and Shen studied the changing role of the principal in the Washington State education system. They identified the school effectiveness research of the last twenty years in affirming the role of principal leadership in school success. Principals were identified as key individuals as instructional leaders, initiators of change, school managers, personnel administrators, and problem solvers. The principal is in the center of multiple demands to reform schools and to meet the challenges of future leadership. (Portin Shen, 1, 1998) â€Å"If education, in general, and schools, in particular, are seen as tools for social change, educational leaders are assumed to be among the most critical artisans. This assumption is widely held by the public-at-large, as well as by education professionals. It is also an assumption warranted by relevant evidence. Indeed, the leadership effect becomes increasingly prominent the more one focuses attention on schools as opposed to other types of organizations.† (Portin Shen, 1, 1998) Despite changes in shared leadership and teacher empowerment, the principal remains the center of leadership in the school. The unique role of the principal includes instructional, organizational, and statutory leadership. As an instructional leader, the principal is expected to retain knowledge of effective instructional practice, both curricular and pedagogical. The role of the principal as evaluator of instruction underlines the organizational leadership expected. Principals are given responsibility for most school operations. Despite changes in school policy, and societal changes, the assumption is made that principals have the capacity to lead and supervise the implementation of new programs and regulations while continuing to provide previously assigned responsibilities. Research indicates that this ever-changing role of the principal may not allow for them to meet of the expectations. â€Å"Numerous factors have been identified that contribute to the ways in which principals spend their time. Analyses of the principals role reveal constant interruptions, lack of planning time, fragmentation of activities, compliance with numerous rules and regulations. Clearly, the role of the principal is changing as more is expected of them.† (Portin Shen, 1, 1998) In a study of schools in Washington State, more than three quarters of principals surveyed, reported that in the last five years they have had more responsibility for site-based decisi ons, monitoring truancy, dealing with the impact of student diversity, interacting with parents, improving school-community relationships, and administering special education programs. These changes suggest that principals are expected to provide more leadership, on one hand, and to take on more managerial responsibilities, on the other. This has led to a growing tension between the leadership and managerial responsibilities of the job. The role of principal is becoming increasingly more challenging. Ninety-one percent of the principals surveyed indicated they are in districts that are decentralizing decision making to the local school site, 76 per cent were in districts that were initiating or encouraging the use of site councils, 79 per cent indicated the need to establish school/business partnerships. Seventy-six percent reported working in sites with increased student diversity that has had an important impact on the school, 83 per cent increased interactions with parents that have had a significant impact on their work, 91 per cent reported it was important to consider client satisfaction when making decisions. As might be expected, these changes have had nega tive impact on the ability of principal’s to do their work and increased negative feelings about their job. (Portin Shen, 1, 1998) These changes have required the principal to take on additional responsibilities, resulting in a disproportionate amount of time and attention devoted to these new responsibilities. As new responsibilities are added, principals must take time away from previous demands to meet the changing demands. Despite the addition of new responsibilities, principals have not been relieved of other duties and responsibilities that have traditionally been a part of their job, â€Å"building maintenance and repair, instructional leadership, maintaining a safe and secure environment, responding to teacher and staff requests, conducting legally required teacher evaluations, managing the budget, and maintaining discipline.† (Portin Shen, 1, 1998) Despite these additional responsibilities, authority and instruction did not necessarily follow, resulting in considerable ambiguity. Some principals surveyed reported not feeling they possessed the skills necessary for the increased job responsibilit y. Further, principals surveyed reported feeling greater levels of frustration in their job and less enthusiasm for the work they do. Their decline in morale and enthusiasm stems, instead, from their inability to carry out both their management and leadership functions effectively and efficiently, and their preference to provide leadership. Many principals report work weeks of 50 to 70 hours. They feel they are being forced to make choices about where they will spend their time and attention. Another source of frustration is the shift to managerial rather than leadership responsibilities. They recognize that managing the building is a necessary function for principals, they prefer to focus on their role as instructional leaders, spending time with teachers, students, and parents improving the schools program for student learning. Many principals are finding it difficult to maintain that focus. (Portin Shen, 1998) Principals have the responsibility of making certain that specific tasks are completed by teachers and other staff members. Their job is to coordinate, direct, and support the work of others by â€Å"defining objectives, evaluating performance, providing resources, building a positive climate, fostering positive school-community relations, planning, scheduling, keeping records, resolving conflicts, handling student problems, working cooperatively with central office staff members, and keeping the school running smoothly on a day-to-day basis.† (Wendell, 88, 1994) Their day to day activities are further challenged by factors outside their control. Negotiated teacher contracts, may define working situations that further diminish the resources of the school. (Webster, 86, 1994) Leadership activities are commonly associated with initiative and change that inspire others to accomplish the mission of the organization. â€Å"Through leadership, principals bring an active and personal attitude toward the reaching of goals. Principals who are both successful leaders and managers empower others. The system as a whole begins to function effectively with the improvement of teaching and learning for students. Principals should consider themselves leaders of leaders, not leaders of followers.† (Webster, 201, 1994) Historically, principals have been considered part of the control process within the school. Their job was to distribute incentives for completion by teachers and other staff members. Transformational leadership, that is desired now, works by transforming the goals and aspirations of members of the organization. â€Å"Transformational school leaders pursue three goals: to help staff members develop and maintain a collaborative, professional culture, to foster teacher development; and to help personnel solve problems together more effectively.† (Webster, 192, 1994) This type of leader realizes that an integrated, cohesive group lends itself to effectiveness. Everyone works together to p ursue common goals. A sense of ownership exists within an organization where transformational leadership is practiced. (Wendell, 212, 1994) Instructional leaders need to be knowledgeable about instructional resources, provide resources for their teachers, promote staff development, and obtain resources and support for school goals. Performance appraisals should be based on goals that improve institutional performance. Instructional leaders help solve instructional problems, encourage the use of many strategies and styles, and assist teachers with assessment and evaluation techniques. â€Å"Instructional leaders promote their vision for their schools, communicate to teachers about desired instructional practices and criteria for evaluating performance, and provide frequent feedback to teachers. Principals who would be instructional leaders actively promote staff development activities, are readily available to discuss issues related to teaching and instruction, are visible to staff and students, and make frequent classroom observations. Instructional leaders focus upon instruction and take care of routine managerial task s, such as completion of paperwork, before or after classes as much as possible. Principals who believe that all students can learn and enjoy school are willing to examine how students learn and redirect the focus of schooling upon students learning styles.† (Webster, 182, 1994) According to Wendell, principals can develop instructional leadership by establishing clear goals, objectives, and priorities; expressing high expectations; emphasizing student achievement, attendance, behavior, and attitude; and focusing upon school goals and priorities. Principals can enhance instruction by providing clear communication within their educational system and by keeping curriculum focused upon goals, by working with teachers to improve their instructional skills; and by monitoring school performance. Principals who are effective instructional leaders focus upon five key areas: (1) defining the schools mission, (2) managing curriculum and instruction, (3) promoting a positive learning climate, (4) providing supervision of instruction, and (5) assessing instructional pr ograms. (Webster, 220, 1994) The recent trend toward accountability, and nation-wide educational standards have pressured principals to be more concerned with the bottom line. School systems serving poor and minority students pose an even greater threat to the success of a school system in achieving what is considered to be minimum standards. Codding Tucker reviewed what they believe to be determinates of successful principals. They separate the roles they perform, the qualities that they need to perform those roles, and the knowledge implied by those roles. As have others, Codding Tucker re-iterate the need for the school principal to function both as as a leader and as a manager, and that one role should compliment the other. (Codding Tucker, 84, 2002) In providing effective leadership, principals must be able to provide leadership that results in a shared vision of the directions to be pursued by the school and to manage change in ways that ensure that the school is successful in realizing the vision. â€Å"There is overwhelming evidence from the literature on school effectiveness and improvement regarding the significance of the principal in establishing a school culture that promotes and values learning and that embodies realistic but high expectations of all students and teachers. To the extent that principals have an impact on student learning, this impact is largely mediated through teachers and classroom teaching.† (Codding Tucker, 61, 2002) As a manager, the principal must ensure that the circle of accountability is complete and that investment in the learning of individual members is demonstrated in the student learning outcomes. This needs to be reflected in the staff appraisal process and ongoing processes for evaluating programs and monitoring the performance of the school. â€Å"A key role of the principal is to ensure that each of the elements that contribute to improved student learning outcomes is present, working effectively, and aligned with all other ele ments. When systems aren’t aligned and progress is not noted, it is the role of the principal to make adjustments in the system and make sure those adjustments are communicated throughout the school system. Principals need a strong theoretical foundation of current knowledge about teaching and learning, practical knowledge of the beliefs and understandings of staff in the school, and applied knowledge of how to bring about development and change in those beliefs and understandings.† (Codding Tucker, 64, 2002) Schools with effective learning climates have behavioral standards understood by all students, with consequences for inappropriate behavior administered consistently and fairly, on the basis of a written standard known to all staff members. An effective learning climate in schools should be a major component of the principals vision which serves as the basis for improvement. Principals must understand the meaning as well as ways of improving effective learning climates. A climate that promotes learning includes all the things principals must do to foster teacher and student involvement. According to Webster, the climates of effective schools are characterized by (1) high levels of student involvement with work; (2) teacher-led instruction; (3) students who understand teacher expectations; (4) efficient use of time; (5) minimal confusion and disruption; (6) mutual trust between teachers, students, and administrators; (7) high morale; (8) ample opportunities for input by all factions; (9) feelings of ownership by all; (10) feelings of caring by all; and (11) the presence of one or more ongoing renewal or school improvement projects. (Webster, 182, 1994) Through their leadership abilities, the school principal can have an impact on teacher attitude, student achievement, staff and student morale. According to Webster, the first step that a principal can take toward establishing an effective learning climate in any school is being there, being seen by all, students, teachers, and other staff members. Principals need to maintain personal involvement in the school setting. Students and teachers alike, must have the feeling that the principal is likely to be anywhere and at anytime. Projection of a caring attitude should accompany the high visibility of the principal. Further, Webster provides the following suggestions as a method to improve principal interactions: (1) establish a climate of professionalism with teachers; (2) interact personally with children; (3) get into classrooms; (4) be a teacher advocate, hospitable and sensitive to teacher suggestions; (5) attempt to fund projects of creative, caring teachers; (6) delegate authority wisely; (7) be politicians in dealing with their school communities; (8) offer criticism in a constructive manner; and (9) be human, while han dling unpleasant tasks with fairness, firmness, and dispatch. (Webster, 141, 1998) Webster believes that principals should attempt to establish these elements by focusing on teachers first, then students, and finally, student-teacher relationships in their schools. Traditional training for principals has consisted of theory and policy taught by university professors relying on academic models. Candidates have been taught to manage with a top-down rather than a team approach. Although theory is an important component of principal training, recent studies have shown that the skills and qualities most necessary to succeed include problem analysis, data collection, organizational ability, decisiveness, effective communication skills and stress tolerance. The issue of continuing professional development is also important. Even veteran principals feel that they are not prepared for the reality of the job. Many feel isolated having left their network of peers in the ranks of teachers. They also feel a lack of constructive criticism and supportive supervision. Principals n eed to be prepared to handle the various situations they face in a day. Theory is important, but aspiring principals must be shown that most of what they will be facing will not come out of a book. They must be prepared to be open minded and handle each situation as it comes. Working in collaboration with school districts to create mentoring programs is important. Principals need a network of peers to alleviate the isolation and helplessness many feel. (Ediger, 381, 2000) Leadership within school systems are not built on the qualifications of individuals alone. Typically, the role of principal, as well as that of teachers, has been undervalued. Resources are scarce at best and research has not adequately defined problem areas. Effective models are scarce. â€Å"If existing educational leadership roles are inadequate, they are at least familiar. There is scant research and development to guide principals or superintendents through the onslaught of new policies driving the standards movement. New responsibilities require new job descriptions and redesigned systems to support new learning.† (Fitzgerald, 57, 2000) The focus of school leadership, all too often, has been faced with numerous changes and increasing responsibility. Principals are expected to produce educational results but often lack understanding of how students learn. Principals are expected to evaluate teaching performance with inadequate knowledge of what constitutes good practice. Principals work in isolation with little time to effectively supervise or interact within their schools. (Fitzgerald, 57, 2000) The role of the school principal has changed dramatically and will continue to do so. Principals are required to fill a myriad of roles, with additional responsibilities added on an ongoing basis. New laws, an ever-changing and diverse student base, new standards will all continue to challenge the school principal in fulfilling their role as a leader. Despite these changes, there are some things tha t remain a constant in the life of the principal. The principal will continue to be responsible for creating a culture of learning. The principal will continue to create a climate that encourages teachers to expand their horizons and their own learning in order to serve students better. The principal will continue to be responsible for the budgetary constraints that challenge the educational system today. The principal will still be required to create a standard of education that focuses on quality. The NAESP (www.naesp.org) defined The guide identifies six standards that redefine instructional leadership for todays principals. These standards include: †¢ Leading schools in a way that puts student and adult learning at the center, with the principal demonstrating the role of learner and teacher. †¢ Promoting the academic success of all students by setting high expectations and high standards and organizing the school environment around school achievement; †¢ Creating and demanding rigorous content and instruction that ensures student progress toward agreed-upon academic standards; †¢ Creating a climate of continuous learning for adults that is tied to student learning; †¢ Using multiple sources of data as a diagnostic tool to assess, identify, and apply instructional improvement; and †¢ Actively engaging the community to create shared responsibility for student and school success. These standards, though appropriate, still require the principal to establish priorities within the system and redesign the workplace in order to achieve the overall mission. 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