Preparing to Write and Drafting the Paper Essay

When it came to writing all these papers I gave myself time to think about the topics and tried to make sure I understood them before I sat down to write the essays. I have never really been a strong writer when it came to essays in high school it was not an easy task for me. I never had a good strategy when it came to actually writing the papers and putting everything in order. I figured out how to stop worrying so much about getting the assignment turned in on time because that would always stop me from thinking more about the paper then it would turn out bad and I would even up getting a bad grade which would make me feel horrible. I figured out that I should worry more about the paper and then I would be able to focus on the paper so I would be getting it done on time as well. My strategy for writing a paper requires me write a rough draft, take sometime to reread it and then type it making sure everything is spelled correctly. Then making sure all my grammar is correct through out my entire paper also, making sure that I have the correct punctuation everywhere its needed. Then after typing up everything I go through the paper one last time to make sure there isn’t anything I need to add or take out which is usually where I see where I need to change my sentence structure and add certain works or move sentences to different paragraphs. With this class it’s actually been a good experience for me when it came to writing papers and trying to get everything done either early or on time. My writing process has improved with taking this class because I have actually taken time to figure out what I’m going to write about when it comes to the subject and I take care of the assignment in a timely manner. These essays all seem to me that they can be directed to the same audience and can be given with the same enthusiasm because they can be directed to some one in their 20s or 30s because it talks about taking an online courses along with other things along those lines. It would be a speech that I would defiantly be interested in because of how the person would talk to us also with the vocabulary they use because it wouldn’t be a speech that I couldn’t understand. When someone is trying to give a speech or write an essay its difficult when your trying to gauge what type of audience when they are giving a speech or when they are writing a essay trying to figure out if they covered all the important points that need to be covered and that is going to give you the best grade you can get with the course your taking either online or in a classroom. When you first start out with a paper you are a little unsure as to what you are trying to tie together in the very first paper you write but they you figure out what you need for the next couple papers and it gets a little easier for constructing the paper. Trying to get people interested in the subject you are writing or speaking about can be one difficult task because people tend to get bored very easy or they want to learn, about something different not the subject that you are talking about. Papers are what you seem to make them because you can either make them hard or you can make them easy on yourself. If you stress yourself out then you make it more difficult but if you make it easy by trying to take what time your given to make it a good paper. Making sure everything is in the right order that you professor will accept it a very big deal because they look for little mistakes and want you to do the best that you can when it come to the well being of your grade and your class. When you put it all together and present it to either your professor or your audience it can go either one of two ways good or bad. You can always hope it goes good but sometimes you can get some criticism when it comes to what was good and what was bad to your paper or speech. Just making sure everything is in order and how you want everything to be good.

My Philosophy in Life Essay

Living life to the fullest and helping others achieve the same while being my carefree self is my philosophy. My values to live life by are, to reason with or ask questions about anything and everything, to show others my point of view and persuading them is also important to me, and to accept people for who they are and help them no matter what, that defines who I am. Life is a mystery that everyone unfolds each day, by each passing moment. Asking questions, to me is something I find logical because if a hum being is curious, it wants the answer. During my childhood, when I read books about my religion, so many questions arouse in my head. Asking my parents was the only resource I had to answering my questions and ridding me of my curiosity. The world has changed so much only because people ask so many questions and work hard to find answers, if possible that is. Helping people learn and understand both the questions and answers through my experiences is a joy to me and I live by this philosophy. Answering the many questions is fine, but not everyone agrees with my reasoning. This challenging rivalry, the desire to prove my point to the opponent whether I’m right or wrong is another one of my philosophies. Back in Dubai while I was in Grade 5, I was a participant at a debate, and the topic that I had to talk about was, whether if the introduction of computers into society during this era had a negative effect. Although I was proved wrong by my rival, I stood my ground and got my point across using facts, direct quotations, and my personal drive to prove him wrong. This was not in order to win like most people see it, it was in order to show everyone the flip side of the issue at hand and to educate them about it. Being challenged is my drive to press forward. Proving my point is fun, but taking people’s feelings into consideration is the most important philosophy I live by. Sometimes it angers or upsets people when what they believed in or lived by was wrong. Causing conflict is something I always try to avoid, since I’m a very carefree person who likes to go with the flow and work accordingly. I had to prove to my parents that the career path I chose to pursue was the right choice for me. I convinced them but I also making sure I achieve what they want me to achieve, so that they are happy. As a person who is carefree, I live life as it goes on but I also stop and realise what’s happening around me, learn from it, and share my experiences with people. I prove my point but also accept others opinion so I see how other people view the world and what they think about it. This is how I learn and live life, using these few philosophies of mine.

Diversity's Influence on Virtual Teams in International Business Essay

Diversity's Influence on Virtual Teams in International Business - Essay Example , and organizational boundaries through the use of technology to facilitate communication and collaboration, are the outcome of teamwork in firms and increased geographic dispersion (Lipnack & Stamps, 2000; Snow, Lipnack, & Stamps, 2001). Organizations are relying more heavily on virtual teams due to a more competitive global market, the benefits of integrating the work of specialized employees who might be geographically dispersed, and the need to save time and travel expenses (Kock, 2000; Mohrman, 1999; Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998). Virtual teams allow organizations to expand potential labor markets by continually altering and improving organizational processes to capitalize on strengths, which is especially importance in a global environment that has become increasingly competitive (Duarte & Synder, 1999). Time is a crucial corporate resource; communication technologies help organizations avoid delays and attain immediate feedback (Opper & Fersko-Weiss, 1992). Moreover, communication tools allow team members to work on projects at a much quicker pace than if they had to travel and meet face-to-face and permit organizations to use â€Å"relay race† procedures to accomplish tasks, resulting in a continuous workflow (Cascio, 1999). For example, as Texas employees are leaving for work, team members in Hawaii are just beginning their day. These team members finish their day and transmit their work to team members in Bombay who are starting the workday. Finally, the Bombay team members contribute to the project and then send it back to Texas for further work. This â€Å"relay race† continues until the project is completed, which should require, which should require less time due to the virtual tools that allow these team members to work round the clock. In reference to softwar e development teams, Gorton and Motwani (1996) referred to this process as â€Å"software shift work† in which teams in different time zones work on a product in continuous

Tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tax - Essay Example ng that some assets are tax free and if one’s gains in a year become less than his or her tax-free allowance, the person is not required to pay the capital gains tax. The paper analyzes aspects of the capital gains tax based on Susan’s case. Susan’s mode of shares’ disposal will determine whether she will pay the capital gains tax or not. If she can manage to evade the tax, it will be for the good of the company. There are instances that one can dispose of assets in a tax free way. Disposing assets can be done through selling it, giving the asset away as a gift, swapping the asset for another one and getting compensation for the asset may be when it gets destroyed or lost. It is well recorded that it could not be possible for transferring the shares to her son. This is because there were strains between her son and her. Similarly, the son did not have material funds (Cordes 2005, p.5). These two instances make it difficult for Susan to dispose the shares with immediate effect. This is because she feels the ownership of the company should remain in the family. The only available way of disposing the shares immediately was selling the shares to an investor. It is well recorded that she had been approached by an investor. If she decides to sell the shares at this time she will have to pay capital gains tax (Thomas 2004, p.10).   This is because sale of shares is in the docket of disposal way that is liable of being paid the capital gains tax. The best time for Susan to dispose the shares is not yet and the best person to dispose to is her son since the company will remain fully owned by the family and the disposal will take place tax free. Sale of assets like shares and real estate is the most common manner in which an individual capital loss or capital gain. The capital gains tax is also applicable to the intangible assets like business goodwill. Disposal of shares at a later date can be advantageous than selling them now. According to the 2014

Group therapy techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group therapy techniques - Essay Example The problem is that in therapy most of what is really meant is said non-verbally, so leaders need to pay special attention. For instance, Kline and Johannsen (1935) noted that the face is the primary way to identify the nature of the emotional response, and Mehrabian (1971) found that facial expressions were believed when words and expressions were inconsistent. Group leaders are required to be highly observant, if a member is blocking his/her emotions and the group leader fails to notice that it could lead to unexpected and tetchy outcomes. It is also essential for them to be aware of their own body language and facial expression lest they convey the wrong message. Group members want to feel like the leader isn’t judging them and yet is someone who is better off than them, i.e. someone who can help them. Group leaders need to make members feel like he/she is one of them and is still in a position to assist in every possible way. For this to be possible the depth of how well they understand their emotions and also of how well they understand needs to be conveyed. It should go without saying that confidentially is a key feature of any sort of leadership, it part of expected behavior. When it comes to group therapy, this fact needs to be re-emphasized to leaders. It is requisite for members to feel safe and believe that leaders can be entrusted with such personal information to progress in their sessions and reveal their true-selves. While it is true that it is only the members themselves that have control over what they disclose, they may be made to feel so comfortable that information that they usually wouldn’t want to divulge may just come out in the intensity of the moment. Obviously they need assurance that their privacy will be respected and once they have that trust they will be even more comfortable and this in turn

Young people's news consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Young people's news consumption - Essay Example There were implications for the decline in news readership for the role of mass media in creating an informed citizenry (Mindich, 2005). The value of news, whether being portrayed through television or via media, has been found to vary among different age groups. Even news on television fails to attract the interest of young crowd who often claim to follow the news only when something of particular relevance to them is happening. In fact, about 64% of the young adult viewers in UK have been found to have no interest for the news happening everyday on television. (Ursell, 2003) Today, the technology of journalism has improved significantly. The mode of presenting news to its viewers has been shifting from print age to digital age. But the culture of news consumption on daily basis has not developed yet among the young people. As said by Roger â€Å"With each passing year, young people grow less interested in the news, regardless of how it's delivered† (Roger, p. 1, 2009). With each passing year, young people have lost their interest on news, no matter in how they are delivered. (Ursell, 2003; Mindich, 2005) Statistics have shown that both newspaper circulation and network newscast ratings have declined persistently and the audience that was there grows ever older. (Even morning news shows, once thought immune to such trends, are now losing viewers.) â€Å"A Harvard survey found that only one in 20 teens and one in 12 young adults read a newspaper on close to a daily basis†. (Rogers, p.1 2009) On the other hand, the news casted online, fares a little better. In 2008, a recent study found that about 64% of 18-to-24-year-olds had viewed a newspaper online within the last year. But by 2009 that also had dropped to 54%. The figures are even more worrisome when the study focuses on whether a respondent had read online news at all - even once - in the last year. Hence, it is necessary to look into the matter that contributes to low news consumption among the youth. (Rogers, 2009) Causes of low news consumption among youth: Time constraints: The young crowd, especially the teenagers has lot of activities during a day. They have to attend school and some also have to go for work. They also have their other personal interests like sports, entertainment and socializing. As a result, they have very less time to have a watch on the news. It is not that they do not want to know what is happening over the world but the problem is that by the time they have a chance to look for news they become very tired. That time they want to relax more rather than to have a look on the news channels. (Hesmondhalgh, 2006; Mindich, 2005) Trivial and sensationalized news content: At times it has been seen young people criticizing the media for promoting gossip based stories, such as repeatedly broad casting the stories of the death of Anna Nicole Smith and the story covering Britney Spears shaving her head and going to rehab. The young crowd believes that t here are many newsworthy stories that should come up prominently and aired properly. They often get bored by the content of the news as they feel it to be boring, not newsworthy, trivial, and depressing. (Leadbeater and Oakley, 1999; Zerba 2004). Dated delivery approaches: The young crowd prefers more short writings both in newspaper and on the internet and for instant delivery on the television. They want the news content to be presented in a proper way that will takes full advantage of the medium through which it is being delivered and should be right to the point. . (Leadbeater and Oakley, 1999; Zerba 2004). Negative parental influence: Even though most of the families subscribed to a newspaper, many of these respondents are not encouraged to read the newspaper. . (Leadbeater an

Consumer Behaviour and research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Behaviour and research - Essay Example e promoting people of businesses need to identify on how various clients evaluate services or products although the procedure is not simple to fathom. Here the customers might have the following elements of evaluation measures in mind prices, brand and quality (Malhotra 2012). Generally, the customer is supposed to purchase that service or product which up to maximum level satisfies his or her evaluation criteria; nevertheless, yet at this phase same element might change customers decisions (Solomon 2009). Customers purchasing decision procedure does not culminate with the procurement of the service or product, it engrosses itself within post-purchase procedure. This establishes whether the purchaser is pleased with service or product purchased or not. If pleased then super word of mouth will transpire and if the buyer is not pleased, he or she will not put in a good word concerning product or service. Consumers dissatisfaction, satisfaction or delightedness rests upon a buyer’s expectations as well as the service or product quality apparent performance (Malhotra 2012). Corporate buying decision procedure comprises of the ensuing steps: problem recognition, general need description, product specification, supplier search, proposal solicitation, supplier selection, order routine specification and performance review. Problem recognition will ensue when a corporation recognizes a need or problem, which can be met by purchasing a service or product (Ghauri 2010). For instance, Thornton Company can realize that one of its products is not selling maybe because of its taste. To improve the product, Thornton will have to buy new supplies or services to rectify the problem. When an organization wishes to improve its products or services, the traits of the products and services required are clearly stated (Keegan 2010). At Thornton, for instance, to improve the taste of a product, Thornton will give a description of ingredients needed to improve that product. After

Explain the Significance of the Four Marks of the Church - One, Holy, Essay

Explain the Significance of the Four Marks of the Church - One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic - Essay Example Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church has continued to fulfill the marks, and only faith can recognize that the Church received these manifestations from God. The â€Å"One† mark of the Church shows that the Church of the apostles was one. Paul wrote that there is only one body and spirit in (Eph. 4:4-5), and he linked the unity to the Church’s common Eucharistic bread in (1 Cor. 10:17). The Bible says that the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23-32) and has only one source. Jesus also promised from the outset in (John 10:16) that there would be one flock, and one shepherd. The Catechism also notes that the Church is one with three reasons namely; first, source of the Church is Holy Trinity, which is a the great unity of three heavenly persons; Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit; the second being the founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, who came to reunite through the blood in the cross for all mankind; and the third, â€Å"soul,† the Holy Spirit that is in the souls of the faithful, unites all the faithful into one communion of believers, and guides the Church. The â€Å"oneness† of the Church is visible in Catholics who are united in their Creed and other teachings, the sacramental celebrations, and the hierarchical arrangement that are based on the apostolic succession that are handed and preserved through the Sacrament of Holy Orders (Brian 2008). The Body of Christ Himself is the Church, and so is whole one, and one as Christ’s Body is whole one. The Church of Christ teaches only one set of doctrines that are taught by the apostles (Jude 3). The unity in the belief in which the Scripture calls all to adhere to (Phil. 1:27, 2:2). The Christian Church is united in faith, worship, and succession from the apostles themselves. The unity manifestation is hard to clutch today with centuries of old divisions and the existence of many Christian denominations spread across the world. Mass is conducted in the same w ay all over the world in terms of prayers, readings, structure, and everything except in difference of language by Catholics who have the same belief, and are offered by a priest who is united by his bishop who is united by the holy Father, the pope. Although, some dissent from official doctrines, the Church understands them (John 16:12-13) and it does not misunderstand them to mean contrary to want they meant before. Diversity is found in the oneness, in that the faithful has different vocations and different gifts, although they work together to continue with the mission of the Lord. The different cultures and traditions enrich the Church in their expressions of faith. Charity must saturate through the Church, for members to continue being together in unity. Example of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that; The Church is one that recognizes one Lord, which confesses one faith, the Church born of one Baptism; it forms only one Body, given life by one Spirit, for the sake of one hope, at whose fulfillment all divisions will be overcome. Churches of all denominations have continued to emphasize the fundamental unity showing that there is only one faith, one Lord and One God. â€Å"Holy† as a mark of Church signifies the Church of the apostles as the Lord Himself as the source of all holiness. This shows that all things that the church has from the all-holy God himself and everything are holy. However,

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements Essay

The Importance of Strategic Management and its Key Elements - Essay Example Strategy is formed at both corporate level (what industries/markets should we operate in) and business unit level (in what segments should we compete - and how). In their research, Strategic Management: Awareness, Analysis and Change, they focus on corporate level strategic considerations. The pace of change has significantly increased in recent years and the competitive arena has enlarged, driven by, for example, larger international corporates with an appetite for new markets, reduced barriers to international trade, and technology. It is possible to say that it will be difficult to apply these strategies because they focus on the process of strategy and analysis of the environment but do not involve recommendations and clear structure of strategy development. Thompson & Martin (2005) summarize some of the key shifts' in strategic management. Both researches state that the structure of the industry will significantly effect the profit potential of the business operating in that industry. The strategy and actions of a business operating in the industry may improve or destroy the industry structure. Each business (and the relevant decision takers) must recognize and evaluate the impact, short term and long term, of actions taken on the overall industry structure and attractiveness. The resource based view of the firm is currently the dominant conceptual paradigm in strategic management, and as such would appear to offer great potential to the study of the modern organization (Dobson & Starkey 2004; Gardiner, 2005). It argues that under certain conditions a firm's unique bundle of resources and capabilities can generate competitive advantage (Cole, 1998). There are also related schools of thought that focus on the development of dynamic capabilities and knowledge as drivers of competitive advantage. Curiously, there has been little explicit attention given to the resource based view of the firm in the literature, though Pittengrew et al (2000) are recent exceptions. "The multi-business firm has the potential to create the efficient sharing and transfer of core competences across divisions so that the divisions can accommodate new strategic management tools" (Pittengrew et al 2000, p. 21t of the reason for this is again the level of analysis. The resource based v iew implicitly assumes that resources and capabilities are developed and held in a monolithic firm, whereas the reality in the organization is that some are likely to be held at a firm level while others are held at a corporate level. Thus, rather than simply analyzing corporate-level resources in terms of their potential for competitive advantage, the issue is more one of combining or leveraging them on a global basis. Strategic thinking is defined as the positioning of the firm vis--vis its competitors and its customers, and with regard to its underlying resources and capabilities. For Whittington (2000), strategy is about how those two components are brought together. The organization is a value-adding unit. Thus, it is important to realize that many of the customers and even competitors will be other units within the

Revised Resource requirements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Revised Resource requirements - Essay Example Revised Resource requirements Most importantly, though, the entire cost of new resources must not exceed the initial $3.5 million mark set aside for the whole project. Information about how past projects of the kind handled the problem of floods will be important in alleviating the menace and stemming cases of a project creep. In light of the new changes to resource requirements occasioned by the flood disaster, the cost of investment will likely go up past the $3.5 million mark. In order to keep the cost of investment low, the project team will need to carry out a painstaking re-evaluation of the new requirements, especially those that revolve round control of floods. Specifically, the team will need to re-draw the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to include flood disaster control activities alongside the original resource requirements. A comprehensive WBS that includes flood clearance and restocking of damaged materials will provide an accurate picture and estimation of the actual resources needed for the Mobile Cancer Screening project. Estimation of the amount of resources will enable the stakeholders to take stock of the additional costs and set up control measures to avoid a project creep (Kousholt, 2007). More effort will be needed to control the disaster and set the project on the path to success. Proper estimation of the additional effort will enable the project manager to deploy the right amount of resources for a time-cost trade-off in order to retain quality.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay You make decision everyday; whether it is choosing what you make for breakfast or choosing what you want to be when you grow up. It is natural in humans to make decisions and act on what they believe is to be true. This not only applies to humans, but authors use them in their books or plays to create different types of characters. In one of the greatest works by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are characters that make many different kinds of decisions that determine their role in the book. In the play, the protagonist Hamlet, after his father’s death, is angry about his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius. He sees a ghost of his father one night and tells him that Claudius had murdered him. Hamlet plans to kill Claudius but he has trouble making decisions and throughout the play, his poor decision making skills bring downfall to himself and many others. Every tragic hero has a tragic flaw and Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to make decisions. Hamlet’s inability to kill Claudius after hearing from the ghost, that he had killed Hamlet Senior, contributes to his stubborn indecisiveness, which brings about his own downfall. His indecisiveness leads to many character’s deaths; such as Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Laertes, Polonius and his own mother. He had many chances of killing Claudius but he constantly over thinks the situation thus delaying his major task of killing Claudius: To take him in the purging of his soul When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No. Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent. When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in th incestuous pleasure of his bed, At game a-swearing, or about some act That has no relish of salvation in ’t—. Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven (III. III. 85) This is an example of Hamlet being indecisive on whether or not to kill Claudius in the Church after the Mouse Trap play. He decides not to kill him there because he is praying and therefore will be forgiven for his sin. This results in delaying of his main task and also made more room for error; such as killing Polonius and also getting sent to England, which leads to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s deaths. If Hamlet would have decided to kill him then, he would not have created the mess he ends up making at the end. Hamlet’s inability to talk and discuss to Ophelia about what is happening, after she starts rejecting his messages, leads to losing his love and ultimately ends up to her demise. Even though they were in love, when Ophelia begins rejecting Hamlet’s messages because Polonius told her to, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she was not worth anything to him. This leads her to believing that Hamlet does not love her anymore. As a conclusion, she goes crazy and out of control; for example: By Gis and by Saint Charity,  Alack, and fie, for shame! Young men will do ’t, if they come to ’t. By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, â€Å"Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. So would I ha done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed. (IV. V. 40) This is the scene where she has become insane. She sings about how a man promised her to marry her before they went into bed together but he left her. On top of Hamlet’s rejection, Hamlet has killed her father, Polonius, so she has completely lost control of herself. She sings a very sorrow song in front of many people and also gives out fake flowers to people. After this scene, she ends up committing suicide at the lake. If Hamlet had talked with Ophelia about what was going on and why she was ignoring her messages, she would have not become insane and Hamlet and Ophelia would still be in love. Hamlet’s final flaw is his inability to decide whether life is worth living or not, which contributes to his stubborn indecisiveness, which ultimately leads to his own downfall. Hamlet is very confused about his own life and is out of his mind. He is very depressed from his father’s death and the feeling of betrayal he has from Gertrude, his mother, who remarried right after his father’s death. He does not know if life is worth living or not and this is obvious when he says: To be, or not to bethat is the question: Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep No moreand by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep To sleepperchance to dream: ay, theres the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. (III. I. 56) This is his famous soliloquy on the topic of life. He compares life and death and he cannot decide whether or not to stay alive or to be dead. He believes that death is the way to escape all his troubles and his depression but then on the other side, he knows he needs to complete the task of killing Claudius. His indecisiveness about his own life delays his action from doing what he really wants to accomplish. Even though Hamlet kills Claudius at the very end, as a result of his indecisive behavior, he has taken way too much time to accomplish one single task. Also, it killed many innocent people he could have prevented from killing them. If Hamlet would have not been so depressed and actually decide whether or not he should stay alive or die, he might have had a better chance accomplishing his tasks much faster and efficient. Clearly, Hamlet is very indecisive all over and his indecisiveness brought about his own downfall. His mother’s death, his love’s death and his friend’s deaths are all caused by Hamlet. If he were to be decisive and straightforward, he could have killed Claudius much faster and he also could have prevented all of the deaths that happened. Many theories attempt to explain why Hamlet takes so long to kill Claudius but out of many theories, Hamlet’s indecisiveness is the only one with full satisfactory answers. Every book or play has a tragic hero and every tragic hero has a tragic flaw and in the play Hamlet, there is no exception. These themes present in many of William Shakespeare’s plays are relevant even today. There are times when we are indecisive when it comes to difficult situations. To be able to decide and to act on what you decided to do is what we try to aim for, however, since Hamlet did not complete this, he led himself to his own downfall and also many other’s to their downfall as well.

Leadership Style: Indian Prime Minister

Leadership Style: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi-one of the first female prime ministers in the world (preceded only by Sirimavo Bandaranaike who became prime minister of Sri Lanka in 1960), as well as the longest serving prime minister of India, the most populous democracy in the world-was an ideal candidate for this assignment. An exceedingly complex individual, Indira Gandhi was frequently perceived as a shy, aloof young woman. And yet her behavior as Prime Minister was engaged and aggressive, climaxing in her declaration of a State of Emergency in 1975. Born into Indias most prominent political family in 1917, Indira Nehru was immersed in politics from an early age. Stepping into the void left by her mothers untimely death in 1936, as a young woman she became her fathers hostess, a role that expanded into confidant and advisor over the ensuing years. After her fathers death in 1964, she accepted a minor portfolio in the Shastri government. Lal Bahadur Shastris subsequent death, two years later, made her the compromise choice of the ruling Congress Party hierarchy for the post of the prime minister, since she was thought to harbour no political ambitions of her own. Over the next 11 years, she proved to be a formidable political leader, consolidating her control over the party and the country, winning the 1971 war with Pakistan that saw the creation of Bangladesh, and declaring a State of Emergency in 1975. This latter action, a culmination of bitter relations with the opposition, led to her political defeat in the 1977 elections. Out of power for the next three years, she returned triumphantly in 1980, and ruled India with an increased determination to maintain herself in office. Not above manipulating communal grievances to stay in power, ironically she, herself, eventually fell victim of one of these crises. In 1984, she was assassinated by her own bodyguards, members of the Sikh community, thus ending a remarkable political career. Leadership Style: A New Synthesis While every scholar seems to have his or her own definition of leadership style, the underlying concepts appear to be similar-how the leader carries out the responsibilities of his or her office; more specifically, the leaders work habits, and how they relate to those around them. After reviewing various studies of presidential leadership style Hermann and Preston (1994) distilled five common leadership style variables involvement in the policymaking process, willingness to tolerate conflict, motivation for leading, and preferred strategies for resolving conflict. Kaarbo (1997, pp. 561-563) adopted and modified these five variables and added two variables from the literature on organizational leadership style-relations with members of the cabinet and task orientation. This study adapted five of the variables (motivation for leading, task orien- tation, cabinet management strategy, information management strategy, and rela- tions with the party) developed by Hermann and Preston (1980) and Kaarbo (1997, pp. 561-563), and added another five variables that examine the prime ministers relations with personnel, opposition parties, the media, and the public, and his/her investment in job performance. These have been grouped into three spheres of activity: first, the leader and his/her motivation, task orientation, and investment in job performance; second, the leader and the executive-cabinet and information management strategies; and third, the leader and relations with other personnel, caucus, the party, the opposition, and the media. Leadership Style of Indira Gandhi This section examines the empirical evidence of Gandhis leadership style: motivation for leading; task orientation; investment in job performance; management style, both with the cabinet and in the realm of information gathering; and her interpersonal relations with her associates, the caucus, the extra-parliamentary party, the opposition, the media, and the public. Results showed that she was motivated primarily by pragmatism and power, focusing on goals rather than process. With her cabinet, she functioned largely as an advocate for her goals and preferred to rely on independent sources of information. In her dealings with personnel, the party caucus, the extra-parliamentary party organization and the opposition parties, she was largely demanding, domineering, competitive, controlling, and oppositional. She was capable of being both accessible and friendly to the media as well as being hostile and closed, depending on the time period. It was only with the public that Indira demonst rated a consistent pattern or openness and warmth. Motivation The first leadership style variable centers around the question of a prime ministers motivation for leading. A survey of the literature has suggested that a variety of needs and incentives induce individuals to assume leadership positions in politics (see Kaarbo Hermann, 1998, pp. 251-252). The leader may be motivated by pragmatism (a belief in an obligation to the party to shape government policies along incremental lines); by personal validation (the wish to be popular and to be accepted); by an ideological agenda (a coherent system of political beliefs that shapes government policy); or a desire for power (dominance and control). In the area of motivation, it can be observed that notwithstanding a brief flirtation with socialism, Indira Gandhi was a decidedly non-ideological leader. Investment in Job Performance The amount of energy and time that a prime minister brings to the office is another variable of leadership style (Barber, 1972/1992). It demonstrates whether the leader places limits on the extent of the commitment to the office or whether there is a tireless outpouring of energy. Prime ministers may be interested primarily in the process of government, the building of concurrence, and the development of good relations among the members of cabinet, or they may be more goal oriented, focusing on specific ends and their implementation. Indira Gandhi was heavily involved in her role as Prime Minister. Politics took over her life as she travelled extensively crisscrossing India with extraordinary energy (Gupte, 1992, p. 331). A 16-hour or longer working day was the norm with very little time for family, friends, or relaxation (Frank, 2001, p. 355). Task Orientation The way in which the prime minister organizes the composition of and manages the decision-making process within the cabinet is another facet of leadership style. How are policy dilemmas resolved? To what extent is there involvement in the policy process? Who becomes part of the locus of decision making is also something the prime minister decides. In these activities, the prime ministers style may run the gamut from being largely uninvolved, to a consensus builder, to an arbitrator, and finally, to a strong advocate The empirical evidence indicates that Indira Gandhi was overwhelmingly concerned about task implementation and little concerned with the issue of building concurrence among her cabinet. Rather, she treated many of her cabinet colleagues as potential challengers, and if any grew too powerful, she saw to it that their powers were curbed, even if it meant dismissing capable individuals. Cabinet Management Although information in a cabinet setting is usually channelled through the various ministries, prime ministers will differ as to how they choose to review such information and how they relate to their close advisers. The same, of course, is true for presidents in a presidential system (George, 1980, 1988; George George, 1998; Hermann, 1978, 1987; Hermann Preston, 1995; Kaarbo, 1997). They may want all the facts about the problem or situation and do the interpretation themselves, or they may only be interested in seeing summaries and policy options. Of interest here is how much input the prime minister wants into the way problems and issues are framed and get onto the agenda. Strategy Indira Gandhis dealings with her cabinet demonstrated overwhelmingly that her preferred role was to act as an advocate, rather than a consensus builder, or arbitrator between various government ministers. But advocacy only partly captures the extent to which she dominated her colleagues; she dismissed those who might have challenged her and placed her favourites in senior government posts. Her advocacy was, in fact, an authoritative, peremptory exercise of power. Information Management Strategy In managing the flow of information that comes to the office, does the prime minister use a system of individuals to filter information and minimize direct involvement, or is close scrutiny more likely? Closely related is the question on which the prime minister relies for information. Does the prime minister prefer to receive policy relevant data from his cabinet and senior civil servants, or is there a reliance on other sources? As part of her overall activist stance as Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi demonstrated a high degree of involvement in the management of information, prefer- ring to search out what she wanted to know, rather than waiting for it to be presented to her. Relations with Personnel The final cluster of leadership style variables focuses on the prime ministers interpersonal relations with those with whom he/she works, i.e., state-level., governmental officials, members of the judiciary, etc., with his or her own party, with the opposition, the media, and the public. The prime minister interacts with a number of individuals on a daily basis. The extent of the involvement may be high or low; stylistically it may encompass patterns ranging from solicitous, to polite, attention seeking, demanding, and even exploitative. With both the caucus and the extra-parliamentary party organization, the prime minister may behave cooperatively or be competitive or combative and overbearing. Since conflict is a very pervasive element in cabinet life, especially in highly factional single party cabinets and in coalition cabinets (see t Hart, 1994), the management of party relations by a prime minister is extremely important. Indira Gandhis dealings with her aides, advisers, and members of other branches of government were coded for the degree of involvement and the type of behavior exhibited. Relations with other stakeholders Analysts have also focused on how the leader carries out or implements decisions, the way in which the leader mobilizes, orchestrates, and consolidates support for his or her policy decisions (Renshon, 1996a, 1996b). Does the prime minister attempt to sell policies by going beyond the party and parliament to appeal to the public at large? Does he or she try to educate or manipulate the public? Or does the leader display little direct engagement with the public, preferring government officials to articulate and defend government policy? Those prime ministers who focus on policy achievements are more likely to use the office of the prime minister as a bully pulpit, while those who stress the policy process will be less inclined to try to generate additional support among the attendant public. I . Party Caucus and Extra-Parliamentary Party Organization Indira Gandhis relationship with the party caucus-and more particularly her cabinet colleagues-was overwhelmingly contentious from 1966 until 1970. From 1970 on, as power shifted from the Cabinet to the Prime Ministers Secretariat, her relations with the party caucus became manipulative/exploitative. Later, power would shift even more to the Prime Ministers house next door (Frank, 2001, p. 354). The party caucus and the cabinet increasingly assumed a rubber stamp function and the cabinet no longer operated as a center of policy making. Indiras relations with the party organization largely mirrored those with the party caucus. Given the nature of her competitive and controlling relationships with both her caucus and the Congress party organization, it is hardly surprising that Gandhi would manifest the same type of behavior with the various opposition parties. Born into Indias most prominent political family in 1917, Indira Nehru was immersed in politics from an early age. Stepping into the void left by her mothers untimely death in 1936, as a young woman she became her fathers hostess, a role that expanded into confidant and advisor over the ensuing years. After her fathers death in 1964, she accepted a minor portfolio in the Shastri government. Lal Bahadur Shastris subsequent death, two years later, made her the compromise choice of the ruling Congress Party hierarchy for the post of the prime minister, since she was thought to harbour no political ambitions of her own. Over the next 11 years, she proved to be a formidable political leader, consolidating her control over the party and the country, winning the 1971 war with Pakistan that saw the creation of Bangladesh, and declaring a State of Emergency in 1975. This latter action, a culmination of bitter relations with the opposition, led to her political defeat in the 1977 elections. Out of power for the next three years, she returned triumphantly in 1980, and ruled India with an increased determination to maintain herself in office. Not above manipulating communal grievances to stay in power, ironically she, herself, eventually fell victim of one of these crises. In 1984, she was assassinated by her own bodyguards, members of the Sikh community, thus ending a remarkable political career. Born into Indias most prominent political family in 1917, Indira Nehru was immersed in politics from an early age. Stepping into the void left by her mothers untimely death in 1936, as a young woman she became her fathers hostess, a role that expanded into confidant and advisor over the ensuing years. After her fathers death in 1964, she accepted a minor portfolio in the Shastri government. Lal Bahadur Shastris subsequent death, two years later, made her the compromise choice of the ruling Congress Party hierarchy for the post of the prime minister, since she was thought to harbour no political ambitions of her own. Over the next 11 years, she proved to be a formidable political leader, consolidating her control over the party and the country, winning the 1971 war with Pakistan that saw the creation of Bangladesh, and declaring a State of Emergency in 1975. This latter action, a culmination of bitter relations with the opposition, led to her political defeat in the 1977 elections. Out of power for the next three years, she returned triumphantly in 1980, and ruled India with an increased determination to maintain herself in office. Not above manipulating communal grievances to stay in power, ironically she, herself, eventually fell victim of one of these crises. In 1984, she was assassinated by her own bodyguards, members of the Sikh community, thus ending a remarkable political career. II. Media and Public Lastly, in relations with the media, the prime minister may be accessible and informative or inaccessible and hostile. Prime ministers who emphasize the implementation of significant policy changes are more likely to generate greater opposition, which in turn will be reflected in some parts of the media, than those who are more concerned with maintaining the political process with incremental changes. In the face of hostility on the part of the media, the Prime Minister is more likely to become less accessible and more hostile. Gandhis relations with the media vacillated between being accessible, informative, and friendly to being uninformative, inaccessible, and unfriendly after the imposition of Emergency Rule in 1975. However, in her relations with the public, Indira Gandhis leadership style was extremely open. The Indian crowds seemed to energize her, and she felt a special bond with the Indian masses who loved the combination of her aristocratic background and her simple down-to-earth manner. Over the next 11 years, she proved to be a formidable political leader, consolidating her control over the party and the country, winning the 1971 war with Pakistan that saw the creation of Bangladesh, and declaring a State of Emergency in 1975. This latter action, a culmination of bitter relations with the opposition, led to her political defeat in the 1977 elections. Out of power for the next three years, she returned triumphantly in 1980, and ruled India with an increased determination to maintain herself in office. Not above manipulating communal grievances to stay in power, ironically she, herself, eventually fell victim of one of these crises. In 1984, she was assassinated by her own bodyguards, members of the Sikh community, thus ending a remarkable political career. Conclusion Analysis shows Indira Gandhi as strongly goal-oriented, tireless in the exercise of her job, an advocate within her cabinet with a preference for receiving information from independent sources. As well, the type of involvement she exhibited with associates, the caucus, the party organization, and the opposition, which was largely competitive and controlling, also fitted expectations for the Ambitious, Controlling, and Contentious leader. Indira Gandhis leadership behavior in the selected categories revealed that her leadership style patterns strongly indicate toward her Ambitious, Dominant, and Contentious personality as well as Reticent, Retiring, and Aggrieved personality patterns. Although, Indira Gandhi demonstrated some Reticent personality traits when she assumed the office of the Prime Minister, the demands of the job and the initial hostility she encountered from the Congress elites-the Syndicate-seem to have galvanized the Ambitious, Dominant, and Contentious dimensions of her personality into action. Compensatory narcissism allowed Indira to appeal over the heads of the Syndicate and establish a strongly personal and very effective relationship with the masses that bolstered her self-esteem and fueled this aspect of her personality.

Profitability and Corporate Leverage Policy of Firms

Profitability and Corporate Leverage Policy of Firms Abstract This study attempts to determine the relationship between the profitability and leverage policy of firms of Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. The analysis was implemented on 27 firms in the Fuel and energy sector listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange for the period 2003-2008. Regression was used to find out the relationship between the independent variable (Profitability) and dependent variable (Leverage). We expect the negative relationship between the Profitability and the Leverage Policy of firms in the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan, confirming the pecking order theory of capital structure. The results found in our study were not as expected. The results showed that there is inverse relationship between profitability and leverage but our results were not that much significant to accept our hypothesis. So we rejected our pecking order theory hypothesis. Therefore we conclude that because of certain factors such as economic situation of the Pakistan, rising prices of oil all a round the world, interests rates and reliance of firms financing needs mostly on bank financing, pecking order theory model becomes insignificant in the Energy and Fuel sector of Pakistan. Chapter-1 Introduction Capital structure involves different decisions taken by a firm in financing its assets. Generally, a firm can solve this issue through different mixes of debts, equity, or other financial arrangements. It can also combine bonds, TFCs, lease financing, bank loans or many other options with equity in order to boost the market value of the firm. 1.1 Importance of the topic: Optimal capital structure plays a vital role in the overall value maximization of a firm. The strategic management of capital structure ensures access to the capital needed to fund future growth and enhance financial performance. Our focus in this study is to correlate the profit of the firm with its leverage. Importance of the study is to find out that which source of funds either retained earnings, debt or equity, a firm in the Fuel and Energy sector should prefer in order to optimize the profit and the value of the firm. In Pakistan, firms usually prefer short-term borrowing, because commercial banks are the major lenders and they do not encourage long-term loans. Up to 1994 firms did not rely on market based debt; in mid 1994 the government amended the Company Law to help companies to raise debt directly from the market in the form of TFCs (Term Finance Certificates). 1.2 Background of the study: Various capital structure theories had been discussed by many authors to explain the variation of capital structure of different firms. So many researches had also been taken place in order to solve the mystery of optimal capital structure in Pakistani firms. A thorough research study relating to the capital structure was carried by two Pakistani professors Shah and Tahir (2004) which attempted to answer the question of what determines the capital structure of Pakistani Listed firms other than those in financial sector. Booth, et. Al (2001) had also worked on the determinants of capital structures of 10 developing countries including Pakistan, but their data analyzed the firms that were included in the KSE-100 Index from 1980 to 1987. Shah and Tahir (2004) analyzed the data of non-financial firms for the period of 1997-2001 while our study differs from theirs on grounds of different sector, variables and period. 1.3 Objective of the study: The objective of this study is to find out the relationship between the profitability and the corporate leverage policy of firms in the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. We are trying to figure out that the firms that have more profits in the Fuel and Energy sector have lower leverage. Our main focus in this study is to correlate the profit of the firm with its leverage in the context of pecking order theory. According to pecking order hypothesis firms tend to use internally generated funds first and than resort to external financing. This implies that profitable firms will have less amount of leverage. Therefore we expect a negative relationship between profitability and debt of a firm i.e. higher the profits of a firm, the lesser will be its debt. 1.4 Scope of the study: This study is limited on the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. There are 27 firms of that sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for six years from 2003-2008 as the study covers the period from 2003 to 2008. 1.5 Disposition of the study: This study is organized into five stages. In first stage we have described the background of our topic. In second stage review of literature has been done. In next stage we have explained our data and variables used in our analysis. At fourth stage we have discussed the model and the statistical test to be used. While the last stage concludes the results of the test. Chapter 2 Literature Review In this chapter we have gone through the various research studies regarding the leverage and well known capital structure theories. Capital structure refers to specific mixture of debt and equity a firm needs to finance its operations and optimal capital structure plays a vital role in the overall value maximization of a firm. This has given birth to different capital structure theories that attempt to explain the variation in capital structures of firms. The Miller Modigliani theorem showed that the market value of a firm is determined by the risk of its underlying assets and its earning power and is independent of the choices to finance its investments i.e the value of the firm is independent of the capital structure it takes on. But Myers suggested the contemporary thinking on capital structure in form of Static Tradeoff Theory. This explained that a firm initially following a target debt-equity ratio behaves accordingly. The costs and benefits related to the debt option make this target ratio. The costs and benefits are cost of financial distress, tax shields and agency cost. There are different theories that are used to explain the capital structure decisions which are based n the asymmetric information, tax benefits associated with the debt, bankruptcy cost and agency cost. The asymmetric information is related with pecking order framework and the other three are rooted in static trade-off choice. Under the trade off theory firms tried to equate the marginal benefits of an additional unit of debt with the related marginal cost, while holding the firms assets and investments plans. Under this model the key benefits are debt tax deductibility and the mitigation of agency cost while the main cost of additional debt is bankruptcy. Green, Murinde and Suppakitjarak (2002) observed that the tax policy also effect the capital structure decision of firms. Firm are allowed to deduct interest on debt in computing taxable profit under tax ordinance while the payments associated with the equity such as dividends are not tax deductible. Therefore, the tax effect encourages the debt usage by the firm if the rates are higher and more debt increases cash savings in form of after tax proceeds to the owner. Usage of debt in the capital structure of the firm also leads to agency cost which arises as a result of relationship between the share holder and manager while the firms management is the agent and the share holder being the principal. Agent may not choose to maximize their principals wealth. The conflict arises as the managers have less than 100% of the residual claim. Thus, managers may invest in projects that reduce the value of the firm while enhancing their control over its resources. Additional cash flow is the prime source of the agency cost. Debt helps to mitigate this agency cost as the firm is committed to pay out excess cash in the form of interest payments. The probability of bankruptcy increases with the increase in the level of the debt. If the firm goes beyond the optimum level of debt, then it is more likely that the firm will default on the repayment of the loan. As a result of that, the control of the firm will be shifted from share holders to the bond holders or the creditors who will liquidate the firm in order to recover their investment. There are also direct and indirect costs associated with the bankruptcy. Direct cost includes administrative costs of bankruptcy and costs of reorganization in the event of insolvency. While the indirect cost arises when the firm gets into financial distress. It may arise because of the change in the investment policies of the firm if firm foresees possible bankruptcy. In order to avoid the possible financial distress it will cut down the expenditure on certain departments like research and development, training of employees and advertisements etc. Therefore, if a firm is perceived to be close d to bankruptcy customers may be less willing to buy its goods because of low perceived quality of goods and the risk that the firm will not be able to meet its warranty obligation. Employees may also be less interested to work for the firm and creditors are less inclined to extend trade credit. Hence under the static trade off theory the optimal capital structure represents a level of leverage that balances the bankruptcy and the benefits of tax deductibility and mitigation of the agency costs. While The Pecking Order Theory of Myers (1984) and Myers and Majluf (1984), stated that firm while establishing its capital structure follow a hierarchy of financial decisions. First of all firm uses its internal financing i.e. retained earnings in order to finances its projects. In case of need of external financing, they prefer a bank loan first then go for the public debt. Thus in accordance with the Pecking Order Theory, profitable firms while having the available internal funds prefers not to incur debt for new projects. A study was carried by Benito, (2002) which considered the two most influential approaches, the trade off and packing order theories, in understanding capital structure decisions of firms of Spain and United Kingdom. This study made a valuable contribution to our study because of the same objective of testing Pecking Order Theory with reference to capital structure of firms. The resulting data included 6417 Spanish companies over period of 1985-2000 and 1784 British quoted non-financial companies over period of 1973-2000. The results provided significance in favor of pecking order theory, concluding debt ratios found to be significantly inversely related to cash flow and profitability of the firm and vary positively with its investment. In order to find the best empirical explanation for the capital structure of Brazilian firms Medeiros and Cecilio (2004) tested a model to represent the Static Trade-off Theory and Peking Order theory. This theory is helpful for our study because of the same independent variables that is profitability. Profitability all the STT streams sustain that a positive relationship must exist between profitability and debt. The stream based on bankruptcy costs states that these costs increase when earnings fall so that leverage tends to be lower for less profitable firms or those with higher earnings volatility. For the stream focusing on tax benefits, the more profitable the firm the more it benefits from the tax shield provided by interest payments. The agency stream believes that large amounts of free cash flows build up the dispute between shareholders and managers, which make those firms to issue more debt in order to diminish the problem (Fama and French, 2003). According to the POT, retained earnings are the firms best financing option. This type of resource does not produce information asymmetries and can be used promptly for new projects. The information asymmetry caused by equity issues or by more complex securities that require a higher degree of communication with the market is the basis of the POT. It is exactly to dodge the adverse selection premium brought by the information asymmetry that firms opt for internal financing as their major source of resources (Myers, 1984). The relationship between these two variables must be therefore negative. Medeiros and Cecilio (2004) The sample of their study included 371 non-financial firms with shares listed in the Brazilian stock exchanges from 1995 to 2002. The analysis of results of the study led to the conclusion that the pecking order theory provides the best explanation for the capital structure of those firms Another study on the capital structure was carried by Abor, (2008) comparing the capital structure of large un-quoted firms, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and publicly quoted firms in Ghana using a panel regression model. On the grounds of the similar independent variable this study made a useful contribution to our review literature. The results showed insignificant difference between the capital structures of large unquoted firms and publicly quoted firms. The results of all sample groups showed that the total debt has relatively a high proportion of short-term debt. The results of the regression test indicated that age and size of the firm, profitability, risk, asset structure and managerial ownership are significant influencers in decisions regarding the capital structure of Ghanaian firms. Chiarella et.al (1991) conducted a study in Australia on the determinants of corporate capital structure by seeking to provide evidence on the significance of capital structure determinants in Australian context. This study provided a great support for writing review literature of our study. The analysis was carried on a sample of 226 Australian firms from 1977-1985. The results showed that company non-debt tax shields display a negative relationship with debt ratios. The results also supported the pecking order hypothesis of Myers and Majluf (1984) showing significant negative relationship of profitability with debt ratios and indicating that firms prefer to finance investments with internally retained earnings before issuing debts. The results provided some evidence of size effect indicating that the larger firms tend to employ more debts in their capital structure. Results showed positive but insignificant relationship between cash holdings and debt ratios while confirming the fre e cash flow hypothesis of Jensen (1986). Simultaneously results did not provide any support for growth opportunity and collateral value attributes as determinants of debt ratios. A study on the Malaysian companies regarding the capital structure and the firm characteristics was carried by an Indian professor Pandey (2000). This study is useful for our study because of one of the same independent variable i.e. profitability. The study was carried on Malaysian companies in order to examine their determinants of capital structure using data from 1984 to 1999 while classifying the data into four periods that relates to different stages of capital market of Malaysia. Results of the regression clarified that profitability, size; growth, risk tangible variables have significant impact on all debt types. Results showed persistent and consistent negative relationship of profitability with all debt ratios in all periods, thus accepting the prediction capital structure according to the pecking order theory. A research relating to the capital structure was carried by two Pakistani professors Shah and Tahir (2004) which attempted to answer the question of what determines the capital structure of Pakistani Listed firms other than those in financial sector. Because this study was also carried in Pakistan so it provided a support to a great extent in order to understand the capital structure according to Pakistans environment. A sample of 445 listed firms on KSE were taken and their five year data from 1997-2001 were taken into consideration. Pooled regression results indicated that assets tangibility is positively correlated with debt, concluding that asset structure does not matter in determination of capital structure of Pakistani firms. Size was positively correlated with leverage suggesting that large firms would employ more debt. Growth was found to be negatively correlated with leverage that supports the simple version of pecking order theory that growing firms finance their investmen t opportunities first by their internally generated funds. There was strong relationship between profitability and leverage. Profitability was negatively correlated with leverage that supports the pecking order theory. A study in Hong Kong was carried by Hung, et.al (2002) examing the inter-relationship between profitability, cost of capital and capital structure among property developers and contractors in Hong Kong. The results showed that capital gearing is positively related with assets but negatively with profit margins. Bartholdy and Cesario (2006) analysed the decisions regarding the capital structure of Portuguese non-listed bank financed firms. Primary purpose of the research was to find out the impact of debt tax shield on the decisions regarding capital structure of small non-listed firms. The secondary purpose was to find out that whether the determinants of capital structure of larger listed firms were also same as in case of smaller non-listed firms. The research explained that the solution of two big problems (agency and asymmetric information) for large firms are apparent on the balance sheet as restriction on debt. On the other hand it is less apparent on the balance sheet of smaller firms. This provided the smaller firms with the benefit of tax shield due to more debt. This research has provided a great support in writing our review literature and understanding the relationship between profitability and debt to a great extent. The sample of their research consisted 998 firms with 7765 fi rm years observations. The results concluded that the tax provisions regarding the carry forward of tax losses and debt tax shield play a vital role in determining the capital structure of small non-listed firms. It was also concluded that in order to solve agency problem traditional balance sheet variables were significant in large listed firms but were insignificant for the small non-listed firms with the exception of variables required to solve bankruptcy risk. A research study was conducted in Greece by Eriotis, et.al (2007) aiming to isolate the firm characteristics that effect capital structure. The investigation was performed using panel data for a sample of 129 Greek companies listed on Athens Stock Exchange during 1997-2001. The findings justified a negative relationship between the debt ratio of the firms and their growth, and size appeared to have a positive relation. Gropp and Florian (2008) conducted research study regarding the determinants of the capital structure of banks by examining the capital structure of banks from the prospective of empirical capital structure literature for non-financial firms. The sample of the study includes 200 largest listed banks (100 from US and 100 from EU) from the sixteen different countries (US and 15 EU members) from 1991 to 2004. The results suggest that the capital requirements may only be of second importance for banks capital structures and confirm the robustness of corporate finance findings in a holdout sample of banks. In order to examine the capital structure across countries a study was carried by Rajan and Luigi (1994). The primary objective of the study was to establish whether the choice of capital structure in other countries is based on the factors similar to those influencing capital structure of US firms. Study was on the 8000 non-financial corporations of G-7 countries (USA, Germany, Japan, France, UK, Italy and Canada) for the period of 1987-1991. After correcting the differences ranging from accounting practices to legal and institutional environments between the countries. results of the study showed extent to which firms are levered is fairly similar across the G-7 countries except UK and Germany being relatively less levered. Sakuragawa (2001) conducted another study regarding the capital structure of banks under non-diversifiable risk. The purpose of the research was to study the design of optimal capital structure of a large financial corporation when it faces a non-diversifiable risk. When there is a non-diversifiable risk the intermediary finds it profitable to issue equity because by issuing equity it can reduce the cost and the probability of banks failure. The intermediary designs the optimal capital structure by balancing the marginal benefit of reducing probability of banks failure against the marginal cost of debt-equity swap. Results showed that a large corporation under weaker conditions realizes more efficient allocation by issuing both debt and equity than by issuing only debt. An African study was conducted by cole-man (2007) whose aim was to examine the impact of capital structure on the performance of microfinance institutions. Panel data covering the ten-year period 1995-2004 were analyzed within the framework of fixed- and random-effects techniques. Results showed that the most of the microfinance institutions employ high leverage and finance their operations with long-term as against short-term debt. Results also revealed that the highly leveraged microfinance institutions perform better by reaching out to more clientele, enjoy scale economies, and therefore are better able to deal with moral hazard and adverse selection, enhancing their ability to deal with risk. Fernandez (2003) analyzed the driving forces of capital structure in Chile for the period 1990-2002. The purpose of the research was to study aggregate leverage and interest-bearing liabilities in isolation for all firms, and firms segmented by economic sector. Their sample of the study consisted of 64 firms having the complete information for the whole sample period of 1990-2002. Results while supporting the trade-off theory revealed that the firms favored equity over debt issues to cover their financing deficit because of the Chiles tax and monetary policies. In order to find out the determinants of very small firms financial leverage Barbosa and Cristiana (2003) carried a research. They described the relationship between profitability and financial leverage as: As far as profitability is concerned, the most common expectation in the financial structure literature is for a negative relationship with financial leverage. Toy and others (1974 p.877), Marsh (1982 p.126 footnote 22), Friend and Lang (1988 p.277), Titman and Wessels (1988 p.6) and Barton and others (1989 p.40) all say that in different words. According to them, a firm with a high profit rate, ceteris paribus, would maintain a relatively lower debt ratio because of its ability to finance itself from internally generated funds. The preference for raising capital first from retained earnings may be due, according to Titman and Wessels (1988 p.6), to the costs of issuing new equity or debt that arise because of asymmetric information or transaction costs. Marsh (1982 p.126 footnote 22) raises the possibility that the impact may be due to the tendency of firms to issue new equity immediately after periods of abnormally good performance. Hall and Weiss (1967 p.328) assert that relativel y profitable firms take some of their exceptional returns in the form of reduced risk, through retaining earnings, and, therefore, show lower debt to assets ratios. Rajan and Zingales (1995 p.1451) cite Jensen (1986) who predicts that, if the market for corporate control is ineffective, managers of profitable firms prefer to avoid the disciplinary role of debt. This preference would lead to a negative correlation between profitability and debt. Gupta (1969 p.522) speaks of a theory that extends the first belief above mentioned from the firm level to the industry level. Accordingly, profitable industries, because of the greater availability of internally generated funds related to their high profitability; tend to have lower debt in their financial structure. Last, Gale (1972 p.417-8) interprets leverage as representing the degree of risk or otherwise in the industries in which the firm competes and hypothesizes that leverage should then be negatively related to profitability. This a uthor himself acknowledges that his reasoning is somewhat at odds with previous discussions and theory, though. According to him, low debt to total capital ratios would reflect high industry risk because of two aspects. First, the corresponding capital structures would be the result of higher investment on the part of entrepreneurs, who, differently from lenders, place a lower value on security relative to rewards. Second, high-risk industries are, at least theoretically, associated with higher profitability. Barbosa and Cristiana (2003) Results of their research concluded that the growth, entrepreneurs risk tolerance, size and operational cycle were positively correlated with the financial leverage whereas asset composition, inflation, profitability and business risk are negatively correlated with financial leverage of very small firms. Chapter-3 Methodology In this section, we have explained the source of data, sample size, explanation and measurement of the variables, and the regression model. 3.1 Source of Data In this study financial data of firms listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange under Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan is taken from the State Bank of Pakistan Publications Balance Sheet Analysis of Joint Stock Companies Listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange 2003-2008. 3.2 Sample size This study is carried on the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. There are 27 firms of that sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for six years from 2003-2008 as our study covers the period from 2003-2008. So we have 132 firm years for the panel data analysis. 3.3 Explanation and Measurement of the variables Basically our study follows the framework of Shah and Tahir (2005). We include only two variables in our study. First variable is leverage (dependent variable) and another is profitability (Independent variable). In this section we describe these two variables and explain how they are measured. 3.3.1 Leverage (Dependent variable) Leverage is explained as percentage of assets financed by debts. Different researchers have measured leverage differently. Frank and Goyal (2003) differentiated between two debt ratios, one based on market value while the other on book value. Debt ratio based on market value relates with the firms future situation whereas on the other hand debt ratio based on book value tends to reflect the past situation. While in our study measuring leverage through book value, we have mainly two reasons in our mind. First, one of the main benefits of debt is tax shield that is the interest payments are tax deductible expense, resulting in cash savings. Once the debt is issued these tax shield advantages do not vary by the market value of the debt. Second point in our mind while measuring leverage through book value is the relationship of debt with bankruptcy risk. The probability of bankruptcy increases with the increase in the debt. Moreover, in case of bankruptcy of a firm, the value of the debt through the book value of the debt is more relevant than the market value of debt. While measuring the financial leverage we faced a problem of choosing either total debt or only long term debt as percentage of total assets. Interestingly many capital structure theories favor long term debt but we have used total debt because the average firm size in Pakistan is small which limits their access to capital market because of technical difficulties and cost involved. So the firms in Pakistan prefer short term borrowing because of the fact that the major lenders in Pakistan are commercial banks and they discourage long term borrowing. Firms in Pakistan did not rely on the market based debt upto 1994, but in the mid of 1994 Government while amending Company Law, allowed firms to raise debt directly in the form of TFCs (Term Finance Certificates) from the market. Thus in our study we have measured the leverage through total debt to total asset ratio. 3.3.2 Profitability (Independent Variable) Profitability has been the main point of distinction between the Static Trade-off Theory and the Pecking Order Theory. Static Trade-off Theory explains that the firm with higher profitability has more reasons to issue more debt while taking tax shield benefit. While on the other hand, Pecking Order Theory presupposes that firms with larger earnings tend to use its internally generated funds i.e. retained earnings initially to fulfill their financial needs then they go for debt. Thus, Static Trade-off Theory expects a positive and direct relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm while Pecking Order Theory suggests negative relationship between the two above said variables. We have measured the profitability as the ratio of Net Income before Tax divided by the total assets. 3.4 Research hypothesis This research study supports the Pecking Order Theory hypothesis and our proposed research hypothesis is There is significant negative relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm. Ho: There is significant negative relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm 3.5 Regression Model Linear Regression analysis has been used in this study. Basically we have used pooled regression type of panel data analysis. By saying this we mean that the companys financial data and time series data are pooled together in a column. The equation for our regression model will be LG= ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²1 (PF) + ÃŽ µ. Where LG= Leverage ÃŽ ²0= Constant PF= Profitability ÃŽ µ= Error term Chapter 4 Results of the test and interpretation. This chapter contains the results of the descriptive statistics and linear regression test. There are 27 firms in Energy and fuel sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for the six years from 2003-2008 as our study covers that specified period. So we have 132 firm years for the panel data analysis. 4.1 Data Consideration: For data consideration to be suitable for linear regression we graph the P-P plot of dependent and independent variable in order to check that the data is normally distributed. The P-P plots of profitability and leverage are as follows. Above Normal P-P Plot of Independent variable (Profitability) shows that the variable follows a normal distribution. On the other hand dependent variable (leverage) is also said to be fairly normally distributed. In order to show the linear regression model is appropriate for the data or not we graph a scatter plot between profitability and leverage which is as follows: Scatter plot shows that whether linear regression model is appropriate for the data or not. However above scatter plot appears to be suitable for linear regression. 4.2 Results of the test: After running the linear regression test on SPSS we have the following results. Table-1 Descriptive Statistics Total No: Minimum Maximum Mean Standard Deviation Profitability (PF) 132 -0.22 0.43 0.0515 0.12441 Leverage (LV) 132 .00 1.27 0.5588 0.27425 Valid No: (list wise) 132 Table-1 contains the descriptive

Childhood Field Day Essay -- Autobiography Essay, Personal Narrative

Child Hood Field Day. I thought that must be a hundred degrees, as I waited for Mrs. Cailler, our school principal, to shout into her microphone. â€Å"GO!† I heard, and started to run. Even though it wasn’t a race, I was young, and wanted to zoom around the track like 6th graders could. Lea came up beside me and she was already sweating like crazy. â€Å"I love field day, only I don’t like the hotness† I said, panting. â€Å"You mean the heat, right?† She corrected me, as she always did. We had only gotten half way around the track before I started to wonder why I wanted to do field day. I was too hot, too hot to run, too hot to wear this uniform, it was just too hot out. Soon running became jogging, jogging became walking and walking became just trying to keep myself from stopping and falling asleep right there on the track, with sixth graders --big, scary, and sometimes mean sixth graders. Finally I got to the starting point and collect my first rubber band. This shows that I had done one lap, one hot, tiring, long lap. Again and again, I went around the track. I was sta...

The Power Struggles in Jury of Her Peers and Mama Come Home Essay

The Power Struggles in Jury of Her Peers and Mama Come Home The issue of dominance and subordinance is addressed in the short stories â€Å"A Jury of her Peers† by Susan Glaspell and â€Å"Mama Come Home† by James Tiptree, Jr. In the stories the subordinates are harmed by the dominants, but the subordinates overcome the suppression to triumph in the end. The groups with the power control the laws and the positions of the weaker group. To begin with, â€Å"A Jury of her Peers† is about the way women in 1917 were treated by men. The main women characters are Minnie Wright, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale. The women in the story are confined to their homes; rarely getting to go to town or visit with their friends. The women did not have many things with color and beauty. The men looked down on the women as inferior. The women in the story are the subordinates and the men are the dominants, because the men oppress the women and control them. â€Å"Mama Come Home† is a science fiction story about the way women treat men in the future. Giant alien women, called Capellans, come to Earth and abuse the smaller Earthmen. The women have no respect for the men. The men are helpless because the women are so large and powerful. The women in this story are the dominants and the men in the story are the subordinates, because the women control the men and everything the men do. The subordinates in the story â€Å"A Jury of her Peers† are emotionally abused by their husbands. The men treat the women like they are incapable of doing the same tasks as the men. An example is when the men are looking for clues to find a motive for the murder of Minnie Wright’s husband. They assign the women the task of finding Minnie Wright, who was being retaine... ... women determine what happened, Mrs. Peters becomes more compassionate and starts to feel Minnie’s pain. At the end of the story, Mrs. Peters helps Mrs. Hale hide the evidence that could convict Minnie. Tillie, one of the main characters in â€Å"Mama Come Home,† changes during the course of the story. Tillie is a human that looks like a Capellan, a giant alien woman. Tillie is friends with the Capellans until she sees the way the Capellans treat her male friend. Tillie becomes upset and decides to help the humans scare off the Capellans. Without Tillie’s help, the human’s plan would not have worked. In summary, the stories show how dominants can hurt subordinates and how subordinates can find ways to overcome the power of the dominant group. The characters learn that the dominants hurt people, and they must help out their friends by doing the right thing.

The Effects Of The Wall Street Crash :: Free Essays

The effects of the Wall Street Crash were felt all around America as people starved, businesses became bankrupt and unemployment rose. This era was known as the Great Depression and would last for another ten to twenty years. In the short term, rich investors lost great deals of money. Whilst, poorer investors, who had borrowed ‘on the margin’, could not repay their loans and thus became bankrupt. After a while, these incidents began to affect the American public. Firstly, unemployment rose as industries sunk into decline. The 14 million unemployed was a stark contrast to the 1.5 million unemployed in the 1920’s. To make things worse, wages across the country began fall rapidly as people became more and more prepared to work for less. This led to many impoverished families being forced into homelessness, poverty and starvation. Every town had a so-called Hooverville, a shanty town of ramshackle huts where migrants lived, while they searched for work. In these Hoovervilles, conditions were unsanitary and disease spread easily. Many of these people lived on food provided by charities, but by 1932, the Red Cross, for example, could only give 75 cents a week to each family. A banking crisis then swept across America, as the confidence of the American public fell. In 1929, 659 banks failed due to unpaid loans. As a result people stopped trusting banks and withdrew their savings. This in turn led to more banks failing. People in agriculture were hardest hit by the Depression because the 1920’s had not been kind to them anyway. Many farmers had their land and homes repossessed, as they could not afford to pay back their mortgages and loans. Furthermore, since areas in the Southern States had been over cultivated, the land became less and less fertile and a Dust Bowl arose. Many of these ruined farmers travelled to California to find any labouring work.

Case Study of Carl Robins Essay

My consulting company has been hired by ABC, Inc. to evaluate some problems involving management. Once the analysis is complete it will identify and recommend ways to improve the hiring process of ABC, Inc. Carl Robins is a new campus recruiter who is on the fast track to success. However, as a new employee, he is not fully informed on processes of the company. From my analysis, I conclude that Carl Robins is not organized and did not assemble training plan for the new recruits. New employees can acquire a situation too deep and too fast. It takes at least six months to a year for someone in a new position to understand his or her role within a company. Carl Robins is doing too much too fast. A plan needs to be in place and reviewed before any new trainees were hired. Carl Robins, a new recruiter with ABC, Inc., has a dilemma. Because a training plan was not put in place and the proper research was not done, Carl runs the risk of an unsuccessful orientation. Carl’s position has the role of coordinating tasks and gathering information for new people coming to the company. If the process is unsuccessful, it will leave a bad impression with not only Monica Carrolls, Operations Supervisor, but the new trainees as well. As the coordinator, Carl has not put in the research required to obtain the information needed for the trainees. Several problems exist for Carl Robins. The first issue is that he is six months into his position and is not aware of certain policies and procedures within ABC, Inc. The second issue is that a training plan does not exist for Carl to follow to make sure trainees meet the requirements. In the workforce today it is important that everyone entering a new job receive all the required training that is needed to complete it in a professional and skilled manner. When Carl Robins decided to take on the position as a Campus Recruiter for ABC, Inc., Carl didn’t receive the proper training needed to accomplish his tasks. This error is placed upon the human resource department for ABC, Inc. Even though Carl knows a lot in this area, he should not receive any special treatment and still be shown the proper ways and steps to make, for this company, before planning a new hire orientation. ïÆ'ËœThe third issue is that by Carl being new to his position he did not do the research or ask questions on what needed to be done. He just assumed. An action plan or schedule should be active before the new trainees were hired. Carl did not prepare for the  orientation; he runs the risk of not possessing the space or materials to conduct the orientation. The fourth issue Carl is a procrastinator Carl could have prevented this problem by not being so negligent. One of Carl’s identifiable problems is his procrastination on finalizing the new trainee paperwork necessary to conduct the orientation. The sad truth is that most individuals are procrastinators. â€Å"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday†. Carl Robbins, procrastination is a major part of the failure of his recruitment of the new hires. Another factor that contributes to his failure is the lack of communication. When Monica contacted Carl about the training schedule he should have ask Monica about the steps of how ABC, Inc. proceed for training. ïÆ'ËœThe fifth issue is that Carl does not know how to plan and execute. Carl’s lack of planning and execution could imply that either Carl is not fully qualified, or as I mentioned earlier Carl needs more training. The sixth issue is Carl is lacking in his Time Management Skills.† Time is a commodity no individual can afford to l ose. The best way to reach a project deadline is to have a good time of objectives. ïÆ'ËœThe seventh and last issue is Communication. Lack of communication at any workplace makes for catastrophe. When lagging communication between departments and employees lags, the state of business suffer. The key to effective communication is being timely and relevant. There is an immediate lack of timely communication going on between Carl Robins and Monica Carrolls. Assumption is being made by Monica Carrolls that Carl Robins knows what he is doing, and the protocol that follows a new hire orientation is visible. New employees were hired in early April and not until the middle of May did Monica consult her new recruiter on the current status of the employees. This is over a month that critical follow-up was needed with the new campus recruiter. Perhaps if there was a set schedule in place that Carl was given as to a timetable, important records and documentation that needed to be completed would not have been overlooked. These documents are mandatory for an orientation to take place. Procrastination or a lack of clearly defined priorities may have been factors in why Carl waited until after Memorial Day to pull files and take a look at the new hires current status. This allowed only one week for odds and ends to be completed before the actual orientation was to take place on  June 15th of that month. My conclusion is that lack of planning skills and time management on behalf of the newly hired campus recruiter. My suggestion is in order to reduce or eradicate the problems identified in this case ABC, Inc., should provide everyone with a detailed outline of the hiring process and what the hiring process encompasses. After reviewing Carl Robins’ case, I have come to the conclusion that Carl has put himself in a situation where he will not be able to make a deadline he has set with the operations supervisor, Monica Carrolls. Carl will not be able to make the tight deadline due to all the problems he has been faced with. In order for Carl to become a successful employee for ABC, Inc., he will need to learn how to manage his time more efficiently and communicate better with his coworkers and the potential recruits. These types of problems Carl has been faced with can be overcome by managing time affectively and communicating with his supervisor and the new trainees about the policies and procedures of the company. Some alternatives that could have helped Carl are: The trainers files could be reviewed before the initiate hire date. Placed notes on files with any missing documents. Manuals should be reviewed every month. A system upgrade can be implemented. The drug screening can be scheduled after the first interview in order to have them completed in time for orientation. ABC, Inc., should have a centralized area for the necessary documents needed for orientation, so when new trainees are hired it would be available. My proposed solution is the following: Carl needs to find another room for training or to arrange a place outside the company to have the orientation. Call a local hotel where he can meet to conduct the new employee orientation. Reserve the room that Joe booked either in the AM or PM after the computer training class The missing applications and transcripts should not take long to complete. In the course of orientation, they can go over and complete. The orientation manuals need to be piece together into one, after this is done the manual needs to be revised and rewritten. The completed manuals than need to be copied either at the office copier or taken to the local Kinko’s office. Carl can  assign someone to call the Drug testing facility, and schedule five people per Day for three days or contact the recruits and send them to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. and the company will have the results the same day. This will take care of the drug screening problems.

Managing and Developing People (Developing People) Essay

Introduction In this assignment I will be interviewing a member asking for their past experience for undergoing a training programme. I will be researching closely upon aspects†¦ * The need for the individual to be on the training programme? * Training method used? * What the cost was? * Any obstacles which made it difficult? These aspects would make the findings for knowing why the member took the training programme and if they gained any skills or knowledge when on the programme. Alongside with what troubles arose when carrying out the training. Interviewee Description The member which I will be interviewing is a 26 year old female called Miss Georgina McDonald who is smart and civilised. She is hard working and likes to socialise with peers and friends. She is able meet deadlines and able to work under pressure when a great load of work is put upon her. The work which Miss Georgina McDonald would train for would be to use the cash machine at Asda. Miss Georgina has had previous skill from her last job where she had to cash up all the finances of her fathers business on a daily basis. She has good numeric qualifications in which will benefit her for any job. Job Role In Miss Georgina’s previous job she had to cash up all the money which was done in her fathers business and had to input the tight figures so that it couldn’t affect the accounts for the business. Her father had made her do the financing as she had the qualifications for maths and was able to count up properly. In Asda the job role which she would want to do is being at the cashing machine as this is one of the good things she is capable of doing. Identifying Reason for being on Training Programme The environment in which everyone does business in is changing constantly, the knowledge and skill needed for the job will also change. The individual to be on the training programme is so she can improve her skill on how to work on the cash machine. Training for using the cash machine is very essential as proper calculations are compulsory. Asda wants to make sure that who ever work in the cashier section is well trained and have no problems being able to carry out tasks on how to manage the cashier. This is taken as one of the important parts in a business as finance’s can not go wrong. Asda pushes on getting the individual well trained to be able to manage any troubles caused by being able to find out where she has gone wrong. All this matters in training and what they should be taught, what they need to collect how much, they need to give and if they go wrong somewhere how they can cover it. Miss Georgina was given the training as she did not have any cashier skills which would guide her alongside with the job. She had to be given a good level of training so that she could manage a till properly. Miss Georgina had been given the training because she knew without any previous skill or knowledge she would not be able to run a till. There were appraisals with Miss Georgina which helped her with the running and to tell her of any mistakes she was making and setting out objectives for the next appraisal. Description of Training Method For the individual to be on a training programme is so they can handle the work place more efficiently and work with what ever they have been given with best of ability. Usually young people who have left or still studying go on training programmes as it gives them the knowledge and motivation in life. Training methods come useful in the future as it shows what the individual has achieved and what they can offer to the business. Training comes in different form for e.g†¦. * Induction – An induction usually is the best way for people getting involved into activities in a new environment. This helps them to know the new place and be familiar with the others. This helps peoples confidence and be able to communicate with members. In Asda it is essential to give a new comer an Induction this is so that they would get familiar with any health and safety aspects and know where any fire exits are located. In many cases induction days are taken so that individuals can get to know the workforce which they in. This helps build confidence and gain a good communication. * Job Shadowing – This training method is known as an activity which many organisation make employees do when doing a task. This activity can make an individual carry out a task and make them improve on in by someone senior watching or they could do the task by their own skill and be told what they could do better from improving the method. Asda would not use a job shadow to know what the member is capable of doing and how they would increase the skill by telling them what to do. * Mentoring – This method helps individuals to carry out an activity with a senior teaching it. It helps individuals know where they are going wrong and how they can improve it. This helps the individual do the job from its existing skill and if they do it different then expected it would be corrected. Mentoring is a good way of identifying the individual’s capability of doing a task and how they can do it. If a senior is to show them how to use a cash machine they would get to know what the functions are for. This method will be appropriate for Asda to do on the individual. * On the Job Training – Many businesses usually use the method of training the individual at the work place. This is so that they can work with the resources the have there and also start off with using equipment they have to offer. The trainee is ready to undergo any task at the workplace immediately. When working on the job it is also an advantage to get feedback straight away rather then carrying out a task then being told later on. When the mentoring is done it is possible for the member to get on the job training so that they can work on the equipment at the work place. It is more of a benefit to get training in the real life rather then going somewhere and spending time there. If the member is able to carry the task and get training at the same time this would be less time consuming and not costly at all. * Off the Job – Many businesses tend to send there trainee’s off to another place to learn how to carry out tasks. Resources are used which they offer there and they use them to carry the task. Off the job training also consists of sending an individual off to do a course which they learn at a college or university. Off the job training is worth doing at Asda as this could make the individual gain more experience and skill and carry out the task efficiently. Many times Asda does not send employee’s on off the job training as this is costly and time consuming. Identifying Training Needs for Trainee The reason for Miss Georgina to be on the training programme is so that she can increase on her productivity for what she is good at. This would make her efficient and comfortable in carrying out a day to day activity. The training needs which will benefit Miss Georgina would be†¦ > Higher Productivity > Efficiency > Confident in Numeric > Have a high level of Motivation > Good future opportunity The reason why Miss Georgina has to be given this training programme is so that she could gain more knowledge on what she is good at. Miss Georgina is not fully qualified and understands the misuse of inappropriate use of calculations, this is why she has been given the opportunity to go on a training programme which she can touch up on and make sure that she don’t make silly mistakes. Strength and Weakness The strengths for using the training method on the job training will be a strength as it will help the individual to get a better view of the organisation and who they will working with. This is an advantage because it increases confidence and able to socialise with piers. It builds a family environment when doing this aspect because before they can come in to the real job they would have made friends already. For carrying out an OJT this is a way which the member can increase in skills and be able to forward their knowledge to someone else. Advantages of On The Job Training * Training can be delivered at the optimum time, this means it can immediately perform the task any time in the real world. * The trainee will have the opportunity to practise immediately * Immediate feedback will be provided * Training is delivered to trainee from senior who can integrate the trainee in a team. The Weaknesses in a business will always be the time consuming which effects the running as this is a crucial time in a business. If training programmes are made long it will also effect the costing. A weakness for training a member is that after getting the training from somewhere they usually head off some where better. The weaknesses which Asda could face are†¦ Disadvantages for On the Job Training * Too much training can be delivered in one session causing of information overload. * The trainer may not have the right skill and knowledge to teach the trainee with. * If immediate practise is not accompanied by feedback the trainee can feel abandoned after the initial experience. Benefit and Costs for Training The costs for training the individual at Asda will cost nothing as it will be carried out on the job, meaning what every training the member will get will be done in Asda. The reason for this is that it will not cost at all and the individual will be able to stay on the premises that won’t need to go off some where else. The benefit for doing this training will be so that the member can increase their knowledge by doing it efficiently and also if they have the opportunity to get promoted they could be able to handle a sector in Asda. The benefit for members to have a training programme is so that they can increase their skills and knowledge in any task they have been specified, also carrying out tasks more efficiently and in a short amount of time. By giving training it helps individuals to cut down on mistakes and blunders made by them. By training it can help health hazards reducing hazards being encountered at the work place. The costs for having training are the cost of materials which may be needed for the process and also the time needed by the members which will be issuing the programme. For training to be carried out it takes up a great deal of time for the leader as they have to make sure what they are teaching the member is relevant to the programme specified. It is also costly when setting up the resources for using on the training area and time is needed for when doing the training. Obstacles for Training Training can be seen in different ways, firstly, the management of the company might see it as a way of making the company more efficient, as well as teaching important skills to employees in order to improve performance. At the same time it can be seen as a way of rewarding hardworking employees with a different environment for a short period of time. On the other hand, employees might look back on their last training session, still trying to work out what exactly it was they learnt from the experience, but nevertheless having enjoyed the change of scenery but hating the pile of work that greeted them on their return. If training is implemented correctly it can bring back great rewards such as greater workplace efficiency, specialised skills and knowledge as well as employee satisfaction. Finally remember that depending on how training is done, it can be very productive and useful or a complete waste of time and money, it can bring teams together or split them apart.