Mkt Plan-Popcorn Store in Hk

1. 0 Executive Summary We are preparing to open a popcorn specialty shop in Hong Kong, the Pop Popcorn Shop. Hong Kong is a famous international tourism city and it successfully received more than 42 million tourists in the past year. Hong Kong has its unique culture and the Hong Kong film culture is one of the most remarkable one. Therefore, our Pop Popcorn Shop will closely integrated with the Hong Kong film culture, and create a well-known local brand image, which can attractive to local residents who like to eat popcorn or like to see movies, and the tourists who interest in the Hong Kong culture or movies.We can effectively compete with other popcorn store because we offer a high quality, various tasty flavors, as well as healthy popcorn with value price to consumers. More importantly, we provide customize service, which customers can make their own flavor popcorn and even the packages according to their preference. The particular customize service as well as the film culture br and image is our two brightest spots, which can make us distinguish with other competitors and become our distinct competencies.The marketing objective in the first year is to build up our brand awareness through our various marketing communication methods and we will continue to focus on increasing our brand equity in the next two years. The primary financial objectives are to achieve first-year sales revenue of HKD1,580,000 (USD 203,820) and reach profitability. The revenue will be expected to increase by 12% in the second year and 15% in the third year. 2. 0 Service Description Popcorn is a popular  snack food  at sporting events and in  cinemas, where it has been served since 1914.Hong Kong, a dynamic Asian metropolis that attracts numerous tourists and businessmen, global or Asian, every year, has been deeply influenced by the western movie culture and gradually developed it very own local movie culture, which is a robust branch of Hong Kong local culture, leading Hong Ko ng to be such a huge market for film industry. Benefiting from this significantly growing movie market and the saying that popcorn is always the best company in theaters, Hong Kong would be our ideal place that gives us incentive to locate our Pop Popcorn Shop in this prosperous city.Specifically, our popcorn shop will be opened at Langham Place, one of the most popular shopping mall located in the very heart of Hong Kong, which has a magical gravitation that attracts numerous local residents and tourists. Moreover, with its world-class equipment, fascinating settings, and consensus images of fashion, the UA cinema at the 8th floor in Langham Place is the nearly the most popular movie theater that has not only the highest attendance rate but also the best box office in Hong Kong.Thus, the needs from the people who are going to a movie in UA cinema would be so huge that can be a large target market, waiting our popcorn specialty store to satisfy. In addition, our specialty store, Pop Popcorn, not only aims to offer high-quality, various tasty flavors, as well as healthy popcorn with value price to consumers, but also provides customized service that customers can make their own flavors popcorn and even design their own popcorn packages, as well as customize their distinctive popcorn tins.Moreover, nine regular flavors popcorn will be provided in Pop Popcorn — sugar, buttery, caramel, cheese, chocolate, barbecue, rainbow, spicy, and mustard — which is a wide range from classic flavor to popular special flavors. Additionally, two different packages, bags or tins, with five different sizes — small, medium, large, 1 gallon, or 2 gallon — would be offered to our customers to select. Essentially, the most distinctive feature of Pop Popcorn will be the combination of popcorn and Hong Kong local movie culture.In our shop, everything is about film. From the in-store decoration, display of popcorn, our staff costume, to the packing of our popc orn are all designed based on the characteristics of Hong Kong local movies. Above all, customers can also design the packing of their popcorn with one of their favorite movies, which can be a wonderful souvenir from themselves, as well as a distinctive gift for their friends. 3. 0 SWOT Analysis 3. 1 Strengths 1. Exclusive location — Langham Place is one of the most famous shopping mall located in the very heart of Hong Kong.It has attracted numerous local residents and tourists. Specifically, the UA cinema at the 8th floor in Langham Place is the one of the most popular movie theater that has not only the highest attendance rate but also the best box office in Hong Kong. 5 This exclusive location will provide an intense collection with our target customers. 2. Distinctive decorations and packaging design of our shop – In Pop Popcorn Shop, everything is relative to films. The film elements in our store will generate one the most significant points-of-difference compare to other popcorn stores. 3.Various tasty and even customized flavors of popcorn – Pop popcorn store will regularly provide nine flavors of popcorn to the customers. More important, we will be the first popcorn shop to provide customized flavors service. 3. 2 Weaknesses 1. Brand awareness — As a new popcorn shop, we would not have much brand awareness and brand equity at the very beginning. 2. Customer accession — Regarding to those customers who are going to a movie, our shop location will not be the most convenient place for them to buy popcorn compared to the snack store located inside the theater.It’s one of the disadvantages when we compete with the snack stores inside the theaters. 3. 3 Opportunities 1. Film culture is one of the most prominent characteristics of Hong Kong culture. There is a large amount of movie fans in Hong Kong. 2. Popcorn is known as the best partner for movies, the constantly flourishing of film industry in Hong Kong will lead to an explosion of needs of popcorn. 3. Hong Kong is an international prosperous city, many local residents has a relatively high disposable income. . The continue growth of tourists in Hong Kong, especially the tourists from Mainland China, as well as the their strong consumption power. 3. 4 Threats Competition is a dynamic process that our competitors would also switch their strategies that may lead to some turnover marketing circumstances. Based on the analysis of our target market, there may be three potential situations, which can be threats to our popcorn shop. 1. Other brand-famous popcorn stores may expand their locations.Since one of our essential strengths is our location in Langham Place, if other brand-famous popcorn shops also have inclination about expanding to the location near our shop, it would be a threat for us. 2. With the growing popularity of popcorn, the snack stores locate inside the theaters may provide more flavors popcorn to the customers. 3. There is oth er more tasty and healthier alternative snacks for customers when they have a movie. 4. 0 Target Markets Generally speaking, the people who like to eat popcorn will be our target customers.Specifically, based on geographic segmentation, local residents and tourists of Hong Kong would be our target market that deserve our fully concentration on developing our own customer bases, as well as establishing our very brand awareness. 4. 1 Local residents who like popcorn or movies 1. Typical users Geographically, those Hong Kong people who live in the urban area–New Territories and Kowloon–would be our major typical users. In 2011, around 45% of the Hong Kong population is living in New Territories and around 30% of them lives in Kowloon.Demographically, those local residents, female or male, who are about 15-44 years old with average monthly income more than HKD10,000 or monthly spending more than HKD200 on snack food can be identified as our typical users. Additionally, peo ple who will go to theater for movies more than four times a month will be defined as our heavy users. 2. Size and growth of this target market In 2011, the population in HK was about 7,067,800, and the average population growth rate had increased by 0. 72% compare to 2005.In terms of population of our target market, the amount of population of 15-44 years old is around 3,135,300, which accounts for 44. 4% of the total population. 3 In the recent years, the film industry in Hong Kong is booming. Regarding to the film industry in Hong Kong, in 2010, the box office gross was HKD1,339 billion, and, in 2011, this number grew to HKD1. 379 billion. The total number of films that released in 2011 was 276, which included 56 Hong Kong local films and 220 foreign films. In addition, the number of attendance was 87,517 and the attendance rate was 75. % in 2011. Moreover, according to a survey co-conducted by the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Picture Industry Association in 2008, 58. 3% of those people who went to a movie would buy various amount of popcorn as their â€Å"companies† for the next 120 minutes at the theater. 3. The real â€Å"buyer† in this target market The real â€Å"buyer† of our product is mainly the same as our typical users. However, the male customers may account for a larger amount of them. Because when a couple goes to see a movie, the male will usually be the one who pends his money on the popcorn and share it with the female, given in the Hong Kong culture. 4. Main characteristics of this target market Our typical customers’ main characteristics can be described on two fronts. First, these people are deeply influenced and attracted by the film culture in Hong Kong, which is one of the most fundamental branches of the Hong Kong local culture. Second, according to the data from Census and Statistics Department Hong Kong, among the people who is 18-44 years old, the average monthly income of them is HKD13,600. 5. Reasons why this target market is attractiveEvidently, there are two main reasons why these typical users of us, who are the 15-to-44-year-old local residents with over-average incomes, will be substantially attractive to our popcorn specialty store. Firstly, these typical users have been living in Hong Kong for some years that they may be fundamentally influenced by Hong Kong local culture, especially by the film culture in Hong Kong. Loving movies can be a major incentive for them to be willing to spend money to have movie in theaters. And popcorn, as one of the most ideal companies in theaters, can be one the last things our target market want to miss.Secondly, these young residents have relatively open-minded customer awareness, easier to accept new brands that have distinctive brand images. Moreover, they are relatively high-income citizens living at a fashion lifestyle city and willing to spend more on snacks or recreations. 4. 2 Tourists 1. Typical users in this target market Geographically, tourists form Mainland China will be our target customers, especially who are from 4 main cities in China – Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. Demographically, the tourists between 15-44 years old, male or female will be defined as our target customers. 2.Size and growth of this target market In 2011, Hong Kong received record-high visitors from around the world, which was totally 41,921,310, a remarkable increased by 16. 4% over 2010. Tourism generated value added of HKD 74. 6 billion in 2010 and the inbound tourism accounted for the largest share of the value added of tourism, which was HKD 59. 2 billion. Compared with 2005, this value added increased by an average annual rate of 12. 5%. Among various incomes generated from the inbound tourism, food and beverage services had HKD 6,300 millions value added in 2011. 2. The real â€Å"buyer† in this target marketThe real â€Å"buyers† are tourists, who may buy our popcorn as a souvenir or a gift for themselves, as well as for their friends. It indicates that the buyer may not be the actual user in this target market. However, we will put more attention to advertise our shop among the female tourists, since the female tourists are usually more interested in shopping and buying souvenirs. 3. Main characteristics of this target market Firstly, most of them are from Asia, especially from Mainland China. In 2011, Mainland China continued to be the largest visitor source market of Hong Kong, contributed 28. million arrivals, accounting for 67. 0% of total arrivals in Hong Kong. 7 Secondly, mid July to end August are always the most intense period for tourists to visit Hong Kong. Also, regarding to the life-cycle stage segment of overnight vacation visitors in Hong Kong, approximately 36% of the visitors are families with children, 20% of them are young single male or female, 12% of them are young couples, and 7% of them are young students. Moreover, these visitors, 15-44 years old, which will be our target customers, account for 75% of our total visitors of Hong Kong in 2011. 4. Reasons why this target market is attractive Firstly, the number of tourists is remarkably substantial and this number is increasing every year. The appreciation of most major currencies against Hong Kong dollar and the improving travel sentiment have fueled the impressive performance. 7 For the short-haul market, benefiting for the Individual Visit Scheme, which the Central Government has announced that residents from certain cities are allowed to visit Hong Kong as tourists in their personal capacity, tourism in Hong Kong is developing significantly every year.In 2011, the coverage of the Scheme has expanded to 49 cities in China since the first introduced on in 2003. 9 That means the tourists form Mainland China will continue to increase substantially. For the long-haul markets, arrivals recorded a 1. 7% increase. In particular, the United States remained the largest long -haul market with 1. 2 million arrivals in 2011, representing a 3. 5% increase. 7 Secondly, the tourists, especially those who are from Mainland China, have such a robust consumption capacity. From the source of Hong Kong Tourism Board, in 2011, the total tourism expenditure associated to inbound tourism is HKD 253. billion, which had a significant 20. 5%, increase by 2010. 8 Specifically, the average spending of the visitors from Mainland China was HKD 8,220 in 2011, which has a 10. 3% increase by 2010. 9 5. 0 Competitive Analysis 5. 1 Direct Competitor Our direct competitor will be the Garrett Popcorn Shop Hong Kong, which is a famous popcorn store overseas. Garrett is located at the International Financial Center Mall Hong Kong, where is in the central business district in Hong Kong. The IFC Mall has lots of luxury shops inside and it focus on targeting to the high-income customers. 1.The strengths and weaknesses of Garrett First, Garrett has a high reputation overseas due to its long history and consistent high quality of fresh popcorn. That is, the global brand famousness of Garrett Popcorn would be so pervasive that would attract large amount of foreign customers who is working currently at Hong Kong. Second, after concentrating on popcorn industry for more than 60 years, Garrett has already developed its very own secret recipes to mix into popcorn, like The Chicago Mix, Caramel Crisp, and CheeseCorn. These famous flavors popcorn are another stunning strength of Garrett.However, some weaknesses of Garrett Popcorn Hong Kong have been exposed to the public, which may turn to be our opportunities. According to the OpenRice, which is a popular users review and local cuisine recommendation website, based on 5 aspects include taste, environment, service, hygiene, and value for money, Garrett Hong Kong scores only 3. 8 of 5. 0 based on  the customers’ ratings. The negative reviews are mainly about the service and the value of money. Many customers comp lained about the unfriendly staff and the too expensive popcorn. 2. Our strategies to compete with GarrettBased on the analysis about Garrett Hong Kong’s strengths and weaknesses, our competing strategies can be elicited in three fronts. First is about different shop location setting that we would focus on popular shopping mall rather than luxury shopping center. Second is our popcorn price setting that would be average 20% lower than Garrett. Third is the customized services provided by us, which will customers to create their own flavor popcorn and packages. Moreover, we will pay more attention to select and train our staffs and thus provide very friendly service to customers. . 2 Indirect Competitors The indirect competitors of us will be the snack stores locate inside the theaters, which can also provide popcorn to our target customers. 1. The strengths and weaknesses of the snack store inside the theaters Firstly, it’s the most convenient location for the customer s who are going to see a movie – most of these snack store are just steps away from the theater. Secondly, the popcorn price is relatively low compare to our store. However, their weaknesses are also obviously when compare to our popcorn specialty store.Almost all of these stores just provide the sugar flavor popcorn to the customers. The very limit flavor choice and relatively low quality of popcorn are their biggest disadvantages. Additionally, these stores are usually put little effort on marketing communication with customers. 2. Our strategies to complete with the snack stores inside the theaters Evidently, our strategies to compete with these indirect competitors can be, firstly, providing discounts or advocating promotions to the customers who have a movie ticket.For example, the customers can get 10% off in our store when they present us the movie ticket on the same day. Secondly, we will implement various campaigns that strongly advertise our fascinating tasty popcor n with multiple flavors and high quality, framing an image that our target customers can have a box of satisfying popcorn with a reasonable price. 5. 3 Potential competitors The potential competitors of our popcorn shop can be defined as those snack grocery stores that can offer alternatives snacks to popcorn. Although there are various kinds of snack food with even cheaper prices in those grocery tores, however, if a customer is looking something fresh or special rather than something bland when he/she is going to a movie, these grocery stores would soon to become the very last place to satisfy him/her. Thus, regarding to our target customers, we can pay efforts in marketing communication that utilizes mass medias to frame that fresh popcorn is the best choice for movies, especially the fresh popcorn with customized flavors we exclusively provided. 6. 0 Pricing Strategies 6. 1 Pricing Strategy 1. Pricing objective — The pricing objective of Pop Popcorn Specialty Store is pro duct-quality leadership.Consistent with our store’ s marketing strategy and brand positions, the message that we seek to communicate is that we offer high quality, various tasty flavors, as well as healthy popcorn with value price. 2. Unit cost and margins — The total cost of our product will include fixed cost and variable cost. Since the various cost of raw materials are relatively low, while the cost of rent and salary is relatively high in Hong Kong. The cost of per popcorn will be lower when more popcorn has been made per day. Thus, in our price structure, the raw materials per unit cost is estimated approximately 15% of the total cost. . Competitors’ price structure comparison — Garrett Popcorn Hong Kong provides 5 flavors and 6 sizes of popcorn to the consumer. The price is quite different based on different flavors, the average price of the Garrett’s popcorn is — small HKD52, medium HKD76, large HKD96, jumbo HKD164, 1 gallon HKD334, and 2 gallon HKD639. On the other hand, nearly all of the snack stores in theater in Hong Kong just provide the sugar flavor popcorn, and the price is around HKD15 for small, HKD25 for medium, and HKD30 for large size. 4.Pricing methods — Base on the company cost, competitors cost, and customer demand, we will use the perceived-value pricing method to select our product price. In addition, based on our product-quality pricing object, we will seek to create an image that emphasizes our high-quality product with value price brand to consumer. Due to our location rent and less brand awareness, our average price will be about 20% lower than Garrett popcorn price. While our average price will be 25% higher than snack stores in theater since our store is excel in making arious tasty flavors popcorn. 6. 2 Price Structure 1. Our price list 2. Special offers In order to encourage sales we will provide access for certain customers to special prices. Such as special customer priceâ€⠀œcustomers can get 10% off in our store when they present us the movie ticket on the same day. Also, we will have a frequency reward program–membership cards which can collect points and use the points as cash to purchase popcorn in our store. Meanwhile, we will provide coupon in the special festival to our customers. 7. 0 Channels of DistributionInitially, Pop Popcorn will use a direct-to-consumer distribution model – our own specialty store and website, to determine our channels of distribution. 7. 1 Specialty store in Langham Place Pop Popcorn Specialty Store will locate in the first floor at Langham Place. The reasons why we choose this location can be evidenced on two fronts. Firstly, Langham Place Mall, located in the very heart of Hong Kong, is a quintessential 15-storey fashionable landmark and one of the most popular shopping malls for both local residents and tourists.Secondly, the UA cinema at the 8th floor in Langham Place is the nearly the most popular mo vie theater that has not only the highest attendance rate but also the best box office in Hong Kong. Thus, being located first floor in Langham Place, we can have an exclusive advantage to build up an intense connection with a large amount of our target customers. Not only the people who are shopping in the Langham Place can easily purchase our popcorn, but also the people who will go to see movies. As we mention about, everything is about film in Pop Popcorn Shop.The decoration style in our shop will be full of the film elements. As well as our staffs’ uniform. Buoyed by researches, which suggest that as much as 70 percent to 80 percent of purchase decisions are made inside the retail store, firms are increasingly recognizing the importance of influencing consumers at the point of purchase. Regarding to our popcorn shop, especially because of our low brand awareness at the very beginning, not only the display of our popcorn is important, but also our salespeople is essential for leading customers’ purchase decisions.On the other hand, when the consumers know our brand and come to purchase popcorn, salespeople may also play an important role to provide a very best purchase experience to these customers. Thus, lots of attention will be paid to manage our sales force through the selection, recruitment, training, motivation, compensation and evaluation sections in order to provide our customers the very best salespeople, who are sophisticated in customer service and fascinated by Pop Popcorn’s brand culture. 7. 2 Pop Popcorn’s own websiteThe very own attractive and interesting website of Pop Popcorn will provide a substantially rich source of our store and product information, including our featured popcorn, distinctive customized service about the flavor popcorn and packages, etc. Moreover, various of promotions, membership activities, and latest movies news, trials, especially those information about local Hong Kong movies can be fou nd on Pop Popcorn’s website, in order to establish its very own brand awareness that combines fresh tasty popcorn with Hong Kong film culture.In addition, our user-friendly and security purchase system in the website provides a convenient way for consumers to purchase our popcorn no matter for themselves or for their friends as a gift. 8. 0 Marketing Communications Pop Popcorn’s marketing communication strategy will, initially, endeavor to establish our very own brand awareness among our target customers in order to develop our customer base. Essentially, the message that Pop Popcorn aims to communicate is that it offers high quality, various tasty flavors, as well as healthy popcorn with value price.In addition, there are various efficient approaches for us to convey this message to our target customers, which includes the own website of Pop Popcorn, online and offline advertising, sales promotions, interactive marketing and event and experience campaigns. 8. 1 Pop Po pcorn Website The Pop Popcorn Web site focus on providing a rich source of product information with a fascinating website typography and design. Specifically, various information about our popcorn flavors, customized tin services, or promotions would be easily accessed to our customers in the website.In addition, the Pop Popcorn website will also provide a user-friendly purchase system for customers to order their popcorn online, so that they easily purchase our popular flavors popcorn or their customize flavor popcorn for themselves and their friends. 8. 2 Advertising 1. Online advertising Since one segmentation of our target customers is the local residents who likes to eat popcorn or likes to see movie, we will focus on put our online advertisement on the film websites, where the movie lovers usually browse and access to film information.Also, advertising Pop Popcorn in the local popular video websites, like Youtube and Tudou, which has huge traffics would be an extraordinary way to establish our brand awareness, creating customers’ craving for our popcorns. Meanwhile, in order to cover another group of our target customers–tourists, websites about travel guides, travellers’ reviews, and travelling recommendations about Hong Kong will also be our prior choices to place our online advertisements.We will seek to communicate that Pop Popcorn Specialty Store is one of the last things tourists want to miss when they travel in Hong Kong. 2. Offline advertising We will put our advertisement on the magazines that our target customers usually like to read, such as food magazines, film magazines, and travel magazines. Also, we will post outdoor advertising at the famous shopping places, where are popular to tourists and local residents — especially the shopping malls that have theater inside. 8. 3 Sales PromotionsIn order to stimulate our short-run sales at the very beginning and build our long-run brand equity, we will offer multiple sale s promotions to consumers. We will focus on giving away our popcorn samples because this consumer franchise-building promotion can provide a chance for customers to try our tasty popcorn. Also, we will offer coupons to encourage purchase of larger-size units and attract switchers away from competitors’ brands. Moreover, a frequency rewards program will be provided to customers in order to show our appreciation to them and increase their brand loyalty. . 4 Social Media With the pervasive development of social medias, we will create our official account or page on the popular social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Pinterest, which will ultimately be a major platform for us to collect customer views and interact with customers, as well as a major platform for us to frequently update our news and upcoming promotions. 8. 5 Events and Experiences Pop Popcorn will establish a membership organization and focus on creating our own events and experience to create consumer and media interest and involvement.For example, we will organize gratuitous film talks for our members to share their movie reviews, and other relative events. At the same time, we will try to sponsor and cooperate with local film production companies. The Hong Kong films are typically low-budget when compared with American films. 3 So it’s possible that we can sponsor some local films with low cost. Since film culture is one of the most prominent characteristics of Hong Kong culture, cohering Pop Popcorn with Hong Kong film industry will not only help us to develop a large customer base of movie fans and tourists, but also increase our brand equity. . 0 Budgets for 3 Years 9. 1 Revenue Forecast The revenue forecast in the first year will be HKD 1,580,000(USD 203,820) after the relatively large amount of expenditure on marketing communication. Being boosted by the online and offline advertisements, as well as our very own established brand awareness, the revenue forecast sho uld be expectedly increasing by 12% in the second year and increasing by 15% in the third year. 9. 2 Product Cost The variable costs include the popcorn kernel, flavoring and other relative supplies will account for 20% of the total sales revenue.The fixed costs include salary, rent and facilities. Specifically, the salary will be increased by 6% per year in order to maintain the staff's’ satisfaction. The rent of our store will remain the same in three years according to the contract, and the facilities expense is a one-time expenditure, which refers to the costs on the popcorn machines and the store renovation cost. 9. 3. Marketing Communication Expense Related to the marketing programs described in the previous section, our marketing communication expense included six aspects.The cost of building our own website will be relatively large in the first year. The online advertising budget will increase by 10% per year while offline advertising budget will decrease by 10% per y ear. The mainly cost of sales promotions are for free popcorn samples and printed coupons, which will decrease by 5% per year. On the other hand, the social media communication budget will increase by 20% and the events budget will increase by 15% per year since we will dedicate to have a border and deeper relationship with our customers. 9. 4 Total Budget for 3 Years 10. Reference Citations

Ihrm, Describe the Main Challenges of International Staffing

IHRM Describe the mains challenges of international staffing. These years, international staffing has become a common setting for MNEs. Over the last decade, globalization and internationalization of marketplaces had brought companies to expatriate their resources on target countries and sectors. It naturally means that they will face lot of new challenges to succeed in their process. Expanding business operations beyond national boundaries while trying to stay effective on the domestic market requires complex and balanced strategies. The most critical determinants stay to keep an effective international esource management. So we will try to summarize the different challenges of international staffing. In a first part I will focus on the different international staffing issues to understand well the challenge dimension. In a second part I will highlight the different challenges raised by the central notion of expatriation. International staffing is the way that companies manage inter national resources, facing different limits like geographic distance or day- ­? to- ­? day relations with headquarters for example. The first challenge could be express through the possibilities for MNEs to choose a certain source f employees. First, the company can send employees and manager from its home country, more known as Parent Country Nationals (PCNs) or expatriates. Second, they can recruit directly Host Country National (HCNs) native from there. Third choice, they can hire Third Country National (TCNs) who is native from another country than the host or the home country. Companies use also different stages of internationalization and staffing strategies. We can observe that companies generally recruit the three types of employees and make them work together. We commonly call that a cross cultural management, illustrated y the idea to take good skills of each culture to bring them to global mind set with added value, in a aim to create efficiency. The success of cross cultural management seems to be a big challenge in international staffing in the way that it comes from the real difficulty to recruit top talents able to be efficient abroad, added to multiple legal issues. It seems also important to describe the four principal international staffing issues that seem to be a numerous challenge in the sense that it will condition your whole international management strategy. The MNEs can choose to use an ethnocentric staffing olicy that refers to the strategy of employ key positions managers from the parent headquarters instead of employing local staff. They will be use to transfer corporate culture to the foreign entity and insure an effective communication with headquarters. Limits are the adaptation of expatriates and relations with HCNs. Second option is the polycentric policy that describes an approach of recruiting HCNs to manage subsidiaries in their own country. So there are no language and cultural barriers and it’s far less expansiv e. But it results a less effective communication with headquarters and then difficulties o coordinate activities. In the geocentric issue the best people are sought for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of nationality. It enables a multinational firm to develop a pool of senior international managers but it is the most expansive option. To finish, in the regiocentric staffing policy, employees are transferred to positions in subsidiaries in other countries, but stay within the same region (Mayrhofer and Brewster â€Å"In Praise of Ethnocentricity†). It permit to install a regional competition to success but it can also lead to identification and put global objectives on a second cene. Today, most of the international companies choose to expatriate top managers in foreign subsidiaries to control them. But expatriation seems to be the biggest challenge that they have to deal with for the simple reason that it the first reason of failure. The principal value of ex patriation is the quality of communication between PCNs and headquarters. PCNs don’t have any problem of language barrier with home country and actually know the home country top management. They understand their ideas, strategies and goals and by consequences can implement them faster. They also play a rule of knowledge ransfer and actually maintain a knowledge base (laws, politics, cultures, languages†¦) about the complexities of international operations (Downes and Thomas: â€Å"Knowledge Transfer†). Close to this knowledge transfer they serve a mission of corporate culture transmission. So they will implement the company’s culture, its values, believes, mission and follow a certain management style. One big challenge of international staffing is also to overcome the lack of qualified host country nationals because knowledge in special areas is needed and not directly available in some host countries. Erten- ­? Buch and Mattl ave studied the issue in 1 999 and they highlighted the idea of emphasis of expatriation as a means to overcome the lack of qualified host country nationals lies in compensating a long- ­? term lack of a skilled workforce. Expatriation has to deal with lot of difficulties that turn it out in a big challenge for international staffing. It is a big point to insure the well understanding of local business environment. It is also a big challenge to anchor the company in the local country by developing contacts and adjustment to local places, a kind of local emphasis. International staffing needs to face big ultural shocks. Expatriate managers arrive in a complete unknown environment; it creates confusion, disorientation and a certain emotional upheaval. It is a big challenge to cross it fast and with success. Staffing abroad means also deal with costs issues. The most obvious problem for a company when sending an expat abroad to be considered is the extremely high costs involved. The challenge is to measure the interest between insure this cost or insure the less effectiveness you will get by reducing your cost and employ a HCN. Employing an expat in a developed country for a certain period of time can cost p to four times as much as recruiting local staff and eight times as much in developing regions such as Asia Pacific. Failure rates are also a big challenge and a very important issue. Manager’s inability to adept, family related matters, lack of motivation are examples of failures. The rate of those being recalled to the headquarters is between 20 and 50% (Brewster 1991’s report). The major challenge of multinational and often missed by International Human Resources Management is the repatriation (Harvey, 1989). The professional transition into the home office cause a lot of difficulties that are most f the time neglected. It seems to be an unmeasured stage of internationalization. In conclusion we could say that the biggest challenge is to choose an adapted strategy of internationalisation and find out the correspondent staffing issue. Expatriates seem to represent an extremely expansive but not always necessary investment. Telecommunications and travel have made the human resources function of matching up employers and employees much easier over the years. The hiring of top talents will it be enough to cover good headquarters relations and eliminate geographic distance challenges in the future? 2

Satellites in space

Jeremy Curtis is an engineer and business development manager for space science at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire. His job includes on the joint European telescope for X-ray astronomy (JET-X), due to have been launched in 1999 on the Russian Spectrum-X spacecraft. He says â€Å"I trained as a mechanical engineer, but I find space engineering exciting because I have to work with all kinds of experts such as astronomers, physicists, designers, programmers and technicians working around the world†. He was sponsored by RAL during his university degree and then spent several years on designs for a large proton synchrotron (a machine for accelerating protons to very high energies) before moving over to space instrument design. In the following passage he describes some of the aspects of space engineering. Why satellites? Getting spacecraft into orbit is a very expensive activity with typical launch costs generally measures in tens of thousands per kilogram. So what makes it worth the bother? There are three key reasons. First, a satellite is a good vantage point for studying the earth's surface and atmosphere – just think how many aircrafts would be needed to photograph the whole of the earth, or how many ships to monitor the temperature of the oceans. Second, if we want to study most of the radiation coming for distant parts of the universe we have to get above the atmosphere. The earth's atmosphere absorbs almost everything that tries to go through it – from X-rays to ultraviolet and from infrared to millimetre waves. Only visible light and radio waves can get through it. In fact, even visible light suffers – convection in the earth's atmosphere makes stars seem to jump about or twinkle, blurring telescope images, so a telescope in space produces sharper images than possible from earth. Finally, and not least, a communications satellite can beam TV pictures across the globe and link telephone users from different continents. The problem with space Once you've got through the huge trouble of expense of launching your satellite, a new set of problems confront you in space. First, a typical spacecraft may need several kilowatts of power – but where do you plug in? The only convenient renewable source of power is the sun, so most spacecrafts are equipped with panels of solar cells. You can see these on the Infrared space observatory (ISO). Unlike earth there is no worry about what to do on cloudy days, but batteries are still needed for periods when the satellite is in the earth's shadow (usually up to an hour or two per orbit) and the satellite has to be continually steered to keep the panels pointing at the sun. So now we have our spacecraft floating in orbit and pointing to face the sun all the time. Although the solar cells provide partial shade from sunlight the surface still starts to heat up, and with no air to convect the heat away the temperature can rise dramatically. To add to the difficulties, the other side of the spacecraft faces cold space (at about 3k or -270à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) and so begins to cool down, unchecked; this would distort the structure, wreck the electronics and decompose the materials that make up the spacecraft. So most surfaces of the spacecraft are covered in â€Å"space blanket† – multilayer insulation made of metallised plastic which reflects the radiation away and insulates the spacecraft. This is crinkly shiny material. 1.2 Studying with satellites The UoSAT satellites are very small, relatively low-cost, spacecraft whose purpose is to test and evaluate new systems and space technology and to enable students and amateur scientists to study the near-earth environment. They are designed and built by the university of Surrey spacecraft engineering research unit. UoSAT, also known as Oscar 11 has sensors to record the local magnetic field, providing information about solar and geomagnetic disturbances and there affects on radio communications at various frequencies. Instruments on board also measure some 60 items relating to the satellites operation. These include; the temperature of its faces, its batteries and other electronic devices; the current provided by its solar arrays; and the battery voltages. It can also receive store and transmit messages to simple radio receivers anywhere in the world. UoSAT's orbit takes it over both poles at a height of about 650km above the earth's surface, and the spinning of the earth allows it to receive data about six times a day. Each UoSAT spacecraft is designed to last about 7 years. Even small spacecrafts such as these need electricity to run all onboard systems, form the computer that controls it all, to the radio transmitters and receivers that send and receive all data to and from ground stations on the earths surface. UoSAT's are small, each with a mass of typically 50kg and about 0.5m across. For comparison, JET-X is about 540kg in mass and about 4.5m long. Communications satellites are larger still, with masses of typically 2 to 5 tonnes. At the top en of the scale is the proposed International Space Station (ISS) – a co-operative venture between 13 nations, including the UK. Construction and testing started in1995 and completion is due in 2002. The completed station will have a mass of about 470 tonnes, measure 110m from tip to tip of its solar arrays, and have pressured living and working space for its crew of six almost equal to the passenger space on two 747 jet airliners. It will have a demand of about 110kw. 1.3 Spacecraft power systems Schematic diagram of a spacecraft power system The below figure shows three main elements in a spacecraft power system. The primary source involves the use of fuel to produce electrical power. Primary sources include fuel cells in which a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces electricity (with drinking water as a useful by-product), and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG's) in which a radioactive decay process produces heating in a thermoelectric module that generates electricity. In spacecraft, the most common primary source s the photovoltaic cell, powered by solar radiation; here the initial fuel is protons in the sun, which undergo nuclear fusion. The secondary source is the energy storage system – usually a set of batteries. Sometimes regenerative fuel cells are used in which power from solar arrays electrolyses water to produce hydrogen and oxygen gases during the â€Å"charge† cycle, followed by hydrogen and oxygen recombining to make water during the â€Å"discharge† cycle. n electronic power control and distribution unit controls and adjusts the voltage and current inputs and outputs, often using primary and secondary sources together to boost the overall output power. There are other systems available and these are shown in figure 8 in the textbook, on page 69. Here are some listed: * Chemically fuelled turbines and reciprocating engines. * Chemical turbines and batteries. * Batteries. * Cryogenic hydrogen/oxygen expansion engines. * Cryogenic engines and fuel cells. * Fuel cells. * Nuclear dynamic systems. * Solar and nuclear dynamic systems. * Photovoltaic and radioisotope thermoelectric systems. A useful link to research this further is http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/ Question 1, Page 70 Using figure 8 on page 69, decide which would be the most suitable power source(s) for a spacecraft needing; (a) 1kw power output for just one week. Cryogenic engines and fuel cells. (b) 10kw for 10 years. Solar and nuclear dynamic systems. The most common primary source of energy used in satellites is the photovoltaic cell or solar cell. Hundreds of thousands of such cells are connected together to make up solar arrays. UoSAT 2 and the ISS have many arrays of solar arrays attached to them. Solar cells have one important characteristic; they only generate electricity when illuminated. Orbiting satellites undergo between 90 and 5500 eclipses, moving into the shadow of the earth, each year. The former is typical of a geostationary telecommunications satellite, the latter of a satellite is in a low orbit like UoSAT 2. The ISS will have sixteen thirty minute periods of shadow each day. The secondary power supply is therefore vital, because during eclipse electrical power has to be supplied by batteries. There are also occasions when batteries are needed to provide power in addition to that of the solar panels. The spacecraft's solar panels are used to recharge its batteries when it emerges into sunlight. To do this they must provide a high enough voltage – higher than the batteries own voltage. (A charger for a 12v car battery provides about 30v.) The power system must therefore be carefully designed to ensure that the solar panels can charge the batteries and that the batteries can operate the electrical equipment on-board. So what voltage does a solar cell provide? How does this voltage vary with the brightness of the light? How can we connect up solar cells in order to charge batteries and operate equipment? These are questions I will explore in part two of this unit.

Enzymes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Enzymes - Essay Example Enzymes do their best by working at lowering down the energy levels and hence they are present whilst doing the same within a reaction. The rate of a chemical reaction starts getting faster as and when they occur. The uncatalyzed reactions are much slower than the enzymatic reactions which are happening within a cell. The difference is quite comparable since the downfall is pretty noticeable. Enzymes are not at all consumed or eaten up by the chemical reactions which are taking place within it but at the same time the equilibrium is maintained during the whole activity which is a definitive plus point on the part of these very enzymes. Enzymes are much more specific than the remaining catalysts as they usually account for the crystallization process of around 4000 biochemical reactions. It is a case in point here to understand that not all the biochemical catalysts are proteins as the ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules which are known as ribozymes facilitate their bit at catalyzing different sorts of reactions. Enzymes are specific because their activity can easily affect the other molecules which are present and so in return can leave a lasting impression on the whole chemical reaction that is taking place. On the same token, inhibitors are those molecules which decrease the activity that is going on within the enzymes. On the other hand, activators increase the same process altogether. There are a number of enzyme inhibitors in the form of drugs and different poisons. These enzymatic activities are also changed through the different temperatures, pH scales, concentration present within the relevant substrates and so on and so forth. A number of enzymes are used for a commercial purpose as they are employed in the synthesis of different antibiotics and the like. An enzyme’s name is basically derived from the respective substrate and even the chemical reaction that it brings in catalyzing and the word more

Evidence-Based Nursing and Research in Global Health Care Essay

Evidence-Based Nursing and Research in Global Health Care - Essay Example The essay dwells on expounding on the importance of this practice from different quarters and provide some evidence of how this may be put into use for the benefit of the clients. It is imperative that nurses embrace evidence-based practice in their work. This allows for every individual to be conscientious, explicit and judicious in the use of what they can get on the case they are handling from the past and the present to make decisions. This will allow them to integrate individual clinical and educational skills with the very best available external clinical evidence. Evidence-based practice opens up the decision-making process, allows for wider consultations and provides precise treatment for the patients to utilize. It will also enable the nurses to include their opinions, scientific proof and patient perspectives to provide high-quality services to reflect the interests of not only the clinicians but of their clients as well. As such, the use of this evidence-based practice (EB P) will also allow each nurse to incorporate different views into the diagnosis, thus, offering a wider array of options through which the client can successfully attain better health if they follow the advices given. The report looks at the significance of this approach and personal views regarding the same. Part A will deal with personal views on why the nurses need to use EBP in their everyday prognosis. Part B will discuss the significance of having research methods as part of a nurse’s training and its benefits to the nurse. ... Nurses who have embraced this type of practice always find it easy to deal with the patients since they are already aware of the prejudices that may impede communication between them (Huang, Hepburn and Espiritu, 2003). therefore, nurses find it easier to deal with different patients within different scenarios since they are already prepared following their extensive reading and research habits. As a result, each treatment session brings out new methods, symptoms and learning opportunities that the nurse could have only heard about from the research. However, putting this into practice allows the nurse to confidently reproduce the best results that are already researched upon from the past studies and testing (Penz and Bassendowski, 2006). EBP is important in improving the patient outcome since the clinician has already attained better skills, techniques and strategies that may have been lacking before. As a result, practitioners interact and exchange ideas that in broader context, a llows for the core components of the larger intervention to be carried out (Huang, Hepburn and Espiritu, 2003). Consequently, it is important that nurses embrace this as a way of gaining the upper hand in ensuring that their patients achieve the best. Patients will also gain confidence in the health system and prefer them for their treatment rather than engage in over-the-counter medications. It will also improve the nurse's ability to select an intervention and evaluate their performance based on past and present research methods that have been certified by medical practitioners elsewhere (Penz and Bassendowski, 2006). Part B Nurses need to embrace this method in their practice. EBP offers a chance for each nurse to understand what past

How science textbooks provide philosophical normative or celebratory Essay

How science textbooks provide philosophical normative or celebratory -- accounts of science - Essay Example However, the main aim of philosophy is to uncover what exactly qualifies as a science, the efficiency of scientific theories it comes with and the primary rationale for science itself. Scientific textbooks act as basis for understanding various accounts of science in different perspectives. Basically, this essay recognizes the fact that these textbooks are indeed fundamental in understanding both philosophical normative and celebratory accounts of science. Perhaps, the principal question is whether they offer adequate normative and celebratory accounts of science. The above thesis is supported by a look at both normative and celebratory accounts as follows. Usually, normative accounts of science involve an attempt to relate certain reasoning to an ultimate model while basing such reasoning to what is perceived to be right and normal. Scientific textbooks do make claims on how things should be, how to rate them, the identity of good and bad, and recognition of the wrong and right components of the claims. Arguably, the normative nature of a statement is independent of whether it is verifiable, can be verified or majority held. Significantly, normative claims and their meanings are an important part of human life. They help man in his daily organization and thought planning. Thus, they are essential to decision making especially those involving distinction of political and ethical discourses. Therefore, the use of scientific textbooks in understanding philosophical normative contexts is without doubt a beneficial way of appreciating scientific accounts (Achinstein 51). On the other hand, these textbooks also offer a basis for understanding philosophical celebratory accounts of science. Science attempts to unravel certain happenings and explain why they are exactly so. Scientific realists assert that the main aim of science is to state the truth and that individuals should consider

British literature with 3 choices for the topic Essay

British literature with 3 choices for the topic - Essay Example The natural world becomes, strangely, an unnatural and supernatural one inhabited by monsters. The terror of the unknown is common not just to the Norsemen, but to all men, and the intangible menace invoked by the supernatural reaches out of the text and grips the reader as well. Society in Beowulf has its core in the hall, not unsurprisingly called ‘Heorot’, meaning ‘heart’. The hall is surrounded by the hunter-gatherer village structure of women and huts, representing the outer periphery of society. Beyond lay the unknown – swamps and wilderness denoting the other, outer world where Grendel lives, unable to access Heorot and the social affection and bonding within. He can only watch from afar. The ‘Loathly Lady’ is a common motif found in literature extending back to Celtic and German mythology and Arthurian legend. The lady is portrayed as an ugly old hag a young and handsome knight has to consummate marriage with. When the deed is done, the crone is transformed into a beautiful, youthful maiden, who informs her husband that he can choose her to be beautiful and false or ugly and true. By letting his new wife make the decision herself, the knight frees her from the spell, and she is now fair and faithful. In the Irish tradition, the loathly lady has been thought to personify the sovereignty of the land, the parallel being that whoever submits to the prophetess kingmaker and her wishes will become the ruler of the land. The ‘lady’ is shown as different from the norm, both in the magical forms that she takes, as well as her behavior. Both Alysoun, in the prologue to The Wife of Baths Tale from Chaucers Canterbury Tales, as well as Dame Ragnelle in the tale itself, go against the accepted norms of society. Alysoun is much married and holds forth views on virginity, for instance, contrary to the established mores of the time. Ragnelle’s rude manners at the feast scandalizes all, but must be accepted as she is now wed to

Teachers Education in Pakistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Teachers Education in Pakistan - Essay Example Politics between staff members is a major concern; the social background of teachers is not taken into consideration since in a city like Karachi, the population is made of people from varying social backgrounds Time and again, the article refers to its concept framework and the advantages of its implementation, but it fails to go into further depths of the matter. In a progressive countr...y like Pakistan, there are more complex situations at the core of an educational system. Tensions in Teacher Training for School Effectiveness: The Case of PakistanLynn Davies &ZafarIqbal (July 1997) School Effective Research (SER) has emerged from virtual total obscurity to a now central position in the educational discourse that is taking place within countries (Teddies and Reynolds, 2000). In the light of this discourse, the article considered whether efficiency of schools is implicated by the influence of teacher training. Pakistan’s case study is exceptional since it continues teacher training, while increasing the autonomy of institutions. However, the inclusion may create strain and conflict to the research. The research is based on questionnaires answered by pre-service and in-service students and their tutors in a co-educational teacher training college. However, it shows that there were irregularities in the findings. The answers filled by the tutors did not match with those of the students. The problems highlighted were specific to the ones faced by the trainee in order to establish the relationship between the inefficiency of teachers’ training, and the mediocre performance of the trainee at work. It purposes to explain how teachers themselves are not 'autonomous learners' or 'reflective practitioners', and this particular attitude will trickle down to their students. Therefore, there is little or none evaluation of the current educational system and few propose to change it. The point that one particular case of training college cannot generalize t he effectiveness in other parts of Pakistan is good evaluation. If we understood how those effective teachers teach, and how they came to learn to

Reading Responses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Reading Responses - Essay Example He spent his life by shining the boots of the wealthy businesspersons and at evenings if he would have money to spare then he would spend is time watching the cheap plays at the Old Bowery theatre. At night, he would spend his time sleeping wrapped in newspapers and if he would still have money after watching the theater then he would spend his night at Newsboy Lodging House spending 6 cents and he would buy himself a hearty meal at the cafà ©. The novel is based on how ragged dick has a sudden windfall and he obtains a lot of money. The novel teaches the readers a lot of virtue through the life of Ragged dick. It teaches the importance of education, the importance of being generous, honest and to not inculcate any filthy habit of smoking or drinking. The two questions instilled in my mind were What were the differences between Dick’s and Frank’s perception? And What are the different themes that are enumerated in the novel Ragged Dick? The entire novel is based on the dichotomy present between Frank and Dick’s character. While Frank is actually a genteel boy from the countryside who is completely captured and entrapped with the superficial appearances of the people and the different places. Frank is initially disgusted and he looks down upon the appearance of Dick. Frank is just fascinated with the beauty around him and he cannot see the reality inside it. Dick becomes the mouthpiece of Alger who teaches Didactics to the readers of the novel. The different themes that has been discussed in the novel is that Dick’s search for identity. The search for identity begins with the transition and growth of dick from childhood to adulthood. Another theme that has been dealt in the novel is the theme of success. The theme that enacts the importance of being wealthy and it also marks the fulfillment of the American Dream. It also highlights the importance of the social

Survey for health research and methodlogy class Essay

Survey for health research and methodlogy class - Essay Example In the U.S., both the medical community and public have shown more interest in different alternative medical practices over the past couple of years. The establishment of an Office of Alternative Medicine by the National Institutes of Health in 1992 was testimony to the growing interest by the U.S. healthcare fraternity in alternative medicines. The Office later noted that therapies that were then considered unconventional had the potential of gaining more acceptance and becoming conventional in the future (Berman, Singh, Lao, Singh, Ferentz & Hartnoll, 1995). Recent studies conducted in the United States of America, Britain, and Australia among other countries reveal that alternative medicines are getting wider acceptance and attention among physicians and members of the public. A study conducted in 1990 by Eisenberg and other researchers, for example, revealed that about 30% of the American population used at least one form or another of complementary therapy (Berman, Singh, Lao, Singh, Ferentz & Hartnoll, 1995). In Britain, the number of people practicing alternative medicine grew 5.6 times more than physicians. Alternative medicines are used in the treatment of various ailments ranging from fevers to aches, pains and cancers. A study published in the European Journal of Cancer in 2000 revealed that out of the 1023 women suffering from breast cancer, roughly 22% had consulted with an alternative medicine practitioner in the previous twelve months (Rees, Feigel, Vickers, Zollman, McGurk & Smith, 2000). The attitudes of physicians and patients toward alternative treatments for cancer have been a subject of great interest for many researchers especially considering the effects of physician attitudes on patients. In her study on the relationship between patients’ use of alternative cancer treatments and physicians reactions toward them, Bourgeault (1996) established that patient –physician

IDEA and Special Education Annotated Essay Example for Free

IDEA and Special Education Annotated Essay Bowen, S. and Rude, H. (2006). Assessment and students with disabilities: Issues and challenges with educational reform. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 25 (3), pp. 24-30. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Bowen and Rude pointed out that the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reflected an effort to align IDEA with NCLB. This article focuses specifically on the problem of accountability, eligibility for special education services, summary of performance, and transition services for special education students. Also included are guiding principles for selecting appropriate accommodations for assessments. Ketterlin-Geller, L. (2007). Recommendations for accommodations: Implications of (in)consistency. Remedial and Special Education, 28 (4), pp. 194-206. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. The author noted the importance of appropriate accommodations for students who have special needs. Unfortunately, student IEPs are often not aligned with the actual accommodations that are made in the classroom. This disagreement between the classroom teacher and the IEP team results in inconsistent accommodations which, according to Ketterlin-Geller, have a negative effect on student outcomes. The author outlined several possible causes for these inconsistencies. Ketterlin-Geller concluded, Regardless of the root cause for the disagreement between IEPs and teachers, the current system is placing teachers in the awkward position of enacting a set of predetermined, legally binding guidelines with the intention of providing the support needed for their students to succeed. Lynch, S. and Adams, P. (2008). Developing standards-based Individualized Education Program objectives for students with significant needs. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40 (3), pp. 36-39. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. Lynch and Adams noted the apparent conflict between the expectations of NCLB and the requirements of IDEA described guidelines that may be used to help districts to develop assessments that are inline with student IEPs. This article focuses on developing assessments that address pre-symbolic levels of learning, early symbolic learning, and expanded symbolic levels of learning. National Education Association (2004). IDEA and NCLB: Intersection of Access and Outcomes. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. nea. org/specialed/images/ideanclbintersection. pdf This 47-page booklet describes the implications of NCLB for IDEA. Section One of the booklet addresses standardized assessments for students with disabilities, including acceptable accommodations under NCLB. The booklet also addresses how special education may affect Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) reports. The text includes several links to documents that may be used for policy guidance for districts that are developing policies for special education. Turnbull, H. (2005). Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Reauthorization: Accountability and personal responsibility. Remedial Special Education, 26 (6), pp. 320-326. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Turnbull noted that IDEA 2004 reflects the concept that the teacher, the school, and the federal government share in the responsibility of improving student outcomes. Turnbull argued that this scope of responsibility must also include parents and students if learning and student achievement are to take place. U. S. Congress (2002). No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Public Law 107-110. 2002. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. ed. gov/legislation/ESEA02/107-110. pdf This is the full text of NCLB. Altogether, the law is 670 pages long. The sheer volume of NCLB makes it difficult for many parents and school administrators to read through understand. References to IDEA and special education are spread throughout the bill; however, the most reference with the most significance for special education is found on page 1448-1449, in which not less than 95 percent of students, including students in special education, are required to take assessments with accommodations, guidelines, and alternative assessments provided in the same manner as those provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). U. S. Congress (2004). Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Public Law 108-446. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from http://www. copyright. gov/legislation/pl108-446. pdf The full text of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA. It is interesting to note that although IDEA 2004 was passed 2 years after the enactment of NCLB, there is no reference to NCLB in IDEA 2004. IDEA 2004 does note, however, that all children with disabilities are included in all general State and districtwide assessment programs (p. 40). Provisions are also made for alternative assessments. The philosophy of NCLB is also reflected in the IDEA 2004 requirement that states and school districts shall report the number of students who required an alternative assessment and how those students performed on the assessment (p. 41). Voltz, D. and Fore, C. (2006). Urban special education in the context of standards-based reform. Remedial and Special Education, 27 (6), pp. 329-336. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. Critics of NCLB have argued that children from low-income families are more likely to have difficulty passing standardized assessments. Voltz and Fore pointed out that education does not occur in a vacuum. To be effective, education reform must be linked to broader social reform, including reforms that reduce poverty and that address the effect of poverty on student achievement. Wakeman, S. , Browder, D., Meier, I. , and McColl, A. (2007). The implications of No Child Left Behind for students with developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 13 (2), pp. 143-150. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. This review addresses how to develop appropriate alternative assessments for children who have developmental delays and the implications of NCLB for curriculum and instruction for these children. The authors encouraged teachers to work towards meeting challenging academic standards for their students with developmental delays and noted that there is no research indicating that functional skills must be mastered before academic learning can take place. Wakeman, et al. , also pointed out that the requirements of NCLB may make it more difficult to recruit and to retain teachers who are qualified to work with this population. Wasta, M. (2006). No Child Left Behind: The death of special education? Phi Delta Kappan, 88 (4), pp. 298-299. Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Academic Search Premier. In this editorial, Wasta argues that NCLB includes unrealistic expectations for the educational outcomes of students with disabilities. Wasta fears that NCLB may lead some schools to eliminate their special education programs altogether. Despite his concerns about NCLB, Wasta contends that special education students should not be exempt from assessments and other provisions of the law. Instead, NCLB should be modified to include realistic expectations for special education students and special education programs.

Mhp Nursing Shared Governance Essay Example for Free

Mhp Nursing Shared Governance Essay What is Shared Decision Making †¢ Point of Service Decision Making where staff who perform the work participate in decision making affecting their environment †¢ A 30 year old decision making model meant to give equal voice to nurses †¢ A decentralized style of management that creates an environment of empowerment Shared Decision Making A Journey Not a Destination We TO They Why Shared Decision Making †¢ Essential to achieving the best patient outcomes by giving nurses control of their practice – they know best! †¢ Recognizes the power already present in a role and allows that power to be expressed legitimately †¢ Builds autonomy into the profession Shared Decision Making – The Process A dynamic process that is centered on 4 critical principles of fully empowered organizations: Partnership Accountability Equity Ownership Operational Definitions †¢ Partnership – nursing staff and leadership work together at the unit and system level to move practice forward and achieve the best outcomes †¢ Accountability staff and managers share ownership for the outcomes of our work and are answerable to our colleagues, the institution and the community we serve Operational Definitions †¢ Equity – Integrating roles to achieve outcomes; everyone contributes within the scope of their role as part of the team †¢ Ownership – Everyone must realize that success is linked to how well they do their jobs Shared Decision Making Our Model Professional Advancement Council Administrative Council Safety First C rd oo ina tin g Quality Safety Council Cou ncil Unit Patient Research Evidence Based Nursing Practice Council Great Place to Work Professional Nurse Council Family Community Clinical Excellence Councils Coo Education Council rdin atin g Cou ncil Think of yourself as a Patient APN Council Research Council Financial Strength CCHS Shared Decision Making Councils †¢ Quality Safety Council †¢ Research Evidence Based Nursing Practice Council †¢ Education Council †¢ Professional Nurse Council †¢ Coordinating Council Education Council ï‚ § Collaborates with unit and system councils to identify educational needs, develop educational priorities with appropriate time lines and determine resources for all education impacting the Department of Patient Care Services ï‚ § Disseminates approved educational strategies to unit leaders and support staff ï‚ § Develops and maintains a communication network between unit and systems councils Research Evidence Based Nursing Practice Council ï‚ § Promotes the spirit of inquiry in clinical nursing practice ï‚ § Evaluates the literature in order to use best practices to transform clinical practice at the point-of-care Quality Safety Council ï‚ § Provides planned, systematic and collaborative approaches to oversee and direct quality and safety relating to the nursing process, functions and services provided. ï‚ § The council’s scope includes performance improvement and safety measures throughout the Department of Patient Care Services Professional Nurse Council ï‚ § Works to enhance the professional image of nursing within CCHS and the community ï‚ § Supports the spirit of the professional advancement program ï‚ § Identifies and supports implementation of recruitment and retention strategies Coordinating Council ï‚ § Provides overall coordination of the systems councils. ï‚ § Reviews the system strategic plan and adopts the plan for the Department of Patient Care Services and the nursing Shared Decision Making structure. ï‚ § Serves as the portal for other departments or disciplines requiring assistance with the Shared Decision Making structure of nursing. Problem Solving The Old Way †¢ Problem identified by staff and communicated to manager †¢ Manager may or may not have asked for feedback about solutions †¢ Manager made final decision or had final authority for approving a solution Problem Solving The New Way †¢ Staff identify issues and communicate them to the unit council †¢ Unit council formulates a response and communicates this to staff †¢ Staff provide feedback via the comment form. How Does The New Way Work †¢ Unit Council: ï‚ § Collects Data ï‚ § Develops a proposed plan using evidenced based practice ï‚ § Develops a time line ï‚ § Presents Plan for Feedback (Open Comment) ï‚ § Revises Plan Based Upon Feedback ï‚ § Forewards plan to system council, as needed How Does The New Way Work †¢ Unit Council: ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § ï‚ § Implements Plan Evaluates Outcome Report Results to Unit Staff Seeks staff feedback, formally and informally on council’s performance How Does It Work Problem Solving Methodology †¢ Identify an Issue or a Problem †¢ Gather Data †¢ Design a Solution †¢ Obtain Feedback †¢ Finalize a Proposal †¢ Implement †¢ Evaluate †¢ Report Increased Incidence of Pressure Sores Problem Unit Problem: Unit Council Problem Solving Model Results: Positive Outcomes System Level Practice Research Problem Coordinating Operations Education Problem Solving Model Results: Positive Outcomes Nurse Manager’s Role †¢ Create a climate that is actively supportive and not just tolerant of shared decision making †¢ Facilitate a leaning environment for staff growth and comfort with shared decision making †¢ Support â€Å"release time† for staff to participate in shared decision making activities Nurse Manager’s Role †¢ Share with staff your knowledge of leadership and help staff to minimize implementation barriers †¢ Commit to the â€Å"New Way† Role of Unit Based Council Chair †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Set meetings Develop the agenda Move council to consensus Ensure members participate (per charter) Facilitate group assignments Ensure consensus for decision making Call emergency meetings, as needed Mentor Chair-elect Benefits of Shared Decision Making †¢ Increased Staff Nurse Satisfaction (increased autonomy, increased control over practice, improved communication between nurses, physicians and administration) †¢ Improved Nursing Retention ($90,000 to replace an RN 2006 Advisory Board) †¢ Improved Patient Safety Outcomes Benefits of Shared Decision Making †¢ Improved collaboration and team Building †¢ Improved quality of care and clinical effectiveness †¢ Increased staff confidence, personal and professional growth †¢ Development of new knowledge and skills †¢ Increased professionalism and accountability Requirements for success†¦. †¢ Place the Patient First and focus on providing the best care possible †¢ Trust and respect is essential †¢ Communicate openly and honestly †¢ Embrace change and strive for improvement †¢ Staff and managers hold each other accountable. †¢ Organizational support of accountability in the performance appraisal process Final Thought Shared decision making is a journey, not an event. It is not achieved overnight, and there is no conclusion – no point when it is fully in place. It only provides a foundation for further growth. Tim Porter-O’Grady

Evolution of Investment Banking

Evolution of Investment Banking INTRODUCTION At a very macro level, ‘Investment Banking as term suggests, is concerned with the primary function of assisting the capital market in its function of capital intermediation, i.e., the movement of financial resources from those who have them (the Investors), to those who need to make use of them for generating GDP (the Issuers). Banking and financial institution on the one hand and the capital market on the other are the two broad platforms of institutional that investment for capital flows in economy. Therefore, it could be inferred that investment banks are those institutions that are counterparts of banks in the capital markets in the function of intermediation in the resource allocation. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to conclude so, as that would confine investment banking to very narrow sphere of its activities in the modern world of high finance. Over the decades, backed by evolution and also fuelled by recent technologies developments, an investment banking has transf ormed repeatedly to suit the needs of the finance community and thus become one of the most vibrant and exciting segment of financial services. Investment bankers have always enjoyed celebrity status, but at times, they have paid the price for the price for excessive flamboyance as well. To continue from the above words of John F. Marshall and M.E. Eills, ‘investment banking is what investment banks do . This definition can be explained in the context of how investment banks have evolved in their functionality and how history and regulatory intervention have shaped such an evolution. Much of investment banking in its present form, thus owes its origins to the financial markets in USA, due o which, American investment banks have banks have been leaders in the American and Euro markets as well. Therefore, the term ‘investment banking can arguably be said to be of American origin. Their counterparts in UK were termed as ‘merchants banks since they had confined themselves to capital market intermediation until the US investments banks entered the UK and European markets and extended the scope of such businesses. Investment banks help companies and governments and their agencies to raise money by issuing and selling acquisitions and other types of financial transactions. Investment banks also act as intermediaries in trading for clients. Investment banks differ from stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. However some firms operate as both brokerages and investment banks; this includes some of the best known financial services firms in the world. More commonly used today to characterize what was traditionally termed† investment banking† is â€Å"sells side. This is trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e. underwriting,research, etc.). The buy side constitutes the hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment. Many firms have both buy and sell side components. Definition An individual or institution, which acts as an underwriter or agent for corporations and municipalities issuing securities. Most also maintain broker/dealer operations, maintain markets for previously issued securities, and offer advisory services to investors. Investment banks also have a large role in facilitating mergers and acquisitions, private equity placements and corporate restructuring. Unlike traditional banks, investment banks do not accept deposits from and provide loans to individuals. Also called investment banker. Who needs an Investment Bank? Any firm contemplating a significant transaction can benefit from the advice of an investment bank. Although large corporations often have sophisticated finance and corporate development departments provide objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment banking firm can provide the services required to initiate and execute a major transaction, thereby empowering small to medium sized companies with financial and transaction experience without the addition of permanent overhead, an investment bank provides objectivity, a valuable contact network, allows for efficient use of client personnel, and is vitally interested in seeing the transaction close. Most small to medium sized companies do not have a large in-house staff, and in a financial transaction may be at a disadvantage versus larger competitors. A quality investment-banking firm can provide the services The main activities and units The primary function of an investment bank is buying and selling products both on behalf of the banks clients and also for the bank itself. Banks undertake risk through proprietary trading, done by a special set of traders who do not interface with clients and through Principal Risk, risk undertaken by a trader after he or she buys or sells a product to a client and does not hedge his or her total exposure. Banks seek to maximize profitability for a given amount of risk on their balance sheet An investment bank is split into the so-called Front Office Middle Office and Back Office. The individual activities are described below: Front Office Investment Banking is the traditional aspect of investment banks which involves helping customers raise Corporate Finance (often pronounced corpfin). mutual funds) . Research and Structuring. Sales desks then communicate their clients orders to the appropriate trading desks, which can price and execute trades, or structure new products that fit a specific need. Research is the division which reviews companies and writes reports about their prospects, often with buy or sell ratings. While the research division generates no revenue, its resources are used to assist traders in trading, the sales force in suggesting ideas to customers, and investment bankers by covering their clients. In recent years the relationship between investment banking and research has become highly regulated, reducing its importance to the investment bank. Structuring has been a relatively recent division as derivatives have come into play, with highly technical and numerate employees working on creating complex structured products which typically offer much greater margins and returns than underlying cash securities. Middle Office * operational risk and the assurance Middle Offices provide now include measures to address this risk. When this assurance is not in place, market and credit risk analysis can be unreliable and open to deliberate manipulation. Back Office Operations involve data-checking trades that have been conducted, ensuring that they are not erroneous, and transacting the required transfers. While it provides the greatest job security of the divisions within an investment bank, it is a critical part of the bank that involves managing the financial information of the bank and ensures efficient capital markets through the financial reporting function. The staff in these areas are often highly qualified and need to understand in depth the deals and transactions that occur across all the divisions of the bank. New products Investment banking is one of the most global industries and is hence continuously challenged to respond to new developments and innovation in the global financial markets. Throughout the history of investment banking, many have theorized that all investment banking products and services would be copyrighted, they are very often copied quickly by competing banks, pushing down trading margins. For example, OTC contract has to be uniquely structured and could involve complex pay-off and risk profiles. Listed option contracts are traded through major exchanges, such as the CBOE, and are almost as commoditized as general equity securities. In addition, while many products have been commoditized, an increasing amount of profit within investment banks has come from proprietary trading, where size creates a positive network benefit (since the more trades an investment bank does, the more it knows about the market flow, allowing it to theoretically make better trades and pass on better guidance to clients). Potential conflicts of interest may arise between different parts of a bank, creating the potential for financial movements that could be market manipulation. Authorities that regulate investment banking (the Chinese wall which prohibits communication between investment banking on one side and research and equities on the other. Some of the conflicts of interest that can be found in investment banking are listed here: Historically, equity research firms were founded and owned by investment banks. One common practice is for equity analysts to initiate coverage on a company in order to develop relationships that lead to highly profitable investment banking business. In the 1990s, many equity researchers allegedly traded positive stock ratings directly for investment banking business. On the flip side of the coin: companies would threaten to divert investment banking business to competitors unless their stock was rated favorably. Politicians acted to pass laws to criminalize such acts. Increased pressure from regulators and a series of lawsuits, settlements, and prosecutions curbed this business to a large extent following the 2001 stock market tumble Many investment banks also own retail brokerages. Also during the 1990s, some retail brokerages sold consumers securities which did not meet their stated risk profile. This behavior may have led to investment banking business or even sales of surplus shares during a public offering to keep public perception of the stock favorable. Since investment banks engage heavily in trading for their own account, there is always the temptation or possibility that they might engage in some form of front running. Types of investment banks underwrite (guarantee the sale of) stock and bond issues, trade for their own accounts, make markets, and advise corporations on capital markets activities such as mergers and acquisitions Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provide capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture ca pital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies. Investment banks provide four primary types of services: Raising capital, advising in mergers and acquisitions, executing securities sales and trading, and performing general advisory services. Most of the major Wall Street firms are active in each of these categories. Smaller investment banks may specialize in two or three of these categories. Raising Capital An investment bank can assist a firm in raising funds to achieve a variety of objectives, such as to acquire another company, reduce its debt load, expand existing operations, or for specific project financing. Capital can include some combination of debt, common equity, preferred equity, and hybrid securities such as convertible debt or debt with warrants. Although many people associate raising capital with public stock offerings, a great deal of capital is actually raised through private placements with institutions, specialized investment funds, and private individuals. The investment bank will work with the client to structure the transaction to meet specific objectives while being attractive to investors. Mergers and Acquisitions Investment banks often represent firms in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Example projects include the acquisition of a specific firm, the sale of a company or a subsidiary of the company, and assistance in identifying, structuring, and executing a merger or joint venture. In each case, the investment bank should provide a thorough analysis of the entity bought or sold, as well as a valuation range and recommended structure. Sales and Trading These services are primarily relevant only to publicly traded firms, or firms, which plan to go public in the near future. Specific functions include making a market in a stock, placing new offerings, and publishing research reports. General Advisory Services: Advisory services include assignments such as strategic planning, business valuations, assisting in financial restructurings, and providing an opinion as to the fairness of a proposed transaction. Terms Related To Investment Bank Buying and Selling Buying Deciding on the proper time to purchase a security that you would like to add to your holdings can be a daunting task. If the price drops immediately after you buy, it may seem as if you missed out on a better buying opportunity. If the price jumps right before you make your move, you may feel as if you paid too much. As it turns out, you should not let these small fluctuations influence your decision too much. As long as the fundamentals that led you to decide on the purchase have not changed, a few points in either direction should not have a large impact on the long-term value of your investment. Similarly, the fact that an investment has been increasing in value of late is not a sufficient reason for you to purchase it. Momentum can be very fickle, and recent movement is not necessarily an indicator of future movement. Therefore, buying decisions should be based on sound and thorough research geared toward discerning the future value of a security relative to its current price. This analysis will probably not touch upon price movement in the very recent past. As you learn more about investing youll get better at deciding when to buy, but most experts recommend that beginners avoid trying to time the market, and just get in as soon as they can and stay in for the long haul. The proper time to buy a security is quite simply when it is available for less than its actual value. These undervalued securities are actually not as rare as they sound. However, the problem is simply that they are never sure bets. The value of a security includes estimates of the future performance of factors underlying the value of the security. For stocks, these factors include things like earnings growth and market share. Changes can be predicted to a degree, but they are subject to fluctuation due to forces both within and beyond the control of the company. The overall economic climate, changes in the industry or even bad decisions by management can all cause a security poised to ascend in value to become an under performer. Therefore, it is essential to practice your analysis before putting your money into action. Make some mock purchases based on your personal analysis technique and track the results. Not all of your decisions will lead to the results you were expecting, but if most of your choices turn out to be good and there are mitigating factors that you can learn from to explain your missteps, then you may be ready to put your analysis technique and investing strategy into action. At this point, the need to continuously monitor your investments does not disappear. Both under performers and overachievers should be studied carefully to fine-tune your strategy. You should also regularly look at your securities to make sure that the fundamentals for success that led you to buy in the first place are intact. If not, you may need to prepare to cash in and start looking for the next opportunity. One way to avoid the hassles of deciding when to buy altogether is to practice dollar-cost averaging. This strategy advocates investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals. The price when you first invest is relatively unimportant (as long as the fundamentals are sound) because you will be purchasing shares at a different price each time you buy. The success of your investment then lies not with short-term fluctuations, but with the long-term movement of the value of the security. Selling: There comes a time when investments must be liquidated and converted back into cash. In a perfect world, selling would only be necessary when investment goals have been reached or time horizons have expired, but, in reality, decisions about selling can be much more difficult. For one thing, it can be just as hard to decide when to sell as it can be to decide when to buy. No one wishes to miss out on gains by selling too soon, but, at the same time, no one wishes to watch an investment peak in value and then begin to decline. Investors often seek to sell investments that have dropped in value in the short-term. However, if conditions have not changed significantly, drops in price may actually represent an opportunity to buy at a better price. If the initial research, which led to the purchase, was sound, a temporary decline does not preclude the success that was originally predicted. Of course, things change, and if the security no longer meets the criteria that led to its purchase, selling may in fact be the best option. Selling may also become necessary if investment goals change over time. You may need to reduce the amount of risk in your portfolio or you may have the opportunity to seek out greater returns. Additionally, a security may have increased in value to the point that it is overvalued. This creates an excellent opportunity to cash in and seek out new undervalued investments. Often you will need to make this type of sale in the course of rebalancing a portfolio necessitated by gains and losses in different areas. Selling can be especially difficult when an under performing stock must be dumped. Some investors let their emotions dictate their actions and hold on to stocks that have fallen in value rather than to sell, thinking that selling at a loss is like admitting that they made a mistake. However, realizing the loss and moving on to better investments is often preferable to continuing to hold onto a loser in the hopes that it will somehow rebound. When considering any sale, you must factor in the costs of the sale itself. Fees and taxes will eat into profits, so they must be subtracted from any increases in value to understand the true impact of the transaction. Capital gains taxes are higher for gains on investments held less than one year, so its often wise to invest for the long term rather than to buy and sell quickly. On the other hand, it can be dangerous to hold an investment longer than you want to, simply to reduce the tax burden. It is essential to remember that just because an investment increases in value after it has been sold does not necessarily mean that it was sold prematurely. Managing risk and diversification are often more important than capitalizing on short-term gains in a particular security. Keeping in mind the initial goals for the investment and adjusting them to fit your present goals will allow you to make smarter decisions about selling. Principles of Investing 1. Start Investing Now We say this not just to discourage procrastination, but because an early start can make all the difference. In general, every six years you wait doubles the required monthly savings to reach the same level of retirement income. Another motivational statistic: If you contributed some amount each month for the next nine years, and then nothing afterwards, or if you contributed nothing for the first nine years, then contributed the same amount each month for the next 41 years, you would have about the same amount. Compounding is a beautiful thing. 2. Know Yourself The right course of action depends on your current situation, your future goals, and your personality. If you dont take a close look at these, and make them explicit, you might be headed in the wrong direction. Current Situation: How healthy are you, financially? Whats your net worth right now? Whats your monthly income? What are your expenses (and where could they be reduced)? How much debt are you carrying? At what rate of interest? How much are you saving? How are you investing it? What are your returns? What are your expenses? Goals: What are your financial goals? How much will you need to achieve them? Are you on the right track? Risk Tolerance: How much risk are you willing and able to accept in pursuit of your objectives? The appropriate level of risk is determined by your personality, age, job security, health, net worth, amount of cash you have to cover emergencies, and the length of your investing horizon. 3. Get Your Financial House In Order Even though investing may be more fun than personal finance, it makes more sense to get started on them in the reverse order. If you dont know where the money goes each month, you shouldnt be thinking about investing yet. Tracking your spending habits is the first step toward improving them. If youre carrying debt at a high rate of interest (especially credit card debt), you should unburden yourself before you begin investing. If you dont know how much you save each month and how much youll need to save to reach your goals, theres no way to know what investments are right for you. If youve transitioned from a debt situation to paycheck-to-paycheck situation to a saving some money every month situation, youre ready to begin investing what you save. You should start by amassing enough to cover three to six months of expenses, and keep this money in a very safe investment like a money market account, so youre prepared in the event of an emergency. Once youve saved up this emergency reserve, you can progress to higher risk (and higher return) investments: bonds for money that you expect to need in the next few years, and stocks or stock mutual funds for the rest. Use dollar cost averaging, by investing about the same amount each month. This is always a good idea, but even more so with the dramatic fluctuations in the market in the past 10 years. Dollar cost averaging will make it easier to stomach the inevitable dips. And remember; never invest in anything you dont understand. 4. Develop A Long Term Plan Now that you know your current situation, goals, and personality, you should have a pretty good idea of what your long-term plan should be. It should detail where the money will go: cars, houses, college, and retirement. It should also detail where the money will come from. Hopefully the numbers will be about the same. Dont try to time the market. Get in and stay in. We dont know what direction the next 10% move will be, but we do know what direction the next100% move will be. Review your plan periodically, and whenever your needs or circumstances change. If you are not confident that your plan makes sense, talk to an investment advisor or someone you trust. 5. Buy Stocks Now that youve got a long term view, you can more safely invest in riskier investments, which the market rewards (in general). This requires patience and discipline, but it increases returns. This approach reduces the entire universe of investment vehicles to two choices: stocks and stock mutual funds. In the long run, theyre the winners: In this century, stocks beat bonds 8 out of 9 decades, and theyre well in the lead again. According to Ibbotsons Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation 1995 Yearbook, here are the average annual returns from 1926 to 1994 (before inflation): Stocks: 10.2% (and small company stocks were 12.1%) Intermediate term treasury bonds: 5.1% 30-day T-bills: 3.7% But is it really worth the additional risk just for a few percentage points? The answer is yes. 10% a year for 20 years is 570%, but 7% a year for 20 years is only 280%. Compounding is Gods gift to long-term planners. If you buy outstanding companies, and hold them through the markets gyrations, you will be rewarded. If you arent good at selecting stocks, select some mutual funds. If you arent good at selecting mutual funds, go with an index fund (like the Vanguard SP 500). 6. Investigate Before You Invest Always do your homework. The more you know, the better off you are. This requires that you keep learning, and pay attention to events that might affect you. Understand personal finance matters that could affect you (for example, proposed tax changes). Understand how each of your investments fits in with the rest of your portfolio and with your overall strategy. Understand the risks associated with each investment. Gather unbiased, objective information. Get a second opinion, a third opinion, etc. Be cautious when evaluating the advice of anyone with a vested interest. If youre going to invest in stocks, learn as much as you can about the companies youre considering. Understand before you invest. Research, research, Read books. Consider joining an investment club or an organization like the American Association of Individual Investors. Experiment with various strategies before you put your own money on the line. Examine historical data or participate in a stock market simulation. Try a momentum portfolio, a technical analysis portfolio, a bottom fisher portfolio, a dividend portfolio, a price/earnings growth portfolio, an intuition portfolio, a mega trends portfolio, and any others you think of. In the process youll find out which ones work best for you. Learn from your own mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others. If you dont have time for all this work consider mutual funds, especially index funds. 7. Develop the Right Attitude The following personality traits will help you achieve financial success: Discipline: Develop a plan, and stick with it. As you continue to learn, youll become more confident that youre on the right track. Alter your asset allocation based on changes in your personal situation, not because of some short-term market fluctuation. Confidence: Let your intelligence, not your emotions; make your decisions for you. Understand that you will make mistakes and take losses; even the best investors do. Re-evaluate your strategy from time to time, but dont second-guess it. Patience: Dont let your emotions be ruled by todays performance. In most cases, you shouldnt even be watching the day-to-day performance, unless you like to. Also, dont ever feel like its now or never. Dont be pressured into an investment you dont yet understand or feel comfortable with. The following personality traits will hurt your chances of financial success: Fear: If you are unwilling to take any risk, you will be stuck with investments that barely beat inflation. Greed: As an investment class, get rich quick schemes have the worst returns. If your expectations are unrealistically high, youll go for the big scores, which usually dont work. It is generally a good idea to avoid making financial decisions based on emotional factors. 8. Get Help If You Need It The do-it-yourself approach isnt for everyone. If you try it and its not working, or youre afraid to try it at all, or you just dont have the time or desire, theres nothing wrong with seeking professional assistance. If you want others to handle your financial affairs for you, you will nevertheless want to remain involved to some degree, to make sure your money is being spent wisely. Initial Public Offerings Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are the first time a company sells its stock to the public. Sometimes IPOs are associated with huge first-day gains; other times, when the market is cold, they flop. Its often difficult for an individual investor to realize the huge gains, since in most cases only institutional investors have access to the stock at the offering price. By the time the general public can trade the stock, most of its first-day gains have already been made. However, a savvy and informed investor should still watch the IPO market, because this is the first opportunity to buy these stocks. Reasons for an IPO When a privately held corporation needs to raise additional capital, it can either take on debt or sell partial ownership. If the corporation chooses to sell ownership to the public, it engages in an IPO. Corporations choose to go public instead of issuing debt securities for several reasons. The most common reason is that capital raised through an IPO does not have to be repaid, whereas debt securities such as bonds must be repaid with interest. Despite this apparent benefit, there are also many drawbacks to an IPO. A large drawback to going public is that the current owners of the privately held corporation lose a part of their ownership. Corporations weigh the costs and benefits of an IPO carefully before performing an IPO. Going Public If a corporation decides that it is going to perform an IPO, it will first hire an investment bank to facilitate the sale of its shares to the public. This process is commonly called underwriting; the banks role as the underwriter varies according to the method of underwriting agreed upon, but its primary function remains the same. In accordance with the Securities Act of 1933, the corporation will file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The registration statement must fully disclose all material information to the SEC, including a description of the corporation, detailed financial statements, biographical information on insiders, and the number of shares owned by each insider. After filing, the corporation must wait for the SEC to investigate the registration statement and approve of the full disclosure. During this period while the SEC investigates the corporations filings, the underwriter will try to increase demand for the corporations stock. Many investment banks will print tombstone advertisements that offer bare-bones information to prospective investors. The underwriter will also issue a preliminary prospectus, or red herring, to potential investors. These red herrings include much of the information contained in the registration statement, but are incomplete and subject to change. An official summary of the corporation, or prospectus, must be issued either before or along with the actual stock offering. After the SEC approves of the corporations full disclosure, the corporation and the underwriter decide on the price and date of the IPO; the IPO is then conducted on the determined date. IPOs are sometimes postponed or even withdrawn in poor market conditions. Performance The aftermarket performance of an IPO is how the stock price behaves after the day of its offering on the secondary market (such as the NYSE or the NASDAQ). Investors can use this information to judge the likelihood that an IPO in a specific industry or from a specific lead underwriter will perform well in the days (or months) following its offering. The first-day gains of some IPOs have made investors all too aware of the money to be had in IPO investing. Unfortunately, for the small individual investor, realizing those much-publicized gains is nearly impossible. The crux of the problem is that individual investors are just too small to get in on the IPO market before the jump. Those large first-day returns are made over the offering price of the stock, at which only large, institutional investors can buy in. The system is one o