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Analysis Of Robert Arrives s A New Vision - 1486 Words

1. When Robert arrives, he visits with the narrator’s wife first; the narrator observes them, but only occasionally joins in on the conversation. They all drink heavily and eat a large dinner. On his first visit to her home, an outgoing blind friend of the narrator s wife interacts with the narrator by having the husband of his friend draw what he sees on the television; in doing so, the narrator allows Robert to share his sight through art; at the same time, the narrator shares Robert s inner vision of beauty and feeling. This act of sharing gives each man meaning, and as such, relieves suffering from the narrator as he obtains new insights. Narrator new vision through the ability to create. A new vision is constructed when the narrator has to sketch the cathedral for Robert. The narrator doesn’t fully understand what happened when he closed his eyes and drew the cathedral, but he knows that it was an important experience, as the narrative opens; the narrator is shown to be one that lacks vision. He closes his eyes and start drawing cathedral with the help of Robert. He realizes the word is way vaster than his perspective. From my point of view life is all about making things happen not to sit by side and try to judge someone else for their look. The modern world made easy to judge and define people among their looks. When he says my eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn t feel like I was inside anything.’’ Being able to see outside of whatShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of An Efficacious Frame Work1610 Words   |  7 Pagesanalytical products and conclusions, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) efforts must derive around maintaining a structured methodology and intuition, rely on critical thinking, eliminate cognitive bias, support intelligence analysis as a profession, improve the analysts/policymaker relationships, and effectively measure analytic quality. The Intelligence Commu nity Directive (ICD) established the Intelligence Community (IC) Analytic Standards that govern the production and evaluationRead MoreThe Position Of Director Of National Intelligence1368 Words   |  6 PagesInformation Sharing. According to Robert Jervis, â€Å"Policymakers say they need and want good intelligence. 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Psychotherapy Techniques Free Essays

Psychotherapy involves a number of techniques used to improve mental health or emotional and behavioral issues. Three common techniques are psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Although these may have some fundamental similarities, especially in their objectives, there are some ways in which these approaches are different. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychotherapy Techniques or any similar topic only for you Order Now Psychoanalysis began with Freud. Trained as a neurologist, Freud began seeing neurological problems that had no biological basis in his clients. He therefore looked towards the mind for answers. Psychoanalysis is based on the belief that change will take place when an individual becomes more self- aware by bringing unconscious thoughts and feelings into the conscious. Behavior must be based more on reality than instinct. The basic method of psychoanalysis is the free association method, where the client is directed to say whatever comes to mind on hearing a particular word. The analyst listens well and interprets the patterns and inhibitions in the patient’s speech and behavior the analyst’s main job is to help the patient to free his mind from unconscious barriers or past patterns of thought relatedness that are no longer helpful to the client. Recent psychoanalysis techniques try to help clients gain better trust in themselves, self -esteem and overcome the fear of death. Psychoanalysts believe that a more insight-oriented approach is to be used with healthier clients and a more supportive approach with more disturbed clients. This type of analysis is thought to be useful in clients with personality problems and neuroses, problems of intimacy and relationships. Psychoanalysis may include the client examining his relationship with the therapist. This is not included in cognitive or behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy which also has its foundation in the concept of distorted thoughts and how they influence behavior uses a different technique for helping the client. The emphasis here is more on distorted thoughts interfering with the reality than on patterns of the client’s personality as in the psychoanalytical model. The central premise is that our thoughts mediate between the stimuli in the environment and our emotions. Therefore a stimulus elicits a thought which in turn might stimulate a particular emotion, especially if that thought is an evaluative judgment. Cognitive therapists suggest that psychological distress is caused by distorted thoughts about stimuli giving rise to distressed emotions. In short, faulty thoughts cause psychological problems and therefore changing our thought patterns will lead to mental healing and changes in behavior. The analyst therefore attempts to help the client become aware of these distorted thoughts and the behavioral patterns which are re-enforcing these distorted thoughts and then to help the client correct them. The analyst has to understand the experiences from the client’s point of view, unlike in psychoanalysis where the analyst only listens and points out insights to the client. The cognitive analyst then helps the client explore these distressed thoughts and put them against reality. The distorted thoughts are replaced by more accurate thoughts about the client and his life. Since this therapy is geared towards modifying people’s core beliefs, it has been found to be more effective in treating conditions such as depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and phobias. A major difference observed with behavioral therapy is that it is focused on behaviors that are observable and measurable rather than on cognitions as in the two previous therapies. Behavioral therapy relies on principles of operant conditioning, classical conditioning and social learning theory. Generally behavior therapy works by changing the client’s behavior through use of rewards, reinforcements and desensitization. There are many different techniques that are used by behavior therapists, including self-management, biofeedback, role-playing, modelling,etc. Unlike psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy, the client practices a particular behavior, accompanied by a reward or reinforcement of that positive behavior until change in behavior has taken place. Similar to cognitive therapy, behavior therapy is not generally used in dealing with issues of relationships. In some instances cognitive and behavior therapy are combined in one technique- cognitive-behavioral – where the analysts helps the client to understand the thinking behind his behavior while practicing alternative behaviors. How to cite Psychotherapy Techniques, Essay examples

Business process Management Systems Strategy and Implementation

Qiestion: Discuss about the Business process Management Systems Strategy and Implementation. Answer: Introduction The report discusses about the factors that affect the sustainability of an Information System based business project in Jordan. It has been found that, the IS project failed to meet the requirement of the consumers due to lack of proper management (Sweis, 2015). The key differences between the Information System issue and Information Technology issues and how it is affecting the business performance are elaborated in this report. In addition to this, the role of Information System and integrated technology in a business process are demonstrated in this report. Different factors are identified that affected the business process and in order to improve the existing business process, different IS and business oriented recommendations are provided to the Jordanian organizations. Analysis of the Discovered Problems in Information System Project in Jordan During analysis of the IS based business project it has been found that, there are mainly three factors that, affect the Jordanian business process. The identified factors are process driven issue, Context driven process and content driven process (Sweis, 2015). Therefore, in order to enhance the commercial profit and to make the project efficient certain tools are needed to be developed to reduce the rate of issues (Chang, 2016). Due to these factors the project failed to meet the requirement of the consumers. The analysis implies technical and managerial issues are the main issues that affect a IS business project. Identification of the Differences Between Information System and Information Technology issues A large set of differences has been identified between the Information System issue and Information Technology issues. The differences are as follows: Information System issue: This is referred to as the strategic use of the Information technology or the instant of different technology based tools. In order to meet the pre determined set of objectives of an organization, a set of correlated key components ate collected, manipulated and the data dissemination of the collected data gives feedback (Park Lee, 2014). If the operation and functionalities are incorrect then it will affect the business commercially. As a result system breakdown might cause. A rapid business flow can be interrupted, due to lack usage of technical tools (Willcocks, 2013). This might dissatisfy the consumers and a wrong Information System delivers a wrong output to the consumers. Another issue is the security of the IS, it means if proper security is not provided to the system then external users can hack or hijack the data stored in the data storage of the organization (Sweis, 2015). Wrong IS will affect the intra organizational and inter organizational com munication process. Information technology issue: The main issue associated to Information Technology in business is its expenses in implementation. During execution of the business project if the business exceeds the initially estimated cost, then the entire system will be affected. If the technology is not user friendly then, the users will not be able to utilize the system properly and will lead to wrong way (Mich, 2014). Security breach is another issue related to the information technology. If proper authentication tools and encryption keys are not used by the system then external hackers and other attackers could easily hack the data from the system. Analysis of the Issues that Affect the Jordanian Business Performance During the analysis phase it has been found that, the main issues behind the failure of the Jordanian IS project are process driven issue, context driven issue and content driven issues. The elaboration is as follows: Process driven issue: The factors involved with this issue are wrong business planning, incorrect design approach of the business, incorrect modeling and business implementation. In the initial phase of the business process, the developers should make a clear frame of feasibility study to understand whether the project is beneficial or not (Maarop et al., 2015). Incorrect adaptation of change management will lead to wrong business planning formulation. If the project manager do not monitor and track the flow of the business process then it will gain lead to business as well as organizational failure. Context driven issue: The context of an Information System based business project, includes the technologies that are used by the project while implementing it on the practical field (Mazlum Gneri, 2015). The quality of the project is dependent on the knowledge of the experts involved in the project development team. If the business selects wrong resources and design approaches then the business will lead to failure (Sweis, 2015). In this case study, the project has failed to meet the need soft h consumers due to improper implementation of software and other technological tools. Context driven testing is referred to as a model that help to develop and debug computing software. This software or tools are generally used to drive the program in the proper direction while is implementing in the real world application (Ruiz, et al., 2014). Evaluation of proper environment, intended competitive market are needed to be identified by the software development team so that the project can be properly executed in the real world implementation. Context driven testing phase is one of the most important phase in the project development period. Unpredictable project outcome can be also be easily understood by the development team if the process is properly utilized by the project development team (Kasemsap, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that, proper synchronization between the software tools or the technologies and the information system is needed to conduct a successful business in the practical field of application. In the testing phase it has been found that, the product generated by the IS project is not user friendly and incorrect utilization of technologies is referred to as another reason behind the IS project failure (Salmimaa, Hekkala Pekkola, 2015). Apart from this, instable technologies and dynamic changes in technology innovation and invention are other reason behind the failure of the IS project malfunction. Content driven issues: The content of the project is the background rather the project environment. It includes the culture and mentality of all the members involved in the project. The project issue will arise if the project participants do not concentrate on all the project perspectives (Schwalbe, 2015). Lack of cooperation will lead to lack of communication approach. If the business process does not hold, open communication among each other then the participants will not be able to share their view and innovative digital ideas to other team members. The content driven issue also includes semantic barrier, communication gap, and noise in the communication channel (Wu et al., 2014). It means if the members of the development team are belonging from different cultural background then their language will also differ from one another. A content driven business project is a consumer focused organization it means the project is completely concentrates on the need of the consumers. In order to meet the requirement of the consumers, content driven companies represent new business strategies and new employees with new innovative thoughts. The users and the participants of the development are needed to be strictly involved while developing the Information System in the practical field (Montequin et al., 2014). The business sponsor, resource vendors and the project manager are required to concentrate on all individual aspect of the IS project. Unapproved activities and missing activities are other facts that drove the Jordanian IS business project towards failure. Due to lack of proper understanding of ideas the evaluation will lead to failure. In this particular case study Jordan business IS project fails due to communication gap (Sweis, 2015). In addition to this, premature evaluation is another reason behind the failure of the project. Premature evaluation means, before listening to the entire idea, if any one decided the conclusion. The presence of third party or mediator is another content drive issue. Role of Information System (IS) and Supporting Business Processes and Technology Integration The role of Information System in business progress During the phase of market analysis of Jordan it has been found that, the factors such as recession, enhanced competitive pressure and inflationary pressure acted as obstacles in the regular business flow (Siggens Ekwall, 2014). These are the reason for which the business fails to meet the demand of the consumers. Adequate usage of information and regulations will be properly used by the development team after adapting an Information System. Three fundamental roles of IS are identified and these are as follows: Storage of information and their analysis: Most of the organizations do not use any manual database system to manage large set of information. According to increasing time the amount of data also gets increased and thus management of data become impossible. Adaptation of Information System (IS), drive the business process sophisticated and efficient. In order to avoid the future problems organizations install IS (Kaur Sengupta, 2013). The system can integrate many data from different resources and utilize them for appropriate business applications. The integrated system helps an organization to keep their system up to date that provides the business several strength and opportunities. Assist while making decision for an organization: Two kinds of success such as long term and short term are generally found in the organizations. In order to achieve long term success effective business strategic planning are needed to be adapted. IS helps to formulate strategic business planning and for this the project manager and other top managerial employees become able to take effective decision for the organization (Dwivedi et al., 2014). Depending on the market trends the organizations become able to take strategic decision as well. Assist with the business process: Implementation of Information System (IS) in an organization, adds values with the existing system. Unnecessary activities from the system get eliminated which simplifies the business process (Abu-Shanab Al-Saggar, 2013). Information System (IS) helps to control and monitor the employees by eliminating data redundancy and increasing overall accuracy. Better project panning can be served by the IS that helps to compare different organizations so that particular organization can achieve atop most position (Sweis, 2015). Potential benefit will be originated and will also resist sudden changes in the Information System (IS). The role of Technology Integration in Business Progress In order to meet the pre-determined organizational objective, different organization considers different Information System projects to meet the requirement of the consumers. Information System projects process business transaction and also empowers the leaders to take more efficient and faster decision for their organizations. Managing Information System (MIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Executive Support System (ESS) are other effective IS used by organizations to increase the organizational performance (Ikediashi, Ogunlana Alotaibi, 2014). IS integrates data and information together and drive them in a meaningful direction to get benefit from the competitive marketplace. Data transformation creates information, different software operational system are used by medium to large business organizations to serve the purpose of business management. During project implementation phase, member from different departments such as management, finance, HR, Information Technology take part and implements an effective Information System for the organization (Kendrick, 2015). In order to introduce an IS project, mainly three common development approaches such as System development life cycle, prototyping and rapid application development are used by large to medium Jordanian organizations. Ranking of the Factors Behind the Failure of the Jordanian Business Project Different issue Factors Ranking Process driven issue 1. Management of timeline while implementing the Information System based project 2. Incorrect assumption of resources 3. Requirement of the consumers 2 Context driven issue 1. Incorrect communication approach 2. Inadequate participants attention in different IS project aspects 3. Key individual of the IS project 3 Content driven issue 1. Customized application system 2. Specific design approach 3. Incorrect key specification 1 Other Reasons that are Driving the Information System Project towards Failure Conclusion Lack of utilization of change management system: According to the changing environment every organization should adapt changes to meet the requirement of the customers (Park Lee, 2014). The Jordanian business organization, did not adapt adequate changes in terms of technological implementation. Lack of user and employees involvement: The employees and users of the system are not involved to the job roles thus, the work become a burden to the employees (Sweis, 2015). The work is not properly divided among the employees based on the department of the participant. This is another reason behind the project failure. Lack of support from the executive group: The top level management team did not support the fellow project team members (Mazlum Gneri, 2015). Due to this reason they were unable to serve their required job roles. Misunderstanding between the team members: Due to lack of leadership management continuous conflict among the team members occurred that lead to misunderstandings (Mich, 2014). As a result the IS project failed in the competitive market of Jordan. Improper cost management: Budget overflow is another reason behind the failure of the Information System (IS) project in Jordan. In the initial phase of project planning the financial department of the organization should conduct a feasibility study to measure whether the project is beneficial or not (Sweis, 2015). However, the Jordanian organization did not make proper feasibility study and thus, the IS project fails to meet the requirement of the clients. Methodologies Utilized by Jordanian Organizations Population and sampling: More than 17 public as well as private companies have adapted the sampling and population method to avoid the rate of Information System (IS) project failure. In this method the work load will be segmented and served by individual employees from different departments. Data collection tools: In order to reduce the rate of project failure, a survey has been conducted throughout Jordan. Conclusion From the overall discussion it can be concluded that, the main three factors or issues such as process driven issue, context driven issue and content driven issue are the reasons behind the failure of the Jordanian Information system based business project. The difference between the Information System issue and Information Technology issues are identified in this report. The factors that might drive general business project towards a successful business are also mentioned in this report. In order to meet the requirement of the consumers different factors that are needed to be mitigated are also illustrated in this report. Recommendations to the Jordanian Organization to Improve the Business Processes Data collection: Proper selection of resources and data are needed to be collected so that the project could easily meet the requirement of the consumers. Reward programs: The organization should arrange reward programs to encourage and appreciate the employees. This will motivate the employees to get involved with the information system. Management of time: In order to deliver the project on time with appreciable quality and quantity as well. Proper time management system will lead to success. Management of communication: Open communication process is needed to be adapted by the team members so that every individual team member could share their thoughts with others. Training and development: Training and development program is needed to be arranged by the organization so that the employees could use the required technologies properly. References Abbasi, N., Wajid, I., Iqbal, Z., Zafar, F. (2014). Project Failure Case Studies and Suggestion.International Journal of Computer Applications,86(6). Abu-Shanab, E., Al-Saggar, A. (2013). Reasons behind it project failure: the case of Jordan.Business Strategies and Approaches for Effective Engineering Management,188. Chang, J. F. (2016).Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Dwivedi, Y. K., Wastell, D., Laumer, S., Henriksen, H. Z., Myers, M. D., Bunker, D., ... Srivastava, S. C. (2015). Research on information systems failures and successes: Status update and future directions.Information Systems Frontiers,17(1), 143-157. Ikediashi, D. I., Ogunlana, S. O., Alotaibi, A. (2014). Analysis of project failure factors for infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia: A multivariate approach.Journal of Construction in Developing Countries,19(1), 35. Kasemsap, K. (2015). The role of information system within enterprise architecture and their impact on business performance.Technology, innovation, and enterprise transformation, 262-284. Kaur, R., Sengupta, J. (2013). Software process models and analysis on failure of software development projects.arXiv preprint arXiv:1306.1068. Kendrick, T. (2015).Identifying and managing project risk: essential tools for failure-proofing your project. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Maarop, N., Mustapha, N. M., Yusoff, R., Ibrahim, R., Zainuddin, N. M. M. (2015). Understanding Success Factors of an Information Security Management System Plan Phase Self-Implementation.World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering,9(3), 884-889. Mazlum, M., Gneri, A. F. (2015). CPM, PERT and Project Management with Fuzzy Logic Technique and Implementation on a Business.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,210, 348-357. Mich, L. (2014). Teaching Requirements Analysis: A Student Project Framework to Bridge the Gap between Business Analysis and Software Engineering. InREET(pp. 20-25) Montequin, V. R., Cousillas, S., Ortega, F., Villanueva, J. (2014). Analysis of the success factors and failure causes in Information Communication Technology (ICT) projects in Spain.Procedia Technology,16, 992-999. Park, J. G., Lee, J. (2014). Knowledge sharing in information systems development projects: Explicating the role of dependence and trust.International Journal of Project Management,32(1), 153-165. Ruiz, M., Costal, D., Espaa, S., Franch, X., Pastor, . (2014, June). Integrating the goal and business process perspectives in information system analysis. InInternational Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering(pp. 332-346). Springer International Publishing. Salmimaa, T., Hekkala, R., Pekkola, S. (2015). Paradoxes in the Development of a Business Critical Information System. InPACIS(p. 50). Schwalbe, K. (2015).Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. Siggens, L., Ekwall, K. (2014). Epigenetics, chromatin and genome organization: recent advances from the ENCODE project.Journal of internal medicine,276(3), 201-214. Sweis, R. (2015). An Investigation of Failure in Information Systems Projects: The Case of Jordan.Journal of Management Research,7(1), 173-185. Willcocks, L. (2013).Information management: the evaluation of information systems investments. Springer. Wu, D. D., Chen, S. H., Olson, D. L. (2014). Business intelligence in risk management: Some recent progresses.Information Sciences,256, 1-7.

The Future of Management Essay Example For Students

The Future of Management Essay AbstractManagement development strategies of many organizations seemed to converge in the nineties. We thought the world would stay on a standstill when the millennium loomed. The new word on the street was Y2K. So what are the concerns for the current state of management development, and what we expect for the future to hold? This paper will tackle such issue. The Future of ManagementCompanies are geared into increase in efficiency and productivity, better choice of goods, more competitive prices, faster execution and better resource allocation. What was true then, will still hold true in the future, except it just may double up. Obviously, ideas like these contributed to the call for far better business management. MethodChanges in TechnologyThis has the most impact on any businesses out there and even the ones who has not yet embraced the Internet phenomena due to accelerating the speed of change, increasing competition, and the shifting structure of relationships. According to Dessler (2003), the managerial uses of the Internet can in a sense, get a free ride on the Internet, they can substantially reduce their communications costs by building their management systems around the Internet. Companies who see the Internet for all its glory will not hesitate to spend to be in gear with the latest trend because in the long run, it will save them money. Take into consideration the Automatic Call Distribution (ACD). This particular technology is helping organizations of all sizes enhance customer service, improve employee productivity, increase revenue, lower costs and develop new customers and markets. We will write a custom essay on The Future of Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Organizational DevelopmentManagement and the Four Functions of Management. Management will have to keep the competitive edge through employee performance and retention. Management will gear more towards an open-minded sense of management. Management in the future does not mean a complete overhaul of what we are accustomed to now. As Antony Jay said, management is not a new basic institution at all. On the contrary, it is a very ancient art. The new science of management is in fact only a continuation of the old art of government. In this line of thinking, I doubt that management styles and the four functions of management will completely change. It will simply evolve into something more precise more compact. To state an example, Henri Fayols (1841-1925) function of management was five. Overtime, the functions of management evolved and became four. As times change and lifestyles change, the functions of management will change in order to serve the greater good. As was mentioned earlie r, it will change but not dramatically. It will contain the same basic principles as it did before. Management and Leadership. As managers are relearning the rules of engagement in management, you will see more of them being effective leaders. Being a leader does not necessarily mean you are an effective leader. The same philosophy goes with effective management and leadership. Management encompasses the use of the four functions of management. Dessler (2003) said, that the managers job is changing so fast some are not comfortable with just the word manager. To some it implies subordinates. Then he went on to say that managers with the old style are a thing of the past. If a manager is to be stubborn and manage using the old ways, he or she will not get very far. Managers need to realize that employees have more rights and are more vocal now than ever before. They need to embrace effective leadership. Leadership, simply stated, is the process of influencing and directing people towards the accomplishment of a goal or objective. On the other hand does not necessarily mean they are l eading a group or people or an organization. They could simply be individuals with a vision and the drive to motivate people. But in order for management to move into the future, they need to get in gear with effective leadership. ConclusionCustomers now are sophisticated. The easier the better. If they can find a product on-line and save them the trek to the store, they will choose the Internet. Customers are no longer afraid of the World Wide Web. They are actually what you call Internet savvy. Companies, management and leaders need to realize that if they want to stay competitive in todays hard business, they need to enhance their business knowledge of Information Technology. More and more technological innovations are sprouting. If a company stays within its boundary of relic technology, it will not survive. The same goes for the managements and leaders of any organization. The need to shed the old ways of management is a must. For companies to keep employees, the need to embrac e effective leadership and good management style. The organizational culture needs to be value driven, empowering employees to have the entrepreneurial spirit. Line managers, top managers and executives need to be able to manage change in a continuous learning environment while creating and maintaining the appropriate working culture. .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .postImageUrl , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:hover , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:visited , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:active { border:0!important; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:active , .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4 .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2a1ed0590583fbcf07cffeab13b8c7b4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Pshycology test EssayReferencesZDNet. (2002). Linksys readies fast Wi-Fi alternative. Retrieved February 18, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.80211-news.com/publications/page275-424191.html. Kirby, D. (2003). Optimizing Call Center Agent Schedules Through Automation. CRM Marketplace. Retrieved March 4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.crmmarketplace.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=db2c0da5-ee20-4b6d-83e6-9c5806c7cad7}VNETCOOKIE=NOUnknown. (2003). ACD Software and Phone Systems. Database Systems Corp website. Retrieved March 4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.databasesystemscorp.comLutz, E. (date unknown). The Principles of Management. Retrieved March 4, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.arts.ilstu.edu/theatre/class/guither/am1a.html

Stock Market Prices

Stock Market Prices The prices of stocks which are purchased and sold in the secondary market are mostly influenced by demand and supply. Typically, the price of stocks depends on the number of shares that are offered in relation to the demand of the stocks.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Stock Market Prices specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The price of the shares are often high when there are few shares in the market and if the demand of these shares is high. On the other hand, the prices of shares are low if the shares offered in the market are many. Similarly, the price of the shares becomes significantly low when demand of the shares in the market goes down. Thus, the price of shares is determined by the demand and supply of shares in the market. Supply and Demand The demand of shares in the stock market is determined by various factors. Sloman (2008) posits that, income, wealth, expectations, divided yield, price and returns of su bstitutes are the factors that influence the demand of the stocks. Sloman (2008) considers the dividend yield as the money received back by investors and is expressed as a given percentage of its price. Many investors are attracted to purchase those stocks whose dividends are high. Equally, the prices and returns of substitutes relate to dividends as well as the market price for other corresponding stocks. Since the demand of such stocks is often high, their supply often goes down. Subsequently, this makes the price of the stocks to increase. According to Sloman (2008), the most prevalent substitutes for investing in shares include investing in properties such as real estates. Investors are always looking for the ways to make extra money. Therefore, many investors opt to invest in properties or any other forms of investments if they consider them to be more profitable than investing in shares. According to Boyce (2011), between 1960 and 2009 the profits for equities was higher than the profits gained from investment in property for the most part of the 20-year investment period. It was also observed that even over shorter time spans, equities have been the top-most performing asset, in 64% of five year periods, between 1960 and 2006. Wealth represents the accrued savings and assets. Wealth that is in form of assets is easily converted into cash and invested in shares. It is important to note that houses do not have a high rate of return as compared to investments in shares. Therefore, high-rise owners often opt to sell their houses and invest that money in shares. When this occurs, it increases the demands of shares.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People’s expectations is another factor that determines the demand and prices of shares. Investors tend to buy more of those shares that they are optimistic about their future value. However , this kind of buying poses a great risk. This is because these prospects are not always true. Sometimes, other factors which may be beyond the investors’ expectations could crop up and affect the current outstanding performances of such companies. Such issues may lessen the value of the shares (Bacchetta, Tille Wincoop , 2010) Share prices and their effects on businesses The prices of shares in companies are imperative. This is because the prices of these shares are often used to depict the performance of a given company in the market. When the price of a company’s share increases, it primarily indicates that that company is performing well. Conversely, when the price of the share in a company decreases, it indicates poor performances. Textbook Questions If the rate of economic growth is 3% in a particular year, why are share prices likely to rise by more than 3% that year? Strong economies have been noted to be characterized by an increase in the household income wh ich is reflected in increased spending and investments. An economic growth of about 3% in a particular year is likely to translate to increased share prices by more than 3%. This is because a growth in the economy signifies increased per capita income. What happened to the FTSE 100 in 2010, why? Figure 1 The figure above illustrates how the FTSE 100 index initially performed poorly after suffering major setbacks due to the economic recession witnessed in the year 2008-2009. According to Scott (2010), investors were reluctant to invest in shares since they could not project what would follow the financial crisis.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Stock Market Prices specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The financial crises of the year 2008-09 lead to the failing of many banks which impacted negatively on the value of the FTSE 100 stock market. Fletcher (2010) noted that, even by mid 2010, the performance of the FTSE 100 s tock had not appreciated considerably since most investors were still under uncertainty of investing in shares. This is clearly noted by the great decrease in share prices that occurred in July. Similarly, the value of the shares depreciated significantly in September and November. These drops were linked to large amounts of money that were given to other European countries as bail-outs (Kollewe McDonald, 2010). At the end of the year 2010, the value of the shares had appreciated greatly since more investors had became more optimistic about the future of shares as indicated by the raising of the overall value of the index (Scott, 2010). Find another application of the same idea and explain why the concept is useful in the context you have chosen Supply and demand also determines the prices of commodities globally. For example, currently the prices of Cocoa have greatly increased due to the shortage of Cocoa which is associated with the recent civil unrest in Ivory Coast (AFN, 2011) . Figure 2 ‘CÃ ´te d’Ivoire is among the leading producers of Cocoa in the world. Being a major supplier of the commodity, the country plays a central role in influencing the world cocoa prices. Similar concerns about the disruption of cocoa production and export during the civil war also caused New York prices to soar to a high of $2,335/tonne in October 2002.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is observed that when cocoa is in short supply and also in high demand, its prices are often artificially inflated in a similar way to the share prices. This principle is very similar to what happens on stock markets, although the causes are usually much different. Conclusion The supply and demand of shares are known to be the natural determiners of the prices of shares. Nevertheless, there is a danger in that; the process is often manipulated where the prices of shares ends up being artificially inflated. This inflation is dangerous because it leads to considerable loss of investors’ money when the bubble occurs. List of References AAP., 2010. Wattyl accepts takeover bid from Valspar. Web. AFN., 2011. Cote D’Ivoire and cocoa: The facts. Web. Baccheta, P., Tille, C., Wincoop, E., 2010. Risk panics: When markets crash for no apparent reason. Web. Boyce, L., 2011. Investors love for property starts to dim. Web. Fletcher, N., 2010. FTSE 100 dips ahead of bank stress t est results. Web. Kollewe, A., McDonald., P. 2010. Anglo Irish Bank bailout could total â‚ ¬34bn. Web. Scott, P., 2010. Where will the FTSE 100 end 2010? Web. Sloman, J., 2008. Economics and the Business Environment, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw Hill.

Non-Executive Directors in Corporate Governance Essay

Non-Executive Directors in Corporate Governance - Essay Example The need for altering the corporate governance and the accountability of non-executive directors has come forth due to the collapse of a number of high profile corporations ( Carver and Oliver 2002; Cadbury 2002; Vinten 2002; Taylor 2003). Oman (2001) tried to define corporate governance as the public and private establishments which includes polices, rules and consented business patterns, which based on the economy of the market economy, administer the relationship linking internal stake holders on one hand, and share holders on the other. According to Cochran and Warwick (1988) corporate governance is: "an umbrella term that includes specific issues arising from interactions among senior management, shareholders, boards of directors, and other corporate stakeholders." 'Corporate governance' is seen as a fresh term which has entered our business terminology particularly in the last decade. Nevertheless connecting accountability with corporate governance (Cadbury 1992) is not a recent issue; it has grown with the development of the capitalistic system and growth of world economies (Vinten 2003). The different issues to be considered in this paper are: accountability and the role of non-executive directors with regard to corporate governance and accountability. According to Sir Arthur Cadbury in his paper (Cadbury 1992, p.15) "Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled". This is concerned with the institution of structures and procedures by which management is responsible to shareowners with the aim of raising shareholder worth. The OECD (2004, p.11) defines as "Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company's management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined. Good corporate governance should provide proper incentives for the board and management to pursue objectives that are in the interest of the company and its shareholders and should facilitate effective monitoring." A single structure or form is not suitable for all kind of businesses. This is actually acknowledged by the OECD rationales (2004 p.13). The reason is not only the intricacy and variety of actions that businesses are concerned with but also the lawful effects reckoning on the country's legal power and other social and cultural matters. Corporate performance and analysis Majority of research work have been carried out trying to connect company operation with different factors like board independence (Bhagat and Black 2002). Most of these studies undertaken actually surveyed the 'for-profit organizations' and made use of the common operation indicants like profit margins, share value and ROI. Research on the effect of corporate governance in organizations is mainly concentrated with the use of quantitative data analysis, whereas corporate

ScapeGoat MJ Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ScapeGoat MJ - Assignment Example Let me begin with the points in the book which are universal and to some extent we could agree such as collective persecution. So as not to be misquoted, I will lift directly from the book about collective persecution which â€Å"acts of violence committed directly by a mob of murderers such as the persecution of the Jews during the Black Death. By collective resonances of persecutions I mean acts of violence, such as witch-hunts, that are legal in form but stimulated by the extremes of public opinion†. There is no question that persecution is an act of violence committed by a mob murderers and even if the examples of the Jews are used during the Black Death, I still totally agree with it. Indeed the Jews were persecuted during the Black Death and even during Second World War in Hitler’s concentration. While I agree to this example in persecution, this examples reveals the bias of the book in the narrative of a certain people – the Jews. It is important to note h owever that in citing the prejudice of the example, I am not belittling the suffering of the Jews during the Black Death and I even added during the Second World War. It is just that my experience as a male Arab Muslim, the example of Jews who were oppressed run counter to my experience. In my eyes and in the eyes of Muslims, the Jews had morphed into tormentors from being the victims. In the eyes of the Muslim world, they have transformed into a modern Hitler that persecuted another group of people which are the Palestinians. It was not so long ago that we saw Gaza turned into a modern day Auschwitz where civilians, including children were killed during the bombing of Israel under the pretext of self-defense. This pretext of self-defense is consistent with the books assertion about persecution which are acts of violence which are â€Å"legal in form but stimulated by

Geopolitics in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Geopolitics in the Middle East - Essay Example Despite the struggles of the advocates of change, with the neo-conservatives envisioning an end for the, sort of chaotic Middle East society, the fight leads to a different scenario than what was expected. Peace is still so elusive, terrorist threats still exist, and instability is still greatly felt. We examined the reasons behind the pitfalls of this political blitzkrieg based on the articles written by Jeffrey Goldberg entitled "After Iraq" and the article "Parties of God: The Bush doctrine and the rise of Islamic Democracy" written by Ken Silverstein. Goldberg generally expressed the fact that the political agenda of the US and its allies are contrary to what Iraq's minority groups and even the rest of the countries in the region are looking for. Silverstein in the other hand expressed the fact that the Bush doctrine and the western democratic system do not fit the Islamic cultures and ways. While the US and the rest of its allies are eyeing to push their own vested interests in the Middle East campaign, the Middle Eastern nations affected by the current transitions in the other hand are looking at it in a different perspective. The war on Iraq was generally aimed at ousting Saddam Hussein, a dictatorial leader, for the major reason of removing a danger to social equality in the region, which Hussein had proven to be a threat, and instate a unified democratic government. . The plans may have been understood plainly by both the allies and Arab compatriots, like the Kurds, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and the rest, and laid open for them to work through, but beneath the shadows of their support, the Middle eastern countries, and minority regions within Iraq, are hoping to push through with their own agenda, for their own people, for their leader's interest. Take for example the case of the Kurds. In a personal interview by Jeffrey Goldberg with Abdul Rahman Mustafa, the Kurdish-Iraqi governor of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, considered as domains of the Kurds, it appeared that the Kurds really wanted independence from Iraq (Goldberg 79). The article of Goldberg speak further of other regions in the middle east that wanted to be governed based on their own cultural minority principles such as the "Shiites did not want to be ruled from Baghdad by a Sunni minority"(78), and other minority groups from Egypt, Israel, and other areas want their own sovereignty. In other words, the zeroing in was just superficial. The question is why The answer perhaps lies on the cultural differences between the east and the west, and the way these two civilizations are molded through time. We agree on Goldberg's idea that western democratic strategies don't seem to fit with the Middle Eastern cultures, which are highly diverse. Islam, which is the main religion in the Middle Eastern countries, is a diverse religion with differing principles across different minorities. While the west is generally Christian, although differing in minor teachings, have common core values that has high regard to peace and order. There is no Christian jihad, to cite a particular difference, while the Muslim jihad is primarily exploited by Muslim extremists and used to push their ideals and principles. In the western world, as a common knowledge, governance in civic

Effect of privatization on performance of public corporations

Effect of privatization on performance of public corporations Stock exchanges anywhere in the world provide a platform for investors and capital raisers to come together and get what they want. They assist in trading of stocks and bonds. Apart from that, it can be viewed as a liquidity providing platform. For this purpose, the stock exchange has to have a set of rules that will govern the execution and clearing of trade. Some of the responsibilities of a stock exchange are also enforcing standard rules to reduce transaction costs and monitoring of the trading to prevent manipulations like insider trading. A share or stock company model does issue shares of stock that are available through one or more stock market exchange. Shareholders purchase the shares of stock and become part owners in the company. This is a highly desirable status for many companies, as it can help generate significant amounts of revenue that make it possible for the company to grow in ways that would not be possible if the corporation remained privately held. Etukudo (2002) notes that capital markets transfer funds from savers to investors in productive assets such as plant and machinery as well as to providers of services. Capital markets also provide a mutually beneficial bridge between those who have short-time horizons and companies and projects with longer prospects. In addition, enterprises are provided with equity capital through the stock market, short, medium and long-term debt is made available through the bond market, and short or medium-term debt is provided through the banking sector. The financial intermediaries in all these transactions constitute the financial service sector and while the constituents of the sector and their relative importance vary from country to country, they generally include banks, stock exchanges, brokers and insurance companies. 1.1.1.2 Privatization of public corporations Boubakri and Cosset (1994) note that privatization has turned into a major phenomenon for the developed world as well as the developing world, particularly so over the last decade, with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) being privatized at an increasing rate. Ramamurti, (1991) note that the objectives of privatization are numerous. Country studies show that these objectives include improving government cash flows by redusing subsidies and capital infusions to SOEs, promoting popular capitalism through a wider ownership of shares, restraining the power of trade unions in the public sector, redistributing incomes and rents within society, satisfying foreign donors by reducing the governments role in the economy and especially enhancing the efficiency and the performance of the SOE sector based on the rationale that the private sector outperforms the public sector. Privatization in the 1990s led to the sale of 207 enterprises. Kenya Airways (KQ) was rated the most successful privatization venture in Africa. The Government has earmarked 33 companies for full or partial sale, these include; the National Bank of Kenya (NBK),the Kenya Commercial Bank(KCB), the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), KenGen, Kenya Petroleum Refineries, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Telkom Kenya and Kenya Railways Corporation. The methods of sale will range from concessioning, sale at the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and securing strategic partnerships with major players in the relevant sectors. 1.2 Statement of the Problem A study by Boubakri and Cosset (1994) examined the financial and operating performance of newly privatized firms in developing countries and noted that findings in for developing markets could be different from those of developed countries because the capital market may not play its monitoring role. To take account of the possibility that some of the differences between preprivatization and postprivatization performance could be due to economywide factors, the authors used performance measures adjusted for market effects in addition to unadjusted performance measures. The results were generally less significant when they adjusted the performance ratios for market effects. The authors thus concluded that this evidence brings to light the importance of considering a benchmark against which the performance of sample firms can be compared. Limi (2003) studied the influence of the level of economic development on the post-privatization growth rates in public infrastructure within the telecommunications industry and found that although privatization generally spurred network expansion in terms of telephone main lines by 4.4% in medians (5.4% on average), the performance improvement was dependent on the level of economic development. It is only the low-income and lower middle-income countries which can expect a significant positive privatization effect. Thus, it is important to account for economic development in assessing the privatization effects of public infrastructure stocks. From the foregoing it is thus useful to undertake a study to evaluate privatization and performance of public corporations listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 1.3 Purpose of the Study or General Objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate privatization and performance of public corporations listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange 1.4 Research Questions or Specific Objectives or Hypotheses This study is guided by the following research objectives formulated to aid in gathering the information regarding the research topic. Review literature on privatization of public corporations in Kenya To determine privatization factors in the Nairobi Stock Exchange To analyze privatization implications on public corporation performance in Nairobi Stock Exchange 1.5 Importance or Justification or Rationale of the Study The information generated by this study will be important for stock markets in the East Africa in understanding the implications of privatizing public corporations. This will benefit stock markets in Uganda, Tanzania and wider Eastern Africa which has the stock markets at their infancy stages. It will also assist policy makers who want to make use of performance measures of the stock market in advising public corporations on privatization prospects that may arise when listing in the stock market. In addition, it will guide policy makers of new baselines to use when determining privatization options for public corporations. Educators too in the education industry will find the information obtained from this study beneficial to their curriculum in imparting knowledge to students and researchers who are researching on the sector and how it can greatly benefit the country. 1.6 Scope of the Study The study will be limited to the Nairobi Stock Exchange for the duration 2008-2010. Nairobi Stock Exchange has about fifteen active stock broking firms with fifty two listed companies. I will focus on five of the stockbrokerage firms and fifteen of the listed companies. The use of the listed firms was due primarily to data availability and reliability because they are required by law to provide end of year financial statements. However, firms that were not listed for the entire period under study were left out of the sample. The study used annual reports that are available at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 1.7 Definition of Terms 1.7.1 Privatization Privatization means the sale of public utilities to private concerns. 1.8 Chapter Summary This chapter covered the background of the research, the problem statement, the purpose of the study or general objectives of this research, the research objectives, the significance and scope of the research i.e. importance of the study and the definitions of Terminologies used in this research. Further, this chapter has specifically pointed the relevance of the study in regards to public corporations, and how they, in a bid to improve performance, employ a privatization strategy in light of global trends. 2.0 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter will review relevant literature in line with the study objectives. 2.2 Privatization of Public Corporations in Kenya ROK(1965) noted that the establishment of the parastatals was driven by a national desire to (i) accelerate economic social development; (ii) redress regional economic imbalances; (iii) increase Kenyan Citizens participation in the economy; (iv) promote indigenous entrepreneurship; and (v) promote foreign investments (through joint ventures). This desire was expressed in the Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism and its application to planning in Kenya. A comprehensive review of the public enterprises performance was noted by (ROK, 1979) (the Report on the Review of Statutory Boards) that pointed that there was clear evidence of prolonged inefficiency, financial mismanagement, waste and malpractices in many parastatals; and (ROK, 1982) (the Report of the Working Party on Government Expenditures) which concluded that productivity of the state corporations was quite low while at the same time they continued to absorb an excessive portion of the budget, becoming a principal cause of long-term fiscal problem. The enactment of the State Corporations Act was a major attempt to streamline the management of the state corporations. The performance of most of the corporations continued to deteriorate due to the continued reliance on limited public sector financing. Sessional Paper No.4 of 1991 on Development and Employment in Kenya underlined the need to implement privatization and divestiture of State corporations urgently in view of the managerial problems afflicting the parastatals leading to poor return on government investments, the existence of a larger pool of qualified manpower, availability of more indigenous entrepreneurship to permit private sector led economy and the need for non-tax revenue for the Government. The Programme began in July 1992 with the issuance of the Policy Paper on Public Enterprises Reform and Privatization which pointed out that there were 240 commercial public enterprises with public sector equity participation and classified the PEs in to two categories: (i) 207 Non strategic commercial public enterprises which were to be privatised and 33 Strategic Commercial public enterprises which were to be restructured and retained under public sector ownership and control. By the time the first phase of the programme ca me to an end in 2000, most of the non-strategic commercial enterprises had either been fully or partially privatized, liquidated, sold under receivership while the strategic commercial enterprises to be retained under government operation had been reduced to 15 and later to 14 enterprises. The following is a list of privatized public enterprises by PUBLIC FLOATATIONS- Bamburi Portland Cement Co. Ltd, E.A., CMC Holdings Oxygen Ltd, National Bank of Kenya, Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar Company; by PARTIAL DIVESTITUTRES Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd, Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd, General Motors (K) Ltd, and Housing Finance Company of Kenya. 2.3 Privatization Factors in the Nairobi Stock Exchange 2.3.1 Methods of privatization The term privatization has been applied to three different methods of increasing the activity of the private sector in providing public services: 1) private sector choice, financing, and production of a service;2) public-sector choice and financing with private sector production of the service selected; 3) and deregulation of private firms providing services. In the first case, the entire responsibility for a service is transferred from the public sector to the private sector, and individual consumers select and purchase the amount of services they desire from private providers. For example, solid-waste collection is provided by private firms in some communities. The third form of privatization means that government reduces or eliminates the regulatory restrictions imposed on private firms providing specific services. The second version of privatization refers to joint activity of the public and private sectors in providing services. In this case, consumers select and pay for the quantity and type of service desired through government, which then contracts with private firms to produce the desired amount and category of service. Although the government provides for the service, a private firm carries out the actual execution of it. The government determines the service level and pays the amount specified in the contract, but leaves decisions about production decisions to the private firm. 2.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Privatization Etukudo (2002) sates that in sub-Saharan African countries with a high level of illiteracy, public offer for sale of state-owned enterprises has its limitations due to cumbersome formalities in the prospectus as well as complicated application forms, etc. As banking facilities are concentrated in urban centres, the use of public offer in privatization works to the disadvantage of those in rural areas with few banking facilities. On the whole, Etukudo (2002 contends that privatization programmes have led to marked increases in stock market capitalization as well as increases in the quantity and range of issues traded on the market. The stock exchange has attracted a considerable number of players to the market leading to increased competition within the capital market. The structure and function of capital markets affect the availability of capital, influence investment processes and also influence the ways in which business managers who approach investors project the current performance and future potential of their enterprises. 2.4 Privatization implications on public corporation performance in Nairobi Stock Exchange Yarrow (1986) notes that as firms move from public to private ownership, their profitability should increase. First, given that shareholders wish the firm to maximize profit, newly privatized firms managers should place greater emphasis on profit goals Second, privatization typically transfers both control rights and cash flow rights to the managers who then show a greater interest for profits and efficiency relative to pleasing the government with higher output or employment (Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny, 1993). In addition, Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) state that following privatization; firms should employ their human, financial and technological resources more efficiently because of a greater stress on profit goals and a reduction of government subsidies. Megginson, Nash and van Randenborgh (1994) note that governments expect that greater emphasis on efficiency will lead the newly privatized firm to increase its capital investment spending. Once privatized, the firm should also increase its capital expenditures because it has greater access to private debt and equity markets and it will have more incentives to invest in growth opportunities. Megginson et al (1994) believe the switch from public to private ownership should lead to a decrease in the proportion of debt in the capital structure because with the end of government debt guarantees the firms cost of borrowing will increase and because the firm has a new access to public equity markets. The authors further note that with privatization, dividend payments should increase because unlike governments private investors generally demand dividends and dividend payments are a classic response to the atomized ownership structure which most privatization programs led to. In terms of output Megginson, Nash and van Randenborgh (1994) contend that privatization should increase output because of greater competition, better incentives and more flexible financing opportunities. On the other hand Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) predicts a fall in output since the government no longer subsidizes the newly privatized firm to maintain inefficiently high output levels. Kikeri, Nellis and Shirley (1992) assert that governments expect the level of employment to decline once the SOE which is usually overstaffed turns out private and no longer receives government subsidies. However, in growing sectors, the newly privatized firm could absorb surplus labor through new capital investment and more productive use of existing assets. 2.5 Empirical experience Jones, Jammal Gokgur (1999) undertook an impact study applied to 81 privatizations (covering not just infrastructure firms but a range of firms already operating in competitive markets (in agriculture, agro-industries, tradable and non-tradable sectors) in Cote dIvoire and concluded that firms performed better after privatization and that they performed better than they would have had they remained under public ownership. The study also found that the set of transactions as a whole contributed positively to economic welfare, with annual net welfare benefits equivalent to about 25% of pre-divestiture sales. These results stemmed from a number of effects, including increases in output, investment, labor productivity, and intermediate-input productivity. 2.5 Chapter summary The chapter highlighted the different studies that sought to address the research gap. Chapter three will point out the methodology to be used in the study. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter will discuss the research methodology that will be used as the basis of this study. The chapter will also discuss the population of study, sample frame and sampling techniques, data collection methods as well as data analysis and data presentation methods to be employed in the study. 3.2 Research Design The research design employed in this study will be empirical in nature and will be aimed at delivering answers to the research questions outlined in the problem statement. 3.3 Population and Sampling Design 3.3.1 Population The population involved in the study are four privatized public corporation that have listed on the NSE. Population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher wishes to investigate. Population forms a basis from which the sample or subjects for the study is drawn. 3.3.2 Sampling Design and Sample Size Methods that we will use in our paper to analyze the operating and market performance are descriptive statistics for evaluating the post listing share price performance and the financial ratio analysis using the accounting data to evaluate public corporation performance as well as their risk and return relationships profile. Documents will collected from the organizations resource center, individual file record, libraries of various universities, company reports, company newsletter and other printed materials (e.g. newspaper cuttings, journals, text books, conference reports, articles, training packages) that were made available for the purpose of the research. 3.4 Data Collection Methods In order to achieve the set objectives, I will collect data from the Nairobi stock exchange database and from the financial statements of the individual companies under study. The collected data will be captured in form of tables. This will be used to capture performance of privatized public corporations listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 3.5 Research Procedures 3.6 Data Analysis Methods This study will use the quantitative method of data analysis. The quantitative analysis is applied using descriptive statistics. According to Denscombe (1998) descriptive statistics involves a process of transforming a mass of raw data into tables, charts, with frequency distribution and percentages which are a vital part of making sense of the data. Data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program and presented using tables and pie charts to give a clear picture of the research findings at a glance. 3.7 Chapter Summary The chapter describes the methodology that is to be used in carrying out the study. The chapter has also indicated that, data will be analyzed using SPSS and presented in inform of chart and tables. The next chapter will present the findings of the research.

Comparison of Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God and Walkers Color

A Comparison of Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple    Of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Alice Walker says "it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done."   Though 45 years separate Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple, the two novels embody many similar concerns and methods. Hurston and Walker write of the experience of uneducated rural southern black women. They find a wisdom that can transform our communal relations and our spiritual lives. As Celie in The Color Purple says, referring to God: "If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you." Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the process of a woman's coming to consciousness, finding her voice and developing the power to tell her story. This fresh and much-needed perspective was met with incomprehension by the male literary establishment. In his review in New Masses, Richard Wright said the novel lacked "a basic idea or theme that lends itself to significant interpretation." Hurston's dialogue, he said, "manages to catch the psychological movements of the Negro folk mind in their pure simplicity, but that's as far as it goes. . . . . The sensory sweep of her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought." Many male reviewers and critics have reacted with similar hostility and incomprehension to The Color Purple. But to be blind to the definitions these and other women writers give to women's experience is to deny the validity of that experience. For Hurston's heroine, Janie, self-discovery and self-definition consist of learning to recognize and trust her inner voice, while rejecting the formulations others try to impose upon her. Increasin... ...: 181-202. Tate, Linda. "No Place Like Home": Learning to Read Two Writers' Maps // A Southern Weave of Women. Fiction of the Contemporary South. The University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia & London, 1994 Wade-Gayler, Gloria. Black, Southern, Womanist: The Genius of Alice Walker // Southern Women Writers. The New Generation. Ed. By Tonette Bond Inge. The University of Alabama Press, Touscaloosa & London, 1990 Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Ed. By Ikenna Dieke. Greenwood Press, Westpoint, Connecticut, London, 1999 Modern Critical Views. Alice Walker. Ed. by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House Publishers. New York & Philadelphia, 1989 Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich, Publishers. New York, San Diego, London, 1992 --. "Finding Celie's Voice," Ms., December 1985, 72 --. Meridian. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976.