All About The School Is A Public And A Community Based...

Task 2 Question 2.1 All About the School Linksfield Primary School is a public and a community based school where students’ most important needs are cared for so that they can in turn achieve excellence, originality, creativity and a knowledge of positive values. Linksfield Primary School holds approximately 700 boys and girls, spread over a Reception Year and Primary School. There are approximately 35 students per class whom are either male or female. The students of Linksfield Primary School come from different nationality and cultural backgrounds such as, Chinese, Greek, English, Zulu, Italian and many more. Its doors remain open to everyone, greeting and introducing widely diverse communities to share in its value-driven, universal education. Linksfield Primary consists of mostly low to middle-income families who live in the Edenvale and Bedfordview area. However, families from Sandton and Germiston do insist on their children being in Linksfield Primary School due to the schools good reviews as well as for their increase of use in technology. There are many children with disabilities in Linksfield Primary such as learning weaknesses consisting of, dyslexia. Furthermore, they do have a Speech and Occupational Therapy facility for those children who may require extra therapy. After spending an incredible 10 days of observation of the class, I got to know a little bit about what the Primary school has to offer. Linksfield Primary withholds vibrant and happy qualities.Show MoreRelatedThe Goal Of Place Based Education Essay1481 Words   |  6 PagesPlace-Based education has been valuable throughout in schools and developing children education. The goal of place education is to serve as a learning organization for program developers, fueling internal growth and program development for the individual organizations. 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Marketing Topical Research Paper Free Essays

string(58) " the Vietnamese market through joint ventures with JSCBs\." Global Marketing Topical Research Paper Chu Nguyen Binh – DBA Hanoi NorthCentral University (NCU), USA National University of Hanoi (Vietnam) August 2009 Research title: Where would be the market for foreign banks in Vietnam after joining WTO? ABBREVIATION BTABilateral Trade Agreement CARCapital Adequacy Ratio FBBForeign Bank Branch FIBForeign Invested Bank JSCBJoint Stock Commercial Bank JVBJoint Venture Bank MOFMinistry of Finance NPLNon-Performing Loan SBVState Bank of Vietnam SOCBState Owned Commercial Bank SOEState Owned Enterprise SMESmall and Medium-sized Enterprise SSCState Securities Commission WBWorld Bank WTOWorld Trade Organization TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATION ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION1 2. VIETNAM BANKING SECTOR – A SUMMARY1 3. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Topical Research Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VIETNAMESE BANKING INDUSTRY3 3. 1. Very Low Market Penetration3 3. 2. Rate of Growth in Both Loans and Deposits Far Exceeding GDP Growth3 3. 3. A Highly Concentrated but Highly Fragmented Banking Market4 3. 4. Heavy Handed Regulation with Restrictions on Foreign Banks5 3. 5. Lack of Transparency Concerning Quality of Lending6 3. 6. Heavily Undercapitalized7 3. 7. Narrow Revenue Base and Few Product Offerings7 3. 8. Unknown Quantity of Non-performing Loans8 4. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FOR THE BANKING SECTOR9 4. 1. The Government’s Strategy9 4. 2. State Bank of Vietnam – Freeing the Tiger9 4. 3. Regulatory Environment – Meeting International Standards10 4. 4. Developing the Capital Markets11 5. PROSPECTS FOR BANKING SECTOR GOING FORWARD12 5. 1. Non-Performing Loan Ratios to Rise, But Risks of Bank Failures Looms12 5. 2. Further Development Inhibited by Low Capital and Technology12 6. CONCLUSION14 REFERENCES15 ABSTRACT Vietnam’s banking system is dominated by five state-owned banks, with around 70% of system assets at end-2008. Around 38 private banks comprise roughly another 25%, with the balance substantially accounted for by a host of foreign banks. In recent years, the private banks, being more commercially oriented, have grown rapidly at the expense of the state-owned banks’ market share. The foreign banks have also grown, as opportunities improved for them after Vietnam entered a bilateral trade agreement with the US in 2001 and acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006. The Research Paper will examine the Vietnam’s banking sector as a whole, including general characteristics of the Vietnamese banking market. It then analyzes the proportion in term of loan and deposit of state-owned, joint stock, joint venture and foreign banks. In the second part, the report lists opportunities for foreign banks to penetrate the Vietnam market under new legal requirement of the Vietnamese Government. They can establish 100% foreign bank entity, purchase stake in local banks or set up joint venture with Vietnamese partners. Finally, it will examine strengths and difficulties in terms of technology, expertise and experience, service quality, risk appetite, etc. f the foreign banks when operating in Vietnam market. 1. INTRODUCTION There are a lot of banks in Vietnam. Too many in fact. Currently there are five state-run commercial banks, 38 joint stock commercial banks, four joint-venture banks, 29 foreign bank branches, 45 foreign bank representative offices, five finance companies and nine finance leasing firms operating in Vietnam. Since 1992, Vietnam has moved to a diversified sys-tem in which state-owne d, joint-stock, joint-venture and foreign banks provide services to a broader customer base. However, the four main state-owned commercial banks – the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (Incombank) and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) account for around 70% of all lending activity. In a trade agreement with the United States signed five years ago, Vietnam fully committed to allow in foreign banks by 2010 at the latest, and to expose the banking sector to foreign competition. Under WTO entry rules the door may have to be opened even sooner than that. This has prompted foreign banking groups to closely scrutinize the Vietnamese banking sector as a business opportunity in itself. 2. VIETNAM BANKING SECTOR – A SUMMARY Vietnamese banking market is currently dominated by the five major State-Owned Commercial Banks (SOCBs), with 38 semi-private so-called joint stock commercial banks (JSCBs) gradually eating into their market share by better catering to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and retail clients. Years of lax monetary policy focused on supporting export-led GDP growth has flooded the banking system with money, pushing up redit growth to an annual average of 36. 4% over the past five years (2003-2007), hitting a peak of 54. 9% last year according to World Bank figures. High liquidity and a scramble for market share have resulted in a degree of aggressive lending, in particular to investments in the real estate and stock markets, which both experienced rapid downturns in 2007 and early 2008. State-Own ed Commercial Banks: The five SOCBs – Agribank, Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV), Vietcombank, Vietinbank and Vietnam Development Bank – hold roughly two thirds of banking assets according to IMF sources. The SOCBs are still encumbered by their previous role as instruments for implementing government policy. Indeed, the strong links between senior bank executives and the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, and other state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have impeded much-needed corporate restructuring. Hence, SOEs still receive preferential treatment in loan allocation, resulting in the SOCBs running up high non-performing loan (NPL) ratios. The SOCBs are currently reporting NPL ratios of around 3%, but we are expecting this figure to rise to 5% before the end of 2008. However, we carry doubts about the reliability of official figures and suspect the real ratios could be significantly higher. Joint-Stock Commercial Banks: The 38 JSCBs presently control roughly 20-25% of banking assets in Vietnam, but are quickly eating into the market shares of the larger SOCBs by providing superior services to SMEs and retail savers. The JSCBs are generally better managed and more profitable than the SOCBs, but suffer from low capitalisation, which has made them vulnerable to Vietnam’s domestic ‘credit crunch’, prompted by the SBV’s rapid tightening of its monetary policy. Foreign Banks: HSBC and Standard Chartered and a number of other foreign banks are already present in the Vietnamese market through joint ventures with JSCBs. You read "Marketing Topical Research Paper" in category "Free Research Paper Samples" HSBC increased its stake in Techcombank to 20% in August and Standard Chartered raised its stake in Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) to 15% in May 2008, but foreign banks have been prevented from increasing their stakes by restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic banks. Vietnam currently limits the shareholding a foreign bank can take in a domestic counterpart to 20%, with the total foreign ownership limited to 30%. 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VIETNAMESE BANKING INDUSTRY . 1. Very Low Market Penetration There are only about six million bank accounts in Vietnam, five million of them for individuals which amounts to a penetration rate of about 6%. In reality, the effective potential market size is about 20 million or trebles the current penetration level. That is the size of the AB socioeconomic class in Vietnam. Even so, if we compare this to the internet and mobile penetration rate of 14% and 12% the number is rather low. The reason is simple: the distribution and infrastructure of banking services is very poor relative to the telecommunications industry, which has virtual national coverage. By contrast, banks are almost unheard of in secondary cities and rural areas. With a low urban population of about 29%, banks simply don’t have easy access to over 70% of the population. There are other reasons, of course. Until recently the government had encouraged a cash economy by paying state employees in cash; there is a traditional distrust of banks; the banks themselves have done a poor job of providing services to the retailing public; and small businesses too are poorly served by banks unwilling to give them large loans unless they have the collateral to back it up. Of course the banking industry is growing rapidly with both deposits and loans expanding at high, double-digit growth rates per annum. And some banks such as Vietcombank, ACB, Sacombank, and Techcombank are making a determined effort to court the retail market. 3. 2. Rate of Growth in Both Loans and Deposits Far Exceeding GDP Growth Credit growth in Vietnam has been expanding at a breakneck speed these last few years. Not surprisingly given heady GDP growth. Nonetheless, the sustained rate of increase over several years has raised eyebrows at international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank. They like their credit growth at room temperature, rather than piping hot. Well piping hot is what they’ve got. In fact, the state-owned banks saw credit grow at an annual average rate of 24% over the past five years. Given the inability of some bankers to distinguish a good credit risk from a bad one (assuming they have a choice) this is not entirely a good thing. Hence the international sigh of disbelief that such stellar credit growth has been accompanied by a falling NPL ratio. According to some economists a 7% GDP growth rate can accommodate an annual credit growth rate of about 14-20%, roughly a factor of two without generating a lending bubble. However, credit growth rates above that level for any extended period of time are unhealthy for an economy. Admittedly credit growth rates have been falling for the last year down to about 15% as the central bank has tried to rein in credit departments. So far this year in fact lending has expanded at only about 16% nationwide. Going forward the speed of credit growth may well start expanding again as WTO becomes a reality. One bank has forecast that credit could grow at 35% per annum over the next five years given sufficient access to capital. While the better banks could probably cope with this, the temptation for others to take on too much risk is high. 3. 3. A Highly Concentrated but Highly Fragmented Banking Market Five state banks have carved up 70% of the loan market while forty-odd joint-stock banks and a host of foreign banks scrap for the remaining 30%. Compare this with the US where the ten biggest commercial banks control only 49% of the country’s banking assets, up from 29% a decade ago. Thus, at the top tier, the market acts like an oligopoly, while beneath the surface there is a holy war going on as mite-sized private sector banks scrap for the rest. Since the market itself is growing so fast this may not seem so bad. The state banks are also slowly bleeding market share. Even so things look very lopsided. Enter the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), concerned about the fragmented nature of the private sector banks. They will introduce new regulations to force another round of consolidation in the near future. One way of doing this is to set high hurdles for any new established bank before it can get a license. All banks will need to have chartered capital of VND 1 trillion ($62. 8 million) which is exceeded by the existing capital of only the very biggest JSCB’s such as ACB and Sacombank. All other existing banks fall far short and will need to scramble for new capital or merge in order to meet the new requirements. And that is just the first round. From next year the SBV has circulated a draft proposal to raise the minimum capital level to about US$300 million. And there you have the consolidation trigger. 50% of the JSCB’s face merger or takeover. They will also have to demonstrate experience in banking governance. Banks will need to commit to Basel 2 standards from 2010. One of the key issues is the regulation of key stakeholders, such as a bar on lending to stakeholders or their affiliates. This is to prevent corporations from using their own banks as private piggy-banks. Currently a corporate of family can own up to 40% of a joint-stock commercial bank. 3. 4. Heavy Handed Regulation with Restrictions on Foreign Banks The government still exerts strong control on the banking sector in two ways. Directly, through various regulations and restrictions which govern how they conduct business and strictly licensing the type of businesses they can enter; and indirectly through the interference of a myriad of agencies and ministries, both local and national, who want to have a say on how scarce credit resources are allocated. The state-owned banking system is trying to shift from directed policy lending to a commercial system. But the transition is proving slow and painful. Given the legacy of state control at both national and local level it’s hardly surprising that the state-owned banks routinely complain about interference in their lending decisions and overall management. It seems that banking is too important to be left to bankers. The culture of social and political lending is still dominant amongst local officials and bureaucrats, as is the idea of consensus building and consultation before decisions are taken. To be fair, the problem has been recognized and things are getting better. With the proposed re-organization of the SBV for example, fewer local branches should reduce the amount of day-to-day noise coming in to credit departments. Local authorities will have less leverage in leaning on banks without the local central bank office to back them up. And the recently announced decree allowing for 100% foreign-owned bank branches will finally set the stage for a level playing field for foreign banks. However, without eliminating limits on branch openings and mobilization of Dong deposits (currently limited to 350% of total capital for foreign banks) some painful shackles will remain. . 5. Lack of Transparency Concerning Quality of Lending Lending decisions in Vietnam are still based more on relationships than cash flow. The assessment of loan customers is usually driven by the relationship with the bank and the size of the collateral being offered. Cash flow driven assessment and qualitative analysis is reserved for large private sector customers only. Amongst t he large banks only ACB bank uses DCF analysis across their entire customer base. The problem is partly due to outside interference in the decision making process and partly due to a lack of professional guidance. The absence of IT infrastructure to support professional credit analysis is another major factor. Another issue is exposure. Most banks lend a lot of money to a fairly narrow base of customers. The top 30 state-owned corporations probably account for over half of the state banks lending books. The private sector joint-stock commercial banks (JSCBs) are no different. 3. 6. Heavily Undercapitalized One of the legacies of state ownership is a severe shortage of capital at the state banks, a quality shared by private sector commercial banks as well. Government restrictions on equity holdings combined with a bond market that hardly functions has made raising chartered capital very difficult for banks. Average capital adequacy ratios (CAR) in amongst Vietnamese banks stood at 4. 5% at the end of 2007. This compares with an average CAR of 13. 1% in Asia Pacific and 12. 3% in South-East Asia. Admittedly with large scale raising of capital this year this number is improving. With most of the state banks well below the minimum 8% capital adequacy ratio for Tier 2 capital, lack of access to the international capital markets has constrained their growth. And this valuation is anyway based on a vary generous reading of their NPL’s. The JSCBs are in only a slightly better state with a handful able to cross the 8% hurdle rate. The rest are pitiful. And given that the domestic capital markets are still in the fledgling stages, raising new capital has been the biggest headache for all banks. The stronger JSCBs have responded partly by selling shares to foreign strategic partners. Further down the line, where profitability is lower and capital particularly skimpy the options are more limited. The SBV is chary of allowing smaller anks to raise capital from foreign investors. Going forward all of the banks have substantial appetites for raising further capital, to shore up their Tier 2 capital base to bring them over the 8% CAR hurdle by 2010. 3. 7. Narrow Revenue Base and Few Product Offerings Most Vietnamese banks make money from loans. And that’s basically it. Compare that to Western banks that make about a quarter of their income from fees – credit card fees, lending fees, arranging fees, etc. – and most have branched into wealth management. Well, not in Vietnam. To be fair this is tied into the lack of availability of credit history: banks don’t like lending to strangers they know nothing about. The state banks are generally geared to the large corporate and state-owned sector, providing syndicated loans for utilities, infrastructure projects, heavy industry and property developers. JSCBs are geared mainly towards lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the wealthier retail customers. However given their low penetration and limited branch network they only reach a fraction of their potential customer base. Car loans, mortgages and house improvement loans are retail staples. And small business loans using property as capital is the basic model for the SME market. In general, the Vietnamese banking model is best described as relationship-based rather than product-based as in international banks. 3. 8. Unknown Quantity of Non-performing Loans If you were to believe the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) statistics the non-performing loans problem has been largely dealt with since 2000. Amongst the state-owned banks, non-performing loans (NPLs) have fallen steadily from 12. % in 2000 to 8. 5%, 8. 0% and 4. 47% in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. Under a new stricter definition, the official number in 2008 has risen to about 7. 7%. Overall, about half of the NPL’s are on the watch list, which is the second of five lending categories in the new SBV scoring system. The other half fall into the three categories below watch list which are of greater concern. For private sector JSCBs, average NPLs were said to be around the 1% level at the end of 2007. Of course few believe the official numbers. International bodies carried out a similar exercise using Ernst Young and found that NPL’s in the system using international accounting standard definitions came to about 15-20% of outstanding loans in the state-owned sector. This number is conservative due to limited data; a figure between 20-25% is probably a fairer estimate. In this respect the slow development of the banking industry is a blessing in disguise, things could be a whole lot worse. The worry is that the gap between the official version and the real picture is large and may indeed be growing. Most NPLs are generated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) refusing to pay their obligations to state-owned banks. Pre-equalization is a favorite time to write off or simply clear out these loans. That way SOEs can start their new life in the private sector unencumbered by debts. So apart from asking the government to honor the SOEs’ commitment and trying to seize collateral there is precious little banks can do. There is not yet an effective secondary market for bad debt, although attempts to kick-start one are ongoing. There are very few NPLs sale and purchase transaction taking place. 4. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FOR THE BANKING SECTOR 4. 1. The Government’s Strategy After a long period of hesitation and hints of action the government has come up with a fast-track roadmap to liberalize the financial sector by 2010. Under the roadmap, the state will retain a controlling stake in the banks but its holdings will be quickly reduced to 51%. Foreign ownership will account for a maximum of 30% of total shares, while each strategic foreign institutional investor currently allowed to hold 10-20% at most. The 20% limit may be eventually erased but the 30% cap will stay for the time being. Basel 1 will be in effect until 2010, when the stricter Basel 2 standards for corporate governance will be introduced. The government will have to introduce further legislation before then to force banks’ compliance, particularly at the ownership level. This may create some buying opportunities amongst the JSCBs as families are forced to reduce their stake. 4. 2. State Bank of Vietnam – Freeing the Tiger In theory the central bank enjoys a wide remit. In practice it can’t do much without a legion of agencies and ministries throwing in their penny’s worth of advice. The central bank, the SBV, currently acts as the sole supervisory and regulatory body for the banking sector. It also owns the state-owned banks and sets interest rates. There is a clear need to separate the various roles of the SBV and give it increased autonomy in those areas such as monetary policy and regulation of the banking sector, which are clearly in its remit. The SBV also needs to be free of its role as custodian of the state’s shareholdings in the banking sector. The SBV sees several key roles for itself in the future: compiling and executing monetary policy, ensuring stability of the credit institutional system, act as a regulator to the banking system. In order to achieve this it needs legislative backing to clearly define its relationship with the National Assembly, government and all government agencies. In simple terms stop the incessant interference from other parties so that the SBV can get on with the job. After all, if the central bank is not allowed to set interest rate policy and regulate the banking sector without being leaned on, what hope is their for individual banks to lend money without getting the same treatment. Another issue is the lack of cooperation with the MOF on key issues such as bad debt and bank equitisation. MOF has often written off state-owned companies’ bad debt without consulting the banks. And the State Securities Commission (SSC), the stock market regulator often stalls on issuing licenses for banks to list. The two don’t play well together. 4. 3. Regulatory Environment – Meeting International Standards There are a myriad of regulations and decrees covering almost every aspect of the financial sector but we would like to look briefly at just three topics: progress removing restrictions from foreign banks, meeting international banking standards and the treatment of NPLs. With regard to meeting international banking standards, the government has appeared to follow WB recommendations to provide the necessary framework for an integrated financial system as required under WTO rules. And so in the last few years some of the necessary legislation has been pushed into place. On the NPL’s, the central bank issued Decision No. 93 to reclassify bad debts and risk reserves closer to international norms. So far, three state-owned banks (SOBs) claim to have successfully reduced their bad debt ratios to less than 5% in accordance with the new rules. Too successfully in fact, but more on this later. Overall the regulatory authorities are making an effort to converge with international stand ards in the financial sector, but with WTO membership and the 2010 deadline looming, time is not a friend. And foreign banks are still allowed to raise Dong deposits only to a ceiling of 350% of their chartered capital. In effect this locks them out of the domestic deposit market and is the most important impediment for their expansion plans. 4. 4. Developing the Capital Markets Banks need more tier 2 capital and bonds will provide the bulk of that. However with the bond market in its infancy there are still major constraints on the banks’ ability to raise sufficient capital quickly to reach the 8% capital adequacy ratio they crave. The infrastructure for developing the bond market is still not in place. HSBC is only now offering to provide a pilot rating scheme to enable potential investors to gauge the creditworthiness of various bond issuers. Fitch and Moody’s have also dipped their toes in the market, rating Sacombank and BIDV respectively. However rating services are horribly expensive and there needs to be a domestic agency to offer these services at prices most banks can afford. Another key hurdle lies with interest rate guidelines in place at all maturities along the yield curve. This prevents risk weightings and effectively bars smaller or weaker banks from coming to the market to issue capital whilst compensating for the higher risk by offering higher coupons. 5. PROSPECTS FOR BANKING SECTOR GOING FORWARD . 1. Non-Performing Loan Ratios to Rise, But Risks of Bank Failures Looms It is likely that there will be an increase in non-performing loan (NPL) ratios from the present 4-5% as an increasing number of companies and households default on their loans on the back of higher interest rates and slowing economic activity. A complicating factor in assessing the risk posed by deteriorating loan portfolios is that Vietnamese banks are currently applying a new system of internal credit rating schemes and debt classification systems in accordance with international standards. Implementation has so far been diverse between banks, making intra-sector comparisons a complicated business. Consultancy Ernst Young has estimated that the application of the new standards is likely to lead to an increase in disclosed NPL ratios of 2-3 times, i. e. to the IMF estimates of 15-20%. While the new standards will make the NPL figures more internationally comparable, the resulting increase in the ratios is likely to create uncertainty about the proportion which can be attributed to the new standards and how much is down to an actual deterioration of loan portfolios. However, it can be believed that the effects on the overall economy from possible bank failures can be contained by larger JSCBs taking over smaller banks pushed to the brink by loan defaults and low capitalisation. Nonetheless, there might be possibility that the government or central bank will need to intervene to force mergers between banks and possibly also recapitalize those in worst health. 5. 2. Further Development Inhibited by Low Capital and Technology Consolidation should be a positive for the banking sector by decreasing excessive competition and increasing capitalization levels. Nonetheless, capital shortages, low technology and a shortage of skilled staff, especially at higher levels, will continue to inhibit the development of the banking sector. This will leave domestic banks exposed to the might of international banking giants such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, which are initially committing US$183 million and US$61 million respectively to their Vietnamese subsidiaries, placing them well in league with the larger JSCBs. Increased competition from foreign players will thus constitute a potent threat to domestic banks, which will be forced to improve services if they want to maintain their market share. Further expansion will need regulatory approval from the State Bank of Vietnam. The IMF has, in its annual review of the Vietnamese economy, set improvement of financial supervision as a prime task for the government in its reform agenda. The government raising the foreign ownership ratio to 25% for individual banks and 35% in total in 2009-2010 in order to maintain foreign banks’ interest in holding stakes in domestic players, thus assisting in technology transfer. With the current system in place, there is a risk of a severe divide between better-capitalised, more technically advanced and better-managed foreign banks and a still relatively undeveloped domestic sector suffering from both a shortage of capital and low efficiency. Vietnamese banks are still primarily focused on taking deposits and lending and thus completely inexperienced in asset management and other financial services tipped to be the main growth areas in the Vietnamese banking market going forward. Domestic players, in particular the larger SOCBs, may have an advantage through their established branch network and client base, but this factor can be rapidly eroded as HSBC and Standard Chartered extend their operations. The threat from foreign banks will be particularly potent for the SOCBs, where reform has been slow in spite of the government’s intention to place them foremost in the queue in the so-called ‘equitisation’ process of transferring SOEs to private hands. It is unlikely that the government will find takers for its offers of 10-20% stakes in SOCBs for strategic foreign players if it does not radically review its privatisation procedures. With the state-owned banks constrained by politicised decision-making and the private banks suffering from a severe lack of capital, HSBC, Standard Chartered and other regional players will gain the upper hand over time as their extensive experience, superior technology, and readier access to capital work in their favor. It is unlikely that foreign players will dominate the Vietnamese banking sector in 10-15 years time, with the larger JSCBs being majority-owned by foreigners and the role of the once-impressive SOCBs reduced to supporting inefficient state-owned companies and agricultural households. 6. CONCLUSION In Vietnam, there is only less than 10% of Vietnamese currently use banks for financial services, instead largely relying on extended families and neighbourhood associations for lending and saving. However, a rising number of younger Vietnamese are now using banks for financial services, opening up great expansion opportunities in retail banking. The Vietnamese banking sector is a veritably good destination for early entrants as poorly-capitalised and inefficient domestic banks are ill-prepared for the opening of the banking market to foreign entrants as pledged in Vietnam’s accession to the WTO in January 2007. With bank penetration at less than 10% and the Vietnamese economy forecast to grow by an average 7. 8% annually over the next ten years, the growth opportunities are great for foreign players. Top of Form REFERENCES Johny K. Johansson (2006). GLOBAL MARKETING Foreign Entry, Local Marketing, Global Management. McGraw-Hill, Fourth Edition, International Edition. ISBN 007-124454-9. Vinacapital. Vietnam Equity Research. August 15, 2006 Fitch Ratings, Vietnam Special Report – Vietnamese Banks: Focus on Asset Quality – Three Stress Scenarios. February 25, 2009 at: www. fitchratings. com Vietnamese Banks: A Home-Made Liquidity Squeeze? May 2008 Jaccar Equity Research, Vietnam. Banks and Financial Services. The Bubbles did not Burst but Turned Grey. May 18, 2009 at www. jaccar. net Fulbright Research Project, The Banking System of Vietnam: Past, Present and Future. Nam Tran Thi Nguyen, 2001. at: www. iie. org/fulbrightweb/BankingPaper_Final. pdf retrieved on 27 Feb 2009. How to cite Marketing Topical Research Paper, Essays

Journal Contemporary Hospitality Management -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Journal Contemporary Hospitality Management? Answer: Introducation Wesfarmers Limited is the company that has been available for the analysis purpose and throughout the study the annual report of the Wesfarmers Limited will be discussed with regard to the impairment testing. The company is Australia based and is listed in the Australian Stock Exchange having second largest place in the retail chains business and is big competitor to the Woolworths Limited. For making the deep analysis and current analysis, the annual report for the financial year ending 30th of June 2017 has been considered. The financial statements have to be read with the notes to the accounts of the company and therefore, the following assets of the company have been tested for the purpose of the impairment if any during the year: Note number 5 has laid down the impairment test for the trade receivables. The trade receivables are those from whom any amount is receivable and that too in the ordinary course of business not any special transactions. Note number 7 has laid down the second major head comprises of the property plant and equipment. It includes freehold lands, buildings, leasehold land improvements, plant vehicles and equipment and Mineral lease and development. Note number 8 has laid down the third major head for impairment testing is the Goodwill and other intangibles. The other intangibles include brand, contractual and non contractual relationships, software and gaming and liquor licenses. Note number 17 has laid down the other major head namely Non financial assets and note number 18 on Associates and joint Ventures and accordingly impairment is tested for the loss in investment Yes, the company has conducted the testing for impairment and that too in accordance with Australian accounting standard and has provided the details explanation of each and every testing done by them. As per the seventeen note of the financial report of the company for the financial year ending 30th of June 2017, following test has been done for the impairment: The group of the whole company tests the property plant and equipment, goodwill and other intangibles on an annual basis. The testing becomes more frequently in case of the intangibles having indefinite lives and accordingly the testing on at least annually or frequent basis have been mentioned. The testing is also required when an indication is there that the impairment that has been charged in the earlier period might have been changed in the current financial year. The group will identify and prescribe the cash generating units. The need of identifying the cash generating units will arise only when the individual assets will not be able to generate the cash flows on its own on independent basis rather uses the other assets to generate the profits. Also when the assets value in use so calculated cannot be simulated with the figures as obtained with the fair value. Thereafter, the recoverable amount of each of the asset or the cash generating units as the case may be is identified. Recoverable amount of an asset or the cash generating unit is the higher of the fair value of asset less cost of the disposing off the same which is defined as FVLCOD and the value in use. Value in use is nothing but the present value of all the cash inflows that the company estimates for future for at least five years. The present value is calculated by using the discounted rate or the cost of capital of the company. In case the cash flows are required for more than five years then the same is estimated using the growth rate of the company. For the calculation of the FVLCOD, the discounted cash flow way has been used instead of other methods. Now the recoverable amount so calculated is contrasted with the carrying amount of the asset and in case the carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount of the assets or the cash generating units as the case may be then the impairment is booked otherwise the asset in consideration is not impaired and is recorded at the carrying value only. The other item of the asset which is tested for the impairment is the trade receivables. These include the balances of the sundry debtors and other loans and advances made in the normal routine of business. The trade receivables are check with different kinds of risk like liquidity risk, credit risk and financial risk. The test for the impairment is ongoing. It does not require being waiting for the balance sheet date of the year end. The test includes the checking and verification of the creditworthiness of the debtors as to whether they are in a position to generate the income and disburse the outstanding and accordingly impairment is booked. In the given case recoverable amount is identified using the discounted cash flow technique and this will exclude the short term debtors as the discounting effect in this case will not be so significant or material. This, in this mode, the company does the impairment testing. The accounting treatment of the impairment is similar to the depreciation and accordingly on the one hand it is charged to the consolidated statement of profit and loss account and on the other hand the impairment is deducted from the value of the assets so impaired as on balance sheet date. On looking of the annual report of the company, the note number two of the annual report of the company, following amount have been charged as the impairment and clubbed under the head of the expenses in the consolidated statement of profit and loss: S. No. Particulars Amount ($Million) 1 Plant, equipment and other assets 27 2 Freehold Property 22 3 Goodwill NIL Every company lists out the key estimates and the assumptions for following each and every calculation of expenditure or revenue like depreciation and impairment, etc and these are mentioned in the annual report of the company. In the given case, the company has lists out the key estimates and the assumption that the company has used in estimating the key assumptions and the estimates for impairment: The note number seventeen is related to impairment of non financial assets and in that the company has mentioned that the major key assumption has been taken in the fair value less cost of disposal calculations. The company has identified the two cash generating units namely Coles and Target. For both of the cash generating units, the method of fair value less cost of disposal (FVLCOD) has been used for the estimation of the recoverable amount. The assumptions have been made regarding the discounting rate and the growth rate. For Coles and Target the discounting rate assumed is 8.9% and 11.0% respectively. Both discounting rates are post tax and have incorporated a risk for the net post tax flows which the company has estimated to achieve in the future years. For Coles and Target the discounting rate assumed is 3.0% and 2.5% respectively. The growth rate has taken into consideration the growth rate of long term in average terms. For the purpose of Curragh cash generating unit, recoverable amount has been determined and different assumptions have been used for the impairment. These includes the following: Life so remained shall be off approximately 17 years Estimates of the long term coal price Foreign currency rates based on 27th of June 2017 Escalations may be around 2.5% per annum and Discount rate which shall be post tax will be 9.9%. Thus, these are the assumptions and estimates that are listed in the annual report of the company. Yes, the impairment testing process of the assets of the company is very subjective. The first instance where the subjectivity is highlighted is the use of the method of fair value less cost of disposal instead of using the value in use method for calculation of the impairment loss of the assets. Three cash generating units namely Coles, Target and Curragh have undergone the impairment testing on the basis of this method only. It depicts that the company is not confident itself in the estimation of the future cash flows or the budgeted plans because of which the value in use method has not been employed by the company. The result of this subjectivity is that the company will lose his faith as zero impairment has been booked for the current year. However, if company would have been gone by the value in use method, then the situation will be different. I have found the whole process of impairment testing as interest also and sometimes confusing also. Interesting because new method of calculation of the recoverable amount has been disclosed is fair value less cost of disposal (FVLCOD). On the other hand the same process is confusing also because some calculations and the detailed facts were missing due to which some explanations are in dark room like. For instance how the discounting rate has been calculated and so on. The new insight is the adoption of the different method of calculating the impairment which is fair value less cost of disposal (FVLCOD). Second insight is the different assumption for different cash generating units can be taken by the company. For instance, for Coles and Target different assumption have been placed and for Curragh different assumption has been placed. In the significant accounting policies as adopted by the company as mentioned in the annual report, it is mentioned that for the purpose of all fair value measurements the group has categorized the assets into three levels. These are: Level One - where fair value will be determined in accordance with the listed price in the market Level Two where fair value will be determined in accordance with other than listed prices Level Three - where fair value will be determined in accordance with unlisted prices. The following reasons helps IASB board in believing that earlier account standard does not reflect the economic reality:- The accounting treatment of the operating leases contracts which depicts that the financial transactions does not involved actual obligation of the company and the company is not liable to record them in their accounts while estimating the liabilities or obligations (Ely, 2015). The nature of transaction was generally hided in the form operating lease contract in place of the rentals or purchase contracts which shows that real transactions has been hide by the management of the company. Net assets position of the company has been wrongly calculated as the contingent liabilities will not taken into consideration irrespective of their amount involved (Day and Stuart, 2013). From the above, the statement made by the speaker in the meeting seems validated as the financial data has been manipulated by the owners of the company by using the ambiguity in standard or regulations governing lease contract. The following are the reasons which depicts that off the balance sheet liabilities are 66 times higher than the obligations reported in the balance sheet:- As the earlier standard motivates of recording of the operating lease obligations as continent liabilities as they are considered to be future obligations if the lease rentals not paid on time, the liabilities will increase day by day as the lease period expires. Only the actual obligations were reported in the former standard as liability on the face of the balance sheet which are generally very less in case of lease agreement as only financial lease was considered in this which were very less. From the above two pints it can be analyzed that actual liabilities were less and having only 1/3rd of the total obligations which are inclusive of contingent liabilities. So, at some point of time the off the balance sheet (contingent liability) will become 66 times larger than obligations reported on the face of the balance sheet for the entities for which lease standard was applicable. The following are the points on the basis of which the chairperson thinks that under former accounting standard the playing fields for some airlines companies were not made available:- The major players in the airline industry have been into the operating lease contracts and have captured the market by ignoring the finance lease on the other hand. Due to operating lease they are liable to mention the liabilities relating to the leases as contingent liability and that too in notes to accounts of the company rather than mentioning on the first page of the balance sheet or in the schedules forming part of the balance sheet. By doing so they have curbed their actual liabilities (Gross, 2014). When new company enters into the market then he has no by other means forced to adopt for the operating lease and hence the players of the field will be the major players of this industry and the others will remain as it is (Singer, 2017). Second reason is that the new entrants will take time to bring their financial statements to that level so that they can also give the competition to others and if this former standard prevails then there will be no level playing field among the companies in the similar industry. The reasons that as to why the Chairperson of the International Accounting Standard Board have mentioned that the new accounting standard on the leases will not be popular with everyone are as follows: At first it is very much clear that the new accounting standard on leases is majorly applicable on the listed companies. The new accounting standard will make the parties to the contract to make the full disclosure of their financial assets and financial liabilities (Knubley, 2010; Moore and Nagy, 2013). The lessee cannot escape by mentioning the contingent liability only and that too in the notes to accounts rather it will be recorded with full liability under the provisions of the new accounting standard (Lim, 2014). It will make the existing listed companies which covers half of the listed companies dealing into leasing transactions out of the business and thus will make the standard unpopular not among their business industry but also in some other business industry. With this, the accounting standard will not be so popular. As the new accounting standard on lease will bring about the more transparency about the financial position of the company as well as the financial performance of the company, the faith of the stakeholders including the banks, financial institutions, government authorities, employees and others will get increased. Through this faith and the more reliance on the financial statements of the company will lead the management of the company to make a more informative and corrective decision in an efficient and effective manner. Earlier, the company has been making the lease versus buy decision very fast and vague but now the decision will effective and efficient one as in the case of lease the assets and the corresponding liabilities are required to be checked. Similarly the investors of the company including the potential investors will have more faith and trust in the workings of the company on the basis of which the investors will be able to take an effective decision regarding whether to invest in the particular company or not. References AASB, (2016), Impairment of Assets available at https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB136_07-04_COMPjun09_01-10.pdf accessed on {23-01-2018}. AASB, (2016), Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement available at https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB139_07-04_COMPoct10_01-11.pdf accessed on {23-01-2018}. Company Official Website, (2017), Annual Report 2016, available on www.wesfarmers.com.au/ accessed on {23/01/2018}. Day, R. and Stuart, R., (2013), New lease accounting proposal: what it means and what companies can do to prepare.Financial Executive,29(6), pp.11-13. FASB, (2016), New Guidance on Lease Accounting available at https://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/FASBContent_C/NewsPagecid=1176167901466 accessed on {23/01/2018}. Ely, K.M., (2015), Operating lease accounting and the market's assessment of equity risk.Journal of Accounting Research, pp.397-415 Gross, A.D, (2014). The path of lease resistance: How changes to lease accounting treatment may impact your business.Business Horizons,57(6), pp.759-765. Knubley, R., (2010). Proposed changes to lease accounting.Journal of Property Investment Finance,28(5), pp.322-327 Lim, S.C., (2014), Market Recognition of the Accounting Disclosure and Economics Benefits of Operating Leases: Evidence from Borrowing Costs and Credit Ratings. Ma W, (2011), Impact on Financial Statements of New Accounting model for leases available at https://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1194context=srhonors_theses accessed on {23/01/2018} Moore, S. and Nagy, A., (2013), CONTRACT STRUCTURING UNDER THE NEW LEASE ACCOUNTING RULES: THE CASE OF CUSTOM DESIGN RETAIL, INC.Global Perspectives on Accounting Education,10, p.81 Singer, R, ( 2017), Accountinq for Leases Under the New Standard, Part 1: Definition and Classification of Leases and Lessee Accounting.CPA Journal,87(8). Singh, A.,( 2011). A restaurant case study of lease accounting impacts of proposed changes in lease accounting rules.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,23(6), pp.820-839.

Powerhouse of Inspirational Women free essay sample

â€Å"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence in human society.† This significant quote by David O. McKay shows the strength and power a mother possesses. To be a mother is more than the biological aspect of a fetus growing inside of one’s uterus. It is the power to develop morals within a child and to be independence. The women of my family, whom have been my light of guidance, are my inspiration and have such an impact on how I live my life. These women are the people I consider the mothers of my childhood. Reality television shows such as â€Å"Supernanny†, exemplify how children can be quite a handful for two parents. A question that always seems to boggle my mind is how my single mother managed to raise three children. Is there a gene in a woman that enables her to fail or succeed in being a single mother? Is it a matter of â€Å"the survival of the fittest†? Whatever the circumstances may have been, she accomplished the challenging task of rai sing prosperous young adults with instilled morals and values. We will write a custom essay sample on Powerhouse of Inspirational Women or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At the young age of 24, two years prior to my birth, my mother adopted her two younger brothers when my grandmother passed away. She raised two young boys into men mainly by herself, with the support of my aunts by her side. Watching my family support one another through these tough times is something that always stood out in my mind, and taught me the importance of family. My aunt always told me, â€Å"We don’t have anyone else, but us. So, we must be there for each other.† My aunts played a major role in my upbringing. My aunts who were there for me, while my mother worked. I have fond memories of my Great-Aunt Wanda and me traveling along the east coast and visiting different cities. I can also vividly remember strolling along my Aunt Tanika to numerous poetry slam events, which sparked my interest and love for poetry. As a child, it never occurred to me that my household structure was even the slightest bit uncommon. Every other child around me had a matron figure running the household, like mine. Growing up around such strong women, such as the ones in my own family, taught me life lessons that I will forever remember. They have taught me the importance of obtaining a higher education, so that I can become an independent young woman in today’s society. From my mother’s courage and strength, to my great-aunt’s nurturing nature, and my aunt’s wisdom, these women have single-handedly sculpted my life and the person that I am today. I make every effort try to show my appreciation to them every chance I am given. They motivate me and encourage me to succeed in whatever I set out to do in life. My absolute goal in life is to become a positive and meaningful role model within society. I want to achieve my highest potential in what I am capable of doing and making my family proud.

lancelot essays

lancelot essays In his philosophical novel Lancelot, Walker Percy touches upon a number of provocative issues. Although many are interesting, one topic that stands out in particular is the idea of whether or not a woman can be violated by a man. A discussion of the various positions of this ideological question would take a series of books with each volume many times thicker than this paper. However, it is certainly possible to examine how the question is treated in a specific work. Doing so then allows us to see the ramifications of holding either belief on the character. Although strictly confined to the literary world, it can be enlightening to see the differences that define each position influence a characters interactions with other characters; if only hypothetically. A passage from Percys Lancelot provides for some good ballast that can jumpstart the debate on the violability or inviolability of women. On page 251, Lancelot asks Anna, the rape victim in the adjacent cell, to accompany him in his life after the asylum. When Lancelot says that Anna has suffered the worst violation a woman can suffer, she responds angrily. Are you suggesting, she says, that I, myself, me, my person, can be violated by a man? Anna neatly delineates the subject of contention with her response. To say that a woman can be violated necessarily means that women do not have complete control over themselves. Instead, they must rely on men as a source of pleasure, and therefore, a potential source of hurt. Anna is obviously against this notion. You goddamn men, she says. Dont you know there are more important things in this world? Obviously, she does not consider men as the be all and end all of her life. Although she directly mentions it, Anna does not actually define anything else that is more important in this world. Lancelot suspects that she is lying, even to herself. Lancelot explain...

Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops

Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops By Maeve Maddox When I began to research words meaning stupid person, I expected to find ten or so common ones and be done with it. Instead Ive found dozens upon dozens of English words used to describe a person of perceived limited intelligence. I plan to continue my research, but here are twelve for a start. cretin This term has a medical meaning, so its use as an insult is unfortunate. Medically speaking, a cretin is a person who suffered from thyroid deficiency in the fetal stage. Two symptoms of cretinism in children are dwarfed stature and mental retardation. In the 18th century, the age of Pope and Dryden, every fashionable person aspired to be a Wit, someone who could show off learning and clever association of ideas with neat, quotable phrases and quips. (Kind of like speech writers hoping to turn out memorable sound bites.) The noun wit, in the sense of knowedge, intelligence, quick-thinking, spawned several words to denote a stupid person. half-wit Originally, just a wannabe Wit whose verse and jokes were pretty lame. The term quickly came to mean someone lacking in his wits. nitwit In German and in Yiddish, nit means nothing. I suppose a nitwit must be another level down from a half-wit. (First recorded use 1922.) twit This is British slang dating from the 1930s. I first heard it in the Sixties when I lived in England. Thanks to cross-Atlantic linguistic fertilization, Americans have adopted it. Twit may derive from an Old English verb meaning to reproach, or it may be a development of nitwit. ninny Innocence, sadly enough, is often equated with stupidity, Its thought that ninny, meaning stupid person, derives from the word innocent. Innocent was once a common given name whose pet form was Ninny. There may be a connection with the Italian word ninno, meaning baby or child. noodle Noodle meaning simpleton is probably unrelated to noodle meaning pasta. Noodle meaning stupid person was in use as early as 1753. The word noodle to denote the edible substance is first attested in English in 1779. numskull Ive always spelled it numbskull, but the form without the b seems to be more common. Its a combined form of numb (devoid of sensation) + skull. A skull (brain) that cant feel anything cannot, presumably, do much thinking. nincompoop A little old fashioned, perhaps, but nincompoop rolls nicely off the tongue. Dr. Johnson (1709-1784) thought it came from the legal phrase non compos mentis, meaning mentally incompetent. Etymologists challenge Johnson because the earlier forms were spelled without the second n. simpleton This word, simple + ton, was made on the model of a surname, ex. Templeton, Washington. The word simple has gone through several meanings. When simpleton was coined, the word simple indicated devoid of duplicityanother example of a positive trait coming to be equated with stupidity. A shorter form, simp, is circus slang for a simpleton. dunce This word is usually applied to a stupid student. It derives from the name of John Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308). Duns Scotus was a medieval scholar whose work was viewed as hopelessly old-fashioned and nit-picky by progressive 16th century thinkers. Philosophers who still valued the works of Duns Scotus and argued along his lines of thought were called dunces by their opponents. In time the word dunce came to apply to any student who didnt learn his lessons. gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson put this word into the American vocabulary by coining the expression gonzo journalism. Websters Unabridged notes origin unknown, but there is an Italian word gonzo that means simpleton or blockhead. Thompson was thinking of irresponsible journalism that mixes fact and fiction and is presented as truth. Possibly gonzo isnt so much a stupid person as a person who writes inaccurate and misleading news stories. dumbass This pejorative combines dumb with ass. Dumb started out as a word meaning mute, unable to speak. As so often happens in an unkind universe, a physical handicap came to be equated with stupidity. From dumb comes dummy, another synomym for stupid person. Among the various meanings of ass is donkey. As early as ancient Greece, the animal was equated with clumsiness and stupidity. Languages tend to have multiple words relating to concepts of particular interest or importance in a culture. For example, people of the north use many words related to cold weather: snow, ice, slush, sleet, blizzard, flurry, avalanche, powder, etc. People who raise horses have numerous words for various kinds: stallion, gelding, mare, filly, foal, bronco, hunter, Morgan, pony, etc. Could this abundance of English words for stupid person be a cause for concern? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to KnowGrammar Quiz #21: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive ClausesA Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases

The Group Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Group Project - Essay Example polycentric strategy and the geocentric strategy (Tiwari 2013); the ethnocentric strategy entails applying the parent company’s HR practices in the host countries while the polycentric strategy involves recruiting local staff and adopting the host nation’s HR practices (Reiche 2006). Contrariwise, the geocentric strategy entails simply paying attention on the skills of the employees and adopting the best HR practices that serve the MNCs purposes, regardless of their nationality. Given that all these HR selection and recruitment strategies have their unique pros and cons, MNCs often make a choice, on which one to use based on numerous considerations (Banai & Sama 2000); these include the nature of businesses they engage in, their organizational strategy, and leadership structure, in addition to their previous experiences. The company that applies the polycentric strategy in the selection and promotion of its international human resources usually goes by the assumption that every country is unique from all the others and its foreign subsidiaries must adapt practices that are locally appropriate to every market through the direction and supervision of local managers. The Atlanta-based soft drink giant Coca Cola has managed to build both a global organization and a multi-local enterprise whose internationalization strategy entails adapting to local needs, laws and cultures through polycentric policies. The company has a global presence in more than 200 countrie s and in all its global subsidiaries, the company strives to employ as many local nationals as possible because it considers the HCNs to be more suitable to the home markets (Anfuso 1994). Traditionally, the polycentric approach to the selection and promotion of employees in the management of international subsidiaries entails low costs of recruitment and training (Tiwari 2013). Similarly, the polycentric approach is mired with lesser adjustment and communication challenges, primarily because all the

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Human resource management - Assignment Example The HR manager might view flexible working schedules to maximize productivity throughout an 18 hour cycle. Thus, scheduling labour to meet goals sees the exploitation of talent in the same way that tangible resources are exploited. The soft model of HRM is more people-centred and deals with creating motivational strategies, coaching, or mentoring to achieve high levels of employee commitment and trust. Soft HRM policies consider employees emotional capacity and psycho-social needs and then integrates policy formation objectives with these principles in mind. In soft thinking, the employee is a method to achieve competitive advantage through commitment-building (Armstrong 2008). IR is primarily concerned with the relationship between union bargaining and employees (Elvander 1998). Storey (1992) recognises fundamental shifts from IR to HRM based on key dimensions of practice, policy and specific business goals. Whilst HRM often includes strategies that are people-centred, IR is more tr ansactional in nature, delivering rewards that are highly contingent on performance. The HR school of thought is more unitarist in nature, whilst IR is more pluralist. Storey (1992) sees negotiation as a primary aspect of line management activity in IR with HRM more of a facilitating role. Specific norms demand compliance in IR theory whilst HRM focuses on building policies and practices around vision and mission. In personal experience, the strategic role of line management is to recognize contingencies where the organisation must have practices aligned with needs for organisational performance. Strategic HRM for line management is to identify a best practice model and continue to create strategies aligned with efficiency. Strategic HRM views all organisational divisions and practices to be an amalgamation to achieve best practice, productivity and profit. The implications to employees are diverse training to recognise inter-dependencies and higher demands for performance to achiev e long-term goals related to business strategy. Flexibility in the workplace Personal experience describes a flexible model that involves changing contracted hours and periodic placement to perform job responsibilities in order to provide childcare. Under this model, the employee required 30 weeks of employment and must have had no negative assessments associated with periodic performance reviews. This model provided opportunities to replace the traditional Monday-Friday schedule with Saturday working in exchange for a weekly day off and also implementing telecommuting resources for those in service roles. Flexible models provide opportunities for building employee satisfaction and can be implemented according to business needs, such as customer service output expectations or when the business intends to expand its service to include weekend consultation for clients. Thus, it has competitive advantage capabilities and also the ability to create a more productive workforce. Armstrong (2008) identifies that flexible working concepts provide the ability to create a better skilled employee population, such as what occurs in job sharing. When employees are able to experience other divisional roles, they become more fluent in practices and procedures that can, in the long-term give the business more competitive advantage. A disadvantage to flexible working is the ability to determine whether pay is competitive to the labour

James Randolf in China Essay Example for Free

James Randolf in China Essay I. Overview The case focuses on James Randolf, a first-time expatriate manager from Controls Inc. He is sent abroad to help establish a joint venture (VC) with a Chinese subsidiary of the firm. Controls is a Chicago-based company which specializes in design of production of temperature control and filtration systems. Controls has already established operations in various parts of the world – Europe, Asia and South America. By investing in China, they are exploring the untapped Asian market, a key market with potential customers. Chong Ming Electro-Assembly is the company they are negotiating with in Shanghai. Despite the previous expansions of the US firm, the management has no experience working with Chinese firms before and they made a number of managerial mistakes that I am going to cover in this paper. But what the company did, was to negotiate an agreement with Chongming to jointly run a manufacturing plant on Chongming Dao island, north of Shangai. Controls sent James Randolf to co-manage the facility. J. Randolf was 51 years old at the time and had work in managerial positions in Engineering, Quality and Customer Support for 15 years. But what made him a perfect candidate for the position was that his wife was born in Shanghai. That made him the most culturally empathetic to his co-workers in the new facility. II. Preparation Prior to being sent to China, Randolf underwent an orientation training. There, points about his duties, obligations and assignments were discussed. The matter of payment was also settled, while his new position provided him with benefits such as convenient moving arrangements. Randolf then proceeded to visit the plant in Shanghai where he would be working for the next 3 years of his contract. Having committed to the assignment, he then received a supplemental orientation course which lasted 2 days. In this course he was supposed to become accustomed to the cultural differences of Chinese workers, to exchange information with other co-expatriates. All this supplemented with language learnings. Randolf then went on to work in the new facility for 13 months after which he was recalled to the home office by phone.

The Great Depression Possible Leads to Its Cause :: essays papers

The Great Depression Possible Leads to Its Cause The Great Depression is known as the worst economic disaster of our time. While this fact is accepted throughout the world, a specific cause to this disaster remains a mystery. Maybe there is no one certain reason. Maybe it was a result of widespread factors causing the world-wide recession. Overproduction, World War I, and the banking system were all origins of the Great Depression. Thanks to the "roaring twenties," consumers of the late twenties were very confident. They didn't care to spend. To complement the increased spending, producers began to spend more as technology improved production speeds and costs. Author T.H. Watkins says "more and better goods were produced during this time (the 1920's), than at any time in history" (45). With slightly increasing wages, consumers bought as much as their wallet would allow them. However, they couldn't afford to purchase all that was produced and overproduction occurred. Even though overproduction occurred, that still wasn't enough to cause this stagnant economic recession. World War I was partly to blame because it had made the international economy unstable. Though Great Britain was the national creditor before the war, devastating circumstances made G.B. needy for some finances instead. In fact, much of the continent of Europe had been destroyed. Factories, farms, and homes were all brought to the ground as the battle between nations began. By the end of the war, the United States was the least harmed of the Allied nations. The United States didn't lose near the lives but it did lose a lot of money. After the war, nations still sought cash to repair their tarnished homelands. The United States and its supposed booming economy became the lender to many countries. These loans couldn't be repaid. In fact, Europe even relied on U.S. loans to purchase U.S. goods. With the foreign trade market in a downward spiral, it was evident that harsh times were soon to come. As Paul Gusmorino illustrates on his web page, by 1929, ten percent of American gross national product went into exports. When the foreign nations discovered they couldn't afford to buy U.S. goods, U.S. exports fell a drastic thirty percent seemingly overnight. The $1.5 billion lost in foreign sales between 1929 to 1933 was one-eighth of all lost American sales, Gusmorino concludes. So, as the world economy became a nightmare, the banking system of the United States also became a disgust.

Bullfrog Essay

Rana Catesbeiana (Bullfrog) Essay I was amazed to find out just how ancient frogs are. For 190 million years, the ancestors of modern frogs have roamed the earth, looking much the same as they do today. This means that at one time when there was a huge dinosaur eating a plant, there could have been some type of frog down by its feet. About 3,800 species of frogs and toads have developed since the dinosaur days. The secret to their success is their amazing adaptability. Frogs have evolved to live in a large variety of climates.They can be found just about anywhere there is fresh water- on all continents except Antarctica. Though they thrive in warm, moist tropical climates, frogs also live in deserts and high on 15,000-foot mountain slopes. They can be so adaptable because they are cold blooded, which means that their body temperature can change along with the temperature around them. When temperatures drop, some frogs dig burrows underground or in the mud at the bottom of ponds. They hibernate in these burrows until spring, perfectly still and scarcely breathing.A frog’s skin also plays a big role in their survival. It is through their skin that they both drink and breathe. Frogs don't swallow water; they get all the moisture they need through their skin, which must stay moist. If it dries out, oxygen can't pass easily through it and the frog can suffocate. Frog skin secretes mucus that helps keep it moist. Even so, their skin tends to dry out easily, which is why they usually stay near bodies of water. About once a week, frogs shed their skin. The process begins with the frog doing a lot of twisting, bending, and stretching to loosen the old skin.Then the frog pulls the skin over its head like a sweater and usually eats it. Two other parts of the frog have helped it to survive all these years as well. First, the hind legs of the frog, which enable some frogs to jump twenty times their body length. This would allow them to quickly get away from any preda tors. A frog's two front legs have four toes each, while the back legs have five toes each. Most aquatic frogs have webbed back feet to help them swim, another way to get away from an enemy. Frogs that live on land tend to have shorter legs for walking and climbing, but are still able to swim in water.The other part of the body that help them survive so long are their big, bulging eyes, as they are able to see in all directions. Frogs' large eyes see a wide range of colors and also see well in dim light. This not only increases their chances of surviving a predator, but also decreases the ability of their prey to get away. Since they have such big eyes, they are able to see their own prey and target them for food. It has been found that when a frog sticks out its tongue to catch an insect or other food source, it briefly closes its eyes.The frog must therefore, know exactly where its target is, and aim, before the tongue leaves the mouth. The positioning of the eyes, on top of the h ead, allows a frog to sit in the water with only its eyes and nose above the surface, so they do not have to leave the water for food. Frogs eat almost any live prey they can find, including insects, snails, spiders, and worms, or small fish. Their tongue is long and sticky and takes less than a second to roll out, stick to prey, and roll back into the frog's mouth.Their mating call is sometimes called an advertisement call. It is made by the male in the water and which helps the females to identify with her species. Each species has a different type of mating call. This is difficult to decipher around a pond of noisy frogs. When they mate, the male frog climbs onto female's back, grasping her with his front legs. As the female lays her eggs, usually into water the male release sperm that fertilizes them. There may be anywhere from one to hundreds or thousands of soft, jelly-covered eggs.The eggs hatch within three to twenty five days, and few will survive the difficult trip to adul thood. Among most frogs, a tadpole will hatch and spend the next few years growing into a frog. The changes begin when the hind legs sprout. Soon after, lungs develop and the front legs appear. Meanwhile, the tail gradually shrinks. Just before becoming a frog, the tadpole's gills disappear. The tiny froglet emerges from the water with just a stump of a tail, which soon disappears. The observations that I took did little justice to the complexity of Rana Catesbeiana, the bullfrog.Frogs have been living on this Earth for millions of years and have perfected their lifestyle throughout that time. The amazement of these creatures is that they can survive well in nature, but can also be house pets for children to play with and learn from. There are myths that have surrounded frogs and superstitions that have risen over the years. One that comes to mind is that if you kiss a frog, you will get a wart. Like many superstitions and legends, no one knows for sure where that one came from, but watching these little amphibians, I highly doubt that they could do any harm.

Emotion Management

Managing emotion is not easy for me. I find that all to often I allow my emotions to get the best of me and I definitely have a hard time focusing that emotion in a productive manner. I feel as though I do not understand well just exactly what my emotions are until it’s too late. I may have just been slightly frustrated over a small issue, but now I’m completely consumed with anger because I couldn’t resolve a small conflict. Goleman (2001) states, â€Å"having Social Awareness or skill at managing relationship does not guarantee we have mastered the additional learning required to handle a customer adeptly or to resolve a conflict-just that we have the potential to become skilled at these competencies. † This is where I find myself in life. I have the ability to become skilled at many emotional competencies, I just haven’t learned how to yet. Socially speaking I deal very with impulse control and am very effective at resolving conflict. Personally speaking I am just the opposite. I would do very well to learn and practice, what Goleman calls, The Self-Management Cluster. The cluster involves focusing on and managing internal states, controlling impulses, and acknowledging resources. The pursuit of happiness is a driving force in a human’s daily decision making. We choose who, what, where, why and how based on our imagination of the future and how it will treat our future selves. In attempting to create this state happiness I often find myself just the opposite. I like to think that I’m pretty good at shooting myself straight and not over or under predicting the outcomes of my future, however I must agree with Gilbert’s (2006) view that â€Å"Our imaginations aren’t particularly imaginative. Our imaginations are really bad at telling us how we will think when the future finally comes. † If I could live in the ideal world that my simple brain can conjure up I would be wealthy, be situated in the exact job that I know was created just for me, and live with a wife who just adores me. As it stands I only live with that that wife, my imagination thought up the other bits. Sitting here now reading the last line I think I just reinforced the idea that my imagination definitely lacks imagination, The idea of this paper is to consider prescribed readings from Goleman and Gilbert and write a health and wellness prescription for myself. There is one excerpt from Goleman’s book that speaks to me. There is growing evidence that fundamental ethical stances in life stem from underlying emotional capacities. For one, impulse is the medium of emotion; the seed of all impulse is a feeling bursting to express itself in action. Those who are at the mercy of impulse—who lack self-control—suffer a moral deficiency: The ability to control impulse is the base of will and character. By the same token, the root of altruism lies in EMPATHY, the ability to read emotions in others; lacking a sense of another's need or despair, there is no caring. And if there are any two moral stances that our times call for, they are precisely these, self-restraint and compassion† (Goleman, 1995). I believe my prescription from this excerpt is to focus on practicing self-control. I am very good at loving my wife, but I am awful at being a partner. I choose to do what makes me happy in the moment, like exercising or reading a book, rather than spending quality time together. I’m very compulsive to my own wants. I need to look at what the needs of our relationship are and then weigh in how my needs may be affected and make decisions based on all the information gathered. Currently I am very compassionate, caring, giving person. I believe that I am very healthy and have a fair amount of emotional intelligence (EI). I listen well and ask for clarification of what I’ve heard rather than assuming what I heard. I fight fair. I create boundaries and try my best to listen to what my body is tells me. I believe the authors would agree with these statements. I believe they would want me to focus more on self-control and developing more compassion for my personal relationships. I believe I do a good job at finding happy. I try to keep day-to-day life simple and do the little things with big rewards. My prescription for myself is to seek out understanding for my lack of personal impulse control and focus on relationship building activities at home. Achieving a level of balance and control of daily challenges is essential to overall health and happiness. Barringer and Orbuch (2013) quote Marilu Henner explaining â€Å"Being in control of your life and having realistic expectations about your day-to-day challenges are the keys to stress management, which is perhaps the most important ingredient to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life. †

Hells Angles and Deviance Essays

Hells Angles and Deviance Essays Hells Angles and Deviance Paper Hells Angles and Deviance Paper List three ways in which the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is deviant. Their vest and patches they wear. They engage in non-conformist behavior including anti-social, unpredictable and criminal behavior. The members of this club would not Join traditional associations. The places they choose to spend their time and the way they conduct themselves. For example they are known to be bar flys and have the tendency to intimidate, scare and bully non club members. . List three ways in which the Hells Angels Motorcycle club s allegedly criminal. The club is often known to be alleged for committing violent crimes, dealing drugs, and trafficking in stolen goods. Extortion and being in the prostitution industry are more allegations. The most common crime that the Hells Angels are accused of is murdering their rivals. It has been said they use grenades, bombs, guns, knives, or whatever deadly weapon they can get their hands on. They are well known to use ball ping hammers being that they are legal and easy to carry while riding a motorcycle. 3. List three ways the members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are conformists. Many of the members attend well known community social events. They like to hold fund raisers, go on group road trips, and throw elegant parties in their up-scale living environments. They hold rides for charity such as Toys for Tots. They stick together like family. No matter what chapter you are from you are still a Hells Angel and everyone looks out for one another.

Automobile Industry Is A Highly Diversifies Marketing Essay

Automobile Industry Is A Highly Diversifies Marketing Essay Industry background Automobile industry is a highly diversifies sector which represent industries linked with the production, retailing, wholesaling and maintenance of automobile vehicles (Anavrekov, 2004). The first automobile was introduced in 1885 by Karl Benz. Since that time automotive industry has came through a lot of changes and developments. Figure1 shows brief history of automotive industry. The industry main focus for many years was concentrated on baby boomers generation. Currently industry switched to generation X, which is baby boomers children and to the generation Y, age which allows buying cars ((Dicken, 2007). Source: A Brief History of the First 100 Years of the Automobile Industry http://www.theautochannel.com/mania/industry.orig/history/chap16.html Strategic Posture of Key players According to Black (2009) every country’s automobile industry is dominated by four leading corporations namely General Motors (GM), Toyota, Ford Motor Company (Ford), Volkswagen , and Daimler Chrysler (Figure2). Source: Toyota Motor Corporation Company profile http://www.toyota-industries.com/corporateinfo/corpdata/ ; Daimler corporate web site http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-614814-1-871937-1-0-0-0-0-0-11701-614318-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.html; Ford Motor Company http://www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information; General Motors http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/ Size of the Industry and Segmentation The automotive industry takes around 9.5% of world merchandise trade and 12.5% of world export of manufacturers (Hatani, 2009). However, the world production of vehicles was influenced by economic downturn in 2009 (Figure3) The leading countries that conduct foreign trade are (data from Business Monitor International Statistics, 2010): United States (37.2% of Market Share) Canada (28.67%) Japan (26.4%) Germany (14.81%) Mexico (10.21%) Korea (5.48%) Figure 3 Automotive Production 2007- 2009 Source: The global automotive market in 2009 http://www.platinum.matthey.c om/uploaded_files/Int_2009/the_global_automotive_market_in_2009.pdf Figure4 shows segmentation of the industry. Source: Automotive components and parts http://www.automotive-online.com/auto-industry.html Figure5 illustrates current trends of the industry. Source: Greenber, Karl. (2009) Automakers steering drivers into evolution. The New York Times. Catalan, J. (2010).  Strategic policy revisited. Business history. Porter’s Five Forces Figure 6 illustrates the framework of Porter’s forces. The potential profit of the industry will be influenced by the strength of all five forces together with required investments, prices and costs. Figure 6 Framework of Porter’s Five Forces Source: Industry Handbook: Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwH87cXSSb-EQp_KRCySyfs3nnCamHeGHOCKzg4Nw8o9cZuOSWrjK3pI0chDaqRGxXn5Crc0eMtneYoxfIrojXHKaIQ6Mqr1emXbQ10u18Bpr0dn8JLjgr1xJDzcj6Qxt9WRnbUu8xU8/s400/IndustryHandbook1x.gif Threats of new Entrants The automotive industry is very mature; in order for new entrant to compete they should achieve economies of scale and invest in technology and brand name in order to reach the same level (Paterson, 2007). Also threat comes from mergers and acquisitions, for example the merger of Daimler and Chrysler or Daimler and Mitsubishi. Further barriers explained in Figure7. Source: Porter, M.E. (2008)  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy’,  Harvard business Review, January 2008. Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is huge number of suppliers in the industry; therefore the power of suppliers is very low. Manufacturers can switch easily from one supplier to another (Special Report, 2005). However, big corporations like Mercedes prefer not to switch, but to keep good relations with their suppliers in order to keep scale of operations and the total expenses on suppliers (Taylor, 2003). Currently, a lot of manufacturers use just-in-time inventory system and this pushes suppliers create their factories near automobile producers, which prove the low power of suppliers (Pa vlinek & Janak, 2007).

In the light of reverences Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

In the light of reverences - Assignment Example Different people see this mountain in different ways, so they use it according their own needs and ways of life. America is a country where everyone has a right for his/her own perception of such things like the Shasta mountain, but no one is an absolute owner of the land. 3. If I were a policy maker of the Park Service I would decide in favour of the Wintu tribe people. I consider that if their native land is not a reservation now we should leave them a chance to decide what to do at least with their sacred place. We can organize a ski resort on the hill of some other mountain while the history of this tribe is closely connected with this very place. Judging from what the Wintu people said about this mountain I can conclude that for them this place is much more important, because if the tribe is deprived of this mountain and the sacred spring it means that the people of Wintu are robbed of the opportunity to save their authentic culture, traditions and the core of their legends and history, while the other do not lose something

Devonport Dockyard loss of power 'had nuclear implications' Essay

Devonport Dockyard loss of power 'had nuclear implications' - Essay Example The second reason is to clear Babcock Marine’s name and improve its name and its business relations not only with the customer at hand, but also with all the other customers. As Graham (2006) says, in such critical situations, communication is always the important to tone done any tensions and the lack of communication in this case indicates how unprepared the council is. CONTEXT ANALYSIS Market Analysis The nuclear sector is a very sensitive area because of the safety issues associated with it. As a result, most of the customers who are likely to hire Babcock Marine services are most likely to be meticulous about Babcock Marine’s ability and competency in doing its job. The number of nuclear powered submarines is also increasing and this is a big opportunity for Babcock Marine. As a result, Babcock Marine needs to position itself as the firm of choice when it comes to nuclear submarine servicing. PESTEL for Babcock Marine Political The main issue in the case is the iss ue of nuclear power for the production of energy, and the risks it poses to the public as well as the environment. According to Burton (1990), there are increasing pressures from both the government and other interested parties foe safety measures for in the nuclear energy production and this requires firms such as Babcock Marine to be able to come up with better ways to guarantee this. As the number of nuclear production planar and submarines increase, the concerns for risks associated with nuclear energy production is increasing and to be able to stand out in the market, Babcock Marine will have to come up with ways to improve its services. As Hindmarsh (2013) argues, there are numerous regulatory authorities and antinuclear agencies which are either completely opposed to the use of nuclear as a source of power, or call for very stringent regulations. This can affect Babcock Marine in the long run because it may have to invest more in convincing the stake holders that it is doing its work properly with regard to servicing these submarines. Economic issues Nuclear energy production is geared towards cost reduction and this is a challenge for a firm like Babcock Marine because it has to make sure that its services to the customers are not prohibitive. There is an increasing need to come up with cheaper ways to produce energy and any overhead costs are regarded by organisations with suspicion (Teri, 2012).. To be competitive in this sector, Babcock Marine must look for way to always make its services better without increasing the costs. There is however other economic issues which must be looked at. For instance, securing a nuclear reactor and making sure that that is it completely secure is a very expensive affair and this may counter any economic benefits acquired from the use of nuclear energy (Angelo, 2004). Social Issues The main social issue here has to do with the health concerns. People are becoming more concerned of health and health issues. As a resul t, anything that is assumed to pose a risk on health is going to get critical scrutiny and this will affect Babcock Marine due to the fact that its services are directly related to how safe nuclear energy is. As Butterfield (1992), says, nuclear energy is seen as a very big risk for health due to the potential of radioactive

International Terrorism and the Meaning of Islam Essay

International Terrorism and the Meaning of Islam - Essay Example According to Rashid (2002), Muslim militants have been known to engage in a variety of terror acts ranging from beheadings, bombings, kidnappings, suicide attacks, hijackings and spree killings. Such incidences of terror have been witnessed in numerous places around the world such as America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, and Middle East. The Muslim militants commonly referred to as Jihadists, usually net out violence to non-Muslims, terming it Jihad. Many people in different parts of the world who have been hard hit by these acts of terror are usually left wondering whether Islam is a religion of piece, violence, or both. The social meaning of Islam has been to inculcate peace and love for one another. Muslims claim that Islam teaches them to be compassionate and to care for everyone in society. However, confusion is brought about by Islamic teachings which propagate that Muslims should wrestle all those who do not trust or worship Allah, and those who do not adopt the religion of Islam. This has been one religious teaching that they have used to justify their acts of terror. This has been the main reason why the Western mind has a skewed meaning about the social meaning of Islam because it is not clear what they stand for. On one hand, they purport to teach and preach peace and love among one another, yet, on the other hand, they continuously engage in acts of terrorism, mostly against non-Muslims, which lead to mass deaths, loss of life, and destruction of property (Avner, 2008).

Student Descriptions of Stress

Student Descriptions of Stress Title: How do second-year psychology students describe their experiences of university stress? Abstract:   Purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were used as well as Interpretative phenomenological analysis being utilised to analyse the transcripts and quality checks were implemented to increase the validity of the analysis. Three superordinate themes were identified with each superordinate theme had two sub-themes each. Such qualitative research is rare in the university related stress literature for psychology students. Suggestions for further research regarding students coping with university stress. Introduction: There are now more students aiming to enter an increasingly competitive job market, which exacerbates the pressure to achieve a respectable degree (Robotham & Julian, 2006). In addition to financial and employment pressures, as well as completing exams and assignments is a period of significant change in a students life, with heightened levels of stress (Fisher & Hood, 1987). In a study conducted by Hirsch and Ellis (1996) the came to the conclusion that university students put extreme pressure on themselves to get a good grade, earn a degree, and get a job as soon as they finish their studies. Although, this is possible to achieve, the negative effects that come with sort of pressure could cause a student to do poorly in one assignment or exam due to the stress they have subjected themselves too and create even more stress for themselves by punishing themselves for not achieving as good of grade as they could have. Moyle and Parkes (1999) believed that given the high levels of stress and change students are faced throughout university and the pressure placed on their coping resources, support from friends and family is invaluable during this period. McEwan (2000) also claimed that brain regions respond to acute and chronic stress and show changes in morphology and chemistry. Using the previous relevant research as a guideline its expected that the participants will describe their experiences of university stress by revealing the sources of their stress and how they deal with their stress. Method: Table 1. Table depicting demographic information of participants used in this experiment Participants: Four second year students studying psychology at University participated in this piece of research. It was key to obtain information from a variety of different perspectives however is some homogeneity in some participants such as; gender, age, and subject of study (see Table 1). Purposive sampling was used in this piece of research because it means that the researcher can select participants based upon a particular purpose to meet their particular needs. Procedure A semi-structured interview was used to collect data from the participants regarding their experiences of university stress. This was decidedly the best method because it meant that the researcher could collect data relating to university stress using prepared questions but could also delve deeper into a participants answer by using probing questions that encourage expansion on a certain point. The interviewer began fully informing the participant that the interview would be audio recorded and used anonymously to analyse later on. This was fully by a full explanation briefed about the purpose of the experiment and that the participant has the right to withdraw at anytime. The participant would be interviewed using the prepared questions along with any probing questions used, as well as debriefed and after the participants were interviews the recording was then transcribed. Analytical approach: A qualitative study was thought to be best because it meant that the researcher could gather more detailed data from the participants. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was the chosen method of analysis in this piece of research because it allowed the interviewer to explore the subjective experiences of the participant, and help to describe and understand the respondents account of the processes by which they make sense of their experiences of university stress (Brocki, Wearden,2006). Critical realism is the ontological stance of IPA; this means that there is a reality however it is subjective because everyone interprets reality in different ways (Furlong, Marsh, 2010). This means that the epistemological stance of IPA is interpretive because it attempts to make sense of the subjective views (Furlong et al, 2010). IPA was used as a method of analysing the data by creating transcripts from each participants audio recording. Each transcript was read several times so that the researcher was familiar the data which was then coded in order to create emergent themes which would eventually become categorized into superordinate themes. The process was the same for each participant resulting in a table previewing the superordinate themes, sub-themes, and quotes from the transcripts to support the creation of the themes. Reflexivity: Qualitative analysis is a subjective process and IPA recognises that a researchers perspective usually affects the analysis (Golsworthy & Coyle, 2001). Having a good understanding of IPA means that the researchers personal perspective relative to the research topic is presented, to assist the readers interpret the analysis and for transparency (Elliott et al. 1999). The researchers interpretative framework has been influenced by: previous research in stress. It is also recognised that the analysis is influenced by the researchers perspective and the framework applied to understand the data. Findings: Table 2. Table of key themes Effects of student stress The results of how the participants described their experiences of university related stress revealed that there were a range of different effects of stress that can stretch from physical effects to psychological effects, which were found to be a dominant effects of stress (see appendix 2 for themes and quotations). The psychological effects of stress can be seen in Iriss transcript in which she stated that:   I dont know how to put it in words, not just stress, it was the worst feeling ever. When you consider what most people go through in their lives, for her to say it was the worst feeling ever goes to show the toll stress had taken on her causing her to feel the worst she has ever felt. There is also evidence in Jessicas transcript in which she described one of her experiences in dealing with university related stress as feeling so much anxiety that it felt like she was drowning. There is also evidence in Anils transcript which reveals that he suffers from high levels of anxiety but without mention of a drowning sensation. There is further evidence of psychological effects of stress in Smokies transcript which suggest that he regularly suffers from mini breakdowns that help to motivate him to work but the motivation goes after a day or two which creates another mini breakdown due to the buildup of responsibilities. There is also evidence to suggest that the participants suffered from physiological effects as well as psychological effects. The main evidence comes from Anils transcript in which he described one effect of his university related stress that stated: My face gets lots of spots when I am feeling stress. For the effects of stress to manifest in a physical way is worrying but not uncommon, for example in Smokies transcript he revealed that he cries a lot because of university related stress. In Iriss transcript she describes an effect of university related stress by revealing that coping with all the responsibilities and stress of university makes her feel weak, which would be categorized as a physiological effect as well as a possible psychological effect due to the fact that you feel weakness rather than show it. Sources of student stress The results of how the participants described their experiences of university related stress revealed that there were a variety of different sources of stress for university students which range from university work such as assignments or exams, to life after graduation. Both are considered in these participants transcripts to be dominant sources of stress. University work as a source of stress for its students is evident in all transcripts with perhaps the most evident comes from Anils transcript in which he states that: A time umm when I experienced stress the most during university is when I have a massive report due. This not only reveals one source of stress for this student to be reports set by the university but it also goes to show that this participant feels most stressed at university when set reports. This also relates to Smokies transcript in which he described his stress levels as being high when it came to deadlines which isnt that dissimilar to Anils quotation due to the fact that both feel highly stressed because of work set by the university. Further evidence can be found in Jessicas transcript in which she described her feeling of drowning in anxiety to be a result of a lack of understanding when it came to analysing data. Evidence for his future life as a source of stress for university student is evident in the transcripts but the most evident comes from Smokies transcript which stated that: teachers do things for me and like my parents do things for me, because I dont feel ready to do things for myself. Again, this not only reveals his main fear for his future life to be, but it also shows how he has got as far as he has, which is down to the support he gets from those around him. This can also be support by Jessicas transcript which described her opinion of her future life as one of confusion as to what her she would be doing in her future life and whether she would enjoy it or not. There is also evidence in Iriss transcript which reveals that she is still struggling with dealing with all the university related stress but she is hopeful that her future life will be better. Dealing with student stress The results of how the participants described their experiences of university related stress revealed that there were several different methods of dealing with stress used by the participants ranging from the support of family and friends, to the amount of support they give themselves. Evidence of support from family and friends as a method of dealing with stress can be found in all the participants transcripts, however, the main evidence for this point comes from Iriss transcript in which she states that: My mum is always being there for me and loves me and I have had some other woman in my life, I talk to her about my problems.   This reveals evidence of support not only from her mother but also from another woman who isnt a family member but would be regarded by her as a friend that supports her. This example is not unlike Jessicas transcript in which she reveals that she uses her flatmates as a method of coping with her stress. Another example of a participant using the support of family and friends as a method of dealing with university related stress comes from Smokies transcript in which he says that he gets a lot of help from his parents and when he usually gets stressed out with university work he talks to his friends. Self-support is what a person does or doesnt do to help themselves throughout their first two years of university. Evidence from Jessicas transcription states that: I procrastinate a lot [†¦] whenever I have something to do for Uni, suddenly I get a major interest to do something else. This clearly shows the lack of self-support she gave herself which meant that instead of doing university work she would ignore her responsibilities and find something else to do. This results in a build up of responsibilities that can create an overwhelming feeling of stress and possibly cause other problems for the student according to the evidence previously discussed regarding the manifestation of psychological problems into physicals ones, for example Anil and his facial spots. More evidence for a lack of self-support can be seen is all the transcripts, for example in Smokies transcript in which he describes himself as a corner-cutter who often does things he doesnt enjoy with half of his effort even though he understands that this is one of the reasons why he gets behind on his university work creating more stress for himself. Further evidence can be found in Anil and Iriss transcripts in which they both reveal that they struggle when it comes to self-support. Anil gets stressed when he attempts to tackle problems by himself, whereas Iris goes through periods of time where she feels like she cannot deal with problems by herself. Discussion: In summation, the analysis of the data has revealed that the participants all describe their experiences of university stress in a similar manner; the effects of stress on students, sources of stress for students, and dealing with student stress. Each superordinate theme had two sub-themes each, which were the result of a variety of emergent themes that were combined and adapted to equate to the final themes in the analysis. The participants descriptions of the effects of university stress related to those described by McEwen (2000) who believed that stress began in the brain and affected all organs and muscles but none more so than the brain. Using his research combined with this experiments data means that its possible localize psychological effects of stress to the burden of chronic stress which can result in behavioral changes (smoking, excessive eating, binge drinking, little or no sleep). Physiological effects of stress can be localised using the same method in which McEwan (2000) claimed that brain regions respond to acute and chronic stress and show changes in morphology and chemistry. This could explain why the participants were affected the ways they were. The difficulties related to university work but more specifically; exams and assignments, can be linked to Yumatov (2001) who reported that exams can influence a strong psychological and emotional reaction in students, with feelings of stress experienced before and during, that can persist until they receive their results afterwards, with many experiencing anxiety and stress over the outcome. Gadzella(1998) argued that its the uncertainty and anxiety that is the main cause of the stress as opposed to the exam itself. The pressure of graduation as well as post graduation life is as serious source of stress as any according to the data from this experiment and is also supported by Hirsch and Ellis (1996). This could explain what the sources of the participants university stress was. The participants experience of dealing with university stress can be related to other similar cases such as Moyle and Parkes (1999) who believe that given the high levels of stress and change students are faced throughout university and the pressure placed on their coping resources, support from friends and family is invaluable during this period. Without friends, students have more limited resources at their disposal to assist them in the university work as well as emotional support. An absence of friends also makes it more likely to consider dropping out (Paul & Brier, 2001). This could explain why the participants used the supportive systems they used. Using a qualitative approach provided depth and detail in that it looked deeper than analysing ranks and counts by recording attitudes, feelings and behaviours. Similar to the reason why a semi-structured interview was chosen because it allows the interviewer to be more spontaneous in their questioning without being too sporadic. That being said, there are usually fewer people are studied in qualitative report because a collection of data is generally more time consuming that quantitative data collection and therefore unless time, staff and budget allows it is generally necessary to include a smaller sample size. It also means that its difficult to generalise because fewer people are studied and its not possible to generalise results to that of the population. A qualitative report is also dependent on skills the of the researcher particularly in the case of conducting interviews, focus groups and observation. As an overall summation of this study it can be concluded that there is need for further research regarding university stress as a result of the data and previous relevant research. References Abouserie, R. (1994). 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Emotional stress in students during examinations. Human Physiology, 27(2), 221-227. Appendix 1 Table 1. Table depicting demographic information of participants used in this experiment Appendix 2 Table 2.Table of Themes, quotes, and where to find them in their transcriptions