Chap 10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chap 10 - Essay Example The food contamination arose from the mishandling of a critical ingredient, turmeric powder, by the supplier. This ingredient is key in the preparation of numerous stews and soups, which have always been our customer’s favorite delicacy (Crandall, William, John and John 154). The turmeric powder supplied had been initially stored in an environment whose temperatures altered its original composition. We regret this hitch and apologize to our loyal customers. We will never repeat this mistake again. The restaurant takes full responsibility of its customers. It will help the customers who are in critical conditions to get better. I write this proposal to you because of an observation I have made concerning the usage of printing paper in the organization and its wastage. Members of the organization waste a lot of printing paper by printing unclaimed jobs that strain the company resources and dirty the working environment (Crandall, William, John and John

The Differences Between The English Colonies History Essay

The Differences Between The English Colonies History Essay In the 17th and 18th century, many English people sought after religious freedom and riches, so they migrated to North America, where they established different colonies to create better lives for themselves. Some colonies faced many struggles, while others were better off. British colonies differed from each other by the types of settlers, intent for the colonies, environment, and indigenous people encountered. Between the late 16th and early 17th century, Englands population grew twice its size due to the new nourishing American crops. With more people, came the higher demand for food and clothes, thus creating high inflation (Norton et al. 2-3a). There were also not enough jobs or land for the newly increased population. According to Norton et al., Steady streams of the landless and homeless filled the streets and highways. With that said, the rich did not like how things were going and said that Britain was way too crowded. They believed that better opportunities awaited them in America. Everyone thought that there was plenty of land available for the taking in America as well (Norton et al. 2-3a). With these recent economic changes, came a religious transformation. The English reformation started when Henry VIII wasnt granted a divorce by the Pope. He decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church to create the Church of England. He originally did this so he could get a divorce from his wife because she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son. He wanted a King to rule after him, not a Queen (Norton 2-3b). The Church of England Robinson 2 collected a lot of taxes, which upset many of the other Christian religions (Norton 2-3d). These would include the Puritans, Separatists, and Presbyterians. The Church soon tried to conform the people of England. No one wanted to be prosecuted for their different religious beliefs so they fled to America for religious freedom (Norton 2-3d). The settlers that came to the Southern colonies were wealthy, merchants, and gentry (Hollitz 17). The southern colonies included Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The people in the South were mostly Anglican or Catholic, but unlike the settlers in the middle and northern colonies, the southern colonists were not that interested in converting the Natives to Christianity; they were focused on making a profit (Hagen, trexxpublishing.wordpress.com). Some of the northern colonies were Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. The North was colonized by the Puritans. The Puritans were a group of radical English Protestants that wanted to purify the Church of England. They also wanted to be able to practice their religion freely without people trying to convert them, so they moved to America, specifically to the North. At first, the middle colonies were called New Netherlands because they were originally founded by the Dutch, but the British took over in the early 18th century. The middle colonies consisted of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. After the British crown took over New Netherlands, it was founded by the Quakers. The Quakers believed that there should be equality for all. They were originally in the North with the Puritans, but soon colonized in the middle region because they faced scrutiny over their religious views (Hagen Robinson 3 trexxpublishing.wordpress.com). Some of their views were the total opposite of the Puritans, and they were beaten and unfairly treated because of this (Hagen trexxpublishing.wordpress.com). After being founded by the Quakers, many people of other religions such as the Lutherans, Jews, Catholics, Baptists, Orthodox, Calvinists, and Presbyterians joined in the colonization process (The Middle Colonies). The middle colonies became a melting pot and took on different qualities of the northern and southern regions. At first the colonists in the South were mainly attracted to finding gold, but that ended fairly quickly. The realization that the colonists had to be able to support themselves in order to survive eventually kicked in (Searle helium.com). People of the South were looking to make a profit, and according to Searle, they did find rice, tobacco, and cotton to be profitable exports. The most popular of the three at the time was tobacco. For the colonists that owned big plantations, life was easy, but for those that didnt own that much land, life was horrible (Searle helium.com). The owners of the plantations made a lot of money off of their slaves and tobacco, while the small land owners had a hard time staying alive (Searle helium.com). The South was focused on harvesting, which was different than the North. The Puritans in the northern colonies were mainly focused on religion. Their whole lives revolved around their religion. According to Norton et al., many devoted themselves to self- examination and Bible study, and families often prayed together each day under the guidance of the husband and father. If you didnt practice religion the same as the Puritans, you were looked down upon and sometimes even beaten. Even though the Puritans primary focus was religion, Robinson 4 they did trade and manufacture goods (Hagen trexx.wordpress.com). Some of these goods included ships, fish, and lumber. The Quakers came to the middle region to escape the scrutiny they received in the North. They were excepting of others, which was good because they middle colonies were filled with many different religions. Everyone tolerated each other because no one was in control of the others (The Middle Colonies). At first, most of the focus was put on religion. Later, the settlers became interested in profit, like the south. The middle region produced goods such as wheat, corn, and tobacco. Whatever was produced in each region was largely dependent upon their environments. In the South, the climate was much hotter and had richer soil, leading to their incredible farming abilities. In the North, the soil was unfit for agriculture, which is why their economy was based on their industrial business. The middle region was a mixture of both the North and the South because it had rich soil for farming, but also traded and created goods (Economic Differences Between the Northern Southern Colonies). Even though the South was flourishing with the tobacco business, the colonists had a hostile relationship with the indigenous people there. When the colonists first came to the south, they encountered the Powhatans, and then later they met the Algonquians. The Powhatans and the colonists agreed to a peace treaty (Hollitz 17). In return the Powhatans wanted items that would make them more advanced than the neighboring tribes (Hollitz 17). The relationships that the southern settlers had with Powhatans started off okay, but soon grew bad. According to Hollitz, the fragile relationship soon foundered on mutual mistrust. The trust between the two Robinson 5 faltered because neither was able to rule over the other, thus leading to the colonists kidnapping the chiefs daughter, Pocahontas. With the Algonquians, the exchange between the southern colonists and them were hostile because of cultural differences. For instance, Native men didnt do agricultural work, while English men did. Even their views on property ownership were seen as a major problem. The English thought that they were superior to the Algonquians, so they constantly showed disrespect towards them (Hollitz 18). In the North, the colonists initially had a very peaceful relationship with the Natives. When the settlers came across the Pokanets, they signed a peace treaty. The natives provided the colonists with food in return for certain items (Norton et al. 2-6d). The Pokanets helped keep the colonists in the North alive. In the middle region, the colonists had a relatively peaceful relationship with Iroquois. The Quakers thought that it was imperative to have a good relationship with Natives (The Middle Colonies). In conclusion, there were many differences between the British colonies based on which region they were in. As the colonies develop over time, the many differences between them may prevent the colonists from coming together in a united front to fight a common cause. If everyone has views that clash, then how can they agree on anything? When conflict comes in to play, the colonists will have to put their contrasting ideas on the backburner and fight for their independence. Robinson 6

Positions of Blacks in the Civil War and Emancipation Essay example --

â€Å"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." The quote mentioned above was proclaimed by African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and served as motivation for African Americans to enlist in the Union’s Army efforts and take an initiative in their future. With President Abraham Lincoln's issue of his Preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, the Civil War developed to be a war to ultimately save the union and to abolish slavery. Blacks overall played a substantial part in the victory of the union, helping them turn the tide against the confederate army. In all, there were roughly 200,000 black soldiers who served in over 100 units in the Union Army and Navy (10 percent of the Union). But while their involvement in war efforts deemed valuable there was tension on many fronts, there were major anti-Black prejudice against black involvement from people in Free states and in the loyal slave states; who were not in favor of arming the Black soldiers and letting them participate in combat. With tha t being said, what were the Social conditions for blacks in the North (Franklin) and the South (Augusta) prior to the war? How did many African Americans participate in the war and in what way? Did these conditions post war? The main purpose of this paper is to monitor African American contributions to the war and illustrate how these contributions changed their social status in society. With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, it forecasted tremendous change for the entire country... ...863. http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/FN0000. †¢ Christy, Jacob. â€Å"Franklin County: Jacob Christy to Mary Jane Demus, August 10, 1864.† The Valley of the Shadow, August 10, 1864. http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/F3004. †¢ Hargrove, Hondon B. Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 1988. †¢ Jordan, Ervin L. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1995. †¢ Mobley, Joe A. Weary of War†¯: Life on the Confederate Home Front. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2008. †¢ Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the Civil War. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. †¢ Wesley, Charles H. Afro-Americans in the Civil War: From Slavery to Citizenship. 1979 ed. International Library of Afro-American Life and History. Cornwells Heights, Pa: Publishers Agency, 1978.

Distribution decisions Essay

The tutorial about distribution decisions deals mainly with establishing an effective and efficient system that will make the products accessible to the market. It teaches the different channels of distribution including the process of ordering, handling and shipping, storage, display, promotion, selling, and information feedback. The channels include resellers, specialty service firms who are important although a little costly. There are two kinds of channel arrangements: independent (no binding relationship), and dependent (has binding relationship). Also, there are three kinds of distribution systems: direct distribution systems, indirect distribution systems, and multi-channel hybrid systems. The tutorial also warns of the issues in establishing channel relationships such as delivery, profit margins, other incentives, packaging, training, and promotional help. The tutorial on retailing examines retailers as a type of resellers of a product to consumers who only want to buy in small quantities. Their main concerns are customer satisfaction, ability to acquire the right products, product presentations, traffic building, layout, location, and keeping pace with technology. Retailers are categorized in many ways; included in the tutorial are: target markets served (mass, specialty, exclusive market), product offerings (general, multiple lines specialty, single line specialty merchandiser), pricing strategy (discount, competitive, full price pricing), promotional focus (advertising, direct mail, personal selling), distribution method (store-based which can be stand-alone, strip-shopping center, shopping area, and regional shopping mall; and non-store sellers which can be online sellers, direct marketers, and vending), service level (self, assorted, full service), and ownership structures (individually owned, corporate chain, corporate structure, contractually licensed). There are also a variety of retail formats which are mom-and pop, mass discounters, warehouse stores, category killers, department stores, boutique, catalog retailers, e-tailers, franchise, convenience store, and vending. In wholesaling, the sellers sell in bulk to their consumers. Their main concern involves disinter-mediation, facility location, transportation costs, adapting to new technologies, and offering non-product assistance. They are categorized according to products carried (general and specialty merchandise), promotional activities (extensive and limited promotion), distribution (stationary location with customer and not customer accessible; and non-stationary location with mobile and no facilities), service level (full, limited, and no service), and product ownership (do take and do not take title). Wholesale formats consist of general and specialty merchandise, contractual, industrial distributors, cash-and-carry, truck, rack jobber, drop shipper, broker, and agent. In managing product movement, three tasks are important which have a cost-service tradeoff: ordering and inventory management, product storage, and transportation. Ordering and inventory have to be managed by considering order entry and processing, demand forecasting, customer knowledge, channel relationship, physical product handling, storage and transportation. The tutorial is effective in a sense that it takes the learner through a step by step process in understanding the definitions of terms, what the different topics are about, and gives the learner an idea on how to apply the process in real marketing situations. The tutorial is also effective because it is simple and easy to understand. It also breaks down complicated topics and lays them out in an easy-to-understand manner. The only problem with the tutorial is that it lacked examples of real life situations to which the approaches were used, especially since examples often makes everything clearer and makes the whole presentation have more real life applications and not just theoretical things that can be skipped In the issues in information and IS, information exchange and communication is very valuable between the company and their distributors. Any decision by marketing should be communicated internally in production. The IT manager is to integrate the communication among production, marketing and distributors to streamline everything. A sophisticated tracking of orders and products is also necessary among them.

Accounting and Corporate Governance Essay

The memo is to address the accounting maneuver of Lehman’s Repo 105 (or 108) from perspectives of accounting and corporate governance. The memo will illustrate the role of repo transaction in Lehman’s business model, analyze the accounting irregularities regarding repo by Lehman, observe auditors’ role in these irregularities, and discuss the corresponding accounting and corporate governance issues. In addition, the memo will provide recommendations on how to prevent financial institutions from abusing regulatory deficiencies by emphasizing on the importance of accounting regulation, auditors’ role, and business ethics. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay The major goal of Lehman’s Repo 105 is to temporarily remove troubled securities from its balance sheet while presenting favorable financial statements to its investors, creditors, rating agencies, and the public. By temporarily removing these securities from its balance sheet, Lehman made its leverage ratio much lower. With low leverage ratio, Lehman would keep its credit rating at high level and maintained its customers’ confidence. A repo, or sale and repurchase agreement, is an agreement in which one party transfers to another party as collateral for a short-term borrowing of cash, while simultaneously agreeing to repay the cash and take back the collateral at a specific point in time (SFAS 140). An ordinary repo should be treated as a financing transaction and should be accounted for as a secured borrowing. An ordinary repo is a commonly-used form of secured loan between financial institutions. In fact, repo does not have real economic substance. However, by the Repo 105 transactions, Lehman did the same in an ordinary repo, but because the assets value were 105 percent or more of the cash received, accounting rules permitted the transactions to be treated as sales rather than financing. Lehman aggressively employed Repo 105 transactions before reporting periods at the end of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008. During the reporting periods, Repo transactions helped Lehman remove assets from balance sheet and use cash received to payback short-term loans. In addition, Lehman did not report any liabilities that reflected the obligation to repay the borrowed funds. After the reporting periods, Lehman would borrow funds to repurchases the transferred assets. Then these assets would be reversed on the balance sheet again. The consideration is whether Lehman’s accounting for Repo 105 violated the Generally Accepted Accounting Principal (the GAAP). Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 140 (SFAS 140) provides the accounting guidelines on repo transactions. A company is permitted to account for these transactions as sales only if the transferor surrenders control over the assets to transferees. To account for a repo transaction as a sale, all three conditions must be met: 1) the transferred assets must be isolated from the transfer, 2) transferee has right to pledge or exchange the assets, 3) the transferor does not maintain effective control over the transferred assets. A typical repo contract can easily meet the first two conditions. However, in order to take advantage of favorable accounting treatment as sales transaction, Lehman has employed some accounting maneuvers to meet the third condition. SFAS 140 (Paragraph 218) states that the transferor’s right to repurchase is not assured unless the repurchase price is 102 percent or less of the cash received, or the cash received is 98 percent or more of the value of the transferred assets. â€Å"The Board believes that other collateral arrangements typical fall well outside that guideline (FASB, 2000, p. 91). † The repurchase price of Repo 105 is 105 percent of the cash received, which is higher than the 102 percent guideline. As a result, Lehman could argue that Repo 105 did not meet the third condition of maintaining effective control, and then classified it as sales. Based upon the above analysis, Lehman’s accounting for Repo 105 seemed to be technically in compliance with the U. S. GAAP. However, Lehman’s bankruptcy examiner Anton R. Valukas (2010) provided evidence showing that Lehman intended to use Repo 105 to manipulate its 10-K and 10-Q financial reporting. Valukas argued that the classification of these repo transactions should be based on its economic substance rather than its form (such as the 102 rule). Since Lehman had clear intent to buy back the transferred assets under Repo 105, these transactions are clearly secured borrowing and should not have been recorded as sales. The obvious accounting irregularity is Lehman’s failure of disclosing Repo 105 transaction in its quarterly and annual financial reports. Valukas (2010)’ report indicates that Lehman’s SEC 10-K and 10-Q filing between 2000 to third quarter, 2007, regularly misrepresented some repo transaction as â€Å"secured borrowings† despite that it actually recorded as sales. In addition, Lehman never disclosed its involvement in Repo 105 its 10-K of 2007 and the first 10-Q of 2008 (Chang et al, 2011). In fact, Lehman has aggressively involved in Repo 105 during the end of 2007 and first two quarters of 2008, removing approximately by $38. billion in fourth quarter 2007, $49. 1 billion in first quarter 2008, and $50. 38 billion in second quarter 2008 (Valukas, 2010). It is clear that Lehman’s misrepresentation and failure of disclosure of its Repo 105 practice is material enough to mislead its investors, debtors, rating agencies and the public. As the auditor of Lehman Brothers, Ernst & Young approved the use of Repo 105 transactions. These transactions were characterized as sales of assets and created a misleading picture of Lehman’s financial position during the financial meltdown. Ernst & Young said in a statement: â€Å"Our last audit of the company was for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2007. Our opinion indicated that Lehman’s financial statements for that year were fairly presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and we remain of that view. † Ernst & Young would like the public to believe their responsibility for Lehman’s financial statements ends with the 2007 10-K. Actually, It does not. According to the examiner’s report, Ernst & Young had just started planning for its year-end audit of Lehman when the firm collapsed into bankruptcy. Lehman remained an E&Y client until the bankruptcy in September 2008. This period included two more 10-Qs. But most troubling for the auditors could be allegations in the examiner’s report that Ernst & Young did not inform the audit committee on Lehman’s board about a whistleblower who had expressed concerns about the repos to them. In a March 2010 letter to its clients, E&Y defended its audit work for Lehman. The letter states that Lehman’s bankruptcy resulted from unprecedented adverse events in the financial markets, declining asset values, and loss of market confidence that caused a collapse in its liquidity. The firm believes the bankruptcy wasn’t caused by accounting or disclosure issues, as Lehman’s financial statements clearly portrayed it as â€Å"a leveraged entity operating in a risky and volatile industry. † The most telling assertion in the complaint concerning E&Y’s alleged misrepresentation of Lehman’s compliance with applicable accounting standards is that E&Y didn’t require the financial statements to reflect economic substance rather than just legal form. In other words, the complaint accuses E&Y of letting Lehman engage in transactions without business purpose in order to achieve a specific financial-statement result. The bankruptcy examiner said that the sole function of Repo 105 transactions as employed by Lehman was to reduce its publicly reported net leverage and net balance sheet. Although Lehman knew that none of its peer companies were using the same accounting tricks to arrive the leverage numbers, it continued to rely on the use of Repo 105 substantially, at a level that is much higher than the originally defined â€Å"materiality† level by the management. As a consequence, it left Lehman with heavy concentrations of illiquid assets which could not be monetized to meet its current obligations (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The Examiner did not find supporting evidence to bring â€Å"colorable claims† (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010) against Lehman’s directors, however, they should have better monitored the managers. And the examiner did find sufficient evidence to support a colorable claim against certain senior officers for breaching their fiduciary duties to shareholders and other stakeholders because they failed to inform the public and shareholders about the substantial use of Repo 105 by non-disclosure of related information and by filing materially misleading periodic reports, which risked the company with potential liabilities; and they also failed to advise the Board of Directors of the Repo 105 practice (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The examiner also concluded that sufficient evidence existed that Lehman’s quarter? nd Repo 105 practice was material and should have been disclosed in the financial statements. In addition, Lehman had an obligation to disclose required information relate to Repo 105 in its MD&A statement. In terms of accounting malpractice, Lehman’s external auditor, Ernst & Young, was also held responsible for allowing Lehman’s financial reports to go unchallenged. Ernst & Young well knew the practice of Repo 105 adopted by the company, but failed to review the volume and timing of Repo 105 transactions, and failed to access the materiality of information omitted regarding Repo 105 transactions. Furthermore, Ernst & Young failed to conduct investigations with regard to the concern about Repo 105 raised by Matthew Lee, then-Senior President of Finance Division. In conclusion, corporate governance was lacking both internally and externally (Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. v. Debtors, 2010). The accounting irregularity of Lehman’s Repo 105 practice partly due to the deficiencies of accounting rules, however, integrity or accounting professionals as well as business ethics also play an important role in the accounting malpractice. In 2009, FASB issued SFAS 166 to amend SFAS 140. These efforts could close some loophole in accounting standards. Good corporate governance requires not only effective board and ethical top management, but also reliable accounting personnel and independent outside auditors, to properly perform their jobs and fulfill their responsibilities, to create the â€Å"check and balance† that can maintain the financial health of a company and at the same time to reduce agency cost. In case when one party went badly, the others could and should be there to detect the potential problems and to monitor and correct the mistakes. In summary, the ethical challenges faced by E&Y in deciding how to address issues with a long-standing and profitable client may be faced by many public accountants. In fact, accountants in all areas of the profession frequently face similar ethical issues of simultaneously complying with their duties for faithful service and loyalty to their employer or client while respecting their responsibilities to other stakeholders. Doing the right thing† for all concerned may sometimes be an impossible assignment. Guidance such as the overarching principles of honesty, fairness, objectivity, and responsibility contained in the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice will go a long way toward helping all accountants to do the right thing. Doing the right thing is always the best policy in the long run.

Last Minute ACT Prep Programs

Last Minute ACT Prep Programs SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you don’t have much time left before the ACT, you may be wondering how you can maximize your scores with a short term study plan. If you’re looking for a big score improvement and you only have a few days before the test, you might not be able to reach your goal this time, but you can get a good head start towards it (and you’ll be better prepared to study harder before your next test session). But if you only need to improve by one or two points, really intense studying for a few hours could get you where you want to be, if you have some clear weaknesses you didn't know about! In this article I'll show how to create a last minute ACT study program and give last minute ACT tips to boostyour score. Time-Based Study Plans The first thing you should do is think about how many hours you can realistically devote to ACT prep in the short time you have before the test.Make sure to factor in sleep and all of your other commitments! The 5 Hour Plan If you can only fit in 5 hours of prep time between now and the ACT (and this is your first time studying), your best bet is to just take a practice test.This can help give you a little bump in your scores, especially if you don’t have much experience with the test until now.Make sure you take your practice test with realistic time constraints and with all the resources you will have on the real test (calculator, scrap paper, quiet environment). On the other hand, if you’ve already taken a bunch of practice tests, taking another one at this point probably isn’t going to do much. Instead, spend your five hours looking into mistakes you’ve made on questions in the past and planning how to avoid them. If that's too broad of a target, just focus on the section that is most difficult for you. You should also make sure you’re doing ok on time. Get a sense of how long you’re spending on questions so you know when to move on when you take the real test. On th ACT this means no more than a minute for Math questions, no more than 30 seconds for English questions, and no more than 45 seconds for Reading and Science questions. If you find yourself spending more time than this on a question, you need to skip it and move on to the next question so you don’t run out of time. You don’t want to miss easy points at the end of a section because you got stuck on a tough question! The 15 Hour Plan With fifteen hours of prep, you still have enough leeway to make significant improvements in your scores. Here's a rough idea of how you might spend your study time: Hours 0-5: Take a Practice Test Use this time to take a practice test so you can see where you stand score-wise and which questions are giving you the most trouble. Again, make sure you replicate the time constraints of the real ACT so you will know if time pressure is a problem for you. Hours 5-10: Dig Into Your Mistakes For each question you answer incorrectly, make sure you know why your choice was incorrect and how to arrive at the correct answer. You should also review questions where you had to resort to guessing (even if you got them right).There are four maincategories of mistakes on the ACT: 1. Time Crunch: You didn’t make it to the question Study Game Plan: Practice doing questions within the time constraints for the ACT so you get used to moving faster. You should be comfortable with skimming reading passages and skipping questions that are taking up too much of your time. Remember that you get a minute for Math questions, 30 seconds for English questions, and 45 seconds for Reading and Science questions. 2. Question Comprehension: You were tricked by the question or misinterpreted it Study Game Plan:Train yourself to slow down a bit and read questions more carefully. It's often helpful to write down the question in simpler form before answering to prevent yourself from getting confused. You should also practice similar questions so the format becomes more familiar to you. 3. Unfamiliar Content: You didn’t know the material covered in the question Study Game Plan: This is where a program like PrepScholar could really help you because it focuses on your weak content areas.Alternatively, find a source for lesson material on the topic you don’t understand and practice more questions that are similar. This poor guyencountered an ACT question with unfamiliar content AND entered into a cube-based alternate reality from which there is no escape. Luck was just not on his side today. 4. Silly Mistake: You should have known the correct answer, but you spaced out Study Game Plan:Work on your time management so you leave yourself time at the end of a section to go over your answers. You should also make sure you’re not going through questions faster than you need to and making careless mistakes as a result. Hours 10-15: Zero in on Your Problem Areas Now that you know the nature of your mistakes, focus on the specific test sections or types of questions where you have the most difficulty.Practice relevant questions and review any content that seems unfamiliar. You might also consider getting the PrepScholar program, which has shown a1-2 point ACT score improvement for 15 hours of use. It does your work for you by diagnosing your weak spots on the test and helping you practice questions in those areas until they become second nature. You can also use PrepScholar to study for subsequent tests if you’re planning on taking the ACT again. Some Final Advice for Last Minute Studying Here are a few overall tips for last minute ACT studying that will help you stay on track with your prep program. Make sure you know the formulas and grammar rules that you’ll need for the test The ACT does require you to know some formulas for the math section, so be sure you’re prepared.It’s also helpful to know the grammar that’s being tested so you’ll feel more confident in your answers on the English section. Analyze your mistakes on practice questions This is what’s going to help you make the most progress in the shortest amount of time.Make sure you fully understand your mistakes and know how to avoid them in the future if you come across similar questions. Check your timing As detailed in the 5 hour plan, make sure you’re not lingering on questions.Get used to how it feels to spend 30 seconds or a minute on a question so you can judge your efficiency during the real test. If you’re taking ACT with writing, come up with some examples you might use in your essay It’s really important to include concrete support for your essay argument.Try to come up with a couple of versatile examples you could incorporate into your essay so that you have something ready to go! Not an acceptable essay, no matter how much teen angst you feel. Looking Ahead If you think you will take the ACT again after this, try to plan your studying further ahead of time for the next test date.If you're looking for big point improvements, you’re probably not going to get there with a bunch of short cram sessions.Improving more than six points, for example, might take over 100 hours of prep. Here are estimates for the number of hours of studying that correspond to certain point improvements: 0-1 ACT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours1-2 ACT Point Improvement: 20 hours2-4 ACT Point Improvement: 40 hours4-6 ACT Point Improvement: 80 hours6-9 ACT Point Improvement: 150 hours+ Start by figuring out your target ACT score and then determine what you’re going to need to do to get there.Take a look at these study plans to start thinking about how you might structure your time before your next shot at the ACT.Remember that last minute prep can be helpful, but it shouldn't be the only way you study! What's Next? Check out ourfast ACT prep planfor more ideas on how to make the most of last minute studying and dramatically raise your score. Are you trying to find some better study materials? Take a look at this list of the best ACT prep books of 2015. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Investment in International Portfolios

Investment in International Portfolios The global economical conditions have drawn attention of investors in international investments. Investors are often found to be anxious about investment (domestically or internationally). This is because of the economical and political instability in many countries. This issue has become one of the major highlight of the investing sector (Chong, 2004).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Investment in International Portfolios specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The question that has gained attention is whether the investment shall be done in a diversified international portfolio or a diversified domestic portfolio. (Maginn Tuttle, 2010) This discussion will cover advantages and disadvantages of investing in both international and domestic portfolios. According to many authors the international portfolio gives better opportunity for investment. Therefore, it is useful to analyze preferences for an international portfolio o ver a domestic portfolio. Historical reviews reveal that scholars have preferred investment in international portfolios as compared to domestic portfolios (Hagin, 2004). According to researches, the investment in globally diversified portfolios minimizes risks. On the other hand, investment risks in the domestic portfolios are relatively high (Chong, 2004). This is because of the reason that an international portfolio earns a higher rate of return as compared to a domestic portfolio with the same level of risks (Maginn Tuttle, 2010). Due to poor market performance and global economical conditions investors are found to be more inclined towards investing internationally (Maginn Tuttle, 2010). Factors that have made investors more attracted towards making international investments are economical stability, tax reduction, and gains from foreign exchange rates, etc. (Hagin, 2004). Whereas, some scholars argue that diversified domestic investment portfolios are more beneficial. Accordi ng to them, international diversified portfolios pull out cash flow of the country (Chong, 2004). Therefore, investment in a domestic portfolio should be made (Maginn Tuttle, 2010). However, risks involving the domestic investment are higher if local economical and political conditions are instable. For the purpose, investors seek international investments as they are considered more secured. Analyzing the information, it can be concluded that diversified international portfolios are more secure investments as compared to investments in the domestic portfolio. Investors are more inclined towards investing in the sector having higher rate of return and involves minimum risks. International portfolio provides a platform for the investors to invest in any leading international markets. It further allows Investors to invest in markets having higher rates of return (Hagin, 2004). Investors in countries with instable economic and political situation can also avail the opportunity to inve st in international portfolios. Countries like Greece, Spain, and Cyprus etc which are undergoing economic crises could deter investors from investing in the domestic market as the performance of the domestic market is declining due to the poor conditions (Maginn Tuttle, 2010).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, investors can invest in the international market after evaluating the efficiency of the market (Chong, 2004). The other main significance of investing in internal portfolios is the benefit arising from changes in exchange rates. Investors from countries with lower currency rates can invest in markets having higher currency rates (Maginn Tuttle, 2010). Positive fluctuations in the exchange rates allow investors to earn more. However, this is not always the case and changes in the exchange rates may result in a loss as well. Therefore, the investor should be careful while investing. The main three aspects that shall be carefully determined by investors are market risk, interest-rate risk and credit risk. Performance of the international portfolio reflects efficient performance and risk management in those markets. Reference List Chong, Y. Y. (2004). Investment Risk Management. Wiltshire: John Wiley Sons. Hagin, R. L. (2004). Investment Management: Portfolio Diversification, Risk, and TimingFact and Fiction. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Maginn, J. L., Tuttle, D. L. (2010). Managing Investment Portfolios: A Dynamic Process. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons.

Gurus and other Teachers

Gurus and other Teachers Gurus and other Teachers Gurus and other Teachers By Maeve Maddox A reader expressed her disappointment when I left guru off my list of English words that end in u. I’ll endeavor to make up for the omission with this post about guru and other terms for teachers. 1. teacher I’ll begin with the generic word teacher, an Old English word related to token. A token is something that serves to indicate a fact. â€Å"To teach† is to show in the sense of â€Å"to guide, to show the way.† To teach something is to convey knowledge or give instruction. 2. tutor The Latin noun tutor derived from a Latin verb meaning â€Å"to watch or guard.† A tutor was a protector. In Roman law, a tutor was the guardian of a legally incapable person. The English word has been used in the sense of â€Å"custodian of property,† but its most familiar use is as â€Å"a person in charge of looking after or instructing a young person.† In modern American usage, a tutor is a paid or unpaid teacher who provides one-on-one instruction. Tutor is also used as a verb. 3. mentor The word mentor is an eponym, a word derived from the name of a person. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he placed his son Telemachus in the care of a wise old friend named Mentor; the goddess Athena, disguised as Mentor, guides and counsels Telemachus. A mentor, therefore, is a person who guides and advises another–usually younger–person. In American usage, the word is often used to refer to an experienced person in a company who trains and counsels new employees. College students are assigned mentors to help them settle into academic life. Mentor is also used as a verb. 4. sage A sage is a person of profound wisdom. The word derives from a Latin verb meaning â€Å"to be wise†; the verb’s present participle, sapiens, means wise. The noun sage is not much used in modern English, but the adjective sage is often seen, especially in the clichà © â€Å"to offer sage advice.† 5. maestro English has its own version of this word: master. A master or maestro is one who has achieved eminence in a skill or a profession. Taken from the Italian, maestro [MY-stro] usually refers to an eminent musician. Note: Several words borrowed by English to denote a wise person–including guru– derive from Sanskrit. 6. pundit This word for â€Å"a person who makes authoritative comments or judgments† is from a Sanskrit word meaning learned or skilled. In modern India, the word survives as pandit: â€Å"a learned person; a Hindu priest or teacher.† In modern American speech, the word pundit is usually applied to people who comment on current affairs or specialized fields. 7. guru Originally an adjective meaning â€Å"weighty, grave, dignified,† Sanskrit guru came to mean a Hindu spiritual teacher or head of a religious sect. In modern American usage, the word is used loosely to refer to just about anyone who knows a lot about some subject. 8. swami The Hindu word swami translates as â€Å"master, lord, prince† and is used by Hindus as a term of respectful address. Swami can also refer to a Hindu temple, idol, or religious teacher. 9. sadhu If you’ve read Kim by Rudyard Kipling, you’ve seen this word spelled saddhu. A sadhu is an Indian holy man or saint. The word comes from a Sanskrit adjective meaning â€Å"effective, correct, good.† 10. rishi A rishi is a holy seer, specifically one of the holy poets or sages credited with the composition of the Veda writings. 11. maharishi A maharishi is a â€Å"great rishi,† a Hindu sage or holy man. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi achieved worldwide fame as guru to  the Beatles,   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should KnowWhen to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe20 Slang Terms for Law Enforcement Personnel

Policy change memo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Policy change memo - Assignment Example e training division, I am proposing that the current policy of training customer service representatives for only one week after recruitment and placement be increased to two week to incorporate the need to discuss topics such as addressing complaints and techniques for conflict resolution. The one week training only discussed orienting new personnel on the policies and procedures of the organization, including codes of discipline and an overview of the customer service function. The need to extend the training for another week is crucial to assist them in communicating effectively to the customers in areas were conflicts and complaints need to be resolved. May I hereby forward this request for change of policy to be endorsed by you for proper approval by our CEO, Mr. John Smith. The approval of this change in training policy would be instrumental in improving productivity, performance and the corporate image of our organization. For your immediate evaluation and

Islamic history Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Islamic history - Term Paper Example The Rise of misunderstandings between the Crusaders and the Muslim was mainly because few Muslims, even those in Andalus, had any contact with the Franks before the era of the Crusades. There was a wide spread of assumption among the Muslims, even those who are educated. According to, â€Å"the Franks through Muslim eyes† in Egger text, the Ibn Munqidh, Usama regarded them as being slow because they lived in cold climates.1 The misunderstanding arose because the Crusaders and the Muslims had different cultures A good example is in the legal process, the Franks believed in trial by combat where the accused could challenge tha accuser theough a fight. The community believed that the righteous person will be favoured by God. The theory also believed that a person can also name someone to take his place in the fight and God will favour the righteous. This theory is different as compared Muslim legal system. The Muslims had developed ruled of procedure and evidence under the sharia law. The Franks also dis not make any effort to understandIslam or learn Arabic and therefore, did not make any contribution to the cross-cultural understanding. On the other hand, the Muslim groups were divided in a countercrusade against the Franks. Individual Muslims led campains against the Franks and those who were not affected by the crusades had little interest in the conslicts. These interactions clearly shows that there are differences in the state of medicine between the crusaders and the Muslims. In the memoirs of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh, the Franks are seen to have more sophisticated medicines that could even cure scrofula and they are willing to share medicine for free.2 This is clear when a Frank prescribed this medication to Abu al-Fath. The interaction between the Franks and the Muslims also show a difference in the relationship between the sexes. The muslim, specifically Usamah

Managing Intercultural Workforce Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Intercultural Workforce - Case Study Example It is an in-flight meals provider for the airline industry companies that operates in 29 countries and employs 22,000 people, making 534,000 meals per day (Profile: Gate Gourmet, 2005, n/p). However, in August- September 2005 Gate Gourmet managed to get into the headings of almost every major business newspaper or magazine. The company has become a widely-cited example of airline industry outsourcing after some of the British Airlines employees joined the Gate Gourmet's workers for strike. In this paper I will assess the actions of Gate Gourmet management prior to and during the time of the strike and negotiations with regard to aspects of communication, decision-making, organizational culture and inter-organisational politics. Effective communication is of high importance to every organisation in every industry. Nevertheless, for the going through the hard times of restructuring and strategy rethinking airline industry companies it is a factor of extreme importance. ... According to the theory of equity which provides a simple framework for understanding how people decide whether they are being treated fairly in their relationships the distributive, procedural, and interactive dimensions of justice are distinguished between Perceptions of people that constitute base for the judgments about equity differ significantly, especially in the multicultural workforce environment like one at Gate Gourmet. If Gate Gourmet's management had properly addressed the notions of the distributive, procedural, and interactive justice, it would have lessen or prevent the escalation conflict that developed. Workers of Gate Gourmet, and British Airways employees that later joined them, went on strike not only because they perceived the job cuts to be unjust outcomes (distributive justice was not in place), but also because the procedures used and communication were not regarded as adequate for the situation. The latter aspect is addressed in the organizational behaviour theory as procedural and interactional justice. It focuses not on the final outcomes, but rather on the means deployed to get them. If the methods and procedures used to arrive at and implement decisions that affect the employee negatively are seen as fair, the reaction is likely to be much more positive than otherwise (Wagner & Hollenbeck, 2005, p. 235). To minimise the accumulating tension and anger among the employees and referent groups the Gate Gourmet management should have focused on procedures used. Emphasis on their consistency across time and other people, bias suppression, accuracy, correctability, ethicality and representativeness would be extremely important. Moreover, the

The Success of the Management of Fork and Dagger Pub Essay - 33

The Success of the Management of Fork and Dagger Pub - Essay Example The fact that the business has existed for numerous years makes the renovations as proposed by Jason inevitable. Similarly, narrowing the business’ target market as proposed by Bradley would enhance its operations thus improving the profitability of the company. Mr. Lynch must, therefore, consider the possibility of consolidating the two approaches with the view of enhancing the longevity of the business and quelling the differences between his sons. Renovating the pub will place it in the modern society. The renovation will seek to satisfy the demands of the modern day customer. In renovating and expanding the pub, the management must consider the demands of the modern day customer thus safeguarding such features as convenient and comfortable. As stated earlier, renovating the pub is inevitable. This implies that Mr. Lynch and his two sons must determine the most appropriate ways of renovating the pub thus positioning the business strategy in the modern society. While doing this, the management must narrow the pub’s target market a feature that will enhance the management. In doing this, Mr. Lynch must consider the importance of diversity in enhancing the profitability and longevity of business in the contemporary market. In expanding and renovating the pub, Mr. Lynch can, therefore, develop a section of the pub and permit Bradley to customize it strategically for its LGBT target market. Jason should then manage the other section that targets the general consumer. This way, the business diversifies its services while safeguarding the peace and unity of the two siblings. Such is an appropriate approach that will serve as an effective marketing research and analysis tool that will provide the two sons with the most appropriate trends in the market thus enabling the two to change the structure of their business based on the response of the market.

LEADERSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LEADERSHIP - Essay Example However, this theory was reformulated, leading to the inclusion of leader behaviors, employee characteristics and leadership effectiveness. These two situational leadership theories can be actually applied in an organization as they both combined styles and actual situations together. For this reason, there is an inclusion of what could probably motivate an employee which can be generally understood from the actual prevailing situations. Combining these theories or leadership styles can somehow be effectively used in expanding the level of influence a leader must possess in an organization or team. For this reason, these leadership styles are actually helpful in maintaining the idea about human resource motivation. In case of motivating the team, so as to increase the level of influence of a leader, either one of these leadership styles could be applied within an organization. By employing higher understanding of the situation in an organization and knowing the human resource’s actual needs that could motivate them, these two situational leadership could be entirely applied. â€Å"Women cannot lead because they do no come from a basis of power. And, when they are put in a leadership position, they overcompensate by requiring impossible actions from their subordinates and being very autocratic.† Analyze this quote and provide your thoughts. I think there is something wrong with this quote as it tries to emphasize leadership to be primarily fueled by power. In this case, a woman is assumed less powerful than a man, making her less effective in leadership activity. There is a wrong conception of leadership in this case because in the first place, it is not about power, but influence (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). The other point is that there is another presumption about the capacity of women to lead in a team, which is

Teaching and Learning Turkish in Cyprus Thesis Proposal

Teaching and Learning Turkish in Cyprus - Thesis Proposal Example The research will target at evaluating the trends and the suitability of the technological environment of the county as well as the appropriateness of learning/teaching Turkish in the country as a foreign or second language in the southern part of Cyprus; Limassol. To have reliable results both quantitative and qualitative research methodology will be applied. Among the latest action plans put in place by the European Union is (EU) is linguistic diversity and language learning within lifelong learning scope. Lifelong learning refers to all learning activities undertaken within someone’s life, with an objective of improving skills, competence, and knowledge within a civic, personal, and other perspectives related to employment. Around 200 semi-structured interviews should be conducted using qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The participants will include university students, colleges’ students and other Turkish speakers living in Limassol. Over 1000 det ailed questionnaires should be formulated and later analyzed after data collection. A comparison should be made and the conclusion drawn basing the argument on the results. Observations should be carried out mainly on the attitude, behavior, and approach of the e-learning by students and teachers. Other observations should target impacts of other language education, challenges facing those offering the languages as well as the gaps in language education in the country. Following the country’s education curriculum, Turkish e-learning, open-learning, and distant learning institutions should be set up in the strategic regions. The location should be based on long-run effects as well as competition from other language institution. The establishment should be after the shortest time possible. Other factors to be considered are government regulations, security, and mission. The learning schedule should be ready by this time; e-learning protocol should be well designed with simplici ty to facilitate comprehension by any kind of student. Guidelines of who can apply or how can one apply should be laid down; there should be an offer to facilitate many applicants and quick establishment.

LEADERSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LEADERSHIP - Essay Example However, this theory was reformulated, leading to the inclusion of leader behaviors, employee characteristics and leadership effectiveness. These two situational leadership theories can be actually applied in an organization as they both combined styles and actual situations together. For this reason, there is an inclusion of what could probably motivate an employee which can be generally understood from the actual prevailing situations. Combining these theories or leadership styles can somehow be effectively used in expanding the level of influence a leader must possess in an organization or team. For this reason, these leadership styles are actually helpful in maintaining the idea about human resource motivation. In case of motivating the team, so as to increase the level of influence of a leader, either one of these leadership styles could be applied within an organization. By employing higher understanding of the situation in an organization and knowing the human resource’s actual needs that could motivate them, these two situational leadership could be entirely applied. â€Å"Women cannot lead because they do no come from a basis of power. And, when they are put in a leadership position, they overcompensate by requiring impossible actions from their subordinates and being very autocratic.† Analyze this quote and provide your thoughts. I think there is something wrong with this quote as it tries to emphasize leadership to be primarily fueled by power. In this case, a woman is assumed less powerful than a man, making her less effective in leadership activity. There is a wrong conception of leadership in this case because in the first place, it is not about power, but influence (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). The other point is that there is another presumption about the capacity of women to lead in a team, which is

Free Trade and Developing Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Free Trade and Developing Countries - Essay Example Therefore, the notion that increasing the volume of commerce by promoting free trade would spur economic development is not applicable to all countries, especially in the developing world. This paper examines the various reasons why free trade is appropriate for promoting economic development in particular developing countries. Free trade provides more opportunities of accessing international resources in both developing and developed economies. However, unregulated access to international markets, especially of developing economies is disastrous to development and sustainability of local industry in these nations (Wilber and Jameson 1992). Therefore, for countries to reap maximum benefits of globalisation, they must device appropriate trading practices that encourage expansion of trade, while protecting the local industries at the same time. Free trade presents several benefits to developing countries. Some of the benefits include availability of cheaper and high quality commodities in the market due to increased competition. Globalisation promotes specialisation where countries specialize in large-scale production of goods and services (Barro, 1997). According to Barro (1997, p19), specialisation lowers the cost of production because the countries concentrate on production of goods and services that they can produce cheaply and more efficiently for the mass market. In addition, free trade promotes competition in the international market, which eventually benefits the consumers. According to Walter and Snyder, (2007), competition at international level compels companies to reduce the costs of their products and improve the quality in order to enhance competitiveness of their products in the market. The competition encourages innovation and adoption of more efficient technology in addition to encouraging more efficient use and management of the available resources. Therefore, free trade discourages entrenchment of monopoly in the global market. Trade monopoly c auses several adverse effects in the market, including high prices, low production and reduced quality of goods and services produced (Colman and Nixson 1986). Market expansion is another important benefit of free trade to developing countries. Industrial growth and development is usually undermined by a constricted market. According to Bates (1981), limited market especially in least developed economies undermines division of labour, which ultimately leads to low production. Free trade encourages adoption of modern technology especially in developing economies that mostly rely on traditional methods of production, limiting mass production of goods and services (Bienen and Jeffrey 1996). In spite of the existence of free trade for a considerable time, developing economies still lag behind in utilization and adoption of modern technology in production. This undermines economic development and flow of capital in developing economies (Collier, 2008). In spite of the apparent advantages of globalisation to developing economies, free trade has negatively affected the economic growth of these countries in various ways. First, free trade promotes large scale and unsustainable utilisation of the available natural resources in the country (Blanchard 2008). Some of the natural resource includes mineral deposits, such as gold, diamonds, oil, copper and platinum among other valuable

The Use Of Facial Expressions In Communication English Language Essay

The Use Of Facial Expressions In Communication English Language Essay What messages are we conveying with the expression on our faces or with the twinkle in our eye. Is it a universal message known to all or is it interpreted differently by various cultures and people? Facial expressions are a major part of communication and have a profound impact on the messages we give and receive nonverbally. This paper will focus on facial expressions and the influences they have on the way we are able to understand another persons emotions without as much as a word from them. Discussion We are communicating with our bodies all the time whether we realize it or not. Most of the emotional meanings of our messages are given through facial expressions, body language, gestures and our appearance. People tend to believe nonverbal signs of communication more than the actual words because it is harder to mask the emotions behind them and they show through. Reading and interpreting these nonverbal cues is valuable skill. It is useful in all different types of relationships every day. Different cultures focus their attention on various parts of the face making this form on nonverbal communication different among cultures. In America we look at the face in its entirety as opposed to Easterners who concentrate more on just the eyes. This is shown through emoticons as well as in person. (Facial expressions,)When Westerners email or send a text message the emoticon s show a mouth smiling or frowning. Easterners emoticons have bigger eyes and the mouth is usually a straight across line. Westerners emoticons eyes are usually represented by dots. The differences in these show where different cultures focus their attention on and what they find most important. Often, people tend to mimic the facial expression of the person who is talking to them. It is said that this is an unconscious act so people dont always know when they are doing it. Some researchers have said it is a behavior we learn, for that reason it is different among cultures. These expressions are said to be so powerful that they can influence an emotional experience without the perceiver actually going through the experience. (Emotional empathy and, 2008). These influential gestures have the ability to make people empathize with one another. This made me think of the saying smile, its contagious. I have noticed if Im having a bad day and a random stranger smile at me I return the smile and sometime that puts me in a better mood. Even if my mood it just changes a little, it is still a strong tool. I believe facial expressions are a very powerful form of communication. I believe if we utilize them correctly they can be very persuasive and help us in our day to day lives. It has been proven that children with disabilities have a harder time understanding people socially. Studies show that people with autism and mental retardation have a different way of interpreting facial expressions. Instead of focusing on the entire face as a whole, people with autism look at the lower part of the face focusing their gaze mostly on the mouth. (Gross, 2007). When reading someones facial expressions we look at a number of things including eyes, mouth, eye brows and many other muscles of the face. By looking into someones eyes we can tell if they are lying, paying attention to us or if they are avoiding something. An autistic person generally avoids eye contact or has very little of it. They look at other people as little as possible. (Klin,Lin,Gorrindo,Ramsey,Jones, 2009). This is the main reason they do not interpret facial expressions as well as others. The lack of focus on the eyes has a major impact on this. They also do not mirror the expressions which is how yo u learn to read and interpret them starting at a young age. There are many different factors that we take into consideration when interpreting facial expressions. Place and time is a main one. If a person has just woken up we may see that on their face and interpret it as they are tired when in fact they are well rested and just waking up. Another factor is if alcohol has been added in the mix. In one study, after the participants were given alcohol, they had a harder time distinguishing between if the picture of the male was angry or disgusted. Because of the stereotypical belief that males are more aggressive their facial expression was perceived as this. The same study showed that alcohol did not affect the ability to perceive happy emotions. (Attwood,Ataya,Benton,Penton-Voak,Munafo, 2009). Positive emotions are easier to read and take less effort to distinguish. They are generally the same among different ages and cultures. Another factor that determines whether we accept or reject a facial expression is the current mood we are in. If we are happy we are more positive and more accepting or willing to believe the expression as genuine. If we are in a bad mood there is a better chance of us assuming that the person is controlling their expression and it isnt truly how they feel. (Forgas, East, 2008) We tend to analyze negative expressions more. If we are listening to someone talk and watching their expressions while we are angry or unhappy we are usually showing this on our face. If we are not mirroring the expressions of the person talking ,we usually dont fully understand or really believe what they are saying. We are a lot more skeptical of others while in a bad mood ,almost as if we are threatening situation. I think that is because they can lead to a more negative experience. Positive emotions are easier to read and understand. If we feel better about ourselves and our mood, we feel better about othe r people and are able to trust that they are being genuine. Conclusion- We are expressing and perceiving many different messages through nonverbal communication and our bodies. Our facial expressions have a major impact on this part of communication and can be the deciding factor on if what we are saying is believed by the other person. This very powerful nonverbal form of communication can be used as a persuasive tool to help us get what we want or help a perceiver emphasize with how we feel. It can also help a person lie to someone .If one learns to control their expressions they can be very deceitful. Because people with disabilities view the face in parts instead of a whole they do not get the full effect of the expressions and they are not able to grasp the meaning of it. There are other things factors that cloud our ability to interpret facial expressions such as stereotyping and alcohol. When added together it is easier to misread the signs we can usually interpret without a problem . This is usually only true when referring to males. I believe that nonverbal communication is a very important type of communication. Because facial expressions are such a major part of this, I think it is important to learn and understand them. They show how a person feels without them saying it. If the person interpreting the message is in a good mood they will most likely believe the person sending the message is being genuine. If you can learn to correctly use and interpret these important tools, than you will have outstanding communication skills needed for your work and personal life. Citations- Facial expressions. (n.d.).  In the News, Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2086/WebZ/FTFETCH?sessionid=fsapp4-41904-gasyyy7a-20joz8:entitypagenum=4:0:rule=100:fetchtype=fulltext:dbname=WilsonSelectPlus_FT:recno=3:resultset=1:ftformat=PDF:format=BI:isbillable=TRUE:numrecs=1:isdirectarticle=FALSE:entityemailfullrecno=3:entityemailfullresultset=1:entityemailftfrom=WilsonSelectPlus_FT: Emotional empathy and facial feedback. (2008). Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 32(4), 215-224. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9did=1570597881SrchMode=1sid=2Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1277397393clientId=17874 Gross, T.F. (2007). Recognition of immaturity and emotional expressions in blended faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4did=1426442671SrchMode=1sid=1Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1277401770clientId=17874 Klin,Lin,Gorrindo,Ramsey,Jones, A,D,P,G,W. (2009). Two-year-olds with autism orient to non-social contingencies rather than biological motion. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0did=1722927501SrchMode=1sid=1Fmt=3VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1277403869clientId=17874 doi: 1722927501 Attwood,Ataya,Benton,Penton-Voak,Munafo, A,A,C,I,M. (2009). Effects of alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy on the categorization of perceptual cues of emotional expression. Origional Investigation, Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=7did=1691777391SrchMode=1sid=6Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1277406623clientId=17874 doi: 1691777391 Forgas, East, J,R. (2008). How Real is that smile? mood effects on accepting. Original Paper, Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2081/pqdweb?index=13did=1493057881SrchMode=1sid=2Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1277422728clientId=17874 doi: 1493057881

Who or what is Edward Hyde? Essay -- English Literature

Who or what is Edward Hyde? Due to the Victorian background of this book we are led to believe Edward Hyde is a completely different character to Henry Jekyll but we soon start to find out that they are actually one person, but with just a slight physical and mental change. Some readers in Victorian times would have interpreted the story as a struggle between good and evil, with Jekyll being the 'hardworking, normal guy' and Hyde being the 'twisted, evil person'. This was emphasised by the Christian belief of humans having a divided soul. If your soul had been good, on judgement day you would be saved into heaven where as if it was bad you would be damned to hell. During 1859 Darwin was showing his ideas of humans descending from apes or simpler forms of life this confused and scared many Victorians, they were know longer unique they were part of one species among many. Stevenson's own experiences may also help us to tell who or what Edward Hyde is. Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh, which in itself had two faces. There was the up and coming 'new town' which was the re-generated modern part of town and the 'old city', which was covered with disease and poverty. Stevenson also lived a double life by day he would be studying in the 'new town', but by night he would go out to the 'old town' until late at night. This could be interpreted as the character Jekyll in the story actually being like Stevenson. Jekyll would work in his lab by day but at night he would go out to the towns of Soho. There are many connections between Jekyll and Hyde. On first appearance we learn that Hyde is a short, ugly and not like any other ordinary man, he also seems strong and unstoppable. People reacted to Hyde with a stro... ...feel any slight bit of emotion. Also 'audibly shattered' implies the shear force of Mr Hyde and even though he is able to hear the shattering of the bones inside the body it still doesn't make him stop, he continues with the beating just so he is able to get his 'kick' out of seeing someone in pain. Having understood the need for scientific experimentation, do we assume all experiments are necessary? In the case of Jekyll I think he needed to find out the unknown, so he could be satisfied by his evil side, which he had locked up for years. If the experiments had been more closely controlled in the beginning this could have been a better ending. I think that taking potions (drugs) to dabble with mans dual nature is never a recommended path. The best method of release is always the natural way, let the inner good and evil show itself when it is necessary.

American and Japanese values system Essays -- compare, contrast, compar

Japan and America each have their own value system that draws comparable interest for how it shapes society and patterns of interaction. Even though there are similarities between the two-value systems, it is essential to understand the fundamental differences that deal with equality, respect, and communication style. Understanding the motivations behind behaviors will lead to successful intercultural interactions. Japanese society exhibits a gender base stratification of society. Male dominance over female contributes to upholding norms and expectations of gender specific division of labor. Still prevalent and modeled after by most households in Japan, is that the male is typical salaryman ‘breadwinner’ that provides only the economic means. Meanwhile, the female is the ‘shufu’ or the full house wife is responsible for the household, raising children, and the wellbeing of the husband’s parents. The masculine and feminine speech patterns further refines the gender roles and the gender divide in all domains of society. Masculine speech is vulgar while feminine speech is politer in nuance. Even though the institutions that prevent women from entering into the workforce are changing, it is stigmatize that a woman’s career peck at age 25 and expected to return to the house married with ‘shufu’ responsibilities. ‘Career women’ are marginalized from society for having a higher status in income or education to good for oneself. This contrasts with America’s society of equality. Male and female are encouraged to pursue individual goals and aspirations as competitive equals. The transparency of institutions discourages discrimination and enables women to strive and advance in their careers in the majo... ... pursing happiness by being able to strive for individual achievement and desires. Many Americans would go back to school to seek better skills or degrees in improving the available opportunities in life. Similar in Japan, expectations by parents push their kids into the correct primary schools and later, cram schools, in order to get ahead because of the examination culture. At an early age, these kids learn that self-improvement is the means of avoiding marginalization public and family shame. The fundamental differences between the American and Japanese values system is the difference in individualistic and collectivism tendencies. Both Americans and Japanese see share similarities in time orientation and self-improvement. Understanding the core assumptions of each culture will improve the intercultural interactions and promote a global consciousness.

Nature of Technical Communication Essay

Technical communication is a method of researching and creating information about technical processes or products directed to an audience through media. The information must be relevant to the intended audience. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products (deliverables) for various media, including paper, video, and the Internet. Deliverables include online help, user manuals, technical manuals, White papers, specifications, process and procedure manuals, industrial videos, reference cards, data sheets, journal articles, patents, training, business papers, and technical reports. Technical domains can be of any kind, including the soft and hard sciences, high technology including computers and software, consumer electronics, and business processes and practices. The origin of technical communication has been variously attributed to Ancient Greece, The Renaissance, and the mid 20th Century. However, a clear trend towards the professional field can be seen from the First World War on, growing out of the need for technology-based documentation in the military, manufacturing, electronic and aerospace industries. In the United States, two organizations concerned with improving the practice of technical communication were founded on the East Coast in 1953: the Society of Technical Writers, and the Association of Technical Writers and Editors. These organizations merged in 1957 to form the Society of Technical Writers and Editors, a predecessor of the current Society for Technical Communication (STC). In the United Kingdom, the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC) was formed in 1972 by the amalgamation of three existing associations: the Presentation of Technical Information Group (established in 1948), the Technical Publications Association (established in 1953, later the Institution of Technical Authors and Illustrators) and the Institute of Technical Publicity and Publications (established in 1963). Technical communication is sometimes considered a professional task for which organizations either hire specialized employees, or outsource their needs to communication firms. For example, a professional writer may work with a company to produce a user manual. Other times, technical communication is regarded as a responsibility that technical professionals employ on a daily basis as they work to convey technical information to coworkers and clients. For example, a computer scientist may need to provide software documentation to fellow programmers or clients.

CVS Structure Essay

Module 6: Question 1: Draw a chart of your organizations domain. List the organization’s products and customers and the forces in the specific and general environments that have an effect on it. Which are the most important forces that the organization has to deal with? Part A: Draw a chart of your organizations domain. CVS Pharmacy Specific Environment General Environment An organizations domain is the goods and services, and customers of the organization. Every organizational domain consists of a specific and general environment. In CVS Pharmacy’s specific environment are its suppliers and customers. In CVS Pharmacy’s general environment are governmental regulations, advancements in technology, and economic forces. Part B: List the organizations products and customers and the forces in the specific and general environments that have an effect on it. What are the most important forces that the organization has to deal with? CVS Pharmacy offers products in the front store and the pharmacy. Products in the front store range from health and beauty products, over the counter medications, cleaning supplies, school supplies, seasonal items such as Halloween or Christmas decorations, and food and beverages. Some services offered in the front store is the photo station where customers can print photos and make albums for themselves or loved ones. Great customer service is to be given to all customers from the time they enter the store until the time they leave the store. Products offered in the pharmacy are prescription only medications and ordering medications online that cannot be found in the  front store. Some services offered in the pharmacy are immunizations such as flu shots, pneumonia, and shingles shot, MinuteClinics, patient consultations, and directing customers into a good Medicare Part D plan. CVS Pharmacy is directed towards many different customer bases. Some customers come into CVS to keep up their good health by getting their medications and becoming informed on what they are used for and how to take them. Other customers just come into CVS to do a little bit of general needs shopping. In CVS Pharmacy’s specific environment falls its customer and suppliers. These forces have a huge effect on how successful the company is or becomes. Customers play a huge role in keeping CVS alive. In 2012, CVS Pharmacy’s net revenues increased by 15 percent to a record $123.1 billion and its operating profit increased by 14.2 percent to a record $7.2 billion. Without our customers, CVS would not be able to operate. Suppliers are another huge part of CVS’s specific env ironment. In the pharmacy, our main supplier is McKesson. If we are not able get the products that we need for our customers, we will end up losing these customers to different pharmacies. Every day we place an order with McKesson to get in the medications need to fill customer’s prescriptions. Without our suppliers, we would not have any products to offer our customers. In CVS Pharmacy’s general environment are technological advancements which play a big role in keeping CVS alive. Technology is always changing and in order to keep up with the fast-paced environment, CVS needs to keep implementing the best technologies they can to keep customers interested. One huge technological advancement is ordering and managing your medications online. This lets customer easily order their medications from home and be alerted when their prescriptions are ready for pickup. Governmental regulations also play a role in CVS’s general environment. There are many rules and regulations that need to be followed in the pharmacy. One specific regulation that we must follow are HIPAA laws. This helps protect the customer from outsiders viewing any of their personal information. I think the most important forces that CVS has to deal with are keeping customers happy and getting the supplies they need from their suppliers. Question 2: Analyze the effect of the forces on the complexity, dynamism, and richness of the environment. From this analysis, how would you characterize  the level of uncertainty in your organizations environment? Part A: Analyze the effect of the forces on the complexity, dynamism, and richness of the environment. Environmental complexity is a function of strength, number, and interconnectedness of specific and general forces. CVS has many stakeholders including employees, non-governmental organizations, suppliers, clients, investors, shareholders, analysts, consumers, local communities, civic organizations, trade organizations, government and regulatory authorities, and the media. With all these stakeholders within the organizations specific and general environment makes communication and collaboration very difficult. There are a lot of voices to be heard and getting everyone interconnected and on the same page is not an easy task. CVS would fall under a complex environment. Environmental dynamism is a function of speed of change and how much change is occurring between specific and general forces. CVS is constantly changing and growing in today’s world. CVS knows they need to stay innovative and keep up with new technologies in order to stay the nation’s premier integrated pharmacy services provider. One example of CSV growing and changing is adding a new feature to their mobile app. CVS adder a new drug interaction checker as part of its top-rated CVS Mobile app. This is an industry first. This feature allows customers to quickly and easily check for potential drug interactions by comparing over-the-counter (OTC) products with their prescriptions and other OTCs on their smartphones. CVS would fall under a dynamic environment. Environmental richness is a function of quantity of resources in the organizations domain. Richness refers to the quantity of resources readily available in the organizations domain. CVS has readily available resources at all times. We are able to order from our outside vendor, McKesson, Sunday through Thursday to receive the medications we need Monday through Friday. We have a contract with them and they supply all our medications on a daily basis. CVS would fall under a rich environment. Part B: From this analysis, how would you characterize the level of uncertainty in your organizations environment? As stated above, CVS has a complex, dynamic, rich environment. While having a rich environment would lead you to believe that there was little uncertainty within the organization, having a complex and dynamic environment leads you to believe that there was much uncertainty within the organization. Overall, from my analysis above, I believe that CVS Pharmacy operated with an uncertain environment. Question 3: Review your analysis of organizational structure. How has your organization designed its structure to match the environment in which it operates? For example, how do its degree of differentiation and its use of integrating mechanisms reflect the uncertainty of its environment? I defined CVS Pharmacy’s organizational structure to be organic. CVS has decentralization within the organization. Decentralization happens when top management’s decision making has been delegated to lower managers. The pharmacist has the discretion to offer gift cards to unhappy customers. This in turn makes the customer happy and hopefully they will return to CVS in the future. The pharmacist also has the discretion to price match with other pharmacies. If Walgreens has a lower cash price for a certain medication then we can offer that price to the customer if they ask for that to be done. CVS, for the most part, is highly formalized. This is an attribute of the mechanistic model of organizational structure but as I said earlier, we are predominately organic. The technicians and employees do not have a lot of discretion to deviate from their job duties. There are rules and regulations that they need to follow otherwise they could be terminated. CVS has a very complex structure. There is great special dispersion; it has high vertical differentiation, and high horizontal differentiation. CVS has designed its structure to match its environment. I said earlier that CVS operates under a dynamic environment and in turn has designed its structure to be organic. CVS’s use of integrating mechanisms reflects the uncertainty of the environment. CVS Pharmacy is highly differentiated. CVS has various levels of management that the operative core need look up to. CVS also has over 7000 stores nation-wide creating great spatial dispersion. Some integrating mechanisms used by CVS Pharmacy are specific jobs, policies, and  standards that employees must follow. Employees at CVS are not allowed to make their own rules/tasks. Employees are given specific jobs that they are to get done and if they are not completed, there are consequences. As the lead pharmacy technician, I am in charge of inventory. Our warehouse order needs to be completed on Wednesday by 3pm. I need to use my time wisely to make sure that this gets completed otherwise there will be a lot of supplies and medications that we do not receive. This is not good for the customer or the organization. Employees also have certain policies and standards that they must adhere to otherwise they will most likely be terminated. Employees need to act with honor and integrity and they need this to follow through to the customer even if they customer seems to be out of line. CVS is differentiated and in turn, they follow an organic structure. Question 4: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, long-term contracts, strategic alliances, mergers) that your organization uses to manage its symbolic resource interdependencies. Using resource dependence theory and transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization selected the most appropriate linkage mechanisms? Why or why not? Part A: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, long-term contracts, strategic alliances, mergers) that your organization uses to manage its symbolic resource interdependencies. Symbiotic resource interdependencies include reputation, cooptation, strategic alliances (long-term contracts, networks, minority ownership, and joint ventures) and mergers and acquisitions. CVS has taken the strategic alliance, long-term contract interdependency. CVS has been in a long-term contract with McKesson for a long time. CVS is McKesson’s single biggest customer. In 2012, CVS accounted for an estimated 18.5% of the company’s U.S. core drug distribution revenues. Part B: Using resource dependence theory and transaction cost theory, discuss  why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization selected the most appropriate linkage mechanisms? Why or why not? Resource dependency theory is the ability to exercise more control over resources and distribution channels which means establishing interdependencies with other organizations. Transaction cost theory helps you choose which interdependency to choose when your bureaucratic costs equal your transaction costs. Both of these theories help organizations choose which interdependency is right for them. CVS chose to hold a long-term contract with McKesson. I think this was an appropriate and beneficial way to manage their interdependency. These long-term contracts help build relationships between the parent company and the supplier. When announced that CVS was going to renew its contract with McKesson, McKesson’s statement said that it was â€Å"extremely pleased to continue the relationship†. Question 5: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, collusion, third-party linkages mechanisms, strategic alliances) that your organization uses to manage is competitive resource interdependencies. Using resource dependence theory or transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization has selected the most appropriate linage mechanisms? Why or why not? Part A: Draw a chart of the main inter-organizational linkage mechanisms (for example, collusion, third-party linkages mechanisms, strategic alliances) that your organization uses to manage is competitive resource interdependencies. Competitive resource interdependencies include collusion and cartels, third party linkages, strategic alliances (long-term contracts, networks, minority ownership, and joint ventures) and mergers and acquisitions. CVS has followed the mergers and acquisitions interdependency. In March of 2007, CVS Corporation and Caremark Rx, Inc. merged together creating the nation’s premier integrated pharmacy services provider. The combined company, renamed  CVS/Caremark Corporation, unifies the nation’s largest pharmacy chain with a leading pharmaceutical services company, creating the opportunity to deliver unique products and services that will help manage costs for employers and improve access and choice for consumers. Part B: Using resource dependence theory or transaction cost theory, discuss why the organization chose to manage its interdependencies in this way. Do you think the organization has selected the most appropriate linage mechanisms? Why or why not? Resource dependency theory is the ability to exercise more control over resources and distribution channels which means establishing interdependencies with other organizations. Transaction cost theory helps you choose which interdependency to choose when your bureaucratic costs equal your transaction costs. Both of these theories help organizations choose which interdependency is right for them. CVS chose to go with the merger interdependency. I think this was an appropriate and beneficial way to manage its interdependency. This merger allowed CVS to begin delivering substantial benefits to shareholders, customers and employees. CVS was able to offer end-to-end services, from plan design to prescription fulfillment, as well as the opportunity to improve clinical outcomes, which results in better control over healthcare costs for employers and plan providers. The merge improved the delivery of pharmacy services and healthcare decision making, enabling consumers to benefit from unparalleled access, greater convenience and more choice.

Experience essay Essay

It all started ten years ago, an event that would change my life forever.I had my first known seizure and it was perhaps the scariest moment in my life. It wasn’t the seizure that scared me, mostly because i was asleep when it happened, but it was the way my mother and father reacted. It was as if they had just seen a ghost. They were in disbelief. I could tell by the way they were looking at me that something terrible had just happened and nobody, including the paramedics was telling me what happened. All i know is that it had felt like I had ran a marathon in my sleep and could barely move, my whole right side of my body numb and discombobulated. Even though this was one of the worst days in my life I also consider it to be one of the best days too, because thats the day I realized I was destined for greatness. I say I’m destined for greatness because i believe one hundred percent that I am, plain and simple. As a kid I was constantly told I wouldn’t amount to anything and that I couldn’t overcome my disability. For instance, at a young age I went to go get some testing done by Alexian Brothers, their test told me that i wouldn’t succeed in pretty much every subject needed to achieve my goals in real life, yet here I am. Even though I had some hiccups my first two years because of medical issues, I persevered and graduated High school and have now set my goals on getting my associates degree because i’m a fighter. I have to fight, grind, and push my way through everyday just so I can understand some of the most simplest things, but its worth it because it makes me stronger and stronger. i can honestly say that im proud to be epileptic because it has allowed me to grow in ways that might not have been possible if I were a regular teenage kid. I’ve matured much quicker than I should have by having to take care of myself when my parents aren’t around. I’ve been taking myself to doctors appointments and having to get blood drawn for as long as i can remember, and as far as I’m concerned no teenager should go through this because not only is it physically straining but it is ten times worse mentally and I think it goes to show how well and extremely lucky i am. I’ve come a long ways from that little eight year old kid ten years ago. I went from a frightened, scared kid who had no idea what epilepsy was or what it did, to a extremely confident young man who works harder than anyone else just to prove he’s worthy, and I believe I am because ever since I realized i was destined for greatness I haven’t let anything get in my way and I don’t  intend to in the future.

Forecasting Crude Oil (Spot Price) Volatility Dissertation

Forecasting Crude Oil (Spot Price) Volatility - Dissertation Example Daily prices for crude oils are effective in volatility forecasting. 17 It was also imperative to use the two cluster analysis in the paper. 17 In the case of GARCH to obtain the unknowns the formula was applied where the initial value Xk was taken to be 25.56 where a= 0.001 (fixed) 17 b= 0.00 18 c= 0.00 18 In using the same formula the values for a, b and c were P-GARCH established to be 18 a= 0.001(fixed) 18 b= 0.394 18 c= 0.050 18 Xk= 25.56 18 For GARCH GJR, the values were found to be 18 a=0.001 (fixed) 18 b= 0.488 18 c= 0.110 18 Xk= 25.56 18 for E GARCH a=0.001 (fixed) 18 b= 0.488 18 c= 0.11 18 From the findings captured in the spread sheet, we can derive various important factors about the GARCH family models and answer important questions arising from the same. These are 19 The data should be within range in order to get rid of outlier values.The data is reliable since the projection/ forecasted values are within limit. There are no outlier values as a result of projection. 19 The null hypothesis – Garch models predict uniformly 19 Alternative hypothesis- GARCH models predictions differ. Based on the results, it is clear that there exists variations among the four models. Thus it is rational to conclude that the alternative hypothesis holds. 19 The best model should be as closer to the baseline as possible. GARCH is a replica of the baseline and hence cannot be taken to be the best.Of the four GJR GARCH varies the least from the baseline hence is the best. 19 EGARCH has the largest variation from the baseline hence is the worst. 19 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY 20 APPENDICES†¦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‚¬ ¦.20 METHODOLOGY AND DATA Introduction Volatility is a concept that refers to the spread of all possible outcomes within an uncertain variable. Finance discipline has various unc ertain variables such as prices of products, returns on assets, and share prices amongst others (Olowe, 2010). Modeling and forecasting of volatility have been attributed to increasing uncertainty in financial aspects and components (Day & Lewis, 1993). Oil price fluctuations in the global arena experience significant uncertainties thereby invoking interests amongst financial and market participants (Kang, Kang, & Yoon, 2009). The main reasons explaining such significant interest include the fact that oil price fluctuations affect decision making process for both producers and consumers in addition to investors’ decisions. Whereas oil price fluctuations affect strategic planning and appraisal of projects for producers and consumers, investors continue to face challenges in investment, allocation of portfolios, and management of risks decisions (Campbell, Lo, & MacKinlay, 1997). Policy and decision making within the oil markets require accurate forecasting of the crude oil pri ces (Olowe, 2010). Attaining accurate and adequate forecasting require adequate and accurate data. In most cases, daily prices of crude oil are used to predict or forecast volatility (uncertainty) for purposes of developing effective policies and decision making processes (Campbell, Lo, & MacKinlay, 1997). Forecasting volatility of crude oil prices have been done for a