Shareholder Value and Current Financial Crisis An...

Shareholder Value and Current Financial Crisis: An analysis of the Relationship INTRODUCTION Corporate governance in a particular firm is inevitable for its administration, policy making and overall health. In other words, ‘Corporate governance affects the development and functioning of capital markets and exerts a strong influence on resource allocation[1].’ Not only does it conduct the present running of a firm but it also has a futuristic outlook and a good corporate governance system encourages innovations in the firm[2]. There may be counter arguments that the existing cut-throat competition in the market can be left for taking care of good governance in a corporate because one lacking good governance will definitely be†¦show more content†¦In other words, maximizing shareholder value is enriching the shareholders through either issuing dividends by the company or increasing the stock price of shares of the company in the market. 1.2 Shareholder model of Corporate Governance. As already discussed, each Company has to be run on a certain model of Corporate Governance. Amongst the many forms and models of Corporate Governance, shareholder model is a prevalent one. Now what is this shareholder model of Corporate Governance? The so-called ‘shareholder value’ norm is not simply or even principally a legal rule or principle. It is above all a practice which came to shape managerial behaviour in large, listed American and British firms, and increasingly those in other jurisdictions, in the last decades of the twentieth century[10]. In the words of Hansmann and Kraakman, who offer the most lucid and fundamental explanation of shareholder model, ‘The principal elements of this consensus (shareholder value model) are that ultimate control over the corporation should be in the hands of the shareholder class; that the managers of the corporation should be charged with the obligation to manage the corporation in the interests of its shareholders; that other corporate constituencies,Show MoreRelatedBenefits of Good Governance1683 Words   |  7 Pagesbenefit. It is all about balancing individual and societal goals, as well as, economi c and social goals. Corporate Governance is the interaction between various participants (shareholders, board of directors, and company’s management) in shaping corporation’s performance and the way it is proceeding towards. The relationship between the owners and the managers in an organization must be healthy and there should be no conflict between the two. The owners must see that individual’s actual performanceRead MoreFinancial Services : Hsbc Bank1663 Words   |  7 PagesHSBC Model 2009 October 9, a conference hosted by UK Financial Services Authority referred to the liquidity management in HSBC Bank, seen from the statistics of annual report of HSBC, this bank did not suffer a great impact of 2008 financial crisis. Analysts focus on the efficiency of HCBS model, make some general experiences that banks can learn from the HSBC bank (Choudhry, Landuyt 2010). In fact, the HSBC model did not was a very specific model to rescue the bank in liquidity management risksRead MoreShort Term Liquidity And Operating Cash Flows1331 Words   |  6 Pagesfuture after taking account of immediate financial commitments (also known as current liabilities). Cash in the near future will be available from bank deposits, cash released by sale of stocks and cash collected from customers. Immediate financial commitments are shown in current liabilities. The first ratio of liquidity is the current ratio, which is a simple comparison of current assets with current liabilities. As per IbisWorld, the industry benchmark for current ratio is 1.3 to 1 (7), which meansRead MoreSales And Related Operations Are Denominated1134 Words   |  5 PagesOverall Financial Analysis According to the official information , approximately 70% of High Liner Foods Inc. sales and related operations are denominated in USD; most of Company’s debt is denominated in USD; bank covenants are measured in USD; and some of the Parent’s input costs are denominated in USD. Reporting in USD reduces the volatility of currency changes; however, when the U.S. dollar strengthens (weakening Canadian currency), the reported values of CAD-denominated items of the Parent decreaseRead MoreFinancial Crisis3559 Words   |  15 Pageslatest global financial crisis was exploded in 2008. This was the most serious financial crisis since the economic depression which occurred in 1930s and it severely impacted the global financial market. Lots of corporations collapsed during the 2008 financial recession which was caused by breakage of capital chain. Although some companies did not bankrupt during that period, they also had suffered huge loss. The 2008 global financial crisis began from America. American financial crisis came fromRead MoreCompeting Models Of Corporate Governance1398 Words   |  6 Pagesowned and controlled by small number of major shareholders. This model of corporate governance often called as the relationship based method due to the close relationship maintained between companies and their major shareholders. This close relationship, little separation of ownership and control minimises the agency problem. However, as a result of the minimum separation of ownership and control, firms would experience misuse of power by dominant shareholders. For an instance, little transparency overRead MoreCase Analysis : Lehman Brothers1225 Words   |  5 Pagesinvestment management, the Lehman Brothers was one of the largest global financial service providers. Consequently, the subprime mortgage crisis left the company filing for the declaration of the chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, due to the unnecessary undert aken risk and obnoxious negligence accusations directed towards the group. Companies should utilize observational and analytical pundit functions in identifying the presence of crisis situations to avoid an economic downturn in the business (PontellRead MoreThe Compensation Of Executive Marketing1460 Words   |  6 Pagesmarket with the help of principle agent models. Under this toning vision the payment is use to decrease the main hazard problem which arises as because very little control firms in Australia. There are many shareholders has designed the pay package randomly to increase the incentive of CEO’s firm value. The main review is suggested to the both executive control and the aggressive market, which can import some valuable data that determines the payment mode of CEO. But these payment odes neither approachRead MoreEthics And Social Responsibilty Assignment1910 Words   |  8 Pagesgroup which either; is hurt by, or profits from, the enterprise; or whose rights can be abused or must be regarded by the organization.(Crane and Matten,2007: 57) In the financial crisis case study, one can safely identify shareholders, bank customers and government as some of the stakeholders who are affected by the banking sector crisis triggered by the egoistic need to make a return on capital and deregulations. Having identified the stakeholders, the harms and benefits as it has affected these stakeholdersRead MoreIs fundamental analysis redundant in the period straight after (2007 to2009) the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)?2755 Words   |  12 Pagesmethodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 2.1 Theory†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.2 2.2 Cash flow model†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..2 2.3 Qualitative factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..2 2.4 Quantitative factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..3 2.5 financial statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 3. Application †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 3.1 Dow Jones †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 3.2 Company- Berkshire Hathaway INC†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦............. 6 3.2.1 Total assets turnover ratio†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦

The General Symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus Essay - 3167 Words

A person suffer from diabetes mellitus has high blood sugar if left untreated. Explain diabetes, blindness and kidney failure Diabetes Definition and diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus. Nowadays many people, especially in the developed nations though not solely, suffer from diabetes. American Diabetes Association (2014) had studied that diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders and which reveal themselves by causing problems in insulin action/-secretion or both and results in dysfunction and eventually failure of many organs. The general symptoms of this disease are increased thirst and polyuria,which means that within 24 hours there is a urine production of at least 3+ liters, as well as glycosuria,which is the†¦show more content†¦It is convenient and cheap. Therefore, it’s the most used diabetes test. In this test, the patient has to fast at least eight hours and then the blood glucose levels are taken. If the level is 126 mg/dL or higher that indicates the person has diabetes. At last, there is the Oralc Glucose Tolerance Test or OGTT. First, the patient also need to fast for eight hours, then drink a solution containing 75 grams of glu cose and wait two more hours. If the test gives a level of 200 mg/dL or above this person is diabetic. All of the tests should at least be conducted twice if not thrice to make sure there is no mistake (American Diabetes Association, 2014). For patients who shows symptoms and higher blood sugar levels, yet still under the critical values for a full diabetes mellitus there are two more categories: The ones that are just under the critical values are said to have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) and those who are just over the normal blood sugar levels have an Impaired Fasting Glycaemia (IFG) (American Diabetes Association, 2014). Classification of diabetes disease. There are many subtypes of diabetes mellitus which are: ï  ¶ Type 1: Results from autoimmune reaction on beta-cells of the pancreas. The destruction of beta-cells means that the patient eventually becomes dependent on insulin for survival. This type usually breaks out in young age, but can also express in the later decades of a humans life and makes upShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On Diabetes And Diabetes Mellitus1428 Words   |  6 Pages 1. Problems, Issues or Disease Progress of Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes mellitus refers to a chronic human health condition characterized by prolonged high sugar level in the blood. A group of metabolic disorders like, seizures, lethargy, and jaundice among others, which occur when chemical reactions abnormally alter the normalcy of the body’s metabolic processes, causes this condition. Diabetes occurs mainly because of two issues; due to inadequate production of insulin by the pancreas, and dueRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus ( Dm ) Or Type 2 Diabetes1398 Words   |  6 PagesDiabetes Mellitus (DM) or Type 2 Diabetes is seen as a metabolic disease that is categorized by abnormally high blood glucose or hyperglycemia. Diabetes Mellitus is also formerly known as noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and is the most common form of diabetes that is seen. Insulin is a hormone that is supplied to the body that allows us to efficiently use glucose as fuel. When carbohydrates are broken down into sugars in the stomach glucose enters the blood circulation simulating the pancreasRead MoreDiabetes Essay examples1471 Words   |  6 PagesDiabetes In the United States, an estimated 16 million people have diabetes. Diabetes is a serious lifelong condition. Half the 16 million people who have diabetes do not even realize the condition exists and are not receiving treatment. 798,000 people each year are diagnosed with diabetes. It occurs most often in adults, but it is also one of the most chronic disorder in children. It is estimated that 123,000 children ages 19 and belowRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus As A Disability1555 Words   |  7 PagesThe amount of patients being diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus has sky-rocketed these past few years. ‘†In 2010 the figures were 25.8 million and 8.3%†Ã¢â‚¬  and has increased in ‘†2012 to 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3%.†(American Diabetes Association, 2014); it is seen nationwide, and has now even begun to affect our youth. In South Texas Diabetes Mellitus seems to be the number one thriving disease affecting its general population. Diabetes Mellitu s is now one of the most widely known diseases thatRead MoreA Short Note On Diabetes Mellitus And Diabetes1738 Words   |  7 PagesDIABETES MELLITUS 1 Emily Marroquin MED 2056 Diabetes Mellitus Instructor Michela Leytham 12/3/14 DIABETES MELLITUS 2 In 2012 29.1 million Americans had diabetes of those 29.1 million, 21.0 million were diagnosed and 8.1 million were undiagnosed. What isRead MoreTypes Of Diabetes Mellitus And Treatment For Each Type1563 Words   |  7 PagesDiabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that occurs in millions of Americans. It occurs when the body cannot secrete insulin or when the insulin secreted is not effectively utilized. This disease can be silent in the beginning stages yet deadly once the organs suffer severe damage along with the nerves and blood vessels. Type one and type two diabetes are comparable but have many differences which will be discussed. Introduction Statistics list diabetes as being the 7th deadliest diseaseRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus : A Group Of Diseases That Affect Your Body Uses Blood Sugar1601 Words   |  7 Pages2056 FT030 Diabetes Mellitus Research Paper Annabelle Anglo 03/17/2015 According to Mayo Clinic, â€Å"Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood sugar (glucose). Glucose is vital to your health because it s an important source of energy for the cells that make up your muscles and tissues. It s also your brain s main source of fuel.† (Mayo Clinic, 2005) Diabetes Mellitus has 3 types: Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. Type 1Read MorePrevention Of Diabetic Complications Among Elderly1696 Words   |  7 PagesDoucet, Bauduceau Verny, 2014). Diabetes mellitus id one of the leading causes of death among elderly populations and it has great association with the behavioral factors such as inadequate meal, no physical exercise, smoking, consumption of added salt and junk foods, hypertension and other comorbidities (Mantel et al., 2015). In fact a complications of diabetes mellitus among elderly in a nursing home are associated with lack of knowledge regarding diabetes mellitus among health care workers. HealthRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus As A Chronic Metabolic Disorder Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pages Chapter - 23 Diabetes Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that prevents the body to utilise glucose completely or partially. It is characterised by raised glucose concentration in the blood and alterations in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism. This can be due to failure in the formation of insulin or liberation or action. Since insulin is produced by the p cells of the islets of Langerhans, any receding in the number of functioning cells will decrease the amountRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus ( Iddm )1369 Words   |  6 PagesDiabetes Mellitus In the pancreas, there are specialized cells that form small islands of cells, called islets of Langerhans, that are alpha cells and beta cells. In these endocrine cells, they release pancreatic hormones, such as insulin and glucagon that diffuse into the bloodstream to regulate glucose levels. Beta cells secretes insulin, which regulates carbohydrate, protein, fat metabolism and storage. On the other hand, alpha cells secrete glucagon, in which it breaks down stored sugar (glycogenolysis)

Software Development Processes

Question: Discuss about theSoftware Development Processes. Answer: Introduction Today in the 21st century most of our lives are internet based and we depend on it. Thus, there are also various options to do business over the internet. Now there are various options to run an online store. Shopify.com and Vendhq.com are one solution to our e-commerce needs which runs several online stores all in one place. Choosing the right kind of online store can have a similar effect on a business while choosing physical store's location. But it is not the final say in the online business but it does have a huge effect on the business. The online e-commerce store can boost a business or might paralyze it. Shopify Shopify is a group of hosted e-commerce site which comprises of every product needed by us. It also provides information how to set up an online shop and how to start selling products so that we can easily do it on our own. It is kind of building something we need and being the contractor of it ourselves. Everything less is in our control just the basic expertise used is that of Shopify so that the project can be implemented precisely(Park, Gu and Lee, 2012). As with most of the services at our disposal, Shopify does have its own advantages and also disadvantages. The main competitors of Shopify are Volusion and BigCommerce as all these three are hosted e-commerce sites but also competes with the other non-turnkey solutions as well. Shopify integrates and competes with e-commerce marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc(Park, Gu and Lee, 2012). Shopify does have a buy button which allows us to use it as a point of sale or inventory option. Thus, these enable us to buy products from anywhere with the help of online sources like Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, WordPress Blog, etc(WordPress for Business Bloggers, 2008). Now, with the recent turn of events, mobile point of sale or mPOS is an important platform on which all e commerce sites rely on for most of their transactions. Shopify has also kept up in the game and have created their mobile point of sale. Advantages of using mPOS of Shopify There is no such thing as best choice, there can be right choice depending on the objectives and resources which are at our disposal. The main criteria for a good online store are its speed and the security we have from its hosting servers as it is the question of processing credits cards through it. It is seen that every tenth of a second a customer has to wait for a page to load the chances increase for them to leave that site. There are many stores which outsource their payments to third-party vendors such as Google wallet or PayPal(Hristoski and Mitrevski, 2016). But the mPOS of Shopify is the one-in-one solution to all these as the customers do not have to worry about caching, compliance or hackers which mainly plague the online stores. The Shopify app is screaming fast. Shopify does have one of the best customer support and the marketing of it is top notch. Shopify does not ignore these key features and their development team is always working on bringing new developers, develo ping new apps to solve problems. For Shopify, the app store is a great induction in its services(Hristoski and Mitrevski, 2016). The mobile app has also enabled the users to access the online store easily without much difficulty at all times. While accessing the site can be a tiring and extensive method for most customers, the presence of a mobile app means that customers can access the store whenever they wish to. Disadvantages of Using Shopify Mobile App Every platform is not perfect so is the Shopify app itself. Shopify claims that these initial kicker goes away as the business grows but it does become a barrier for Shopify at entry level. Hacking into customization is one such case of disadvantage(Ghose and Sundararajan). Shopify uses some unique setup to customize themes using PHP for the templates. It becomes annoying for those who prefers to tweak something without going for full customization. Shopify Jargon is one such problematic area where they kind of use some terms which are not used by many for instance use of "collection" over "category"(Ghose and Sundararajan). Also, the app leads the customers to always keep their accounts open which may cause a lot of security issues for the customers as well as the organization itself. Vend Vend was created in 2010 by Vaughan Roswell which was first of its kind retail web-based POS using offline cache capabilities and HTML5. These features make Vend totally hardware independent. Although Vend being totally cloud-based, it can still operate in times of internet outrage. Thus these are the best of HTML5 which can save most of the data and POS app mirror copy(Hagino, 2011). Not only the offline features are the points to talk about, Vend is comprised of an impressive management system which features in-store as well as online capabilities. They have an extensive list of integrated third party software and thus being a good competitive retail management platform(Wei Zhang, 2005). Vend have also created their smartphone apps which is a necessity in the current era. Advantages of Vend app Pricing is one of the biggest advantages that Vend have at its disposal. They offer free 30 days trial subscription package. In comparison to other "Point of Sale" platforms they do not have any contract and the subscription fees can be paid monthly and if the annual fees are prepaid then there is a discount on the monthly prices(Lawley and Birch, 2016). The service of Vend is locally installed or cloud based. All the operations occur with HTML5 compatible web browser and if there is a network failure then operations run locally till the problem gets resolved. For retail operators of all stripes, Vend is suitable, but hospitality management and service might lacking features. There are no limits to the number of the store a business can have, thus the users range from large chains to small stores as well(Lawley and Birch, 2016). Disadvantage of using Vend Vend is easy to use but there are some features which are standard in other platforms but are lacking here. There is no purchase order support which is a rare sight in online Point of sale. This should be built in functionality as the product sold has to be shipped(Positive behaviour support has financial advantages, 2015). Since the vend app does not have a support for location, the shipping is a kind of a problem for the organization. The technical support costs are also above par. Customers feel satisfied with support offerings and all the other Point of sale systems does provide 24/7 support with their each and every plan. Thus if Vend wishes to be competitive in the sector then they might have a better look at this section of their service(Positive behaviour support has financial advantages, 2015). Conclusion If one tends to grow and is looking for all-in-one e-commerce platform then Shopify is the good option available in the market. Whereas Vend does not have all the huge features which its counterparts do offer but have geographically further reach and are very much focused on the retail sector. References Ghose, A. and Sundararajan, A. (n.d.). Evaluating Pricing Strategy Using eCommerce Data: Evidence and Estimation Challenges.SSRN Electronic Journal. Hagino, T. (2011). HTML5.The Journal of The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, 65(4), pp.467-470. Hristoski, I. and Mitrevski, P. (2016). Evaluation of Business-Oriented Performance Metrics in eCommerce using Web-based Simulation.ERSICT, 1(1), pp.1-16. Lawley, M. and Birch, D. (2016). Exploring Point of Sale Strategies for Improving Seafood Retailing: The Case of the Australian Oyster Industry.Journal of Food Products Marketing, 22(7), pp.792-808. Park, J., Gu, B. and Lee, H. (2012). The relationship between retailer-hosted and third-party hosted WOM sources and their influence on retailer sales.Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 11(3), pp.253-261. Positive behaviour support has financial advantages. (2015).Learning Disability Practice, 18(9), pp.9-9. Wei Zhang, (2005). Replication Cache: A Small Fully Associative Cache to Improve Data Cache Reliability.IEEE Transactions on Computers, 54(12), pp.1547-1555. WordPress for Business Bloggers. (2008). 1st ed. Packt Publishing.

Self Of Damasio And Descartes Essays - Philosophy, Metaphysics

Self Of Damasio And Descartes 1. Explain Damasio's view as to what Descartes' error is, and why he thinks Descartes is "in error"? How do Descartes and Damasio differ as to what the"self" is? Damasio and Descartes differ greatly as to what the "self" is all about. They have different answers to the philosophical question of what makes up the self, and determines who a person is. A person's identity is more than just the body they both agree, but have different reasons why. Descartes is also known as " the founder of modern philosophy" he is most known for his cogito argument of "I think therefore I am". He thinks that one cannot doubt their own existence because something must be doing the doubting. Although, that statement was refuted later by some, who said the fact that you think pre-assumes existence. Descartes also refutes skeptics by saying that they cannot deny they are thinking and something must be undergoing that thinking, so one cannot deny that they exist. Descartes starts his arguments by saying that God is the guaranteed, and uses his existence to prove other things. First though, he says he will not believe anything until he proves that God exists. Once he does this using the circular argument, he proceeds to talk about the separation of mind and body and his beliefs. The circular argument simply states that if you believe in the light of nature, you believe in God, and if you believe the causality principles you believe in the other two. He believes that the mind and body are two entirely separate entities, the soul is independent from the body, and the mind is for reason and rationality. The emotions of the body are what interfere with reason, and the body is used for all of the sensory things such as sound, sight, and pain. Based on this, he thinks that a person cannot know a substance. The way a person can "know" a substance is only through its qualities. For example, one cannot know soap; they can only associate its qualities such as scent, shape, and color. "How does one know the notion of color?" he speculates. One can only know a substance through experience. Descartes argument with the wax shows his idea of how one does not experience the thing itself, but its properties. These physical characteristics are the only way to relate to the body, which one cannot know. One can only experience or "know" the mind. This leads to his discussion of complex and primitive ideas. Primitive ideas require experience, and complex ideas do not. A complex idea is something like the notion of infinity, or language. Descartes believed there was no definition of infinity, and would not accept a negative definition to resolve his problem. He believed that God was the infinite thing. The only widely accepted belief at that time was that mathematics were undeniable, and ever present in the world. Essentially the world is composed of mathematics, which gave a lot of merit to his proof of the existence of God. Another two principles Descartes used to further his arguments were that of formal and objective reality. The idea of formal reality is that formal reality is what is actually out there in the world, kind of the ultimate truth. Objective reality on the other hand is the ideas that are in our minds, what we perceive to be true. Descartes comes to the conclusion that an idea must have at least as much formal reality as objective reality. He also uses this notion to further his proof of God's existence. He wants to find an idea that has more objective reality than formal reality. This, he deduces, is God. He also comes to the conclusion that people cannot be the cause of an idea like God because it doesn't have as much formal reality as objective reality. This means that as humans we cannot know for sure what the formal reality is, but what we do know is objective reality. Unless God is a deceiving demon this must mean that he exists, because why would he create a world of deception, when he is a perfect being? In other words, God obviously exists because what we know to be true about him must be true, because there is no truer formal reality in regards to the idea of God. Eventually a problem arises for Descartes known as the Mind-Body problem. He observes that one can fully understand their own mind, thus understand their

Why Not Eat Insects Example

Why Not Eat Insects Example Why Not Eat Insects – Coursework Example Why Not Eat Insects? Marcel Dicke in the Video â€Å"Why not eat insects† s that that 80% of the world’s animals walk on six legs; therefore, they are insects (Dicke). In the world’s biodiversity, there are 6 million species of insects. This leads to the assertion that the world is a planet of insects and not humans since they are more abundant than humans. Dicke argues that insects are significant contributors of the economy, even though people may not be aware of the fact; insects contribute free of charge towards developing the economy. Therefore, insects are not only contributors to the economy but also major delicacies in various parts of the world such as china (Dicke). However, while people in some parts knowingly consume insects as part of their daily diet, almost all people in the world consume insects unknowingly. This occurs because food processing makes use of products that are derived from insects. Therefore, food additives such as natural dyes are p roduced by insects. This means that insects contribute in a large scale to feeding the world’s population.Dicke observes that the world population is increasing dramatically; hence, there is a corresponding increase in the demand for food. Therefore, insects offer the only solution to the escalating global food problem. In addition, insects have a higher nutrient content in comparison to regular protein sources. Therefore, he argues that it is more economical to invest in insect production than investing in other forms of food. Evidently, 70% of the global agricultural land is used for livestock production (Dicke). This land would be significantly enough to produce insects to feed the entire world. Already over 80% of the world’s population are eating insects; therefore, the remaining 20% should follow suit (Dicke). All that is required is changing perceptions and mindsets in as far as insects are concerned. A number of entrepreneurs have already taken up serving insec ts as delicacies in their restaurants; hence, kick starting the road towards a world that values insects as a primary source of nutrition. Dicke, Marcel. Why not eat insects? TED, July 2010. Web. 15 September 2014.

Globalization, Unemployment, and Recession Links

Globalization, Unemployment, and Recession Links A reader recently sent me this e-mail: It seems to me that we are now engaged in an economy that may look different from any we have experienced. The Globalization of the economy has created huge firm closures in America expecially in manufacturing and forced lower wages on those employed by this sector. Typically and historically manufacturing jobs have created higher wages in this country but now we see all the rules are changing. Do you believe globalization will bring new trends to the relationship between rececession/depression and firm closures? I believe it already has begun. - Before we begin, Id like to thank the e-mailer for her very thoughtful question! I dont think globalization will change the relationship between recessions and firm closures, since the relationship between the two was fairly weak to begin with. In Are recessions good for the economy? we saw that: We do not see great differences in firm closures between periods of high growth and periods of low growth. While 1995 was the beginning of a period of exceptional growth, almost 500,000 firms closed shop. The year 2001 saw almost no growth in the economy, but we only had 14% more business closures than in 1995 and fewer businesses filed for bankruptcy in 2001 than 1995. Competition between firms in periods of growth: During a period of high economic growth, some firms still perform better than others. Those high performing ones can often squeeze weaker performing ones out of the marketplace, causing firm closures. Structural changes: High economic growth is often caused by technological improvements. More powerful and useful computers can drive economic growth, but they also spell disaster for companies that manufacture or sell typewriters. Would 0% Unemployment Be a Good Thing? Cyclical Unemployment is defined as occuring when the unemployment rate moves in the opposite direction as the GDP growth rate. So when GDP growth is small (or negative) unemployment is high. When the economy goes into recession and workers are laid off, we have cyclical unemployment. Frictional Unemployment: The Economics Glossary defines frictional unemployment as unemployment that comes from people moving between jobs, careers, and locations. If a person quits his job as an economics researcher to try and find a job in the music industry, we would consider this to be frictional unemployment. Structural Unemployment: The glossary defines structural unemployment as unemployment that comes from there being an absence of demand for the workers that are available. Structural unemployment is often due to technological change. If the introduction of DVD players cause the sales of VCRs to plummet, many of the people who manufacture VCRs will suddenly be out of work. Thats my take on the question - Id love to hear yours! You can contact me by using the feedback form.

Price Elasticity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Price Elasticity - Essay Example In this case, if goods A and B are complementary, they have to be purchased together for a consumer to reap their utility. Complementary goods have a negative cross elasticity of demand; this implies that the demand of good A increases when the price of good B is decreased, where goods A and B are complementary goods. Conversely, the demand for A is decreased when the price of B is increased. This basically means that when higher quantity of A is demanded due to price decline, the demand of B will equally increase since A cannot be used without B. substitute goods exhibit positive cross-price elasticity of demand. Suppose X and Y are substitute goods. When price of Y goes up, consumers will go for X at a cheaper price but with similar utility as Y The income elasticity of demand measures the degree of change in demand of a commodity in response to changes in consumer’s income level. Inferior goods are those goods that a person may consider using when they do not have enough money, for example a cheap car. With little income, the demand for cheap cars will go up. Once the income increases, people tend to prefer more expensive cars and hence the demand of cheap cars goes down. Normal goods have a normal demand curve. In this case, the demand of a normal god will increase as the level of income increases. Conversely, the demand of a normal commodity will decrease with the level of income (Tobin, 1987). Various aspects including the availability of substitute products or goods, necessity degree and the greater the elasticity of good demand mostly influence the price elasticity of goods demands. Generally, demand tends to be elastic when there is availability of substitute goods in the market (Landsburg, 2011). In this case, the greater the substitute products in the market would result to demand elasticity. The best example is the Coca-Cola and Pepsi situation where the market is always flooded with availability of substitute products thus making the demand

Semantics Lesson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Semantics Lesson - Essay Example Within this view, facial expressions, sounds, body language, as well as proxemics, have semantic (significant) content, and each one encompasses various branches of study. Things such as punctuation and paragraph structure, in written language, have semantic content. Some of the main aspects of semantics include lexical competence and sociolinguistic competence (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). This paper will create a semantics lesson plan focusing on lexical competence. Lexical competence or ability is a fancy linguistic word, which refers to the way language learners differentiate the disparity between words in a similar â€Å"family† (for instance a seat = stool, chair or bench). Semantics is significant because, in English, semantics (word meaning) is the key to unlocking understanding in words (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). Also, in order for people to communicate, as well as comprehend, they must understand or be aware of the meaning of words. Secondly, they should know a bank of words from which to select from and finally they must know the strategies of supporting themselves in word retrieval. Semantics is significant because choosing the accurate words (or failure to) can have grave social and academic/professional consequences (Dragon & Fair-Bumbray, 2007). The old strategy that educators have been using in their semantics lessons is visualization or imagery. This, even though efficient, has not managed fully to assist students, especially those who lack full competence in English, understand meaning in words. This paper, therefore, advocates for a new strategy, Word Hierarchies or Graphic Organizers, which is easy to understand and practical when it comes to teaching semantics. The target grades for this lesson will be students from 5th to 8th grade. This is a comprehensive classroom setting which consists of 24 students (12 regular /8 special /8 ELL). Such a lesson would happen in a chain of mini-lessons using visualization to pass meaning thro ugh speaking and in writing, though the concepts might be used in any subject area where learners are projected to derive and/or express meaning with words. Students use their visualization abilities and apply them in learning a new strategy for conveying meaning, semantic mapping. Word hierarchies, in this lesson, will be used to scaffold students prior to their introduction of the approach of semantic mapping. The aims of this lesson are for learners to examine or inspect word families and arrange related words by intensity or degree. The standards recognized have a widespread thread, which learners apply while using language (Cruse, 1986). The anticipation is that when communicating, learners will choose words suitable for the audience and context, and also utilize strategies for generating, expanding, as well as retrieving vocabulary. The standards of this lesson include 6LD-Q3, 6LD-V10 and 8LD-O7. 6LD-Q3 will identify mood, tone or emotion expressed in oral communication. 6LD-V 10, on the other hand, will determine alternating word choices using thesauri, dictionaries or other resources. 8LD-O7 finally will distinguish and create informal and formal language suitable to the purpose and audience, including recognizing how to use words for specific effect. As a way of differentiating instruction to meet needs of different learners, this paper will advocate for metacognitive awareness and task strategies. Metacognitive aware

Statistics Essay Example for Free

Statistics Essay 1. Age, income, length of labor, return to work and number of hours working per week 2. Mean and standard deviation were used to describe the length of labor. These were appropriate since mean and standard deviation can be calculated on an interval level of measurement. 3. Range could also be used to describe the length of labor since this statistic can be used on interval data with no natural zero point. 4. The distribution of scores was similar for the experimental and control groups for length of labor. The experimental group had a mean of 14.63 hours and the control group had a mean of 12.79 hours which is a difference of less than 2 hours with a SD of 7.78 for experimental and 7.2 for control. 5. The experimental and control groups were similar in the type of feeding. More people fed with a bottle than breast or breast and bottle in the experimental and control group. The percentages in both were lowest for breast and bottle with 6.3% for experimental and 5.6% for control. 6. Married was the marital status mode for the experimental group and control group since it was the largest group. The frequency and percentage are 25 and 78.1% for the experimental group and 31 and 86.1% for the control group who are married. 7. Yes a median can be determined for the educational data. The median for the experimental and the control group are the people in the some college group. The median is the â€Å"middle† category and can be determined for ordinal data like education. 8. The findings from this study cannot be generalized to Black women since the sample size is so low in the experimental group and there are no Black women in the control group. Black women might have different self- care interventions to manage post- partum fatigue than white women. 9. There is a note at the bottom of the table that mentions that there is missing data. Perhaps some mothers did not reveal that data. 10. The sample was adequately described. However, adding information about any complications before or during birth, the type of delivery for example C-section vs. natural, or if the women had any help such as a nanny would add to the description.

Ellis Island :: essays research papers fc

Ellis Island In the 1600's, Ellis Island was known as Gull Island by the Mohegan tribe and was simply two to three acres. During high tide, the island could barely have been seen above the rising waters. After being discovered for its rich oyster beds in 1628, Dutch settlers renamed it Oyster Island. And then in 1765, which was the hanging of Anderson the Pirate, the island was again renamed the Gibbet Island, after the instrument used to hang him. Finally on January 20, 1785, Samuel Ellis purchased the property and gave it his name, which is still the name of the island today, Ellis Island After passing through a few generations of Ellis's descendents, the island was bought by the state of New York, and then sold to the federal government in 1808 for ten thousand dollars. During the years of 1812 to 1814, the United States Army erected Fort Gibson, which was eventually taken apart by the government in 1861. In 1876, the United States Navy used Ellis Island as a weapons warehouse, storing 260,000 pounds of powder. However, complaints from nearby New Jersey residents lead to the removal of the storage area in 1890. The original station, Castle Garden at the Battery in lower Manhattan, could not handle all of the immigrants coming in. To have room for the immigrants, the island grew to 3.3 acres. In the next two years, Ellis was enlarged to fourteen acres in order to hold all of the immigrants and support buildings. By January 1, 1892, Ellis's first immigration station, a two story high structure of Georgia pine, was open ready for business The most impressive room in the building was the registry room. It measured 200 feet by 100 feet, and had an impressive fifty-six foot arched ceiling. Twelve narrow aisles, divided by iron bars, channeled new arrivals to be examined by doctors at the front of the room. The officials who worked at the island, however, were not impressed by the architecture. In fact, they constantly complained of leaky roofs, and other problems within the building. After long and heated arguments between experts, it was decided that the Superintendent of Construction was extremely inexperienced, and that there was "recklessness in the handling of public money," on the part of the Treasury Department and the Immigration Bureau of Officials. The entire building, excluding the hospitals, had been built shoddily. After news of the problems with the building had been in the media, a lot of people involved with the construction of the building resigned their positions.

The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator

The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used personality assessment instrument in the world. More than two million people complete it annually in the world (Robbins & Barnwell, 2008). The reliability of the MBTI instrument for management is supported by over fifty years of research and use, proving to be a reliable tool for management and human resource development, both personal and career counselling, and even for team-building and improving communication. Comprising 100 personality tests, it assesses how people act and feel in various situations (Michael & William, 2009). MBTI test results present an individual’s personality preferences thus helping individuals better understand themselves and assisting them in making career choices. Possible applications for the MBTI include communication, conflict resolution, personal growth and development, decision making and problem solving (Thompson, 2010, p19). Also the MBTI helps management to encourage groups of individuals to learn about themselves, each other, and better organize group resources to achieve group goals. On the basis of the answers individuals give to the test, the MBTI classifies individuals into sixteen unique personality based on four dimensions (Robins, 2009). They are Extroverted or Introverted (E or I), Sensing or Intuitive (S or N), Thinking or Feeling (T or F), and Judging or Perceiving (J or P). Extroverted-Introverted – method of functioning. Extroverted individuals are outgoing, sociable and assertive, they tend to act, then reflect, and then act again to gather information and reflect on it before arriving at a decision. Introverts are quiet and shy, prefer to reflect, then act, then reflect again to discuss possible alternatives before arriving at a decision (Michael & William, 2009) Sensing-Intuitive – how individuals take in information. Individuals who are sensing are more likely focus on detail and what is actually present, are practical and prefer routine and order. They always trust their xperience and focus on what is real here and now. By contrast, individuals who prefer intuition rely on unconscious processes and tend to trust information that is more abstract or theoretical, to focus more on implications and inferences, to look at the â€Å"big picture† to gather information (Robins, 2009). Thinking-Feeling – how individuals make decision. Those who prefer thinking are more logical, causa l, and more consistent in their perspective. They measure decision by what seems reasonable and tend to use an analytical approach to problem solving. Conversely, those who prefer feeling tend to introduce their own values and emotions into the decision making process. However, where situations differ, their value and emotion can be variable. Therefore, their decision-making is based on the situation and their emotional involvement in that situation (Mohammad, 2009). Judgment-perceiving – individual’s lifestyle. Judgment types desire control and prefer their worlds to be orderly, planned and scheduled – everything in its place. By contrast, those who are perception orientated prefer an open, flexible, and unstructured lifestyle (Michael & William, 2009). According to the research by McCare and John (2002) strong relation exists between individual personality and performance in teams. The four dimensions can classify individuals into sixteen personality type. ESTJs are the organisers in the team. They are realistic, practical and prefer order, like use reason and logic to handle problems. They have a natural head for business or group dynamics. Consequently, they like to organise and run activities (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2008). INTJs are the monitors and the evaluators in the team. They usually have original minds and strongly focus on their own ideas and purposes. Additionally, they are critical, independent, determined and often stubborn. The ENTPs are conceptualisers. They are individualistic, versatile and focus on innovation. They are innovative in solving challenging problems, but may neglect routine assignments. According to the research, 13 business people who create super-successful firms such as Microsoft, Apple Computer, Sony, FedEX and Honda Motors found that all 13 were intuitive thinkers (Robins, 2009). This result is especially interesting because MBTI suggests only 5% of the population are intuitive thinkers. In addition, while more and more people are using MBTI in Australia today, simultaneously the number of users is starting to rise in some Asian countries as well (Henry, 2010). The MBTI is mainly used in organisations including banks, hospitals, IT firms, universities, emergency service, finance companies, MNC and even the Australian Defence Forces (Robins, 2009). The results from these organisations reveal that, in general, HR managers and educated managers tend to have higher intuition scores. On the contrary, manager in high regulated organisations such as the police, armed forces and financial management tend to have lower scores in intuition (Mohammad, 2009). Example At the beginning of my university life, I experienced course selection mistake. I chose accounting for my major simply because I thought I was good at mathematic. Unfortunately, I didn't understand my personality very well. After one semester, I realised accounting was not an appropriate subject for me. I’m not a conscientious person, I always leave my belongings around, often forget to put things back in their proper place and make a mess of everything, often being not well prepared before class. Further, I don't pay attention to details and frequently neglect routine assignments. Consequently, the formal demands of accounting are not suitable for me. However, having finished the MBTI test, I found I’m an ENTP type person, which â€Å"openness to experience† person. I’m always optimistic about life and even in a difficult environment, I regard new things as challenges and widening my experience, which means I don't give up readily. I don't perceive such things as failures and losses and am not upset by such events. Secondly, I’m an imaginative person. I have diverse interests. I like trying and exploring new things and challenging new environments, so I always look forward to discovering new things. Thirdly, I have excellent ideas, spend time reflecting on things, and constantly try to search for ways to improve my previous ideas (MBTI test). Consequently, I changed my major to Economics, a subject better suited to my personality. Recommendation Both managers and employees need to understand the benefits of using the MBTI (Michael & William, 2009). From the manager’s point of view, MBTI can improve management skills; enhance inter-organisation communication and developmental efforts. From the employee’s viewpoint, an understanding of individual’s personalities can help organisations reduce group conflict, improve work relations and team development, further achieve a positive work environment, and increase work-group performance and productivity (John, 2008). In addition, the more MBTI is appropriately used in an organisation, the more the management would see its value (Roselle, 2009). When the MBTI is used frequently in conjunction with other management skills, it helps individuals to gather the insight they need for personal growth and development, to achieve decision making and resolve problem skills, and to help groups better understand themselves and each other in a team environment and different situation (Peter & Garry, 2004). Finally, having gained the feedback from using the MBTI instrument, a careful analysis of the information helps in arriving at fresh policy decision. Belbin (2006) found that groups with mixed roles can be more productive than other groups. It means different personal and professional roles have their own characteristic; this can bring many benefits if a group contains a mixture of personality types, each type filling a particular role in the dynamics of the group. For instance, having completed the MBTI test, I understood myself very well, my personal characteristic, my strengths and my weaknesses. Consequently, a design group manager has invited me to join his group on the basis of my personal strengths, thus complementing the strengths of the group, all of us having previously done the MBTI test. I found we all have different group professional roles, Member â€Å"A† is always focused on the task, is highly motivated to achieve goals and influences group members to achieve goals more smoothly. Member â€Å"B† is a good listener and supporter, friendly to everyone, helps group member to resolve destructive conflicts, and facilitate group cooperation. Member â€Å"C† is an enthusiastic person who always encourages group members to explore new ideas and problem solving skills. As we talk in a comfortable environment, our group relationship has improved, leading us to communicate more with other group members. Thus our work-group performance and productivity have increased.

As/Ad Model

Macroeconomics – Chapter 10: The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model * Keynesian Economics – Economists who focused on the short run * John Maynard Keynes – their leading advocate the originator of macroeconomics as a separate discipline from micro * Classical Economists – economists who focused on long-run issues such as growth * Aggregate Demand Management – government’s attempt to control the aggregate level of spending in the economy * Equilibrium Income – the level of income toward which the economy gravitates in the short run because of the cumulative cycles of declining or increasing production * Potential Income – the level of income that the economy is technically capable of producing without generating accelerating inflation * Paradox of Thrift – and increase in savings can lead to a decrease in expenditures, decreasing output and causing a recession * Multiplier Model – the model that was meant to ca pture Keynesian economics * This model emphasized aggregate output fluctuations * Explored why those output fluctuations generally would not lead to wild fluctuations in output – depressions * Instead lead to smaller fluctuations – recessions * The AS/AD Model – aggregate supply/aggregate demand Is a pedagogical model – designed to give a framework to organize thinking about macro economy * Does not focus on problems that occur because of interactions between individuals * Consists of 3 curves * Short-run aggregate supply (SAS) curve * Aggregate demand (AD) curve * Long-run aggregate supply (LAS) curve – highest sustainable level of output * The price level of all goods is on the vertical axis and the aggregate output is on the horizontal axis * It is a historical model – starts at one point in time and says what will likely happen when changes affect the economy * Aggregate expenditures (demand) – the sum of consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports – p. 234 * Discuss the historical development of macroeconomics * The depression began in the 1930s and lasted 10 years * During he depression output fell by 30% and unemployment rose to 25% * This was the beginning of macro’s focus on the demand side of economics * Keynes started asking what short run forces were causing the Depression and what society could do to counteract them * This created the framework that focuses on short-run issues such as business cycles and how to stabilize output fluctuations * By the 1950s, Keynesian economics had been accepted by most economists and taught almost everywhere in the US * In the 1970s inflation became a serious issue which meant that the multiplier model was not very helpful * It assumed that the price level is fixed * The standard model taught in macro then shifted to the Aggregate Supply/Aggregate Demand (AS/AD) model * Explain the shape to the aggregate demand curve and what factors s hift the curve * Aggregate demand (AD) curve – a curve that shows how a change in price level will change aggregate expenditures on all goods and services * It is downward-sloping The reasons for the downward slope are due to the: * Interest rate effect – the effect that a lower price level has on investment expenditures through the effect that a change in the price level has on interest rates – p. 234 * International effect – as the price level falls (assuming the exchange rate does not change), net exports will rise – p. 234 * Money wealth effect (real balance effect) – a fall in the price level will make the holders of money richer, so they buy more – p. 234 * The multiplier effect strengthens each of these effects * Multiplier effect – the amplification of initial changes in expenditures – p. 235 * Shifts in the AD curve – means that at every price level, total expenditures have changed – p. 236 * Shift factors of aggregate demand: Foreign Income – recessions and expansions occurring in other countries cause demand for US goods decreases or increases respectively * Exchange Rate Fluctuations – when a country’s currency loses value, relative to foreign currencies, demand for foreign goods decreases and demand for domestic goods increases; exports also increase * Distribution of income – * Expectations – expectations of future output and future prices * Government Policies – spending policy, tax policy, etc – p. 238 * When consumption expenditures increase, the AD curve shifts to the right, when consumption expenditures decrease, the AD curve shifts to the left * Explain the shape of the short-run aggregate supply curve and what factors shift the curve – p. 39 * Short-run Aggregate Supply (SAS) curve – a curve that specifies how a shift in the aggregate demand curve affects the price level and real output in the short ru n, other things constant * The curve is upward-sloping which means that other things constant, an increase in output is accompanied by an rise in price level * When aggregate demand increases, the price level rises * Two reasons that the SAS curve slopes upward, other things constant: * Upward-sloping curves in auction markets * Firms’ tendency to increase their markup when demand increases * The shape of the SAS curve reflects two different types of markets * The auction market – markets represented by the supply/demand model * Posted-price markets – prices are set by the producers and change infrequently * Often called Quantity-adjusting Markets – markets in which firms respond to changes in demand primarily by changing production instead of changing their prices * Shifts in the SAS curve: – p. 239 Changes in input prices, such as wages or supply costs * If input prices rise, the SAS curve shifts up, if input prices fall, the SAS curve shifts dow n * Change in the productivity factors of production * An increase in productivity shifts the curve down * A reduction of input costs per unit of output shifts the curve down * Changes in import prices of final goods * Import prices are a shift factor because they are a component of an economy’s price level * When import prices rise the SAS curve shifts up * Changes in excise and sales tax * Higher sales tax shifts the curve up * How much will the curve shift: The percentage change in wages and other factor prices minus changes in productivity * If productivity rises by 3% and wages rise by 7%, we can expect that the price level will rise by 4% for a given level of output * Explain the shape of the long-run aggregate supply (LAS)curve – p. 241 * Long-run aggregate supply (LAS)curve – a curve that shows the long run relationship between output and the price level * The position of the LAS curve is determined by potential output * Just where to position the curve is somewhat in debate * The range is bounded by a high level of output and a low level of output and the LAS curve can be thought of as being the mid-point of that range * The shape of the LAS curve * The LAS curve is vertical At potential output all resources are being fully utilized * A rise in the price level mean that the price of goods and factors of production, including wages, will rise * Show the effects of shifts of the aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves on the price level and output in both the short run and long run – p. 243 * Short run equilibrium is where the SAS curve and the AD curve intersect * If the AD curve shifts to the right * Price level will rise * Output will increase * If the SAS curve shifts up * Price level will rise * Output will decrease * Long run equilibrium is where the LAS and AD curves intersect * AD curve can only determine price level, it has no effect on output * If the AD increases, price levels rise Explain how dynamic feedback effects can destabilize the economy – p. 246 * * Discuss the limitations of the macro policy model – p. 250 * Fiscal policy – changing government spending and tax policy is a slow process * Changes cannot be completed in a timely fashion * Potential output cannot be measured accurately * Many other interrelationships that the model does not take into account * Rate of unemployment fluctuates and is difficult to predict * Falling asset prices and falling price level on expectations of aggregate demand * When there are pressures for price levels to fall there are also pressures for asset prices to fall

Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder

Introduction: In the recent years interest in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has grown dramatically. The disorder, also known as winter depression, has a recurrent pattern of fall/winter onset and spring remission. Since the beginning of contemporary investigation into SAD, it has been compellingly related to seasonal change in sunlight. Historical Overview: Observations that affective illnesses are sensitive to seasonal and environmental influence was key to ancient theories about the origins of disease. In 460-370 B.C. Hippocrates taught that â€Å"it is cheifly the change of seasons which produce diseases, and in the seasons the great changes from cold to heat,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p. 13). In the 4th century A.D. Posidonius summarized the views of many ancient physicians when he noted that mania is â€Å"an intermittent disease, which proceeds through a periodical circuit†¦.It repeats itself once a year or more often†¦..Melancholy occurs in autumn whereas mania occurs in summer,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). There are many early desriptions of patients who were probably suffering from SAD. According to Norman E. Rosenthal, one of the earliest noted examples of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are from the 17th century. Ann Grenville (1642-1691), suffered for numerous years from â€Å"regularly recurring winter depressions and summer manias,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). In 1825, the French psychiatrist Esquirol described a male patient from Belgium who for three consecutive winters had suffered depressive episodes, which lifted in the spring. The psychiatrist advised the patient to spend the following winter in Italy, and his winter depression resulted much milder (Partonen, p.3). In 1946, the German physician, Hellmut Marx, recognized winter depression in four men during an Arctic winter and even described the overeating that often accompanies the condition. Marx identified the lack of light as a... Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder Introduction: In the recent years interest in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has grown dramatically. The disorder, also known as winter depression, has a recurrent pattern of fall/winter onset and spring remission. Since the beginning of contemporary investigation into SAD, it has been compellingly related to seasonal change in sunlight. Historical Overview: Observations that affective illnesses are sensitive to seasonal and environmental influence was key to ancient theories about the origins of disease. In 460-370 B.C. Hippocrates taught that â€Å"it is cheifly the change of seasons which produce diseases, and in the seasons the great changes from cold to heat,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p. 13). In the 4th century A.D. Posidonius summarized the views of many ancient physicians when he noted that mania is â€Å"an intermittent disease, which proceeds through a periodical circuit†¦.It repeats itself once a year or more often†¦..Melancholy occurs in autumn whereas mania occurs in summer,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). There are many early desriptions of patients who were probably suffering from SAD. According to Norman E. Rosenthal, one of the earliest noted examples of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are from the 17th century. Ann Grenville (1642-1691), suffered for numerous years from â€Å"regularly recurring winter depressions and summer manias,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). In 1825, the French psychiatrist Esquirol described a male patient from Belgium who for three consecutive winters had suffered depressive episodes, which lifted in the spring. The psychiatrist advised the patient to spend the following winter in Italy, and his winter depression resulted much milder (Partonen, p.3). In 1946, the German physician, Hellmut Marx, recognized winter depression in four men during an Arctic winter and even described the overeating that often accompanies the condition. Marx identified the lack of light as a...

How Do Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises Sleep

How Do Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises Sleep Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are voluntary breathers, meaning they think about every breath they take. A whale breathes through the blowhole on top of its head, so it needs to come up to the water surface to breathe. But that means the whale needs to be awake to breathe. How does a whale get any rest? The Surprising Way a Whale Sleeps The way a cetacean sleeps is surprising. When a human sleeps, all of his brain is engaged in being asleep. Quite unlike humans, whales sleep  by resting one half of their brain at a time. While one half of the brain stays awake to make sure the whale breathes and alerts the whale to any danger in its environment, the other half of the brain sleeps. This is called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep. Humans are involuntary breathers, meaning they breathe without thinking about it and have a breathing reflex that kicks into gear when they are sleeping or are knocked unconscious. You cant forget to breathe, and you dont stop breathing when you are asleep. This pattern also allows whales to keep moving while sleeping, maintaining position in relation to others in their pod and staying aware of predators such as sharks. The movement may also help them maintain their body temperature. Whales are mammals, and they regulate their body temperature to keep it in a narrow range. In water, a body loses heat 90 times as much as it does in air. Muscular activity helps keep the body warm. If a whale stops swimming, it may lose heat too fast. Do Whales Have Dreams When They Sleep? Whale sleep is complex and still being studied. One interesting finding, or lack thereof, is that whales do not appear to have REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that is characteristic of humans. This is the stage in which most of our dreaming occurs. Does that mean that whales dont have dreams? Researchers dont yet know the answer to that question. Some cetaceans sleep with one eye open as well, changing to the other eye when the brain hemispheres change their activation during sleep. Where Do Whales Sleep? Where cetaceans sleep differs among species. Some rest on the surface, some are constantly swimming, and some even rest far below the water surface. For example, captive dolphins have been known to rest at the bottom of their pool for a few minutes at a time. Large baleen whales, such as humpback whales, can be seen resting on the surface for half an hour at a time. These whales take slow breaths that are less frequent than a whale thats active. They are so relatively motionless on the surface that this behavior is referred to as logging because they look like giant logs floating on the water. However, they cant rest for too long at a time, or they may lose too much body heat while inactive. Sources: Lyamin, O.I., Manger, P.R., Ridgway, S.H., Mukhametov, L.M., and J.M. Siegal. 2008. Cetacean Sleep: An Unusual Form of Mammalian Sleep. (Online). Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 32:1451–1484.Mead, J.G. and J.P. Gold. 2002. Whales and Dolphins in Question. Smithsonian Institution.Ward, N. 1997. Do Whales Ever...? Down East Books.

Agglomeration Economies and Equilbrium Location of Firms Term Paper

Agglomeration Economies and Equilbrium Location of Firms - Term Paper Example gglomeration is widely practiced by the urban metropolis to ensure good supply channels, trained workers, and infrastructure that will be in compliance with the nature of the industry. Owing to agglomeration economies, people and firms give attention to a particular region of operation or a specific geographical region. The basic perception of agglomeration economies is facilitation of production when economic activity is clustered and such notions are developed to suffice the ultimate end of forming and developing a city. Multiple factors like types of economies formed, network connections, and the advantages and disadvantages that may result in the growth of cities.  Two distinct types of agglomeration economies are operating in the global economic domain: urbanization economies and localization economies. An urbanization economy is related to citys population and level of employment along with the multiplicity of its productive constitution. On the contrary, a localization economy is associated with a citys specialization in one specific segment. According to Sassen producer services, unlike other types of services are mostly not as reliant on the proximity of the buyers as consumer services. Thus, concentration of production in suitable locations and export, both regionally and internationally are feasible. Production of these services benefits from the nearness to other services, especially when array of specialized firms are available. These firms obtain agglomeration economies when they settle in the vicinity of the others that are sellers of key inputs necessary for combined production of certain service offerings. This is a valid reason for New Yorks losing of corporate headquarters for the past few decades and the number and employment of firms which were servicing such headquarters went on increasing rapidly. Sassen also highlighted another kind of agglomeration economy which comprises amenities and lifestyles which large urban centers can offer to

Emotional labour Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Emotional labour - Literature review Example Callahan and McCollum (2002) understand that the period emotional work is suitable for circumstances in which personalities are personally selecting to manage their sentiments for their individual remunerated assistances. The expression emotional labor is suitable only when emotion employment is replaced for approximately such as an income or some other kind of valued recompense. In her classification of emotional labor, Callahan and McCollum (2002, pp. 45) state that such activities are achieved for remuneration; they are also below the jurisdiction of others. Therefore, in structural settings, emotional labor is below the control of associations like banks. Hochschild’s (2003, pp. 67) stated that emotional labor comprises impression of the administration of examination of employees. These workers put effort on rapid emotions that are indicated to be satisfactory by clients. According to this viewpoint, the inconsistency between fingered and articulated emotion is connected t o job accent and exhaustion. According to Hochschild (2003), occupations concerning emotional labor acquire three individualities: they need the workforce to make facial or speech contact with the community; they necessitate the employee to create an emotional condition in the consumer or purchaser, and they deliver the instructions with the aim of exercising some control over the expressive events of workforces. Based on recession association, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) brought forward the opinion that, emotional labor as â€Å"the work of displaying the suitable sentiment.† Their description varies from Hochschild’s (1983), since their description stresses the actual behavior rather than the hypothetical emotions are key in determining the conduct (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). In common, researchers approve that illustrations and emotional state that complement the precise emotional labor affects emotions that are displayed at work location; hence, connect their fac tual feelings with the differences in descriptions and operationalization of anticipated emotions. These emotions are perhaps perceived on an optimistic view of the concept; that have resulted to some misperception, thoughts or reconsidering the condition (Bono and Vey, 2005). Studies provide an operational definition of emotional labour as an interrelated variable representing occurrence or nonexistence of emotional labour at work or in a profession (Bitzer, 2006). He recommended that emotional labour at work is based on frequency of personal communication between members of staff and customer, therefore, making emotional labour at work a one-dimensional structure disapprovingly correlated with workers’ health. Adelmann (2005) developed one range for emotional labour at work, though, this research could not discover the ordinary negative associations between emotional labour at work and emotional strain, an elucidation of the fact that more differentiated ideas ought to be b rought forward. Consequently, emotional labour at work has been indicated as an emotional process essential to control managerially needed emotional control as part of workers’ roles. Frequency of emotional labour recurrent obligation indicates a negative emotional labour in the case of a statement investor (Bitzer, 2006). The compulsion to exhibit negative emotiona

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Global Warming - Essay Example The threat here is that the polar ice caps would soon be melting because of global warming, which would increase the level of oceans to side. People living on coastal lines would have to evacuate their homes and move to other places, causing overcrowding and security concerns (Michaels & Balling, 2009). The rise in ocean levels can cause floods, destroying crops and creating drought in countries. Citizens of the developed countries are aware of this growing problem because there have been many documentaries about global warming and researches done in the developed world, where environmentalists and scientists have explained the consequences of global warming to the people. The people living in developing countries are responsible for making sure that the human activities which trigger global warming, are prevented from happening and people act more responsibly (Black & Weisel, 2010). There are also more responsible because they have more resources to make people aware, as compared to the underdeveloped countries. The United States and other countries are responsible in a way, that they should create awareness in underdeveloped countries, and create programs to make people responsible for their actions and the way they treat the environment. However, not all responsibility lies in the hands of the developed countries, underdeveloped nations feel the climate change and the impact of globalization too. The government should be responsible for preventing activities which harm the environment.

Knowledge Management Models And Frameworks Commerce Essay

Knowledge Management Models And Frameworks Commerce Essay The purpose of this paper is to critically review the various knowledge management models and frameworks. The review found that various knowledge management models and frameworks varies in perspectives ranging from the basic assumption of the articulation and transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge to the more complex and complicated assumption that knowledge is intellectual capital and it is mechanistic in perspective as well as an important asset that has to be managed efficiently for firms success. In this paper, knowledge management models are divided into three categories: knowledge category models, intellectual capital models, and socially constructed models. Besides, two knowledge management frameworks will be discussed in this paper. Finally, a KM model and framework is tentatively suggested to act as a useful guide for further research and organizational application. Introduction Nowadays, the world is fully experiencing an era, namely: knowledge age or the knowledge economy. In knowledge economy, knowledge is the crucial commodity due to the rapidly technological advancement. The technological innovations are eliminating the gap between competing companies and the collective knowledge of the employees become the key factor in producing innovative and competitive products or services (Sunassee and Sewry, 2002). Since previously managers did not encourage diffusion and sharing of knowledge among employees, changing in mindset is required for managing the knowledge effectively. The knowledge-driven activities in organizations and of the broader economic and social life lead to the management of knowledge become very important (Sunassee and Sewry, 2002). In general, this managerial activity has been known as Knowledge Management (KM). Previous research on knowledge management indicates the existence of various definitions of knowledge management. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), knowledge management is the capability of a company to create new knowledge, disseminate it throughout the organization and embody it in products, services, and systems. Duffy (1999) defines knowledge management as the identification, growth and effective application of an organisations critical knowledge. Knowledge management has been defined in another term, which is an organized and explicit process to generate, renew, and apply knowledge to maximize an organizations knowledge-related effectiveness and returns from its knowledge assets (Wiig, 1997). Alavi and Leidner (1999) define knowledge management as a systemic and organizationally specified process for acquiring, organizing, and communicating both tacit and explicit knowledge of employees so that other employees may make use of it to be more effective and productive in thei r work. Besides, ODell et al., (1998) define knowledge management as a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organizational performance. For instance, Beckman (1999) define knowledge management as the formalization of and access to experience, knowledge and expertise that create new capabilities, enable superior performance, encourage innovation and enhance customer value. In general, KM is the process of creating, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge. By reviewing the significance of knowledge management and the complexity of its nature, it is timely to try to understand the latest theories underlying knowledge and knowledge management. Hence, this paper will critically study the latest models and frameworks of knowledge management and discuss on the assumptions and views of each model and framework. The aim of this paper is to examine the current understanding of the theory and practice of the emerging field of knowledge management by critically evaluating existing knowledge management models and frameworks. Therefore, employers or practitioners in organizations can understand their concepts and improved approaches can be developed and applied to organization and to those who need to work and implement knowledge management. This paper will begin by presenting the aims and objectives and followed with a short discussion on the types of knowledge. This is followed with the discussion on some of the existing knowledge management models and frameworks. Types of Knowledge In todays competitive business environment, only the knowledge of an organization can provide the basis for organizational renewal and sustainable competitive advantages. Organizational knowledge can be classified into two distinctive types of knowledge: explicit and tacit. According to Polanyi (1967), explicit knowledge is the knowledge which is easily to formalize, transfer, and store; documented, articulated into formal language, formally expressible and easily to communicate; tacit knowledge is pertaining to ideas, feelings, and individual experience, which is more complicated and difficult to share with each others. Explicit knowledge is the fact and can be codified and transmitted in a systematic and formal language. It is usually data, which is internal to an organization and can be easily collected. Tacit knowledge is the personal experiences, context-specific knowledge that is difficult to formalize record or articulate. It actually resides in the heads of the people, behavior and perception (Frid, 2000). Examples are intuitions, hunches, insights, beliefs and values. Both tacit and explicit knowledge are needed for an organization to achieve greater performance (Sanchez et. al. 1996). Knowledge Management Models and Frameworks Knowledge Category Models These types of model categorize knowledge into discrete elements. One of the most renowned KM models fits into this category, the Knowledge Spiral model by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). This model presents a high level conceptual representation of the knowledge dimensions, namely tacit and explicit knowledge. The model makes a number of assumptions, namely: 1. Tacit knowledge can be transferred through a process of socialization (everyday comradeship) to become the tacit knowledge of others top left quadrant 2. Tacit knowledge can become explicit knowledge through a process of externalization (formalizing a body of knowledge) top right quadrant 3. Explicit knowledge can be transferred into tacit knowledge in others through a process of internalization (translating theories into practice) bottom left quadrant 4. Explicit knowledge can be transferred to explicit knowledge in others through a process of combination (combining existing theories) -bottom right quadrant. One criticism of the model is that knowledge transfer in organizations is much more complicated and convoluted than this simple matrix suggests. The model also assumes an integration of tacit and explicit knowledge; often this is not the case. This model is shown in figure no. 1 below. A simple but more elaborate version of Nonakas model is shown in figure no. 2 (Hedlund and Nonaka, 1993). This model assumes there are four different levels of carriers, or agents, of knowledge in organizations, namely the individual, the group, the organization and the inter-organizational domain (customers, suppliers, competitors, etc.). The above model is helpful by relating the carriers to the types of knowledge; it remains problematic in that it assumes the carriers, like the knowledge, can be simply separated. Another example of a knowledge category model is that of Boisot, (1998), as shown in figure no. 3. Boisots model considers knowledge as codified or uncodified, diffused or undiffused, within an organization. Boisot uses the term codified to refer to knowledge that can be readily prepared for transmission purposes (e.g. financial data). The term uncodified refers to knowledge that cannot be easily prepared for transmission purposes (e.g. experience). The term diffused refers to knowledge that is readily shared while undiffused refers to knowledge that is not readily shared. The model presents the following characteristics: 1. Knowledge categorized as both codified and undiffused is referred to as propriety knowledge. In this case, knowledge is prepared for transmission but is deliberately restricted to a selectively small population, on a need to know basis (e.g. projected profits, share price issues) top left quadrant 2. Knowledge that is relatively uncodified and undiffused is referred to as personal knowledge (e.g. perceptions, insights, experiences) bottom left quadrant knowledge that is both codified and diffused is referred to as public knowledge (e.g. journals, books, libraries) top right quadrant Knowledge which is relatively diffused but also uncodified is labeled common sense bottom right quadrant. Boisot, (1998) considers such knowledge as being built up slowly by a process of socialization, harboring customs and intuition. There are few similarities between Nonakas model and Boisots model. For example, Nonakas categorization of explicit and tacit knowledge has a degree of correspondence with Boisots reference to codified and uncodified knowledge. The horizontal dimension relates to the spread or diffusion of knowledge across the organization in both models. However, Boisots model experiences the same limitations as Nonakas model in that codified and uncodified are but two discrete categories of knowledge. In addition, the idea of diffused knowledge is rather general and it is not clear if it includes incorporating knowledge within the organization, as well as disseminating it. Figure No. 3-Knowledge Category Model (Boisot, 1998) Intellectual Capital Models Management gurus such as Drucker (1993) and Brooking (1997) and practitioner icons such as Edvinsson, (1997) elucidated the notion of Intellectual Capital (IC). Knowledge and capital have been linked together for many years. Knowledge is being capitalized as a resource comparable to land or oil. However, we also need to focus on the intangible elements which knowledge contains such as employee skills, experiences, patients, copyrights, brands, licensing opportunities, research and development, innovative use of assets such as databases, etc. (Quintas et al, 1997). As these type of elements are not normally recorded on the traditional organizational balance sheet they are referred to Intellectual Assets; hence the term Intellectual Capital. KM is actively concerned with the strategic outlook and operational tactics required for managing human centered, intellectual assets (Brooking, 1997). According to Peters (1992), KM can affect intellectual capital or as recognizing or rediscovering assets that the organization are not using to full potential, ultimately employees. As these approaches imply that the key areas of KM are the management of IC it is worth reviewing a typical IC model. The model, shown below in figure no. 5, is the Intellectual Capital model from Skandia Insurance which is adopted from Chase (1997), and Roos and Roos (1997). According to Edvinsson and Malone, (1997) intellectual capital concsists the applied experience, organizational technology, customer relationships and professional skills that provide Skandia with a competitive advantage in the market. One problem that can be associated with this model is the adoption of a scientific approach to knowledge. This is evident through the classification of knowledge as a commodity linking it to organization capital. This view of intellectual capital ignores the political and social aspects of KM. KM can be decomposed into objective elements rather than being socio-political phenomena from the view of intellectual capital. This is similar to the Nonaka and Takeuchi, (1995) approach. As befits a new area of inquiry, much analytical work is focused on categorizing, mapping and measuring of knowledge types and processes. Although this is helpful, the epistemological basis of the field cannot be ignored (McAdam and McCreedy, 1999). Hence, we need to embrace socially constructed models of KM. Figure No. 4-Intellectual Capital Model of KM (Chase, 1997) Socially Constructed Models This group of models assumes a wide definition of knowledge viewing it as being intrinsically linked within the social and learning processes of the organization. KM is concerned with the construction, capture, interpretation, embodiment, dissemination and use of knowledge. These components are represented in Demerests (1997) Knowledge Management model. The model is developed from the original work of Clark and Staunton, (1989) and Nonaka and Takeuchi, (1995). It can be compared to that of Jordan and Jones, (1997) who speak of knowledge acquisition, problem solving, dissemination, ownership and storage and that of Kruizinga et al. (1997) who include knowledge policy, infrastructure and culture. Firstly, the model emphasizes the construction of knowledge within the organization. The model assumes that constructed knowledge is then embodied. Next the embodied knowledge is disseminated throughout the organization. Ultimately the knowledge is used to gain economic value with regard to organizational outputs. The black arrows in figure no. 5 show the primary flow direction while the white arrows show the more recursive flows. Figure No. 5 -Knowledge Management Model Demerest, (1997) Demerests model is attractive in that it does not assume any given definition of knowledge but rather invites a more holistic approach to knowledge construction. However, it does imply a simplistic procession approach to the flow of knowledge transfer, while in reality this may be extremely rapid and circulatory. To overcome this gap a slightly modified version of Demerests model has been developed, figure no. 6. Firstly the model emphasizes the construction of knowledge within an organization where either a scientific or social paradigm may be adopted. The scientific view of knowledge takes a knowledge is truth view (Morgan, 1986). This view considers that knowledge is a body of facts and rational laws thus promoting a non-personal view of knowledge, skills and tasks (Lave and Wenger, 1991). On the other hand the social view of knowledge is concerned with the social and learning processes within an organization. However, this approach assumes that knowledge construction is inequality, conflict, domination, subordination and manipulation influences as well as more traditional behavioral questions associated with efficiency and motivation (Alvesson and Wilmott, 1996). Thus social knowledge construction is a dynamic process of contextuality rather than the assimilation of a body of facts. In th e McAdam and McCreedys (1999) model depicted in figure no. 6, knowledge construction is not limited to scientific inputs through explicit programmes but includes a process of social interaction. The implications of this broader concept of knowledge construction must be reflected in the embodiment/dissemination of knowledge as part of the organizations KM approach. There is little point in widening the concept of knowledge construction only to limit the embodiment and dissemination techniques used or to force existing techniques onto new knowledge. Attempting to do so will lead to disappointing results, frustration and a negative view to KM caused by the mismatch between conception and application. Knowledge usage must also be reflected via the knowledge initiatives installed in the organization. Demerest (1997) describes use (as deployed in figure no. 6) as the production of commercial value for the customer. While increasing commercial value is a key objective of KM, it is not the only objective. Therefore knowledge use must be employed through the application of a complementary approach for emancipatory enhancements and organization outputs. This will permit the organization to be viewed and reformed from different perspectives that will facilitate continuous innovation, thus creating the ultimate business benefits for the organization as a whole. While the interconnecting vectors (black arrows) show the primary flow of activity, more recursive arrows are added to reflect the circulating nature of activity flows, thus depicting that KM is not a simple sequential process. Figure No. 6-Modified Version of Demerests Knowledge Management Model (McAdam and McCreedy, 1999) Knowledge Management Frameworks Stankosky and Baldanza (2001) developed a knowledge management framework which addresses enabling factors such as learning, culture, leadership, organization and technology (refer to figure no. 7). This framework presents that knowledge management covers a wide range of disciplines that include cognitive science, communication, individual and organizational behavior, psychology, finance, economics, human resource, management, strategic planning, system thinking, process reengineering, system engineering, computer technologies and software and library science. This framework consists four major foundations of an organization which is important for knowledge management are leadership, organization structure, technology infrastructure and learning. The role of leadership is practicing strategic planning and systems thinking approaches, making best use of resources, fostering a culture that encourages open dialogue and team learning, and for encouraging and rewarding risk taking, learning and knowledge sharing. Organization structure should facilitate personal interactions and support communities of practice to capture tacit and explicit knowledge within the organization. Besides, organizational structure should facilitate trust among people within the organization and encourage free exchange of knowledge. Technology infrastructure allows exchange of information without formal structures. Technology infrastructure should enhance the efficient and effective capture of both tacit and explicit knowledge. It should also support knowledge sharing in the entire organization. Lastly, learning is responsible for managing information in order to build enterprise wide knowledge and use that knowledge to organizational learning, change and performance improvement. Figure No. 7-Basic Disciplines Underlying Knowledge Management and its Enabling Factors (Stankosky and Baldanza , 2001) Karadesh et al. (2009) developed a knowledge management framework that emphasizes on developing phases such as knowledge infrastructure, knowledge combination, knowledge filtering, knowledge repository, knowledge sharing, knowledge application, and finally, knowledge performance across the KM process (refer to figure no. 8). The first element is knowledge infrastructure, which relies on building the proper culture for Knowledge Management System and establishes the awareness of the importance of KM among the individuals in the organization. The second element is knowledge combination that functions as a temporary repository of collected information from the infrastructure phase. The third element is knowledge evaluation which is used to assess the knowledge based on the value; accuracy and relevance after the knowledge have been combined from different sources (Sunassee and Sewry, 2002). Knowledge filtering is the fourth element that prepares knowledge to be stored in the next phase, after going through classification, categorization and organization. The fifth element is knowledge repository that functions as storage for the knowledge collected in the past stages. It also can be viewed as organization memory and retention of knowledge assets. Knowledge sharing is a core process in the process of the KM that transfers and shares knowledge among the individuals in the organization. Knowledge application is the seventh element that applies and represents information to knowledge seekers in appropriate matter. The last element is knowledge performance which is used to evaluate every KM system, process, performance, and impact of KM. It is performing according to the organization goals and objectives. Figure No. 8-Conceptual Framework for Knowledge Management Process (Karadesh et al., 2009) Conclusion The review of existing knowledge management models and frameworks has seen a wide spectrum of viewpoints. Knowledge management has been seen from the categorical view in which knowledge are categorized into discrete elements as seen in Boisot, Nonaka, and Nonaka and Hedlunds models to the more complicated and complex perspective of knowledge that is mechanistic and socially constructed orientation (McAdam and McCreedys, 1999). Moreover, these knowledge management models have made reference to: first, the process of managing the flow knowledge; second, categorization models are mechanistic; third, the intellectual capital model assumed that intellectual capital are crucial assets in organization and should be manage efficiently for firms success; fourth, Demerests model is intrinsically linked with the social and learning process within organizations; McAdam and McCreedys model is slightly modified from Demerests model, which seeks to address the limitations by explicitly showing the influence of both social and scientific paradigms of knowledge construction, and extends the use element to cover both business and employee benefits. Stankosky and Baldanzas knowledge management framework emphasized that leadership, organization structure, technology infrastructure and learning are important foundations for knowledge management in an organization; finally, Karadesh et al.s knowledge management framework represents with extensive and detailed processes and tends to provide guidelines for executing KM successfully, save time and efforts and to avoid inaccuracies. Even though knowledge management models and frameworks have evolved from time to time, basically the models and frameworks provide a way of transforming managerial activities and guiding managerial efforts in managing knowledge in the organizations. The KM model and framework that are suggested to act as a useful guide for further research and organizational application is McAdam and McCreedys model and Karadesh et al.s framework. McAdam and McCreedys model combines scientific and socially constructed knowledge, and also the uses/benefits of KM are viewed as both emancipatory and as business oriented. Karadesh et al.s framework provides a broadest analysis of KM process that can be used to foster the development of organization knowledge and enhance the organizational impact of individuals throughout the organizations. Therefore, it is suggested that this model and framework could act as a useful guide for further research and literature evaluation in the area of knowledge management.