Chapter 2 Quiz + Answers Essay

1. When companies adopt the strategy-making and strategy execution process it requires they start by developing a strategic vision, mission and values 2. The strategic management process is shaped by external factors such as the industry’s economic and competitive conditions and internal factors such as the company’s collection of resources and capabilities 3. When a company is confronted with significant industry change that mandates radical revision of its strategic course, the company is said to have encountered a strategic inflection point 4. A company’s strategic plan consists of a vision of where it is headed, a set of performance targets, and a strategy to achieve them 5. Top management’s views about where the company is headed and what its future product-customer-market-technology will be constitutes the strategic vision for the company 6. Well-conceived visions are distinctive specific to a particular organization free of generic, feel-good statements not innocuous one-sentence statements All of these 7. Effectively communicating the strategic vision down the line to lower-level managers and employees has the value of  not only explaining â€Å"where we are going and why† but, more importantly, also inspiring and energizing company personnel to unite to get the company moving in the intended direction 8. A company’s mission statement typically addresses which of the following questions Who we are, what we do, and why we are here 9. A company’s values relate to such things as  fair treatment, integrity, ethical behavior, innovativeness, teamwork, top-notch quality, superior customer service, social responsibility, and community citizenship 10. The managerial purpose of setting objectives includes  converting the strategic vision into specific performance targets  using the objectives as yardsticks for tracking the company’s progress and performance  challenging the organization to perform at its full potential and deliver the best possible results  establishing deadlines for achieving performance results 11. A company needs financial objectives  because without adequate profitability and financial strength, the company’s ultimate survival is jeopardized 12. Strategic objectives  relate to strengthening a company’s overall market standing and competitive vitality 13. A balanced scorecard for measuring company performance entails striking a balance between financial objectives and strategic objectives 14. A balanced scorecard that includes both strategic and financial performance targets is a conceptually strong approach for judging a company’s overall performance because financial performance measures are lagging indicators that reflect the results of past decisions and organizational activities whereas strategic performance measures are leading indicators of a company’s future financial performance 15. A company needs performance targets or objectives for its operations as a whole and also for each of its separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units 16. Business strategy concerns ensuring consistency in strategic approach among the businesses of a diversified company 17. In a single-business company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of business strategy, functional strategies, and operating strategies 18. Functional strategies concern the actions, approaches, and practices related to particular functions or processes within a business 19. Operating strategies concern the relatively narrow strategic initiatives and approaches for managing key operating units within a business and for performing strategically significant operating tasks 20. Management is obligated to monitor new external developments, evaluate the company’s progress, and make corrective adjustments in order to decide whether to continue or change the company’s strategic vision, objectives, strategy and/or strategy execution methods

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 5

Damon was driving aimlessly when he saw the girl. She was alone, walking down the side of the street, her titian hair blowing in the wind, her arms weighted down by packages. Damon immediately did the chivalrous thing. He let the car glide to a stop, waited for the girl to take a few striding paces to catch up with him – che gambe! – and then jumped out and hastened to open the passenger side door for her. Her name, as it turned out, was Damaris. In moments the Ferrari was back on the road, going so fast that Damaris's titian hair was flowing behind her like a banner. She was a young woman who fully merited the kind of trance-inducing compliments he'd been handing out freely all day – which was a good thing, he thought laconically, because his imagination was very nearly drained dry. But flattering this lovely creature, with her nimbus of red-gold hair and her pure, milky skin, wouldn't take any imagination at all. He didn't expect any trouble from her, and he planned to keep her overnight. Veni, vidi, vici,Damon thought, and flashed a wicked smile into the middle distance. And then he amended – Well, perhaps I haven't conqueredyet , but I'd bet my Ferrari on it. They stopped by a â€Å"scenic view roundabout† and when Damaris had dropped her purse and bent to pick it up, he'd seen the nape of her neck, where those fine titian hairs were startlingly delicate against the whiteness of her skin. He'd kissed it immediately, impulsively, finding it as soft as a baby's skin – and warm against his lips. He'd allowed her complete freedom of action, interested to see whether she would slap him, but instead she had just straightened up and taken a few shaky breaths before allowing him to take her in his arms to be kissed into a trembling, heated, uncertain creature, her dark blue eyes entreating and trying to resist at the same time. â€Å"I – shouldn't have let you do that. I won't let you again. I want to go home now.† Damon smiled. His Ferrari was safe. Her ultimate yielding would be particularly pleasant, he thought as they continued their drive. If she shaped up as well as she seemed to be doing, he might even keep her a few days, might even Change her. Now, though, he was bothered by an inexplicable disquiet inside. It was Elena, of course. Being so close to her at the boardinghouse and not daring to demand to go to her, because of what he might do. Oh, hell, what Ishould have done already, he thought with a sudden vehemence. Stefan was right – there was something wrong with him today. He was frustrated to a degree that he wouldn't have imagined possible. What heshould have done was to have ground his little brother's face in the dirt, wrung his neck like a fowl, and then gone up those narrow tacky stairs totake Elena, willing or no. He hadn't done it before because of some syrupy nonsense, caring about her screaming and carrying on as he lifted that incomparable chin and buried his swollen, aching fangs in her lily-white throat. There was a noise going on in the car. † – don't you think?† Damaris was saying. Annoyed and too busy with his fantasy to go over what his mind might have heard of her speech, he shut her off, and she was instantly quiet. Damaris was lovely butuna stomata – a ditz. Now she sat with her titian hair whipping in the wind, but with blank eyes, the pupils contracted, absolutely still. And all for nothing. Damon made a hissing sound of exasperation. He couldn't get back into his daydream; even in silence, the imagined sounds of Elena's sobbing prevented him. But there would be no more sobbing once he'd made her into a vampire, a little voice in his mind suggested. Damon cocked his head and leaned back, three fingers on the steering wheel. He'd once sought to make her his princess of darkness – why not again? She would belong to him utterly, and if he had to give up her mortal blood†¦well, he wasn't exactly getting any of that right now, was he? the insinuating voice said. Elena, pale and glowing with a vampire's aura of Power, her hair almost white-blond, a black gown against her satiny skin. Now there was a picture to make any vampire's heart beat faster. He wanted her more than ever now that she had been a spirit. Even as a vampire she would retain most of her own nature, and he could just picture it: her light for his darkness, her soft whiteness in his hard, black-jacketed arms. He would stop that exquisite mouth with kisses, smother her with them – What was hethinking about? Vampires didn't kiss like that for enjoyment – especially not other vampires. The blood, the hunt was all. Kissing beyond whatever was necessary to conquer their victim was pointless; it could lead nowhere. Only sentimental idiots like his brother bothered with such foolishness. A mated vampire pair might share the blood of a mortal victim, both striking at once, both controlling the victim's mind – and joined together in mind-link, too. That was how they found their pleasure. Still, Damon found himself excited by the idea of kissing Elena, of forcing kisses on her, of feeling her desperation to get away from him suddenly pause – with the little hesitation that came just before response, before yielding herself completely to him. Maybe I'm going crazy, Damon thought, intrigued. He had never gone crazy before that he could recall, and there was some appeal in the idea. It had been centuries since he'd felt this kind of excitement. All the better for you, Damaris, he thought. He had reached the point where Sycamore Street cut briefly into the Old Wood, and the road there was winding and dangerous. Regardless, he found himself turning to Damaris to wake her again, noting with approval that her lips were naturally that soft cherry color, without lipstick. He kissed her lightly, then waited to gauge her response. Pleasure. He could see her mind go soft and rosy with it. He glanced at the road ahead and then tried it again, this time holding the kiss. He was elated with her response, with both of their responses. This was amazing. It must have to do with the amount of blood he'd had, more than ever before in one day, or the combination – He suddenly had to wrench his attention from Damaris to driving. Some small russet animal had appeared as if by magic on the road in front of him. Damon normally didn't go out of his way to run over rabbits, porcupines, and the like, but this one had annoyed him at a crucial moment. He grasped the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes black and cold as glacial ice in the depths of a cave, and headed straight for the russet thing. Not allthat small – there would be a bit of a bump. â€Å"Hang on,† he murmured to Damaris. At the last instant, the reddish thing dodged. Damon wrenched the wheel round to follow it, and then found himself faced with a ditch. Only the superhuman reflexes of a vampire – and the finely tuned response of a very expensive vehicle – could have kept them out of the ditch. Fortunately Damon had both, swinging them in a tight circle, tires squealing and smoking in protest. And no bump. Damon leaped over the car door in one fluid motion and looked around. But whatever it was, had vanished completely, as mysteriously as it had appeared. Sconosciuto. Weird. He wished he wasn't heading into the sun; the bright afternoon light cut down his visual acuity severely. But he'd had a glimpse of the thing as it got close, and it had looked deformed. Pointed at one end and fan-like at the other. Oh, well. He turned back to the car, where Damaris was having hysterics. He wasn't in the mood to coddle anyone, so he simply put her back to sleep. She slumped back into the seat, tears left to dry on her cheeks unheeded. Damon got back into the car feeling frustrated. But he knew now what he wanted to do today. He wanted to find a bar – either seedy and sleazy or immaculate and expensive – and he wanted to find another vampire. With Fell's Church being such a hot spot on the ley-line map, that shouldn't be difficult in the surrounding areas. Vampires and other creatures of darkness were drawn to hot spots like bumblebees to honeysuckle. And then he wanted a fight. It would be completely unfair – Damon was the strongest vampire left that he knew of, plus he was tick-full of a cocktail of the blood of Fell's Church's finest maidens. He didn't care. He felt like taking his frustrations out on something, and – he flashed that inimitable, incandescent smile at nothing – some werewolf or vampire or ghoul was about to meet itsquietus . Maybe more than one, if he were only lucky enough to find them. After which – delicious Damaris for dessert. Life was good, after all. And unlife, thought Damon, his eyes glinting dangerously behind the sunglasses, was even better. He wasn't just going to sit and sulk because he couldn't have Elena immediately. He was going to go out and enjoy himself and get stronger – and then sometime soon, he was going to go over to his pathetic milksop of a younger brother's place andtake her. He happened to glance in the car's rearview mirror for a moment. By some freak of light or inversion of the atmosphere, it seemed that he could see his eyes behind his sunglasses – burning red.

Final Exam

Answer four of the following seven essay questions. Essay answers should be in paragraph form using complete sentences. (No bullet points) Use PAPA style for citations as needed. Exams may be subject to student submission using Turning at the professor's discretion. Your answers should be submitted as a Word file attached to an email sent to me by the start of class on March 5th. While brevity Is the soul of wit, essay answers should err on the side of completeness versus brevity.That said, I don't want to see the answer to any question go beyond two single-spaced hypocrites pages using a font size of 10-12 points. 1. Congratulations! You have Just been elected ruler off small OLD. What steps will you take to manage the country's balance of trade, and Its currency? Name and use an actual country don't make one up. Sierra Leone is a country that is rich in agricultural and mining resources, yet the great majority (over 70%) of the country still lives in poverty. Economic growth is hin dered by disadvantageous exchange rates and government budget deficits.As the recently elected President of Sierra Leone, I will take any and all necessary steps o bring this beautiful country out of poverty (www. Henbane. Org, 2014). Sierra Leone Is currently working with the International Monetary Fund (MIFF) to implement changes and improvements in our country's economic system. Sierra Leone has made important strides in economic reconstruction and macroeconomic as well as political stability since the end of the civil conflict in 2002. Economic growth has strengthened in the last two years with a stream of iron ore production and increased Infrastructure Investment.As the new president, I will continue working with the MIFF to manage the balance of trade and stabilize our currency (www. MFC. Org, 2013). In regards to Sierra Lens's currency, the exchange rate system is classified as floating, with the value of the Leone (currency) determined by the market. Currently, the central banks interventions are limited and aimed at smoothing volatility in the market. In order to stabilize the currency, I will diligently work with the Bank of Sierra Leone (BOSS) and with the MIFF to Introduce a stringent stabilization policy and reduce our country's debt.This policy will be aimed at first and foremost at tightening monetary regulations and reducing government borrowing. I will encourage the BOSS o move from a wholesale foreign exchange auction system to a retail auction system available to importers. This will enhance the currency's stability in the market as well as improve competitiveness. I will also work with the BOSS to improve monetary policy signaling, address remaining gaps In banking supervision, monetary and foreign exchange operations. I initiatives to encourage the development of micromanage in rural areas.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I will continue to work with the MIFF and the BOSS to develop a financial literacy campaign that will help to spr ead knowledge and titivation to continue efforts to stabilize the currency (www. Miff. Org, 2013) As president, I have also been charged with stabilizing trade in Sierra Leone. One of the biggest challenges in trade in Sierra Leone is that of smuggling and illicit trading activities. Sierra Leone is known for mining, especially diamonds, but poor regulation and policy enforcement, and high levels of corruption that lead to considerable levels of money laundering activities.As president, I will establish stricter controls and taxes around the mining trade, and crack down on corrupt government officials. I will continue to work with the government-created mining community development fund (DACCA), created to raise local communities' stake in the legal diamond trade, which returns a portion of diamond export taxes to diamond mining communities (www. Heritage. Org, 2014). Throughout my term as president, I hope to create a great economic turnaround for Sierra Leone, not only through bal ancing the currency and trade in the country, but through many more positive changes.I hope that by reducing budget deficits and improving the fiscal position of the government, I will be able to rehabilitate our social and economic infrastructure, stabilize the economy and provide a better life for Sierra Lens's people. 2. Compare and contrast the different methods of hedging transaction exposure. Include both derivative and non-derivative solutions. Transaction exposure is one of three types of foreign currency exposure. It is a type of risk that companies involved in international trade will face when entering fixed-price financial contracts.The risk occurs after the financial contract is made, and the subsequent fluctuations in currency exchange rates occur randomly and unpredictably. Although transaction exposure is considered short-term economic exposure, these changes in exchange rates can still affect the contract negatively, resulting in significant losses for the firm. The refore, companies participate in various hedging activities to avoid losses from transaction exposure (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). In transaction hedging, there are both derivative as well as non-derivative solutions. Derivatives are simply a contract between two parties.One of the ways which firms hedge transaction exposure is through the use of derivatives such as options contacts. Options are contracts used to reduce the risk of transactions by sing calls (sell) or puts (buy) on a financial asset at an agreed-upon price at some time in the future, which is known as exercising the option. Options also have a maturity or expiration date. In Europe, options can only be exercised at their maturity date, whereas in the United States, options can be exercised any time during the contract (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Another derivative solution is a futures contract.Futures contracts are an agreement to buy or sell an asset at an agreed-upon price in the future. Unlike options, futures contracts ar e standardized for an amount of the asset, and are usually transacted to exit the market. Hedgers avoid price variation in the market by and pass off risk to a speculator who will take a long or short position in the futures contract. The speculator is considered to be more willing to take on the price risk variation. Futures contracts are short-term and profits and losses are realized on a daily basis (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).Somewhat similar to a futures contract is a forward contract. Forwards are also a contract to buy or sell an asset at an agreed-upon price in the future, however, forward contracts have a specific maturity date unlike the daily settlements used in uterus contracts. Rather than being a standardized contract, forwards are tailor made to the needs of the participants. Also different than futures is that when trading forwards, forwards are often settled through the delivery of goods or cash (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).There are numerous other types of derivatives used to m itigate foreign exchange risk, but the most common are forward and futures contracts, futures options, and swaps which will be discussed later in this exam (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Many Macs also participate in non-derivative methods for hedging transaction risk. These are often used if a firm has positions in less liquid currencies. In order to mitigate risk in these cases, cross-hedging is a common technique in which a firm will hedge a position in one asset by taking a position in another asset.Effectiveness of cross-hedging is highly dependable on the strength of the relationship between the commodity futures prices and the exchange rate (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Another non-derivative method to avoid transaction exposure is hedging via lead and lag. A company can lead, to pay or collect on an invoice early, or lag, which means to pay or collect late. By timing the lead and lag strategy correctly, the firm can protect themselves against depreciation or appreciation of the foreign cur rency they are dealing in (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).Hedging through invoice currency can help firms diversify exchange exposure by using currency basket units. A currency basket is a selected group of currencies in which the weighted average is used as a measure of the value of a contract or obligation. It functions as a benchmark for regional currency movements. Because it is a portfolio of currencies, its value is more stable and can be useful as a hedging LOL, especially for long-term contracts where there are no forward or options contracts available (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).The last non-derivative form of transaction hedging that we will discuss is that of exposure netting. Exposure netting helps to centralize a firm's exchange exposure management function in one location, typically in a reinforce center. All invoices from nitrating transactions are sent here, where overall exposure is analyzed and determined. Foreign exchange experts can then determine the optimal hedging methods for the portfolio of transactions and move forward to implement them (Nun Arsenic, 2012). Overall, we have seen that there are numerous options to hedge transaction exposure.There are some similarities among them, but they differ from each other and are applicable to different needs. Derivative forms of hedging are typically contractual, relatively short term solutions to transaction exposure, whereas non- lifestyle. No matter what the case, however, it is prudent for any NC to determine a strategy for transaction hedging before going into significant overseas contracts. 3. Compare and contrast a plain vanilla currency swap with a plain vanilla interest rate swap. Describe and Justify a situation where a NC would use each type of swap.As discussed briefly above, swap transactions are a type of derivative used to mitigate currency exposure in forward trades. A swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange a sequence of cash flows over a period of time- a simultaneous sale of spot foreign exchange against a forward purchase of an equal amount of foreign currency (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). A plain vanilla interest rate swap is the most common and simplest type of swap. They are customized contracts that can be paid monthly, quarterly, yearly, or on a basis decided on by the firms involved.In a plain vanilla interest rate swap, one part agrees to pay the contract at a fixed interest rate, while the other party agrees to pay at a floating interest rate, and the two cash flows are paid in the same currency. The swap typically has a set date of maturity set at some point in the future (MacAfee, 2012). A plain vanilla currency swap, unlike the plain vanilla interest swap, interest and principal payments on a loan are exchanged in 2 currencies. In the plain vanilla currency swap, the two parties exchange payments at the beginning and end of the swap, which also differs from interest rate swaps (MacAfee, 2012).In the case of plain vanilla interest rate swaps, Macs or Mi ff would use these when they are paying a floating rate of interest on liabilities and earning a fixed rate of interest on assets. It can be highly risky for a firm to have such a mismatch between assets and liabilities. Therefore, the firm could use a plain vanilla interest rate swap to rectify the imbalance in their interest payments (MacAfee, 2012). For the case of the plain vanilla currency swap, a firm would be interested in conducting this type of swap when the firm wants to expand operations into another country, but has comparative advantage in its home country.The firm will likely have more favorable financing in its home country, and therefore could perform a currency swap with the country it is expanding into, and gain the necessary funds in the new currency to finance its startup and operations (MacAfee, 2012). 4. Discuss the issues and potential solutions for a NC contemplating foreign direct investment in a OLD. By definition, a NC or Multinational Corporation, is regi stered and/or has operations in more than one country. These types of firms engage in FED, or Foreign Direct Investment.FED is an investment made by a company based in one country onto a company or entity based in another country. Macs making direct investments typically have a significant degree of influence and control over the company into which the investment is made. Open economies with skilled workforces and good growth prospects tend to attract larger amounts of foreign direct investment than closed, highly regulated economies (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). FED can have numerous risks and obstacles for the NC involved. Olds, or Less Foreign direct investment can be an important source of employment opportunities for developing countries.However, anti-corporate advocates criticize Macs for entering Olds that have low human rights or environmental standards. They claim that multinationals give rise to large merged conglomerations that reduce competition and free enterprise, ra ise capital in host countries but export the profits, exploit countries for their natural resources, limit workers' wages, erode traditional cultures, and challenge national sovereignty. However, they remain attractive to investors due to low costs of labor, poorly enforced environmental and economic regulations, and inexpensive resources (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). Economic risk depends on the foreign country's financial state. A country with stable finances and a sound economy will be more attractive to foreign investors than one that has currency fluctuations and difficulty paying debt. Trade barriers and shareholder diversification issues can all be part of the economic risks taken on by a NC that is contemplating FED (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Trade barriers can often be overcome by moving trade through other countries without trade restrictions.In the case of physical trade barriers, such as poor transportation, FED can be put into place to improve infrastructure and reduce tr ansportation costs (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Political risk emerges when the political climate in a foreign country becomes unfriendly to investors. Political risk can be classified into three types: transfer risk, operational risk, and control risk. Transfer risk arises from uncertainty about cross border flows of capital and payments. Operational risk arises when the host country's policies affect the NC.Lastly, control risk is caused by uncertainty about the host country's policies regarding ownership and control of local operations (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). When contemplating investing in a OLD, the NC should take care to meticulously search and define the level of risk for doing business with the OLD they are considering, and also outline possible solutions in case of risk exposure. For example, those seeking more in-depth coverage of a particular country or region, two excellent sources of objective, comprehensive country information are the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Centr al Intelligence Agency World Fastback.Either of these resources provides an investor with a broad overview of the economic, political, demographic and social climate of a country. The Ell-J also provides ratings for most of the world's countries. These ratings can supplement those issued by Moody's, S and the other â€Å"traditional† ratings agencies (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). After completing the country analysis, the investing NC will have to decide on a sound investment approach. One of the recommended approaches is for the NC to invest in a broad international portfolio.Diversification is a fundamental principle of domestic investing, and is even more important when investing internationally. Even in a more concentrated portfolio, investments should be spread among several countries to maximize diversification and minimize risk (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). After deciding where to invest, an investor must decide which type of investment to enter. The choice of inve stment vehicle depends on each investor's individual knowledge, experience, risk profile and return objectives. When in doubt, it may make later.In addition to thoroughly researching prospective investments, an international investor also needs to monitor his or her portfolio and adjust holdings as conditions dictate. As in the U. S. , economic conditions overseas are constantly evolving, and political situations abroad can change quickly, particularly in emerging r frontier markets. Situations that once seemed promising may no longer be so, and countries that once seemed too risky might now be viable investment candidates (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). Final Exam Answer four of the following seven essay questions. Essay answers should be in paragraph form using complete sentences. (No bullet points) Use PAPA style for citations as needed. Exams may be subject to student submission using Turning at the professor's discretion. Your answers should be submitted as a Word file attached to an email sent to me by the start of class on March 5th. While brevity Is the soul of wit, essay answers should err on the side of completeness versus brevity.That said, I don't want to see the answer to any question go beyond two single-spaced hypocrites pages using a font size of 10-12 points. 1. Congratulations! You have Just been elected ruler off small OLD. What steps will you take to manage the country's balance of trade, and Its currency? Name and use an actual country don't make one up. Sierra Leone is a country that is rich in agricultural and mining resources, yet the great majority (over 70%) of the country still lives in poverty. Economic growth is hin dered by disadvantageous exchange rates and government budget deficits.As the recently elected President of Sierra Leone, I will take any and all necessary steps o bring this beautiful country out of poverty (www. Henbane. Org, 2014). Sierra Leone Is currently working with the International Monetary Fund (MIFF) to implement changes and improvements in our country's economic system. Sierra Leone has made important strides in economic reconstruction and macroeconomic as well as political stability since the end of the civil conflict in 2002. Economic growth has strengthened in the last two years with a stream of iron ore production and increased Infrastructure Investment.As the new president, I will continue working with the MIFF to manage the balance of trade and stabilize our currency (www. MFC. Org, 2013). In regards to Sierra Lens's currency, the exchange rate system is classified as floating, with the value of the Leone (currency) determined by the market. Currently, the central banks interventions are limited and aimed at smoothing volatility in the market. In order to stabilize the currency, I will diligently work with the Bank of Sierra Leone (BOSS) and with the MIFF to Introduce a stringent stabilization policy and reduce our country's debt.This policy will be aimed at first and foremost at tightening monetary regulations and reducing government borrowing. I will encourage the BOSS o move from a wholesale foreign exchange auction system to a retail auction system available to importers. This will enhance the currency's stability in the market as well as improve competitiveness. I will also work with the BOSS to improve monetary policy signaling, address remaining gaps In banking supervision, monetary and foreign exchange operations. I initiatives to encourage the development of micromanage in rural areas.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I will continue to work with the MIFF and the BOSS to develop a financial literacy campaign that will help to spr ead knowledge and titivation to continue efforts to stabilize the currency (www. Miff. Org, 2013) As president, I have also been charged with stabilizing trade in Sierra Leone. One of the biggest challenges in trade in Sierra Leone is that of smuggling and illicit trading activities. Sierra Leone is known for mining, especially diamonds, but poor regulation and policy enforcement, and high levels of corruption that lead to considerable levels of money laundering activities.As president, I will establish stricter controls and taxes around the mining trade, and crack down on corrupt government officials. I will continue to work with the government-created mining community development fund (DACCA), created to raise local communities' stake in the legal diamond trade, which returns a portion of diamond export taxes to diamond mining communities (www. Heritage. Org, 2014). Throughout my term as president, I hope to create a great economic turnaround for Sierra Leone, not only through bal ancing the currency and trade in the country, but through many more positive changes.I hope that by reducing budget deficits and improving the fiscal position of the government, I will be able to rehabilitate our social and economic infrastructure, stabilize the economy and provide a better life for Sierra Lens's people. 2. Compare and contrast the different methods of hedging transaction exposure. Include both derivative and non-derivative solutions. Transaction exposure is one of three types of foreign currency exposure. It is a type of risk that companies involved in international trade will face when entering fixed-price financial contracts.The risk occurs after the financial contract is made, and the subsequent fluctuations in currency exchange rates occur randomly and unpredictably. Although transaction exposure is considered short-term economic exposure, these changes in exchange rates can still affect the contract negatively, resulting in significant losses for the firm. The refore, companies participate in various hedging activities to avoid losses from transaction exposure (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). In transaction hedging, there are both derivative as well as non-derivative solutions. Derivatives are simply a contract between two parties.One of the ways which firms hedge transaction exposure is through the use of derivatives such as options contacts. Options are contracts used to reduce the risk of transactions by sing calls (sell) or puts (buy) on a financial asset at an agreed-upon price at some time in the future, which is known as exercising the option. Options also have a maturity or expiration date. In Europe, options can only be exercised at their maturity date, whereas in the United States, options can be exercised any time during the contract (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Another derivative solution is a futures contract.Futures contracts are an agreement to buy or sell an asset at an agreed-upon price in the future. Unlike options, futures contracts ar e standardized for an amount of the asset, and are usually transacted to exit the market. Hedgers avoid price variation in the market by and pass off risk to a speculator who will take a long or short position in the futures contract. The speculator is considered to be more willing to take on the price risk variation. Futures contracts are short-term and profits and losses are realized on a daily basis (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).Somewhat similar to a futures contract is a forward contract. Forwards are also a contract to buy or sell an asset at an agreed-upon price in the future, however, forward contracts have a specific maturity date unlike the daily settlements used in uterus contracts. Rather than being a standardized contract, forwards are tailor made to the needs of the participants. Also different than futures is that when trading forwards, forwards are often settled through the delivery of goods or cash (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).There are numerous other types of derivatives used to m itigate foreign exchange risk, but the most common are forward and futures contracts, futures options, and swaps which will be discussed later in this exam (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Many Macs also participate in non-derivative methods for hedging transaction risk. These are often used if a firm has positions in less liquid currencies. In order to mitigate risk in these cases, cross-hedging is a common technique in which a firm will hedge a position in one asset by taking a position in another asset.Effectiveness of cross-hedging is highly dependable on the strength of the relationship between the commodity futures prices and the exchange rate (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Another non-derivative method to avoid transaction exposure is hedging via lead and lag. A company can lead, to pay or collect on an invoice early, or lag, which means to pay or collect late. By timing the lead and lag strategy correctly, the firm can protect themselves against depreciation or appreciation of the foreign cur rency they are dealing in (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).Hedging through invoice currency can help firms diversify exchange exposure by using currency basket units. A currency basket is a selected group of currencies in which the weighted average is used as a measure of the value of a contract or obligation. It functions as a benchmark for regional currency movements. Because it is a portfolio of currencies, its value is more stable and can be useful as a hedging LOL, especially for long-term contracts where there are no forward or options contracts available (Nun & Arsenic, 2012).The last non-derivative form of transaction hedging that we will discuss is that of exposure netting. Exposure netting helps to centralize a firm's exchange exposure management function in one location, typically in a reinforce center. All invoices from nitrating transactions are sent here, where overall exposure is analyzed and determined. Foreign exchange experts can then determine the optimal hedging methods for the portfolio of transactions and move forward to implement them (Nun Arsenic, 2012). Overall, we have seen that there are numerous options to hedge transaction exposure.There are some similarities among them, but they differ from each other and are applicable to different needs. Derivative forms of hedging are typically contractual, relatively short term solutions to transaction exposure, whereas non- lifestyle. No matter what the case, however, it is prudent for any NC to determine a strategy for transaction hedging before going into significant overseas contracts. 3. Compare and contrast a plain vanilla currency swap with a plain vanilla interest rate swap. Describe and Justify a situation where a NC would use each type of swap.As discussed briefly above, swap transactions are a type of derivative used to mitigate currency exposure in forward trades. A swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange a sequence of cash flows over a period of time- a simultaneous sale of spot foreign exchange against a forward purchase of an equal amount of foreign currency (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). A plain vanilla interest rate swap is the most common and simplest type of swap. They are customized contracts that can be paid monthly, quarterly, yearly, or on a basis decided on by the firms involved.In a plain vanilla interest rate swap, one part agrees to pay the contract at a fixed interest rate, while the other party agrees to pay at a floating interest rate, and the two cash flows are paid in the same currency. The swap typically has a set date of maturity set at some point in the future (MacAfee, 2012). A plain vanilla currency swap, unlike the plain vanilla interest swap, interest and principal payments on a loan are exchanged in 2 currencies. In the plain vanilla currency swap, the two parties exchange payments at the beginning and end of the swap, which also differs from interest rate swaps (MacAfee, 2012).In the case of plain vanilla interest rate swaps, Macs or Mi ff would use these when they are paying a floating rate of interest on liabilities and earning a fixed rate of interest on assets. It can be highly risky for a firm to have such a mismatch between assets and liabilities. Therefore, the firm could use a plain vanilla interest rate swap to rectify the imbalance in their interest payments (MacAfee, 2012). For the case of the plain vanilla currency swap, a firm would be interested in conducting this type of swap when the firm wants to expand operations into another country, but has comparative advantage in its home country.The firm will likely have more favorable financing in its home country, and therefore could perform a currency swap with the country it is expanding into, and gain the necessary funds in the new currency to finance its startup and operations (MacAfee, 2012). 4. Discuss the issues and potential solutions for a NC contemplating foreign direct investment in a OLD. By definition, a NC or Multinational Corporation, is regi stered and/or has operations in more than one country. These types of firms engage in FED, or Foreign Direct Investment.FED is an investment made by a company based in one country onto a company or entity based in another country. Macs making direct investments typically have a significant degree of influence and control over the company into which the investment is made. Open economies with skilled workforces and good growth prospects tend to attract larger amounts of foreign direct investment than closed, highly regulated economies (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). FED can have numerous risks and obstacles for the NC involved. Olds, or Less Foreign direct investment can be an important source of employment opportunities for developing countries.However, anti-corporate advocates criticize Macs for entering Olds that have low human rights or environmental standards. They claim that multinationals give rise to large merged conglomerations that reduce competition and free enterprise, ra ise capital in host countries but export the profits, exploit countries for their natural resources, limit workers' wages, erode traditional cultures, and challenge national sovereignty. However, they remain attractive to investors due to low costs of labor, poorly enforced environmental and economic regulations, and inexpensive resources (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). Economic risk depends on the foreign country's financial state. A country with stable finances and a sound economy will be more attractive to foreign investors than one that has currency fluctuations and difficulty paying debt. Trade barriers and shareholder diversification issues can all be part of the economic risks taken on by a NC that is contemplating FED (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Trade barriers can often be overcome by moving trade through other countries without trade restrictions.In the case of physical trade barriers, such as poor transportation, FED can be put into place to improve infrastructure and reduce tr ansportation costs (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). Political risk emerges when the political climate in a foreign country becomes unfriendly to investors. Political risk can be classified into three types: transfer risk, operational risk, and control risk. Transfer risk arises from uncertainty about cross border flows of capital and payments. Operational risk arises when the host country's policies affect the NC.Lastly, control risk is caused by uncertainty about the host country's policies regarding ownership and control of local operations (Nun & Arsenic, 2012). When contemplating investing in a OLD, the NC should take care to meticulously search and define the level of risk for doing business with the OLD they are considering, and also outline possible solutions in case of risk exposure. For example, those seeking more in-depth coverage of a particular country or region, two excellent sources of objective, comprehensive country information are the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Centr al Intelligence Agency World Fastback.Either of these resources provides an investor with a broad overview of the economic, political, demographic and social climate of a country. The Ell-J also provides ratings for most of the world's countries. These ratings can supplement those issued by Moody's, S and the other â€Å"traditional† ratings agencies (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). After completing the country analysis, the investing NC will have to decide on a sound investment approach. One of the recommended approaches is for the NC to invest in a broad international portfolio.Diversification is a fundamental principle of domestic investing, and is even more important when investing internationally. Even in a more concentrated portfolio, investments should be spread among several countries to maximize diversification and minimize risk (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). After deciding where to invest, an investor must decide which type of investment to enter. The choice of inve stment vehicle depends on each investor's individual knowledge, experience, risk profile and return objectives. When in doubt, it may make later.In addition to thoroughly researching prospective investments, an international investor also needs to monitor his or her portfolio and adjust holdings as conditions dictate. As in the U. S. , economic conditions overseas are constantly evolving, and political situations abroad can change quickly, particularly in emerging r frontier markets. Situations that once seemed promising may no longer be so, and countries that once seemed too risky might now be viable investment candidates (www. Investigated. Com, 2014). Final Exam The response to each question or statement is either True or False. 1. A business organized as a separate legal entity owned by stockholders is a partnership. 2. External users of accounting information are managers who plan, organize, and run a business. 3. Two primary external users of accounting information are investors and creditors. 4. Financing activities for corporations include borrowing money and selling shares of their own stock. 5.Income will always be greater under the cash basis of accounting than under the accrual basis of accounting. 6. The difference between unearned revenue and accrued revenue is that accrued revenue has been recorded and needs adjusting and unearned revenue has never been recorded. 7. Cash is a temporary account. 8. Bonding means insuring a company against theft by employees. 9. The treasurer should prepare and sign a check only after authorization to issue a check has been provided. 10. Using borrowed money to increase the rate of return on common stockholders' equity is called â€Å"trading on the equity.The extent of internal control features adopted by a company must be evaluated in terms of cost-benefit. 11. A good system of internal control will safeguard its assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of its accounting records. 12. All reconciling items in determining the adjusted cash balance per books require the depositor to make adjusting Journal entries to the Cash account. 13. Cash equivalents include money market accounts, commercial paper, and U. S. Treasury bills held for ninety days or less. 14. A basic principle of cash management is to increase the speed of paying liabilities. 5.A cash budget contributes to more effective cash management. 16. A change in accounting principle occurs when the principle used in the current year is different from the one used by competitors in the current year. 17. If a company has sales of $110 in 2007 and $154 in 2006, the percentage decrease in sales from 2006 to 2007 i s 140%. 18. In a common size income statement, each item is expressed as a percentage of net income. 19. Profitability ratios are frequently used as a basis for evaluating management's operating effectiveness 20. Inventory turnover is a measure of equity that focuses on efficient use of inventory. 1 . The current ratio is a measure of all the ratios calculated for the current year. 22. From a creditor's point of view, the higher the total debt to total assets ratio, the lower the risk that the company may be unable to pay its obligations. 23. Alternative accounting methods affect the quality of earnings 24. Because pro formal earnings are based on specific rules, these amounts are highly reliable. Section II: Multiple Choice Choose your response from one of the possible answers provided. 26. A business organized as a corporation ). Is not a separate legal entity in most states. ). Requires that stockholders be personally liable for the debts of the business. C). Is owned by its stoc kholders. D). Has tax advantages over a proprietorship or partnership. 27. Which of the following is not one of the three forms of business organization? A). Corporations. B). Partnerships. C). Proprietorships. D). Investors. 28. An advantage of the corporate form of business is that a). It has limited life. B). Its owner's personal resources are at stake. C). Its ownership is easily transferable via the sale of shares of stock. ). It is simple to establish. 29.The group of users of accounting information charged with achieving the goals of the business is its a). Auditors. B). Investors. C). Managers. D). Creditors. 30. Which of the following is a primary user of accounting information with a direct financial interest in the business? A). Taxing authority b). Creditor c). Regulatory agency d). Labor union 31 . An income statement a). Summarizes the changes in retained earnings for a specific period of time. B). Reports the changes in assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity ov er a period of time. C). Ports the assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity at a specific date. ). Presents the revenues and expenses for a specific period of time. 32. Which financial statement is prepared first? A). Balance sheet b). Lonesome statement c). Retained earnings statement d). Statement of cash flows 33. Which one of the following is not a Justification for adjusting entries? A). AdJusting entries are necessary to ensure that revenue recognition principles are followed. B). AdJusting entries are necessary to ensure that the matching principle is followed. C). AdJusting entries are necessary to enable financial statements to be in conformity tit GAP. D).AdJusting entries are necessary to bring the general ledger accounts in line with the budget. 34. If a resource has been consumed but a bill has not been received at the end of the accounting period, then a). An expense should be recorded when the bill is received. B). An expense should be recorded when the cash is p aid out. C). An adjusting entry should be made recognizing the expense. D). It is optional whether to record the expense before the bill is received. 35. An adjusting entry would not include which of the following accounts? A). Cash b). Lintiest Receivable ).Property Tax Payable d). Unearned Revenue 36. At December 31, 2007, before any year-end adjustments, Boils Company's Prepaid Insurance account had a balance of $2,700. It was determined that $1,500 of the Prepaid Insurance had expired. The adjusted balance for Insurance Expense for the year would be a). $l ,500. 0. $2,700. D). $1,900. 37. Which one of the following is not an objective of a system of internal controls? A). Safeguard company assets b). Overstate liabilities in order to be conservative c). Enhance the accuracy and reliability of accounting records d).Reduce the risks of errors 38. Which one of the following would be considered a long-term solvency ratio? A). Receivables turnover b). Return on total assets c). Curre nt cash debt coverage ratio.

Marketing in Hospitality Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing in Hospitality - Assignment Example Customer’s needs are different and segmenting a target market makes the company more efficient and can achieve higher performance. Performance  is seen through  indicators such as revenue or sales. Another reason for market segmentation is the fact that customers have different disposable incomes. Thus, their sensitivity to price is different (Boundless, 2014). A  business that  segments their  target market  by  offering their products at various prices, can cater to a larger section of a given market. This results in enhanced profits for the company. Market segmentation can be used by a company to position a product. Customers can be encouraged to start using a particular product if it is offered at a low price. After gaining that  low-price  market, a company can then growth the company through built up sales revenue that is reinvested back into the enterprise. A benefit of market segmentation as a marketing strategy is that it can be used to maintain a share of a market segment. A business without a strong lead will find it hard to maximize profitability due to larger brands. Large brands maximize scale of economies in production and marketing and leverage their relationship with distributors and retailers to deliver an extremely differentiated product to the end consumer. Small companies may find it harder to find a particular segment of the market to satisfy. Marketing mix refers to a marketing strategy that involves combining  factors that can be controlled by a business, to achieve its objectives of marketing a product to a particular target market segment (Chong, 2003). The reason for this is that these factors are essential aspects of marketing activities. Market planning can then be better translated into practice. The basic components of a marketing mix are the product, price, place, and promotion. Other components may include people, process, and

Macro & Micro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Macro & Micro economics - Essay Example The micro and the macro environmental factors influence the market and the marketing decisions. The product of a company considers the differentiation strategies so that the product is accepted by the consumers. Thus, for influencing the market the marketing decisions on the product is important. The price of the product also influences the response of the market towards purchase of the product. This influences the marketing decision for fixing a competitive price. Similarly place and promotion for launch and sell of the product influences the market. The decision on the distribution system of the products enables a smoother access of the products by the consumers. The decision on promotional strategies on the basis of the target customer segment influences the behaviour of the market. Similar to the micro environmental factors, the macro environmental factors like the political scenario influences the operations of the market. Thus marketing decisions should take into consideration the uncertainties of the political factors. Similarly, the other macro environmental factors like the culture of the society, surge in economic conditions, legal constraints influence the market investments. These factors are not under the direct control of the market and hence, the marketing decisions are influenced by the uncertainties associated with the market performance. Segmentation variables to define a market segment The various segmentation variables that need to be considered to define a target market segment are the sizes of the market segments, growth rate of the market segment, suitability of the market segment with respect to the product of the company, access of the market segment by the company and the purchasing power of the market segment. The various market segments are identified based on various features like the demographics, psychographic and the geographic factors. The target size of the market segment is identified based on the suitability of the market seg ment with respect to the product. The growth rate of the market segment is then determined to estimate whether its matches the required growth rate and the future prospects. After determining the suitability of the market segment, the potential access to the market segment is determined by the firm. Finally the purchasing power of the market segment is analyzed to determine whether it matches the price of the product. By considering all these segmentation variables, the target market segment is defined that matches the requirement of the company with respect to the desired features. Different types of pricing strategy The various ways of maximization of profits of the business lies at the cutting of costs, increase in sales and increasing the profits. In a situation where costs are reduced to the limit and it’s difficult to increase the sales of the company, the pricing strategies are adopted in such a scenario. The different pricing strategies are namely, cost plus pricing, market-oriented pricing and penetration pricing. The cost plus pricing method takes into consideration the basic cost of production and then adds a certain percentage to the basic cost to determine the sale price of the pro

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 51

History - Essay Example This alliance was renewed in subsequent year’s i.e. 1887, 1907 and 1912. On the other hand, the triple Entente comprised of Great Britain, France and Russia, who were opposed to the nations in the triple alliance. France was the first to express its fear of the threats posed by this alliance. Britain also expressed its concern over the developments in the German Navy and in 1904 the two nations entered the entente Cordiale or simply put a friendly understanding. The main objective of this alliance was to promote co-operation against an apparent threat by Germany. Three years following the formation of this alliance Russia fearing the growth of Germany army Joined France and Britain to establish the Triple Entente. As opposed to the triple alliance, triple entente did not provide that each nation goes to war on behalf of the others; however it maintained that all members uphold a ‘moral obligation† to support each other. The First World War which began in the month of August 1914 had both direct and indirect causes. The direct cause was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of Austria, together with his wife at Sarajevo on 28th June 1914. This event that was linked to Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian revolutionary, only served as a trigger that set off declarations of the war. However, there are other Arguable causes that include: The existence of alliances that had been signed by concerned nations between 1879 and 1914. These alliances carried a significant implication on the later developments since some countries had no otherwise but to declare war in case any of the members ally declared war first. Such is the case that alliances reflected agreement between two or more nations to support each other whenever a need arises. Imperialism was the other cause and was evidenced by the concerned countries taking over new lands and making them subject to their control. Here, the rival nations

The Emerald Buddha Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Emerald Buddha - Research Paper Example The Emerald Buddha, a dark green statue is in a standing form, about 66 centimeters (26 in) tall which is carved from a single jade stone in the meditating posture in the style of the Lenna School of the northern Thailand. Due to the holiest nature of the statue except for the Thai King, no other person can be allowed come close or to touch the statue who cloaks it three time a year during winter summer and rain season which is a powerful ritual carried out to welcome good fortunes in the country in each season. Wat Phra Kaeo is believed to be the holiest temple in the kingdom, due to the diminutive Emerald Buddha is the holiest image in Thailand. The coming to be of the image is in dispute among experts where some say it was made in Sri Lanka as believe that it was crafted during the 14th century to what is now Thailand. It is believed to come with good fortune to whoever possesses it, and thus it has been fought over by several kings and empires for legends claims that miracles use d to occur in different places it has been interned. Since 1784, the Emerald Buddha has been in its present shrine in Wat Phra Kaeo thus making the Buddha image and the temple remain a fantastic focal point due to the historic royal ceremonies. Other people believe e that ‘†Wat Phra Singh† Bangkok is the holiest temple since it was first to host emerald Buddha despite the many argumentative explanations few people have came into concession about this (Subhadradi,, 25-36). Main Body #1 Emerald Buddha is made out of the finest gems ever known and has some of the most miraculous powers. In Thailand, an image of the Emerald Buddha which is made of gem and stone carving is been associated with extremely uncommon power for along time. This Buddha images has been used as object of ventilation and religious worship in the community. Due to their miraculous power the image of Emerald Buddha has been shown to appear on office and altars in homes, schools, and temples. The im age is believed to be a sign of affectiousness of religion from the effective cognition of the ontological communication. The affection is delivered from the ritual of consecration of the can lead to personal presentation. Therefore, it represents the inherent of of the relationship between the inherent and beholder as a simple of contemplation. (Swearer 8-31) Main Body #2 Anthropologists and historian have put across several arguments that the Buddha can go where it is designated to go is where it shall choose. According to the case of sinhale Buddha case the image of the emerald Buddha it travels according to the kingship and kingdom making for it was placed in the inner cycle of the palace. In this case, the travel of Sinhala Buddha is a remarkable occasion for it is associated with the first appearance of pure pali budhisism. The travel of the buddha statue provides a chain of 0geneology of the kingdom and politic which the statues legitimate. It provide a map for the political arena made of the number if principalities changing boundaries and affiliations thus identifying the virtues of commitment to the religio-political ideology. The statue of Buddha is a product of the circumstances of which it’s making, and authenticity is given by its maker (Timbiah 1-15) V. Main Body #3 Emerald Buddha has seen many kingdom and empire fight over it due to it holistic nature. It is believed that the kingdom

Sustainable Corporate Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sustainable Corporate Development - Assignment Example It is the basic goal of every business to grow in the respective industry. This many also involve launching new products and services for the consumers. The company must not only focus on growth but profitable growth. Without profits the growth of the business becomes unsustainable. The profitability of most of the organizations is based on two important factors i.e. cutting cost and growth (Anon., 2013). Quality of working life is based on the job related experience of the employees. The needs that should be addressed by the employees to achieve high quality of work life include skill variety, task identity, autonomy, task significance and feedback. Other aspects that should also be addressed include individual power, fairness and equity, participation of employees in the management of the firm, self –development and extra work activities. Business ethics are the moral principles which underpin the behavior of the firms. Moral principles are concerned with what is right and wrong for the business. The ethical business is considered to be the one which is based on the set of moral principles. Being ethical means that a business complies with the laws and regulations and make choices about what it is allowed to do and what it is not allowed to do. An organization sets ethical objectives of the firm by applying ethical values to the actions and targets of the firm (Anon., 2014). The concept of business continuity is based on the fact that a company continues to operate in the business even in the adverse environmental conditions such as in case of natural disaster, fire, etc. The continuity plan of the business may include moving the operations of the business to another location if any kind of disaster occurs on the worksite. Learning organization is considered to be an organization that facilitates learning and transforms itself according to the changing trends of the environment. Learning organizations emerge as a result of the pressure faced by modern

LAW FOR BUSINESS Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

LAW FOR BUSINESS Assignment - Essay Example In general, compensation for economic loss resulting from damage to property can be recovered. As such, it is difficult to clearly distinguish between pure and consequential economic loss. This was demonstrated in Spartum Steel and Alloys Ltd v Martin &Co, wherein, the defendant had by inadvertence caused damage to an electronic cable in the plaintiff’s factory. The outcome of this act was a reduction in profits, and a general delay in the functioning of the factory. The court while awarding damages for the pure economic loss caused, rejected the claim for general damages (Speaight, 2009, p. 23). The compensation was with regard to the economic loss that was the direct outcome of the damage to property. The floodgates argument has several features. One of these contends that allowing recovery for pure economic loss in some instances would result in a plethora of lawsuits, which would effectively diminish the functioning of the courts. Furthermore, the imposition of widespread liability would unfairly and disproportionately burden a defendant. In addition, the defendant would be hard pressed to assess his potential liability on causing damage to the effects of a primary victim (von Bar, Drobnig, & Alpat, 2004, p. 124). The number of secondary loss sufferers becomes indeterminate and depends on all those who have an economic interest in the primary victim’s property. ... 19). On several occasions, the floodgates argument has been employed, in order to restrict liability. Thus, the House of Lords admitted this argument in Majrowski v Guys and St. Thomas’s NHS Trust. In this case, it was held that an employer could be deemed to be vicariously liable for an employee’s breach of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Moreover, in Conn v City Council of the City of Sunderland, the Appellate Court ruled that classifying an act as harassment would depend upon the place and context in which it had taken place. Consequently, it dismissed the plaintiff’s claim of injury as the language employed by the supervisor had been what was commonplace in that industry. In the case of Weller v Foot and Mouth Disease Research Institute, the inadvertent release of a virus from the defendant’s institute, resulted in a near epidemic of foot and mouth disease among the cattle of that area. As a result, the farmers in that area had to slaughter th eir cattle, and auctions could not be conducted. The auctioneers made a claim for damages. In its ruling, the court held that the auctioneers had merely undergone an indirect financial loss, and were therefore not eligible to claim damages (Harpwood, 2008, p. 87). Thus, the floodgates argument has been successfully contained by the judiciary. This is evident from the ruling in the above cited cases. Question Two: Extent of Accountant’s Liability to Non – Clients An accountant’s liability, with regard to clients and non-clients was determined through the judgement of the courts in the following cases. A negligent misrepresentation, despite being honest, can result in a claim for damages. This holds good, even if there had been no contract

Organizational Behavior Factors Affecting the Criminal Justice Essay

Organizational Behavior Factors Affecting the Criminal Justice - Essay Example When the upper management makes good decisions they ensure that the community has an effective justice system and also the lower managements are able to imitate their business behaviors, but a corrupt upper management system will negatively affect the lower management and the community. Culture may also be one of the biggest factors that affect the criminal justice system in the police department whereby diversity in the department reveals that there is less likelihood of disagreements between both the officers and the suspect or victims when there is a language barrier. Diversity in the police department has an advantage since individuals who may be witnesses or victims may feel more obliged to give information to the police officer. Law goes hand in hand with the criminal justice work place since the officers are expected to uphold the law at all times. However, there are officers who think that since they are the law enforcers they are above the law which is an issue, but in accor dance to the law when the officer commits an offence he or she should be treated in the same way as an individual who broke the law and was not an enforcement agent of the law. Stakeholders play an important role too as they determine how the internal and external relations of the system function. The influence of this factor in the criminal justice workplace mainly leadership creates a working pattern which ensures the accomplishment of the departments goals and objectives. There are three influential stakeholders’ namely political bodies, community groups and employees who affect the criminal justice system in the work place. Political bodies, who are external stakeholders, have more of a negative influence on the police department since they use it mostly to practice illegal acts unlike community groups, which may work with the police department to fight crime though community policing. They help combat crime by giving police lads to offenders, and this increases the effic iency of the criminal justice system in combating crime. Employees who may be officers are very influential stakeholders in the criminal justice system since when they adequately give information to their bosses on various issue in the organization and are accountable for the daily operations, and this implies that they increase the chances of finding solutions rather rapidly by working together to find the most viable solutions to existing problems. The system factor in the criminal justice work place is usually created by the management, which in regards to the police department determines whether the police force will be effective or not. A good and effective system will ensure that justice is served to all who need it since officers will do what   the system requires of them and also officers employed in the system will find it more comfortable working in the department. The structure in the police department determines each and every role played by an officer and their effect iveness in the department.

Hobbes and Locke's Ideas on Sovereignty Literature review

Hobbes and Locke's Ideas on Sovereignty - Literature review Example Citizens are obliged to say okay to authority by their governments due to the fact that the alternative, which is living without some form of governance, would not be ideal. The foundation of a state is based on the relationship between governments and their respective citizens. Advocates of theories of social contract go about explaining the reasons as to why governments are formed by citizens as well as are compelled to abide by the law. The theories of social contract were heavily supported by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Despite this, the theories by the two just about totally opposed on the nature of the power of the governing supreme, human nature as well as on the citizens’ rights against the supreme. Locke employed the social contract to support limited constitutionalism while Hobbes employed the same to defend absolutism.         The Leviathan’s writing began shortly after the start of England’s civil war and was later published in 1651. The primary motives of Hobbes writing his theory of sovereignty are believed to be accounting for a stable political authority. In fact, Hobbes feels that it is the desire for stability that drives men into agreeing to enter into a commonwealth. According to Hobbes, a state of nature has â€Å"no propriety, no Dominion, no Mine and Thine distinct; but (only) that to be every man's that he can get; and for so long as he can keep it." He believed that the state of nature was characterized by a war between every man, and against every man.In addition, Hobbes argued that in a case of a natural state, "every man has a right to everything; even to one another's a body", describing the state of lives of men in this state as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". This is in line with his argument that though men are equal in their natural sense, continued acquis ition of property results in bad self-preservation. The above-mentioned condition has no room for living large, industry, or private ownership of property beyond what one can secure from others by force. When people begin hunting each other for property, a state of insecurity is born and eventually results in fear of death among the citizens. This fright, together with the hunger for a large living is described by Hobbes as â€Å"the passions that incline men to peace.†

Akhenaten Family Background Essay Example for Free

Akhenaten Family Background Essay Describe the family and family background of Akhenaten. In your answer refer to: the 18th dynasty pharaohs, his mother, his brother, Akhenaten’s wives, particularly Nefertiti (her origin and roles) and his children. Assess their importance to the pharaoh. In your answer refer to at least four sources, ancient and modern. You can also show diagrams if you wish. (500-550 words) Akhenaten was the tenth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty; he reigned over New Kingdom Egypt for approximately 17 years. Akhenaten was the son of Amenhotep III and his chief wife, Queen Tiy. Scholars agree that Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy had four known daughters and two sons, Thutmoses and Akhenaten, who was originally named Amenhotep IV. Akhenaten was a sheltered child and appeared to be rejected by his father as he was rarely included in portraits of the family and was never taken to any public events unlike his brother, Thutmoses, as he was not assumed to take the throne. Akhenaten became pharaoh after the death of his father Amenhotep III in 1352BC, as Thutmoses had died prematurely. It is believed that Akhenaten was already married to Nefernefruaten- Nefertiti when he came to the throne. Nefertiti’s origin or parents are unknown, there are two main theories of her origin, and the most accepted is that Nefertiti is the daughter of Ay, vizier to various pharaohs of the 18th dynasty and the assumed brother of Queen Tiy. This is believed as Nefertiti’s nurse was the wife of Ay, as well as references that Nefertiti’s sister, Mutnojme, is prominently featured in the reliefs of Ay’s tomb. Another theory is that Nefertiti was the Mitannian princess sent to Egypt for a diplomatic marriage, referred to as ‘Tadhukhipa’, this is supported as Nefertiti means â€Å"the beautiful woman has come†. Nefertiti was Akhenaten’s chief wife and it is clear that Akhenaten valued his beloved wife, in his tomb he referred to her as ‘the mistress of his happiness’, and according to C. Alfred on one of the boundary stelae at Amarna he describes her as â€Å"Fair of Face, Joyous with the Double Plume, Mistress of Happiness, Endowed with Favour, at hearing whose voice one rejoices, Lady of Grace, Great of Love, whose disposition cheers the Lord of Two Lands†. In Akhenaten’s tomb and in tombs of the nobles, Nefertiti is depicted as equal to the pharaoh, in Akhenaten and the Amarna Bradley states â€Å"she’s is treated as the king’s partner not only in their family life but in religious and political life as well†, unlike other pharaohs there are also many family reliefs depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their six daughters making offerings to the Aten; no son was ever depicted in reliefs. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are accepted to have had six daughters together. They were Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhensenpaaten, Nefernefruten-tasherit, Nefernefure and Setepenre. Meritaten ‘beloved of Aten’, married Akhenaten’s successor, Smekhkare. Around year 15 of Akhenaten’s reign, Meritaten was given the rank of ‘Mistress of the House’ and favourite of the King, at this time she was depicted performing certain religious rituals in the temple of the Aten. Meketaten ‘protected of Aten’ possibly died at childbirth (Alfred) or at the age of eleven (Redford), mourning scenes of Akhenaten and Nefertiti are depicted in the king’s tomb. Ankhensenpaaten ‘her life is in the Aten’, married Tutankhamun and became Ankhensenamun. Nefernefruaten-tasherit ‘Nefernefruaten Junior –after Nefertiti’, Nefernefrure ‘beautiful as the beauty of Re’, and Setepenre ‘chosen of Re’. What happened to the youngest three daughters is unknown. In addition to Nefertiti, Akhenaten had many other minor wives that he inherited from Amenhotep III’s harem as well as those he would have selected himself. Of particular importance is Kiya, one of Akhenaten’s minor wives. Her full origin is unknown, but she seems to have come from an official family with links to the royal household. In Akhenaten’s inscriptions Kiya was described as the greatly beloved wife of the king, this was purely an acknowledgement of her position as secondary wife and in particular as the mother of royal children. She is believed to be the mother of Tutankhaten (later Tutankhamen) and possibly Smenkhkare, who succeeded Akhenaten’s reign. It appears Kiya was a favourite of Akhenaten’s for a reasonably long time. Describe the building projects of Akhenaten in East Karnak, near the traditional capital Thebes, and Akhetaten (his new cult centre). Describe the features of the buildings and account for the stylistic changes, especially to do with the worship of the Aten. In your answer include evidence from sources ancient and modern. You can use diagrams and maps if you wish. When Akhenaten came to power in 1353BC instead of holding the holistic New Kingdom Egypt builder-warrior pharaoh, Akhenaten focused on his building projects and the establishment of Aten worship in New Kingdom Egypt. In the first year of his reign Akhenaten ordered that his father’s construction project be completed, this was typical of New Kingdom pharaohs. This project was of two decorated pylon gateways at the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. The relief scenes carved on the pylon at this time show Akhenaten in a traditional way, they also depict the Aten as a falcon-headed god. In the second year Akhenaten ordered the construction of four temples dedicated to the Aten to be built at East Karnak, outside the enclosure wall on the east of the Great Temple of Amun-Re. These temples were Gempaaten – ‘sun disk is found’ , the Mansion of the Ben-ben stone, Rud-menu – ‘Sturdy are the Monuments of the sun-disk Forever,’ and Teni-menu – ‘Exalted are the Monuments of the sun-disk Forever’. The Gempaaten was an open rectangular court approximately 300m by 200m enclosed with a mud-brick wall, surrounding this was a roofed colonnade. The temple itself was adorned with colossal statues of Akhenaten. The decorative scenes shown in the temple showed a celebration of the Heb-sed festival in the second and third year of the king’s reign. According to an unknown source in the depictions of the first year the ritual was enacted before officials from all the districts and the gods of Egypt, whose statues had been brought from near and far to be placed in shrines. Akhenaten offered to the gods individually and was accepted by each to continue ruling. However, in the Heb-sed festival of the third year all the shrines of the gods of Egypt are replaced by the Aten and Akhenaten in the reliefs. Typically when a pharaoh is being depicted with a god he is either drawn equal or depicted kneeling to the deity, but as the sun-disc is shown at the top of relief scenes Akhenaten’s single standing figure becomes more prominent. There is no firm evidence of the other three Aten temples purpose or location at Karnak, as they were destroyed and the building materials were reused in later pharaohs building projects. It is believed that the Mansion of the Ben-ben stone was built for Nefertiti, the Ben-ben stone is typically depicted as a pyramid shaped stone, but in this temple it was shown as an obelisk. In the relief scenes Nefertiti is portrayed making offerings to the Aten as this role was generally undertaken by Akhenaten, these reliefs were the first to include Nefertiti in the triad of the Aten. A major change in the depiction of Akhenaten began to appear in these temples, he was no longer portrayed as the tradition pharaoh but instead his face become elongated, he showed very little upper body tone and had a pot belly. However large and remarkable Akhenaten’s Aten temples were, they would never be able to overcome the dominance of Amun at Karnak. This issue led to Akhenaten’s desire to form a new capital city entirely devoted to the Aten sun-disc. In year six of his reign Akhenaten selected a site halfway between Memphis and Thebes, where the cliffs on the east bank form an amphitheatre opposite from the river Nile, this naturally occurring amphitheatre was 13km in diameter and 5km wide. Akhenaten set up boundary stelae to mark the limits of his new city in every directions, he affirmed that the ground did not belong to any deity and it was the Aten himself who had revealed the land to Akhenaten. On the boundary stelae the king states the city is to be called Akhetaten meaning ‘the Horizon or seat of the Aten’, the message on the stelae mentions the temples Akhenaten intends to construct in the city – A House of the Aten, a Mansion of the Aten, a Sunshade of the Queen and a House of Rejoicing for the Aten in the Island. Evidence of most of these temples and buildings has not been found or confirmed. Akhetaten was divided into several main building regions; these included the Main city – with the royal palace and temples, the North Suburb, South city, Maru-aten (Southern Palace), a workers village and rock cut tombs. The Great Temple of the Aten was built as the centre of worship in Akhetaten. The building was an 800m by 300m open roofed rectangular court, similar to the Gempaaten in layout but much larger. The temple was not open to the public and only the royal family or high priest could enter into the Great Temple of the Aten. R. J. Unstead states the temple was designed in a processional way; entrance to the temple was from the west between two tall pylons, this entrance let into a small courtyard, ahead of this was the House of Rejoicing or Per-Hai. This was a hall filled with columns and adorned with reliefs of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. From Per-Hai you reach the next part of the temple Gem-Aten ‘finding of the Aten’, this courtyard contained rows of mud brick offering tables. Ahead of the Gem-Aten is the entrance to a long narrow court with a raised altar, beyond this alter is then entrance to another court, followed by a second and finally into three smaller sanctuary or garden courts. Each court of the temple, aside from the Gem-Aten had its own altar and colossal statues of Akhenaten as well as representations of the Aten on wall reliefs. There was no exit at the other end of The Great Temple so the procession of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and the Aten priests had to turn around and exit through the west entrance.

Living A Life By Kierkegaard And Camus

Living A Life By Kierkegaard And Camus Does life have any meaning? Stay tuned because two philosophers tried to answer this question for you and I. Soren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus both examined human existence, the meaning of life and the constant struggle to find answers in the world. Kierkegaard, also known as the father of existentialism focused on the Christian faith/doctrine in relation to the existence of God. His view on religion signifies his passion for ethics and for human beings to recognize God and practice what is being preached. Camus, who critiqued Kierkegaards writing, had a different view about the meaning of life in which God/faith is not the ultimate. His strong opposition to death is depicted in his writing because if there is life there is hope. Both writers argued differently on whether life is worth living and the different solutions that can lead one towards finding a meaningful life. Many might ask why people exist. I for one, will not deny the fact that I sometimes question my existence. Who a re we to determine that life is meaningless? If life is meaningless, why do humans work hard to live a legacy? Interpretation of meaninglessness of life also depends on the respondents religious upbringing. So who can answer my question; is it Kierkegaard, Camus or the Universe? Life can only be meaningless if we presume it meaningless; our attitude to life is what makes it meaningless. Stating that life is meaningless because we suffer and die is a subjective statement. Many people claim to be enjoying life and often will admit even in their dying beds that they have lived a very happy life. Both Kierkegaard and Camus have offered different explanations on how to deal with a meaningless life; however, they both have their pros and cons, therefore, no solution are better than the other and cannot be perfect on its own. What constitutes a meaningful life? What makes life meaningless? It is important for one to exam what life has to offer before making a decision on whether it is meaningless or not. There are times when we feel abandoned and offended by the world, but it does not mean that it is the end of our existence even though we feel that way. Camuss explanation and example is right because if I belief that life is absurd and not worth the hassle, I would be inclined to behave in a certain way (I will live a life of carelessness since I know that I have nothing to lose) to make myself happy. Killing oneself is unfruitful because there is no guarantee that there is happiness after life or that life will eventually become meaningful. I believe in living life one day at a time; we struggle to make sense of the world but it keeps getting difficult as we try. This action often makes us rebel against the world (we basically give up hope) and search for alternatives to our problem. We live in a constant state of conflict with the world. The meaning of life needs to be understood in order to feel fulfilled by the world. Because we are born and thrown into the world that offers no explanation of existence, we are left to avenge for ourselves. We all have a feeling or vision of what we want the world to look like, but we get disappointed that the world cannot be shaped to our own individual liking. Camus compares the human attempt to understand the world but the world itself cannot be understood. The feeling of breached relationship amongst the world and human beings is what he calls absurd. We can equally feel fulfilled when the world has the same opinion as we do. On the contrary, when the world is against us and is on the opposite direction, we conclude that the world is not worth living. The world can be unreasonable, however, it links humans together, hence we long for clarity to the irrational relationship we have with the world. Camus explained three different ways man can live in an absurd world and still find meaning in it: the life of Don Juan, the drama life and the conquest life. The Don Juan life is a care free life; it is a life of here and now, a life with limit and no future. The life of Don Juan is the type of life that the majority of society would rather live, including me. I agree with Camus because there are people whose lifestyle is living in the moment. They do not live to find answers to life but live to satisfy immediate desire. People living the life of Don are self centered and they depend only on their decision and judgment because they do not put meaning in anything. They strive for self benefit rather than for anything else. This type of life is one that is not guided by any moral code or conduct. It is a care free life where people are not worried about constant judgment by the society or feelings of guilt for wrong actions. Imagine a world without morals or without law I believe a lo t of people would find it difficult to cope. Although, the law and morals exist, living the life of Don Juan would yield no consequences. The quantity of life matters in this kind of life because they are conscious and are aware of what they do, but the amounts of fulfillment they get from such action is what counts. How effective are your actions and decisions on earth? If what I do brings me joy and contentment, I will be inclined to do the same thing to continue to get the same joy. However, I believe that at some point, such life will become lonely because everything revolves around you only and change will be difficult. The other way of living is the life of an actor. Living a life of an actor means that one has to literarily put on a different lifestyle each day. The actor strives to live for others and thus represents lives other than his own. Living such a life makes him absurd, a life with diversity and no specific purpose. I believe that living a life of an actor is a way of finding oneself and a way of searching for clarity. I also believe that people who live the life of an actor will find life more meaningful at some point because they do realize that such life is hopeful that they might find a life they can identify with. I can see where the life of an actor can be attributed to Camus absurd reasoning. This is because when we continue to live, we have hope that someday something will change or that one decision might lead to a meaningful life. When in doubt and in search of answers to life, we find ourselves contemplating whether to live or to die. When the feeling of emptiness and loneline ss engulfs our mind, I think our instinct will be to end that suffering and save ourselves the heart ache of a wicked world. However, an actor continues to live and hope for tomorrow. The last way of life as defined by Camus, is the life of a Conquest. The conquest life is directed towards achieving an aim, an aim he knows is unattainable, yet he struggles. People who live this life know full well that the end result will not be fruitful, yet that struggle gives their life meaning. The flesh represents life and being alive is worth more than the struggle. Conqueror are people who are aware of their strengths and limitations, they remain constantly on that strength that is enough for them to survive the world. They are not worried about being the best; they are worried about maintaining the achievement they currently have by being consistent in their actions. Kierkegaards view is different from Camus because his view focuses more on religion and on the idea that Gods existence conquers all problems. He expressed this idea through his definition of the knight of faith and his relationship with God. The knight of faith believes in God and that the ultimate meaning of life is established when we develop a relationship with God; however, he does violate the moral law for the sake of the higher being. But even when we believe in God, there are times when we become overwhelmed with the situation at hand and we feel unfulfilled. However, for Kierkegaard, the knight of faith believes that with God, all things are possible; thus when we sacrifice the material things we have and follow God, we are guaranteed greater possibility in life. Kierkegaards beliefs are different from Camus Don Juan because Camus does not believe in God and Dons life is not bound by any ethical code. His Knight of faith is depicted in the life of Abraham the son of David. Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac; he followed through with this action to murder his only son. This action Kierkegaard calls faith because Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only beloved son simply because God said so and this action will make him develop a relationship with God. The knight of faith acts religiously in Gods will and faith becomes the ultimate even though a moral law is being violated. There are individuals whose ultimate goal is to pursue Gods will regardless of what the moral law is; the higher moral law is what is of importance to them. Kierkegaard believes that faith is the only meaningful/existential way of life, but if that is the case, Abraham, who is considered the knight of faith, violated the moral law. He violated the moral law because of his will to sacrifice his son just to be closer to God. When we are faced with the decision of the ethical vs. the religious, our love for religion is greater than our love for the ethical. Abraham chose religion because his faith in God was superior to his allegiance to the ethical life. I believe in religion and I am often influenced by it when making decisions, but I have decided to violate any moral law. I counter Kierkegaards belief because by Abraham willing to sacrifice his son, he might be mistaken for a murderer or a believer. Some might say that he is both, but if you believe that Abraham is a believer, you also believe that it is ok to kill for the sake of God. If we say that he is a murderer, then faith does not exist and the individual does not exist as well. I f this is the case, then the ethical way of life (the universal) not the religious is the acceptable way of life. The way we live our life now speaks our feature. In any situation, I believe that I have a purpose in life. The type of life I choose to live, either the life as explained by Camus or by Kierkegaard, defines who I am. This is where I agree with both Camus and Kierkegaards philosophical view of life and human attitude. They are both right when they said attitude shapes ones life. The meaning of life is defined by the behavior and the attitude we have towards it. But what if the choices we make are not good enough? Does that mean that life will be meaningless? No, but if we are not open to change, then we are trapped in our own single world of meaninglessness. We have a choice to make every single day we are alive and the kind of attitude we want to embrace for that day. Making a bad decision or living a rouged life will definitely expose me to many consequences based on my decision. In any given day on earth, I believe that life accounts for 10% of what happens to me and the other 90% depends on how I react to that situation. I share both Camus and Kierkegaards philosophy of life. The religious life of the Knight of faith is what I practice in my daily life with the exemption of violating the moral law like Abraham did. We all have freedom to make our own life choices, if that choice is the life described by Camus, we live it with passion and if it is the life described by Kierkegaard, we also embrace it. Humans have preconceived idea of what they believe to be happy living. Our creator however; according to those who believe in God has plans for us. He considers our stay on earth as temporary and so do I. What Camus describes as death is considered transition to better places by those that believe in the existence of God. We have only one life to live and I believe in making the world a better place no matter how long it might take.

Strategies for Loan Repayment Rates

Strategies for Loan Repayment Rates INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION Lack of access to the formal credit facility through formal banking and financial institutions has been one of the major hurdles faced by the poor people of the developing countries. There are two main reasons widely discussed. Firstly, the commercial banks and institutions think that the loan demanded by the poor people are in very small amount and it is not economical for the banks to grant these loans. Secondly, these poor people often failed to provide any collateral, this makes their loan requirements risky, and conventional banks and institutions avoid entertaining these types of loans (Secondi, 2008). The solution to these problems was provided by microfinance programs. The primary objective of microfinance programs around the world is to reduce the poverty by providing small loans to the neglected poor people without the condition of collateral. Microfinance has gained a considerable appreciation over the past three decades due to its mechanism of providing the credit access to the neglected poor people. In pursuit of the fight against poverty, small loans were provided by the microfinance institutions (MFIs) to the poor people so that they may utilize them to establish small businesses or expand their existing business and achieve self sufficiency. However, there has been considerable differences in the rate of interest charged on these loans by the various MFIs, repayment rates and level of self sufficiency achieved by the borrowers around the different regions of the developing countries (Ahlin et al 2011). MFIs normally use group lending methodology to expand the credit access to the poors. This methodology helps the microfinance clients to keep a check on the proper utilization of the loan amount and also allowing only those individuals to be the part of the group who possess a good moral and financial reputation in their society. Eventually, much of the lenders responsibility of the supervision is shifted on to the group members. This helps the group members to effectively control the problems arising from incomplete information on the financial health of the individuals intending to join the group (Armendariz and Morduch, 2005). It has been viewed that the group loan given under joint liability lending contracts play an effective role in enforcing the contract conditions of loan repayments through peer monitoring by the group members. Under the joint/ group liability contracts, each group member is responsible for the repayment of the loan in case of any member reports default. Ther efore, each group member act as guarantor for the others. It had been argued by various researchers that in a joint liability contracts the group members are well informed about their fellow group members compared to the MFIs or banks. Therefore, this peer monitoring by the group members is much more effective and a cheaper than the MFI’s (or bank’s) monitoring (Varian, 1990: Stiglitz, 1990 and Banerjee et al 1994). There are a number of studies[1] suggesting that the group liability programs work better in addressing the problem incomplete information faced by the lenders and banks, as much of the responsibility has been shifted to the group members, resultantly lowering the cost faced by the MFIs. Some studies such as Tassel, 199 and Ghatak, 1999 argued that the in group liability loans, the self selection of the group members helps in reducing the problem of incomplete information and can generate higher repayment rates. There are various laboratory experimental studies tried to investigate the group liability loans and effects of peer monitoring on repayment rates. Such as, Cason et al (2009) in their study found that even the monitoring was a costly activity and subjects were required to pay the cost of monitoring, but still the group partners preferred to monitor each other. They also observed that when the cost of monitoring paid by the group members was less than the cost paid by the len der, the group liability programs performed better than the individual liability programs. They also pointed out that in the absence of difference in monitoring cost (among group monitoring cost and lender’s cost), the repayment behavior of the subjects remained almost similar in both group and individual lending cases. In another study conducted by Kono (2006) in Vietman, reported that even in the presence of monitoring and imposition of penalties to the defaulters, the default rates were higher in group liability cases compared to the individual liability cases. There are few studies explaining the importance of social ties between the group members towards effective monitoring and loan repayment rates. There are a number of ways the social ties can be effective, one of the most important factors is the full information about the group members. This complete information makes it is much easier for the group members to monitor their fellow partners, and if required they can enforce the contract terms (Besley and Coate, 1995, Abbink et al 2006). However, we were interested in investigating the effect of peer monitoring and choice of microfinance contracts on the loan repayments. The peer monitoring has been discussed extensively in the literature, however, the evidence on the choice of microfinance contracts (i.e. The choice among the interest and non-interest based microfinance contracts) is non existent. We do observe studies addressing the choice among the individual and group lending contracts by the microfinance lenders (Gine and Karlan, 2008, Bhole and Ogden, 2010, Madajewicz, 2011). We conducted laboratory experiments with the students of the University of Sydney, Australia during October, 2013. In our study, there were four treatments and the subjects were offered the loan under the group liability scheme. A pair of two subjects constituted a group and there were 74 groups in total (148 subjects). In the first treatment, subjects can choose to monitor their partner’s repayment actions, then they were required to choose a contract from the given two contracts (PLS and IB). After choosing the contracts, they were recording their repayment actions. In the second treatment, subjects were allowed to go for monitoring, but they were not allowed to choose the contracts rather the experimenter had allocated the both PLS and IB contracts randomly and evenly. With the third treatment, there was no monitoring choice available to the subjects, but they were allowed to choose from the PLS and IB contracts. In the fourth and last treatment, subjects were neither allowed to monitor, nor allowed to choose from the PLS and IB contracts, the contacts were allocated by the experimenter in a randomly and evenly way. There were five rounds for each treatment and after every round the subjects were swapped randomly and it was ensured that the same subject should not be the matched with the other more than once. The subjects were able to identify their group partner through their roll numbers, but they cannot see and talk to him. There was a monitoring fee[2] for all those subjects who were opting to monitor their group partner. Yet, while monitoring they can impose penalty on to their defaulted partner. The decision of monitoring or otherwise was a common knowledge for both the group partners. This experimental study was conducted to address the following research questions. Whether peer monitoring and peer pressure (imposition of penalty) affect the repayment rates positively? Are there any choice preferences for PLS and IB contracts? How choice of the contracts affects the repayment rates? Are there any gender specific differences in repayment rates? Whether the degree of religiosity affects the repayment behavior of the subjects? In summary, our results indicated that the monitoring had a significantly positive effect on the loan repayment rates in both with and without choice of contract cases. There were significantly higher proportion of subjects, choosing the PLS contact against the IB contract. Although, there was a high preference for PLS contracts, but at the same time we did not notice any change in repayment rates for both PLS and IB contracts. Moreover, we noticed lower repayment rates in no monitoring with no selection of contract treatment. We did not observe any gender related differences. Also the results revealed that the degree of religiosity was not affecting the repayment behavior of the subject. For the empirical analysis of this experimental work, we used the percentages to analyze the repayment rates. Paired t-test and McNemar’s test were also applied to examine the differences in behavioral responses of subjects across treatments. Finally, we applied panel logit regression methodo logy to check the significance of monitoring choices against the no monitoring cases and PLS contract against the IB contract in the presence of demographic and other control variables. The rest of the chapter continues as follows. Section 2 gives a literature overview. Section 3 describes the experimental contracts, design and execution. Results are discussed in Section 4 and in Section 5, we analyze the results and concluded the study. RELATED LITERATURE Microfinance gained popularity and appreciation over the past three decades for its mechanism of offering small loan to those poor people who were generally excluded from the provision of formal credit facilities. The microfinance use its innovative lending methodology in the presence of incomplete information of the clients and non availability of physical collateral. Generally, lending techniques adopted by the MFIs were individual or group lending. The group lending can be used as screening tools whereas, the joint liability could work as the monitoring device within the group. Nevertheless, the group lending and joint liability programs of micrfinance are considered as efficient instruments in the expansion of credit facility to the poor (Morduch, 1999: Armendariz and Morduch, 2005). Under the group lending strategy, all the members of the group were provided with the micro loans in their individual capacity. All the group members were then made jointly responsible for the repayment of the each other’s loan in case of default, also future they were denied from any loan facility by the MFIs (Morduch, 1999 : Ghatak and Guinnane, 1999). It had been argued that the success of the group lending strategy has been the outcome of various reasons. Firstly, the screening of the clients by the group members, this helps in selecting the credible and trustworthy persons in the group. Secondly, the group members keep a proper check on the utilization of the loan and also they keep on observing the efforts of each of their partners have exerted in order to make his investment project successful. Lastly, each group member faces a peer pressure from his partner which forces them to comply with the repayment conditions of the loan, along with peer pressure the group members have to face social pressure from their society they were living which enforces the contract conditions of loan repayment. In this way it became possible for the lenders to shift their burden on to the borrowers and the problems occurred due to incomplete information can be handled at the borrowers end (Microcredit Summit Compaign, 2005). In the existing literature, there are a number of works explaining the positive impacts of microfinance programs for the small line and investment activities. It has also been pointed out that the implications of microfinance programs kept on varying from borrower to borrower and repayment behavior was not same across the borrowers (Cr ´epon et al. (2011); Banerjee et al. (2010)). On the other hand, there are studies focusing on the merits and demerits of group/joint-liability loans and stressed that the joint liability loans were successful in increasing the repayment rates (Banerjee et al. (1994); Van Tassel (1999); Wydick (2001)). Entirely the same, it had also been mooted by a number of researchers that the espousal of a group or joint liability loans may lead to increase the risk loving behavior among the borrowers. They may put in a much riskier projects because the repayment responsibilities had been portioned out among the group member. The building of this attitude potenti ally invites the free-riders (Gine et al. (2010); Fischer (2010); Barboni et al. (2012)). There have been a number of factors addressed in the literature which could involve the repayment behavior of the individuals positively. Such as monitoring either by the lender or by the group members, peer pressure and peer sanctioning, social affiliations among the group members, opportunity for future loans, group size and lower tier of interest rates (Floro and Yotopoulos, 1991, Wydick, 1996, Wydick, 1999). Gin and Karlan (2010) conducted randomized field experiments in the Philippines over a point of three years found that group liability affected the development and advancement of the microfinance program exerting extreme social pressure on the group members, resulting in discouraging the good willing clients to adopt. They likewise did not notice any difference in repayment rates for both individual liability and group liability cases. Ghattak and Guinnane (1999) has given a comprehensive analysis on the effect of screening, monitoring and enforcement in group lending. They also observed that the lender’s cost of group screening, monitoring and enforcement can be reduced if they follow the group liability strategy. It has also been argued that in a group or joint liability cases where the default or failure to repay the loan will affect all the group members, including the defaulting member (as everyone in the group has to pay back the loan) and the whole group will stand disqualified for the future borrowing will encourage the group members to monitor each other. In this way, the group lending has the potential to increase the repayment rates. However, it has been viewed that even in the group lending case the monitoring and enforcement through imposition of penalties are costly, but at the same time effective in reducing the lender’s risk, due to shifting of responsibility on to the group members (S tiglitz, 1990: Varian, 1990). The researchers have consistently argued that the controls or restrictions like peer monitoring by the group members, restriction on further loan payment to the defaulter, social pressure from community through close knit social ties and effective monitoring by the MFIs on the individual as well as group borrowers could potentially increase the chances of loan repayment (Abbink et al., 2006a; Gine and Karlan, 2010; Cassar et al., 2007; Karlan, 2007). In a recent study by Al-Azzam et al., (2012), inferred that peer pressure on the fellow counterpart within a group could result in a higher rate of payment. [1] For example, Armendariz , 1999 and Rai and Sjostrom, 2004. [2] See Section 3.2 for details.