Bloomberg Help Essay

Introduction In this tutorial I will provide an outline to the Bloomberg Essentials On Line training Program also known as BESS. The Bloomberg Essentials program provides a convenient way to learn the basics of Bloomberg Professional financial information system. The training consists of a series of videos (with scrolling transcripts), on-line Help screens and supporting documents. The video tutorial materials are organized into 8 modules as follows: 1. Bloomberg Core 1. Getting Started 2. Bloomberg News 3. Market Monitors and Launchpad 4. API (Bloomberg Data in Excel) 2. Bloomberg Market Sector 1. Equity Essentials 2. Fixed Income Essentials 3. FX (Foreign Exchange) Essentials 4. Commodity Essentials To earn a certificate or Acknowledgement of Completion, you must view the four Bloomberg Core videos and pass the Bloomberg Core Exam, then view at least one of the Bloomberg Market Sector videos and pass its corresponding exam. For example if you are interested in foreign exchange markets, you might consider viewing the FX Essentials training video and then taking the FX Essentials exam. Keep in mind that you only get two chances to take each exam so you need to put in some serious time and effort into the training materials and mastering the concepts before you take the exam. To get started with the BESS training, you should first create your own Bloomberg login. Bloomberg tracks your progress and exam scores using your unique login. A brief tutorial on creating a Bloomberg login can be foundhere. You may also wish to have a set of headphones or ear buds handy for listening to the Bloomberg videos without distracting others around you. The Bloomberg keyboard has a headphone jack th at (if configured properly) should allow you to listen to the videos in privacy. As you are viewing a video, open up an additional Bloomberg window and type in the commands as they are described. You can also pause the video to do more exploration of a particular function  or rewind the video to listen and watch an example again if you did not understand it the first time. Once the video is over, challenge yourself to run through all of the commands just introduced and then practice them to make sure they stay fresh in your memory. THE BLOOMBERG ESSENTIALS ON LINE TRAINING PROGRAM (BESS) Accessing BESS on Bloomberg To get started, log in to the Bloomberg Professional software using your own Bloomberg login account. If you do not have a Bloomberg account, click here for a brief tutorial on creating a new login. In any window, type in BESS (type the letters BESS followed by the Enter key) to display the Bloomberg Essentials screen as shown below: As you can see from the BESS screen, the videos for each of the modules can be launched by clicking on their titles. Along the bottom of the screen there are links to view and take exams, as well as a link to request the Acknowledgement of Completion. On the following pages, each of the videos is introduced along with some pointers for getting most out of your studying time. Bloomberg Getting Started Essentials The Getting Started Essentials training video is approximately 18 minutes long and provides a basic introduction to the Bloomberg including how the Bloomberg Terminal software is organized, key terms used throughout the Bloomberg system and the basics ways of navigating through the system. Some specific topics include broad market analysis, single security analysis, browsing News and obtaining help. When viewing this video pay particular attention to the key terms and definitions, the various ways of obtaining help, and the special function keys available on the Bloomberg keyboard. The video tutorial begins with a high level overview of Bloomberg’s menu based navigation system starting with the MAIN menu function. This function shows how Bloomberg’s data and screens are organized into market sectors, trading systems, customization and settings tools, Bloomberg Law and Government and Help and Support. The next section of the tutorial introduces the Bloomberg keyboard. The keys are color coded according to their overall purpose such as: Red Keys are used to log into the system (the Red DFLT key) and to cancel a current function(red Cancel key in the upper left corner). Green keys are used for navigation and obtaining help such as the block of green navigation keys on the right for Page Up, Page Down, End, Menu, etc. and the Green Help, Search, News, etc. keys along the top of the keyboard. Yellow keys are the market sector keys. Each one helps in identifying financial instruments or market sectors. These yellow market sector keys include Govt (for Government debt), CORP (for Corporate debt), MTGE for Mortgages, M-MKT for Money markets, MUNI for Municipal securities, PFD for preferred, EQUITY for equities, CMDT for Commodities, INDEX for indexes, CRNCY for currencies (foreign exchange) and finally CLIENT for portfolio management functions. Obtaining Help in Bloomberg There are a number of ways to obtain help in the Bloomberg system. As the tutorial continues, note that Pressing the green HELP key while on any screen will bring up a help screen that explains the function the screen is implementing as well as tips on using the screen and what each field or area of the screen represents. The picture below shows the help screen for the MOST function (Most active equities). Another way to obtain interactive help is to press the HELP key two times. This will open up a chat session with the Bloomberg help desk. Type in any question you might have and a Bloomberg help desk representative will walk you through any functions or screens to answer your question. The third way to obtain help is to press HELP key after typing in the name or ticker symbol of a financial instrument (or any word for that matter). The result will be a list of different search categories matching your query. For example, typing in BOB EVANS provides the search results that follow. Note Bloomberg found results in categories such as Companies, People, News, Law, Equities and Fixed Income.: Content Areas: News, Economics and World Indices The next section of the video tutorial focuses on four major content areas: News, Economic Calendar, World Equity Indices, and Economic Statistics. Bloomberg Top News To access Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N . Bloomberg Economic Calendar The Bloomberg Economic calendar displays prior and announced economic report releases. To access Bloomberg Economic Calendar type ECO . Bloomberg World Equity Indices The Bloomberg World Equity Indices screen displays leading indices from equity markets around the world. This screen allows you to compare both current market levels as well as historical levels. To access the Bloomberg World Equities Indices screen type WEI . Bloomberg Economic Statistics The Bloomberg Economic Statistics screen can be used to display economic indicators such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), unemployment, housing, consumer confidence and many others for dozens of countries around the world. To access the Bloomberg Economic Statistics screen type ECST . Single Security Analysis The next set of functions demonstrated all work on a single security. So to get started with each one, we type in the ticker symbol of a company, then press the EQUITY (F8) key. Then follow this up by typing in the name of the function. Company Description The company description screen provides an overview of the company including its industry, current and historical price chart and data, recent searching and dividend data and other summary information. There are a total of 4 screens (press PG DOWN for additional screen). For example, assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM DES Bloomberg Historical Prices The HP function can be used to view a set of historical equity prices. For  example, assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM HP Bloomberg Graph Prices The GP function can be used to create a price graph of a security. Assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM GP Bloomberg Company News The CN function can be used to search for news articles mentioning a specific security. Assuming the target company is IBM, the command to search for news would be: IBM CN Bloomberg â€Å"Cheat Sheets† In addition to the help screens that Bloomberg provides, there are also â€Å"Cheat Sheets† – one or two page documents – that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg functions organized by asset type or by job function. To get started viewing Cheat sheets, use the function tt>CHEAT to bring up the screen: For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below: Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat. Bloomberg Messaging System The last portion of the Getting Started tutorial video introduces the Bloomberg Messaging system. This is basically an e-mail system built into the Bloomberg software that allows you to send messages, screen captures and other materials to others on the Bloomberg network. To get started with the Bloomberg Messaging system, simply press the green MSG button or type in the function: MSG Messages are listed in the inbox – click on a message to view its contents. There is a yellow text box used to search for messages and buttons to create new messages, etc. Bloomberg News Essentials The Bloomberg News Essentials video is approximately 20 minutes long and focuses exclusively on the Bloomberg News functionality. Specific topics include drilling down from the top level news function N down through different news categories to specific news articles. Custom news searches, screens and alerts are also covered. When going through this material pay particular attention to how the Bloomberg news is organized and the various methods used to browse and search for news articles. The Bloomberg Top News Screen The video tutorial begins with a review of the BLoomberg Top News screen. To access Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N or you can type TOP . The default top news screen shows top news world wide. There are a set of Topic heading along the left side in the gray colored sidebar. Clicking on any one of those topics narrows the news search down. Clicking on any news headline will bring up the full news article. Once the news story is displayed, it can be printed, bookmarked by clicking on the star icon (or option 91)), or forwarded to a colleague using the Send Story feature. These are shown in the upper right corner of the screen. If the news story has an attachment it will be available under the 97) selection. In this example there is a chart attached to the story. The search field is in the upper left corner and allows you to search for keywords within the story. Note that this story has 3 pages. By scrolling to the end of the story you can view a section of Related News and Information in addition to the author’s contact information. Customizing Top News The Top news screen can be customized to filter and display only those news headlines relevant to the user. For example, the Top News pages by including only relevant topics selected form the list of categories on the right as  shown here: Bloomberg News Advanced Search The Advanced Search feature can be used to build up a sophisticated search on Bloomberg news (beyond looking for simple keywords). From the Top News screen (N ), pull down the 97) Actions screen and click on the Create Advanced Search menu item. Searches can be saved and associated with alerts so that any new news article matching the advanced search criteria will be brought to your attention. For example, the advanced search below is set up to look for the phrases â€Å"Share Buyback† or â€Å"Stock Buyback† that appear in stories related to the Information technology and Telecommunications industries. The source of the news story should be Bloomberg News (BN). Bloomberg Launchpad Essentials The Bloomberg Launchpad is a graphical user interface that can be customized to create multiple screens or â€Å"Views† made up of market data, charts, news and other components. A view can consist of multiple pages that can be created, customized and saved. While going through this 30 minute video, it is easy to create your own Launchpad views along side the instructional video. Pay particular attention to the types of components (watch lists, news minder, etc.) that can be added to the Launchpad view and the different ways in which these components can be linked. For example, the Monitor (watch list) component has a number of ways in which individual and collections of securities can be added to the watch lists and then linked to other components such as News. Below is an example of a Bloomberg Launchpad view showing a number of different components (click for a larger image). A Market Monitor is in the upper left corner showing major market indexes for North America, Latin America (LATAM), Europe and Asia/Pacific. This monitor is linked to the News/Research pane below such that clicking on a market index will bring up Bloomberg News filtered for that specific index and region. The monitor is also linked to the line chart in the upper right corner so clicking on one of the indexes causes the chart to display. An Economic Calendar is displayed below the line chart showing historical economic indicator  releases. An intraday Market Map is displayed in the lower right corner and is also linked to the Market Monitor. The Market Map is an interactive map showing stocks by market capitalization broken down by industry and sector and colored according to their price gains (green) or losses (red) during the current trading day. Bloomberg API Essentials The Bloomberg API is a spreadsheet Add-in module for Microsoft Excel that provides various methods for bringing Bloomberg data directly into Excel. The Excel API video is the longest and probably the most detailed tutorial in the Essentials collection. Highlights of this 30 minute video include working with the different Wizards that are available to fetch different types of data. These wizards include: Data Navigation – Download data for a single security from a set of categories including Company Summary, Financial/Valuation, Consensus Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group Analysis, Options Credit and FX. Real-Time / Historical Navigation – Fetch real-time and historical market data including intraday and end-of-day data. Equity Screener – The Equities Screen feature allows you to screen stocks based on different criteria. Financials / Estimates – Provides the means to retrieve historical balance sheet and analyst estimates data. Technical Analysis navigator – Similar to the historical data wizard but includes a collection of technical analysis indicators. Ultimately given a description of the final data set required, you should be able to identify the appropriate Wizard to run and/or or Bloomberg Excel function to use to fetch that data. Other features described in the video are the Template Library which is a collection of pre-designed spreadsheets that can be further customized. Below is a picture of the Bloomberg Ribbon bar running in Microsoft Excel 2010. Bloomberg API – Data Navigation The Data Navigation wizard provides a convenient way to download a set of related data for a single security. After launching the wizard and selecting a security (Apple (AAPL) in this example), a list of categories are presented including Company Summary, Financial/Valuation, Consensus  Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group Analysis, Options Credit and FX as shown below: After navigating from Company Summary to Overview, the resulting data can be dropped into Excel using the â€Å"Drag to Excel† button as shown below: Bloomberg API – Real Time / Historical Data The Real Time / Historical data wizard provides a set of steps to ultimately create a formula (or set of formulas) in Excel that will fetch real-time data from the Bloomberg network or populate the spreadsheet with rows of historical data. The icon and drop down menus for the Import Data function are shown below: For example, the Real-Time/Current wizard prompts for a security (AAPL in this example) and then a set of fields (PX_LAST for last price, PX_BID for Bid Price and PX_ASK for Ask price were selected). the result is a set of three Bloomberg BDP functions (Bloomberg Data Point functions) that pull the data from the Bloomberg network into Excel as shown below (note the formula in cell B2): Additional Resources for the Bloomberg Excel API Bloomberg offers additional tutorials and other resources to help you learn even more about the API. An interactive Bloomberg Excel tutorial can launched using command function : XATP XAPI This tutorial launches MS Excel and provides a collection of example worksheets that document the various features of the Bloomberg Excel Add-in. Of particular interest are the large collection of BLoomberg-specific functions such as BDP, BDH, BDS, BCURVE, BEQS, and others. Bloomberg Equity Essentials The Bloomberg Equity Essentials video covers one of the four alternate Market Sectors for the Bloomberg Essentials program. This 35 minute video covers the main functions for researching equities (stocks) using the Bloomberg terminal. Bloomberg Fixed Income Essentials The Bloomberg Fixed Income Essentials video is 25 minute in duration and covers the main functions for searching and analyzing fixed income instruments such as corporate bonds, municipal bond and government treasuries. The Fixed Income video is one of four alternate Market Sector areas. Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) Essentials The Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) Essentials video is 35 minutes in length and covers various foreign exchange instruments such as spot FX, forwards, swaps and interest rate products. Bloomberg Commodities Essentials The Bloomberg Commodities Essentials covers the use of Bloomberg to monitor and analyze the spot and futures commodities markets. This video is 27 minutes long and represents one of the four alternate Market Sector specialties in the Bloomberg Essentials program. In the next pages I will provide some tips on taking the exams. Taking the Bloomberg Essentials Exams Once you have reviewed the four Core videos you will be eligible to take the Core Essentials exam. From the BESS screen click on the link to View and Take Exams. The Master Exams screen will appear as shown below: Usually the first exam to be taken will be the Core Essentials exam with Mnemonic COREESS. When you are ready to take the exam click on this link and the exam will launch. Taking the Bloomberg Essentials Core Exam When the Bloomberg Core Essentials (COREESS) exam launches it will present a notice about the grading policy for the exam. Note that the exam is not graded until answers to all 30 questions have been submitted. Pressing the Menu button will close this notice screen and the exam will start off with question number 1. Below is an example question and answer format (the actual question and answers have been obscured). Answering a question is a two step process: First click on your answer choices, and then click on the red Submit button at the bottom of the screen. You cannot proceed to the next question until the current question is submitted. Note also that the entire exam’s answers are not checked until the last question is submitted. Continue answering questions and Submitting answers until you reach the last (30th) question. Bloomberg University Bloomberg University is a collection of help and documentation guides along with schedules and sign-up sheets for Bloomberg training events. To access Bloomberg University use the code BU to bring up the screen: Of particular interest to new Bloomberg users are the various â€Å"Cheat Sheets† – one or two page documents that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg functions. TO get started viewing Cheat sheets, use the code CHEAT to bring up the screen: For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below: Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat. Conclusions In this series of posts I have covered a very basic introduction to Bloomberg including creating your own Bloomberg account and going through the Bloomberg Essentials training.

A Story About Courage Essay

Waking up in the morning to birds chirping and the warm summer breeze is almost impossible when you live in the heart of New York City, well it is for me at least. My name is Sandy Collins, I’m your typical teenage girl. I like going out with my friends, having slumber parties, and going shopping. I moved from Texas to New York City a month and a half ago. The moment I stepped out of the car I instantly loved the change. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy living in Texas, but now living in New York felt like it made much more sense. As a child I did everything with my dad. Biking, fishing, rollerblading, you name it. I, Sandy Collins has done it. My dad always said he wanted a better life for me then what he had, he sure meant it. Back when I was almost eleven years old my parents got a divorce, great birthday present, huh? At first when I’d walk into the room where my parents would be arguing, they’d pretend they were only talking loud of some sort. But as the months went by, they didn’t even noticed when I’d enter the room. Soon after that my mom filed for a divorce, leaving me in the middle. It was hard to cope with it to begin with, but soon after that I realized I had no part in what happened. Now four years later here I am making the decision to move in with my dad. When I first mentioned moving to New York to my mom, her reaction was absolutely no. After mentioning it a few more times, giving her a month or two, she finally realized that I should be able to make my own decisions because in the end it’d make me happier. Now five months after, BAM! New York City here I come. The twelve hour drive was definitely the worst road trip, bonding time, or whatever my mom would wish to call it. She came up with a clever idea to shove me, my seven year old brother Ricky, my stepfather Joe, and herself in our beat up Toyota Tercel and take on the task to drive us all the way to New York for the last bonding time she’ll have with me in a long time. Not to mention we’re in the month of July. â€Å"Sweetie would you like something to eat? † mom said shaking my shoulder. I’d fallen asleep three hours into the drive. We ordered from the nearest fast food place, Mcdondalds, filling all our hungry appetites. After about ten hours I became so bored I started to play with the lose thread on my shirt. I could tell Ricky wasn’t having any more fun then I was considering he was opening and closing the screen of his Nintendo DS over and over and over again. The traffic became agony, there’s no doubt that you could put your car in park for five minutes and no would notice. Finally after hours of traffic we arrived at the house. Dad had just walked out the front door waving and smiling. â€Å"Dad! † I exclaimed while giving him a giant bear hug. â€Å"Hi hunny, I’m so glad you’re here. Dad said smiling. â€Å"Nice place you got here† Joe said examining it with his eyes. We’ve never been to dad’s place before, he’d always come to Texas to visit on special occasions and my birthday’s. â€Å"Now you be good, call whenever you have the time and no late night walks, New York is very different then back home. † Mom said. She kept going on until she had run out of things to say. â€Å"Okay, Okay mom. See you at thanksgiving, love you. † I said giving her a hug. I realized after saying that, that made her take-in how long it’d be until we’d see each other again. After saying goodbye to everyone I knew I’d miss each and everyone back home in Texas terribly but I had a feeling this was a change for the better. What we had left of the day, dad decided it’d be a good idea to show me around the neighbourhood. â€Å"Your hair is so straight and black now† dad said. â€Å"Yeah, I coloured it a few months ago. I thought it was time for some change, like moving here. † I said smiling. For the next month dad and I went fishing, rollerblading, shopping, and all the other things we used to do when mom and he were together. I even met a new friend, Paige. She’s the neighbour’s daughter; she told me we’d be attending the same school together up the street when school re-opens in two weeks. The next day we arranged to go shopping. â€Å"Hey dad, would it be okay if I go shopping with Paige today? † I said. â€Å"Sure hunny, I have to run a few errands and do some grocery shopping anyway, so I’ll drop you two off at the mall. † Dad said, smiling as always. Paige is so nice and out-going to be around. My friends in Texas were more down-to-earth. We would still go places and what not, but Paige’s personality screams fun. â€Å"We need to spice up your wardrobe, all of your out-fits are too toned down for NYC. † Paige said, trying on a vintage pair of black boots. After a couple of hours of shopping, we grabbed something to eat and went home. Home I kept thinking. I like it here, being with my dad made me so much happier. Walking down the busy streets of New York with the sound of cars honking, people shouting for taxis, bargainers trying to sell you their no more than $5 junk, was now what I got to call home. Oddly I loved it. When I got home I took my shopping bags to my room and headed downstairs to watch T. V while waiting on my dad to come home and make dinner. As I reached for the television remote the phone rang. â€Å"Hello, may I speak to Mr. Collins? † â€Å"He’s not home at the moment; would you like me to take a message? † â€Å"Sure, is this Ms. Collins? † â€Å"Yes it is. † I said, realizing soon after this person was probably referring to Ms. Collins as if I was my dad’s wife. A moment before I was about to correct myself, the person started speaking again. Oh, hi Ms. Collins, this is Tom’s doctor, Dr. Lee. Unfortunately I have to break the bad news to you; Tom’s cancer results have come in positive. He has cancer in his right lung and it’s too late to attempt to cure it. I’m extremely sorry to tell you this way; Tom’s appointment was re-scheduled in two weeks from now when school re-opens, he cancelled the appointment scheduled for today knowing he’d want to spend as much time with your daughter arriving from Texas before school started. When I got the results, knowing Tom for so long, I wanted him to know as soon as possible. † I didn’t know what to do, I held the phone to my ear ready to reply but my mind went blank. Eventually I replied and hung up the phone. Did I really just hear that? No, it couldn’t be. My dad couldn’t have cancer, he just couldn’t. Who am I kidding!? His doctor called for god sakes, I just didn’t want to believe it. Moments later my dad walked in the front door. â€Å"Hi hunny. † He said smiling.

Capital Budgeting for Equator Ltd

Equator Ltd. is looking at expanding its operations into manufacturing tablet computers. The company has two options to consider from, one being Plant A which is highly automated and the other being Plant B which is more labour intensive. The cash inflow and outflow for both the options have been analysed using capital budgeting techniques, the results of which are presented below: Both the options have favourable results where the NPV is positive, IRR is more than the cost of capital and the payback period is within the project period. However, the company should go ahead with Plant A as it has higher NPV and IRR. Even though Plant B has lower payback period, but for mutually exclusive projects, the project with highest NPV followed by IRR is selected. Hence the company should go for Plant A. The cost of capital considered here is 13.35% as this the WACC used by the Computer tablet industry and hence is a better discounting factor as it takes into account all the risks associated with this project. The fixed allocation cost has not been considered in the analysis as it is not an incremental cost. The increased working capital is assumed to be recovered at the end of the project life for both the projects. There is risk inherent in a project because no one can accurately predict the future outcomes. It is due to the variability of the future cash flows of the project. Market risk – the economic growth rate is assumed to 5.5% for the project and the sales have been projected on the economic growth rate basis. However, if the economic growth rate does not take as projected, the analysis of the investment may go wrong i.e. if the growth rate decreases, the sales will decrease and the NPV will reduce (Drake, NA) Also there is a risk of a change in the inflation rate. An increase in the inflation rate may increase the operating costs, thus making the project less profitable. Project specific risk – The management may predict wrong cash flows for the project. If the prediction goes wrong, then the whole investment may go for a toss. Industry specific risk – an abrupt change in the industry specific regulations may increase the industry specific risk. Also technological advancement in the industry may increase risks. Like if a better product comes in the market than tablet computers, the market for tablets will decrease, thus causing loss to the company (Dontigney, NA) Company specific risk – this risk may arise due to company specific factors like change in the management of the company, any strikes or lock outs by the employees which may disrupt the operations of the company and thus the revenue might be affected. Efficient Market Hypothesis is a proposition that the stock prices in the market perfectly reflect the true value of the firm from the available information. The theory believes that no investor can gain from identifying undervalued stocks using technical and fundamental analysis. Any new information available in the market about the stock is immediately adjusted in the stock price and hence the stocks become accurately priced. Therefore all investors whether uninformed or experts will obtain the same rate of return (Malkiel, 2003). Also the theory believes that if any trader identifies a undervalued or overvalued stock, this will motivate the trader to undertake trading in order to make abnormal profits and in the process the prices of the stock will move towards the its intrinsic value, making the stock price efficient which reflects its fundamental value. Intrinsic value of a share is the present value of cash flows in the form of dividends and the cash flow from the sale of stock . There are three forms of capital market efficiency i.e. weak efficiency, semi strong efficiency, strong form efficiency. Under the weak form efficiency, it is believed the stock prices fully reflect all the past information of the security. Thus an analyst cannot make gains using technical analysis as it is based on past prices. Under semi strong form efficiency, the stock prices fully reflect all public information about the stock. Hence, traders with access to non public information can make abnormal profits. Under strong form of efficiency, the markets are very efficient and quickly react to the new information to adjust stock prices thus making it impossible for any investor to make excess profits. Capital markets are channels through which the idle funds of a potential investor are put into effective use. A company can raise funds through equity or bonds in a capital market. A company generally raises funds in a capital market for long term projects. It is very convenient for the companies to raise funds if the capital markets are efficient because efficient capital markets ensure the funds flow to the highest valued projects. The stock prices at which the stocks would be issued is determined by the market and the market ensures that the stock prices fully reflect the fundamental value of future cash flows. Thus, if the project of Equator Limited promises to maximise the shareholder value, the future value of all cash flows would be incorporated into the stock prices at which the company would raise the new capital. Also efficient markets enable the company to focus on long term projects instead of short term because the funds are easily available from potential investors for high value long term projects (Jones, Netter, NA) We see that tablet computer is a growing industry and hence the outlook for this industry is good. This will help the company in attracting capital easily as the investors would be willing to invest in an industry which has high growth prospects (Dudley, Hubbard, 2004). And moreover since the company is already an established player in the computer market, these will double the ease with which it can raise the funds. Drake, P., (NA), Capital Budgeting and Risk, accessed online on 22 nd January, 2017, available at https://educ.jmu.edu/~drakepp/principles/module6/cbrisk Dontigney, E., (NA), What Factors Increase the Riskiness of a Capital Budgeting Project? accessed online on 22 nd January, 2017, available at https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/factors-increase-riskiness-capital-budgeting-project-26421.html Malkiel, B.G., (2003), The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics, CEPS Working Paper No.91 Jones, S.L, Netter, J.M., (NA), Efficient Capital Markets, accessed online on 23 rd January, 2017, available at, https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/EfficientCapitalMarkets.html Dudley, W.C., Hubbard, R.G., (2004), How Capital Markets Enhance Economic Performance and Facilitate Job Creation, Global Market Institute, Goldman Sachs

Case study on Dobai World company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study on Dobai World company - Essay Example On the other hand there are three companies namely Nakheel, Limitless and Leisure Corporation which are operating in urban development sector. In financial service sector there are Istithmar world and Dubai multi commodities centre (Dubai World, n.d.). DP world is involved in operating marine terminals, whereas Dry Docks and Dubai maritime city are involved in creating maritime and ship-building hub in Dubai. EZW runs several free economic zones across the world. Leisure Corporation is involved in investment and development of various opportunities in leisure and sports industry. All these companies are working under Dubai World Company. Careful investment and pragmatic acquisitions are two major drivers of the business strategy of Dubai World Company. Company’s strategies are developed with the objective of delivering measureable and real results to the stakeholders. Being one of the largest organizations in the world, Dubai World Company always focus on three major factors while making any strategy. These three are corporate objectives, social responsibility and environmental conservation. Each and every company of Dubai World has separate strategies which enable them to succeed in their respective industry. DP world’s strategies are always focused on profitable growth across the world by continuously meeting its commitments towards its customers and people. On the other hand Leisure Corporation is a leading golf company in the world. As a result its strategies are made with the objective of becoming the largest golf company in the world. Company believes in partnership strategy. The company is a lon g term strategic partner of European Tour. The company is also involved in ski resort and marina sector. Dubai World’s business strategies have always included expansion strategy. In 1999, the company first took major expansion strategy to capitalize on the overseas market.

112 mind paper Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

112 mind paper - Article Example Geographical locations have influenced people’s habits, beliefs, and customs because they define the norms. Therefore, the degree of influence of cultural factors to consumer behavior varies in accordance to age, gender, marital status, religion, and location. People are increasingly adapting to the electronic environment and thus the increasing urge to own electronic gadgets. Apple iPhone is arguably the best electronic gadget in the current world and thus people across all age groups consider it worth possessing one. Since the new culture has been developed in accordance to owning expensive items, I bought the Apple iPhone because it was appealing and it did not in any way interfere with my cultural beliefs and wanted to fit in a social class that is associated with expensive and cool gadgets. Social factor stem from cultural factors because they involve family, reference groups, and role and status (Solomon et al, 2009). Family molds perception and influence of future buying behavior because it prepares people into understanding what is good and bad, what is necessary and leisure, and what preferences to consider. Reference groups include friends, and the rest of the world, which provide insightful information about new products and their efficiency thus influencing behavior. Everybody is talking about Apple iPhone and due to it, I was influenced to try out and see how it looks like to make sure I get first hand information for myself. Role and status is in relation with roles played by people in society. Currently, I am a student, meaning my role in society is to research and learn new things. This is a major factor in my decision of purchasing the Apple iPhone because I need to research wherever I go, take pictures which can be used as evidence in my assignment submiss ion, and interact with friends and family even when am away from them. Age and life style, occupation, life style,

Titian - Venus and Adonis Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Titian - Venus and Adonis Painting - Essay Example The essay "Titian - Venus and Adonis Painting" discovers the Titian - Venus and Adonis Painting. Before delving into the dynamics of gender roles the prose will examine the various technique and elements that the artist incorporated in the painting. Titian’s Venus and Adonis is an oil painting that represents the Greek myth of the goddess Venus and her young lover Adonis. It shows young Adonis reluctantly leaving the beautiful goddess to go hunting with his dogs, as Venus tries to dissuade him. Being a deity Venus has foreseen the demise of Adonis after getting attacked by a wild boar. Titian has used the painting to narrate the myth by using the right combination of colors and shades in order to add substance, grace and charm to the painting. The artist has taken heavy inspiration from western technique of painting and incorporated a strong classical mythology theme to it that further enhanced the quality of the painting making it seem very realistic and alive. The posture he has given to the main characters in his painting is very graceful and uses aristocratic colors and hues to show flexibility in the piece of art and symbolize the divine presence and involvement in the scenario. According to the myth, Adonis a mortal man eventually dies on his hunt after being attacked by a wild boar as predicted by Venus. The painting shows only the back of Venus and her arms wrapped around Adonis’s body. The background of the painting shows, Adonis’s dogs who ready to go hunting with him.

Governing the Uk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Governing the Uk - Essay Example Political power has been devolved to new ranks of government, the judiciary has been mandated to review the government actions with a lot of powers, introduction of new systems of electing representatives have been devised, second chamber membership has been reorganized, authority over monetary control has been delegated to an independent body, access to formal information has been slackened and the way political parties are being funded has been reviewed. There are some consequences that have been observed as a result of these reforms on Britain’s political structure, though they endure silence regarding their impacts. Some are devoted to impacts of reforms, but pay attention to individual bodies or institutions, instead of looking at the impacts of several reforms realized jointly. Even though these tremendous changes have been witnessed, there are several reforms that need to be tackled due to everyday emergence of new political shifts. This stands to be the right time to a sk some questions regarding institutions and policies that need changes to sustain development in the United Kingdom for the next reasonable century. This latter will try to outline some few changes needed in some institutions to foster growth. The United Kingdom has several structural flaws, witnessed in years of insufficient durable skills investment, innovation and infrastructure. Investment failure is firmly grounded as a result of inability to acquire even planning, tactical vision and partisan consensus on the required policy outline to support development and growth. Radical changes are needed especially in the parliamentary sectors. Britain parliament has always been mandated to oversee most of infrastructural developments geared towards Britain realizing its economic development. At the same time, Parliament also steers infrastructural development in Africa especially to African countries who are members of the European Union. According to parliamentary reports, economic in frastructure responsible for water, communications transport and power is the main engine to kick out poverty. It supports economic development and significant economic growth. Accessing necessary infrastructure still remains a challenge with a reasonable number of Africans still in dire need for these infrastructures. United Kingdom government through its parliament spend billions of dollars in funding these developments of which is appropriate since Africa is also a major business partner; the question procedures involved in undertaking these transactions. It is not breaking news to hear of funds embezzlement set for such projects, this triggers a lot of question in a common citizen’s mind on how tax pay is being spent. The parliament has been awarded power to oversee these projects but they still do face a lot of challenges. For parliament to realize effective outcome, one of my major recommendations is the formation of an infrastructure commission and board management. Th is board’s strategy is to give independent skilled intelligence to parliament to aid it in prioritizing infrastructure development. Stronger support can be fostered through the infrastructure management commission whose mandate would be to ensure implementations of these priorities. At the same time the commission should have authority to share these benefits with those who stand a chance of losing from these

National culture and management style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

National culture and management style - Essay Example It has been recognised that the managers as well as the employees in distinct cultures tend to introduce the codes of behavior as well as norms related to their own cultures in their workplace. The organisational processes as well as the managerial practices tend to be shaped with the assistance of these norms as cultural values. It is because of these reasons the organisation tends to implement numerous management practices. The national cultural values are discovered quickly, held quite deeply and can be altered slowly over the period of generation (ITAP International, 2012). Cultural participation is quite higher among certain groups of United Kingdom. The rate of participation tends to be quite higher among those in the upper socio economic groups along with the least deprived areas of England. The structure of involvement with the culture as well as sports alters widely in terms of region, there are few regional trends. It has been noted that in the North East of the UK there has been rise in the amount of people visiting museums, archives, galleries and heritage sites. However, the ratio of people visiting libraries remained steady. The phenomenon took place alongside an extensive fall in library visits in most of the other regions (National Statistics, 2011). It was since January to December 2010, nearly 34.8 per cent of the adults had involved themselves in culture digitally which had risen from 2008/2009. By the term ‘digital participation’ it can be comprehended as visiting a museum or gallery, theatre or concert, library or records w ebsites of offices for any purpose except buying tickets (National Statistics, 2011). Furthermore, it was observed that from January to December 2010, 72.4 percent of those who were between 16 to 24 years old had been observed to perform active sports, and this statistics had fallen from 2005/2006 (National Statist

Balfour Beatty and Corporate Social Responsibility Dissertation

Balfour Beatty and Corporate Social Responsibility - Dissertation Example The concept of corporate social responsibility is not something new (Hemingway 2002). In fact, as early as 1930’s the idea that firms should be responsible not only to its shareholders, but to society as a whole was already espoused (Hemingway 2002). However, it is only in the last forty years that discussions pertinent to CSR have become fervent. In the ensuing intensive elucidations pertinent to CSR, various concerns related to its definition, process, implications, field and many other issues have been raised (e.g. Carroll 1999; Friedman 1962; Porter & Kramer 2006). The demand for a positive response for CSR is asked of all companies regardless of the sector and size. Looking at the construction industry, its activities are highly prominent in communities where they are operating. The typical construction activities such as mineral extraction, construction, maintenance and demolition cause serious inconvenience, disruption to the general public and natural environment (Bart horpe, James & Taylor 2004). This situation if handled improperly can result in the ire of the community. On the other hand, accepting the high visibility and impact of the activities of the construction industry may become an opportunity for the company to build a positive relationship with the stakeholders in the public arena where they are conducting their affairs (Barthorpe et al. 2004). In this regard, this research will look into the practice of corporate social responsibility vis-a-vis Balfour Beatty, one of the largest construction companies not only in the UK, but also in the world. It asserts that upon observing the CSR response of Balfour Beatty, it can be attested that corporate citizenship is not a linear progression, but that it is possible for a company to be at various stages in different elements of CSR at the same time. Likewise, regardless of the intent of the company in adopting CSR, (this is significant to note because it is one of the arguments against CSR, e.g . Lin-Hi 2010), companions continue to respond to it in a positive way even if they get involved in some ‘unscrupulous activities’. This is significant as it serves as a lesson not only for the company involved, but also for all organisations. The project has the following structure. The first section is the introduction, which contains the focus and structure of the study. The second section of the project will deal with Balfour Beatty and how effective is it in aligning its goals and conduct with CSR. For the analysis, Mirvins and Googins’ Stages of Corporate Citizenship will be used. Meanwhile, the third section of the project will address a more in-depth look in some of the elements and stages of Mirvins and Googins’ Stages of Corporate Citizenship vis-a-vis Balfour Beatty Plc. Finally, the fourth part will be the limitations and conclusion of the study. In the end, it is the intention of the study to gain a better understanding of CSR by looking into the CSR of Balfour Beatty Plc. CSR and Balfour Beatty: A Demonstration of Corporate Citizenship Balfour Beatty PLC is a British construction, engineering,

Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations Essay

Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations - Essay Example In just 20 years the number of international NGOs has increased from 13,000 in 1981 to more than 47,000 in 2001 (Wild, 2006). The NGO sector has become "the eight largest economy in the world" worth $1 trillion, with an annual budget of $15 billion for development programs, 19 million paid staff members and countless volunteers, and the good will and respect of millions around the world (Hall-Jones, 2006). Public response to NGOs has been much more positive than negative on both global and national levels. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan called NGOs the "new superpower" (Scheper, 2001). The praise is not undeserved. At least part of the credit in establishing international agreements and norms about environmental issues (the Kyoto Protocol), human rights (campaign against torture of suspected terrorists), gender equality (rape in conflict areas), and other concerns should go to NGOs. In many developing nations, especially where authoritarianism and corruption are deeply rooted and persistent problems, NGOs are often considered to be more responsive, trustworthy and competent, especially in defending people against human rights violations by state actors and in the delivery of badly needed health, education and other services. NGOs have also contributed greatly to documentation and dissemination of information and analysis that have given and continue to give direction and substa nce to international debates. The evaluation of NGO performance is not entirely positive. There are NGO critics and critiques. Questions are only to be expected from government and business interests that are affected negatively by NGO issue advocacy, such as campaigns against granting corporations mining concessions that will threaten the right of indigenous tribes to their ancestral land. However, serious and urgent questions have been raised regarding NGO orientation, their competence, their ability to uphold the interests of their stakeholders, and their adoption and practice of transparency and accountability in their day-to-day operation. In addition, a substantial number of political activists have questioned the "apolitical" stance of a number of NGOs, relations between NGOs (mostly based in the global north) and social movements (mostly based in the global south), the growing reliance of NGOs on government and corporate funding, and what is seen to be their slow transformation into quasi-governmental institutions (Albrow and Anheier, 2007). This paper is an attempt to give a factual account on the actual performance and impact of NGOs concerning particular issues and what some consider as the overarching goal of civil society -- global social justice in a sustainable world. It will also present and briefly discuss definitions of civil society and global governance that provide the general context and background for the discussion on non-governmental organisations. II. Global Civil Society and Global Governance Professor Mary Kaldor, Co-director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance based in the London School of Economics defined global civil society as: "A platform inhabited by activists or post-Marxists, NGOs and neoliberals, as well as national and religious groups where they argue about, campaign for (or against), negotiate about or lobby for the arrangements that shape global developments" (Kaldor,

Parental Involvement, Poverty, and Student Achievement Essay Example for Free

Parental Involvement, Poverty, and Student Achievement Essay Current education reform is intended to influence higher student achievement. According to Hanushek (1997), the development of school reform is largely motivated by economic issues. Education reform becomes a meaningful topic on the national agenda when the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report, A Nation At Risk (1983). This report focused on the claim that a steady increase in mediocrity had overcome schools which impacted upon the economic competitiveness of the country. One example of this competitiveness was when the Soviet Union 1957 launched Sputnik. It was concluded that declines in educational performance were in large part the result of inadequacies in the way the educational process was conducted. The findings that follow, selected from a much more extensive list, reflect four important aspects of the educational process: content, expectations, time, and teaching. The United States government responded by beginning reform of how its educational system. As part of this process, all segments, including parent committees, were formed to give attention to the implementation of the recommendations of the report. The report further stated that reform should not only come from students, teachers, school boards, colleges and universities, local, state, and federal officials, teachers’ and administrators’ organizations, but also from parents themselves with interested in and responsibility for educational significance begin with the parent. Moreover, you bear a responsibility to participate actively in your child’s education. You should encourage more diligent study and discourage satisfaction with mediocrity and the attitude that says let it slide, monitor your child’s study; encourage good study habits; encourage your child to take more demanding rather than less demanding courses; nurture your child’s curiosity, creativity, and confidence; and be an active participant in the work of the schools. Above all, exhibit a commitment to continued learning in your own life. Finally, help your children understand that excellence in education cannot be achieved without intellectual and moral integrity coupled with hard work and commitment (p. 26) Henderson and Berla (1994) did extensive research linking parental involvement to student achievement. There are a variety of parenting practices that have been associated with positive student outcomes. Despite this research, Desimone (2001) contends that there is still no clear understanding of how patterns and effects of parental involvement differ across ethnic and income groups. Previous studies have shown that parent involvement patterns vary according to parental social, racial-ethnic, and economic characteristics (Catsambis Garland, 1997), but the findings have been mixed. Several studies have reported that low income minority parents often have different beliefs about parents’ role in school involvement are less involved in school activities than higher income, non-minority parents (Delgado-Gaitan, 1991; Chavkin Williams, 1993). Other studies, however, have demonstrated that the level of parent involvement by race-ethnicity (i. e. , Asian, African-American, Hispanic, and white) differs for only a few types of involvement and that minority parents have higher levels of involvement in certain areas than do white parents (Catsambis Garland, 1997). Previous studies have reported that low-income minority parents often have different beliefs regarding parental roles in school involvement and are less involved (Chavkin Williams, 1993). Comer and Haynes (1991) have hypothesized that low income and inner city minority students may be more positively affected by certain types of parent involvement than other students. According to them, in order for parental involvement programs to be successful, they need to be focused upon a school improvement process that is designed to create positive relationships that support the total development of children and not the traditional bureaucratic or authoritative school environment which is a less collaborative structure. Other theorists (Devaney, Ellwood, and Love, 1997; Lewit, Terman, Behrman, 1997) suggests that parental involvement may not be as effective in improving student achievement for low income children as for children from middle class homes. Because the large number of risk factors that impact upon children living in poverty, including health, safety, and housing, the role of parental involvement in schools in explaining academic outcomes for those children may be significantly less than for their peers who do not experience as many negative environment influences. Desimone (2001) suggests that race-ethnicity and other background characteristics can be strong mediators in the effects of various types of parental actions and the impact they have on student achievement. While work in this area is limited, there is little information that compares the effects of multiple forms of parental involvement across several racial/ethnic and income groups. McNeal’s (2001) study investigated the relationships between parent involvement and socioeconomic status. Findings indicated that parental involvement was an important factor in explaining behavioral outcomes (such as truancy and dropping out) but not cognitive outcomes (such as science achievement), with the greatest support for parent child discussion and involvement in parent-teacher organizations. He contends that there have been inconsistencies with the findings linking parental involvement to academic achievement. The contradictions likely were related to one of the following weaknesses in research. The first condition was the use of perception measures by teachers rather than direct reports by students and/or parents. Another was a failure to fully conceptualize parent involvement into its constituent parts. The last was not fully assessing the extent to which parental involvement differently affects academic achievement by social class. The three shortcomings can be improved upon but parent involvement has little effect on student achievement because it is a cognitive outcome and parental involvement affects behavioral outcomes. Reginald Clark’s research shares findings from a body of research on closing achievement gaps in urban school communities (Ferguson, Clark, Stewart, 2002). In Clark documents the importance of five influential factors for improved students achievement, especially among disadvantages urban students. The first factor is described as the teacher’s expectations and actions in the classroom. The second is amount of students’ weekly participation in high-yield in and out of school activities. High-yield out of school activities include: leisure reading, writing, studying, and participation in community and school clubs or programs, and playing organized sports. High-yield in school activities include participating in classroom lessons as well as structured leisure activities. The third factor is the quality of students’ participation in and out of school activities. The fourth factor is parental beliefs and expectations. The fifth factor is parent-teacher communication. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart, 2002 found that the type and amounts of constructive in school and out of school learning activities contribute to a success-oriented lifestyle. More specifically, Clark found that high achieving activities. Some examples of actions in the classroom include reading, working alone on a lesson, listening to a lecture, solving a problem with classmates, or asking questions. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart, 2002 found that high achievers spent more time during out of school high-yield learning activities than low achievers. Some activities include: weekly time dialoguing with adults, hobby or volunteer activities, or organized sports. Regular study and homework routines, with adult monitoring or support, and reading and writing activities also were seen as practices in the home. Some less structured or unstructured activities include hanging out, playing video games, talking on the telephone, and watching television. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart 2002 found that the beliefs and attitudes of parents had a significant role in student success in becoming competent readers. The analysis of data from parents of 459 students about their expectations for their child’s learning and their perception of whether they had been supported by their child’s teacher showed that students benefit when parents set high standards for their child’s performance in school and feel personally supported by partnerships they have formed with their child’s teacher. Lastly, Clark indicates that parent beliefs are likely to be influenced by parent-teacher communication. In other words, parents may benefits from well-organized teacher-led communications. When teachers take specific actions to cultivate instructional partnerships with parents, those parents are more likely to support their children’s learning at home. Clark’s data showed that students’ scores were higher on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment in reading when teachers reported more communication with parents. REFERENCES Bankston, C. L. , Caldas, S. J. (1998). Family structure, schoolmates, and racial inequalities in school achievement. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 715-723. Braswell. J. S. , Lutkus,A. D. , Grigg,W. S. , Santapau, S. L. , Tay-Lim, B. , Johnson, M. (2001). Subgroup results for the nation and the states. In The nations report card: Mathematics 2000 (pp. 53-181). Washington DC: U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics.

Eugenics the Unethical Pseudoscience Essay Example for Free

Eugenics the Unethical Pseudoscience Essay Our topic was on selective human breeding, or in other words eugenics. If you don’t know what eugenics is don’t worry I’ll tell you, according to Oxford dictionaries eugenics is the science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Desirable heritable characteristics for example can be things like a particular eye color, hair color, height, etc. My question to you all is if you think eugenics is ethical or not? I want to hear your answer after I give you my reasons of why I don’t believe eugenics is ethical. Now this might not sound like such a controversial topic but the history of eugenics is not exactly a bright one. Now everyone knows how WWII began, and the people responsible for it. Hitler and his henchmen victimized an entire continent, murdered millions, during his search for what he called the â€Å"Master Race. † His vision of the ideal race was white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed, but contrary to popular belief, this idea of the â€Å"Master Race† did not originate with Hitler. The idea came from the United States and its eugenics program. The E. R.  O also known as the Eugenics Record Office was founded on 1910 in New York. A thing that not many people know is that the United States actually had one of the largest eugenic movements in the world. Eugenics was used by scientists as a way to control people, by that I mean they would use various research methods, hereditary questionnaires, and interviewing groups with special interests. The E. R. O. was able to convince the U. S. government to administer eugenic laws nationwide. This included immigration and marriage restrictions, race segregation, and forced sterilization of criminals and who was seen as undesirable. Well what is forced sterilization you ask? To simplify it for males it’s a vasectomy and for woman it’s a tubal ligation, getting your tubes tied. The U. S. was forcing people to be sterilized just because they were seen as unfit to breed, because they didn’t fall under what was seen as desirable. Now this thing eugenics they called it science, I personally see it as pseudoscience used to discriminate people, was used for decades. Oh and did you know that California had the largest eugenics movement in the country. From 1907 to the 1970’s over 60,000 people were forced sterilized in the U. S. alone, and 20,000 of those people were in California. Now who decides if a person should be forced sterilized or not, well a list was made and if a person has or falls under any of the items on that list, they are to be sterilized right away. The few things on that list are paralysis, congenital blindness, acquired deafness, sexual promiscuity, and not being physically attractive. Now I have a video I’d like to show you about eugenics and its forced sterilization.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina Merjema Aletic Introduction The very definition of Foreign direct investment is controlling ownership in a bussiness enterprise in one country by an entity based in another country. The collapse of the former Yugoslav Federation, Croatia and Slovenia declared independence in 1991 while paramilitary origins from Serbia occupied several Bosnia and Herzegovina towns killing civil Bosniaks and Croat. In this clash of ethnic groups, BIH was confronted with serious humanitarian and social problems in which thousands of people died. The conflict lasted (1992-1995) until the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed in Paris in December 1995 between the counterparts (Malcolm 2002). With one confederation, two entities, ten cantons in the Federation, five administrative areas in the Serb Republic, a special Brcko district, plus municipalities and local government unit presents a very complex political system in the world which conceals meaningful barriers and bureaucratic obstacles that will need to overcome (Ilgun, 2009). Many aspects of the regulatory quality reforms have stagnated over a number of years, making BiH among the least competitive economies in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. To enhance the prospects of the country as a destination for foreign investment further steps were taken, especially by establishing the Promotion Agency (FIPA), privatization and incentives for foreign investors. Literature review Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an extraordinary and growing role in global business. It has long been recognized that the benefits of FDI for the host country can be significant, including knowledge and technology transfer to domestic firms and the labor force productivity spillovers, enhanced competition, and improved access for exports abroad, notably in the source country (Demekas et al, 2005 and Botric, 2010). Due to the low domestic savings there is need for attraction of foreign direct investment for future economic growth (Botric, 2010).The consensus view in the literature is that the benefits of FDI tend to significantly outweigh its costs for host countries (Demekas et al, 2005). There are two types od FDI: Horizontal FDI (HFDI) is market-seeking investment, aimed primarily at the domestic market in the host country, when local production is seen as a more efficient way to penetrate this market than exports from the source country, and Vertical FDI (VFDI) is cost-mini mizing investment, when a multinational corporation chooses the location of each link of its production chain to minimize global costs (Demekas et al, 2005). As a result of these differences in motivation, a number of host country factors, such as market size, trade restrictions, and transport costs, can have different effects on HFDI and VFDI. Predictable policy environment that promotes macroeconomic stability, ensures the rule of law and the enforcement of contracts, minimizes distortions, supports competitiveness, and encourages private sector development can be expected to stimulate all private including foreign investment (Demekas et al, 2005). Among the macroeconomic and political environment factors it is the political stability as the most important factor that influences investment decision. Furthermore in the case of the institutional environment, protection of investors is one of the important factors. Those can be the tax systems, lack of corruption, the ease of starting up a company, law of contract, transparency, safeguarding of property rights and efficiency of justice (Ilgun, 2009). Although Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are slightly lagging behind the other countries, they are on a good path to make further progress in this area of reform implementation (Penev and Rojec, 2004). High poli tical risks in the region in the past decade posed one of the greatest obstacles to FDI inflow although this varied amongst countries. Private foreign capital is very sensitive to any investment risk, so that the countries with an unstable political and economic environment are almost unattractive to private foreign investors (Penev and Rojec, 2004). After the political failure, BIH has also started a wide reaching process of reconstruction and development of its political, economic, social and legal systems of the country (Ilgun, 2009). All Southeastern European countries, each to a different degree, need to make further efforts to simplify complex tax and customs laws and regulations, facilitate access to land and construction permits, strengthen the judiciary, accelerate the resolution of commercial disputes, and eliminate remaining discriminatory provisions against foreign investors. It is found that high unit labor costs, a high corporate tax burden, and, to a lesser extent, a high level of import tariffs discourage FDI (Demekas et al, 2005), while a liberal foreign exchange and trade regime and advanced reforms in the infrastructure sector encourage FDI (Penev and Rojec, 2004). Reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina related to FDI The role of FDI in economic growth and development is now widely acknowledged, and all countries are actively seeking to attract it. Several forms can be used for capital investing abroad: investment in a joint venture with a local firm, acquisition of a foreign firm (mergers acquisitions) or construction of a facility (wholly owned) (Ilgun, 2009). In order to create and improve bussiness climate Bosnia and Herzegovina accelerated Economic Reform process. The aim of BH is to eliminate legal and administrative obstacles for doing business in BH, as well as create the most attractive business environment in the SEE (FIPA). Many aspects of the regulatory quality reforms have stagnated over a number of years, making BiH among the least competitive economies in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. BiH currently ranks 131st out of 189 economies on the Doing Business indicators for 2014 (World bank). The business environment in BiH is the least friendly in the region, as it is burdene d by a large and complex public administration system and layers of administrative approval authorities which increases costs (World bank). World bank (2013) supports BiH’s business environment reforms and includes areas such as reducing the time and cost for registering a business, streamlining procedures for obtaining construction permits, and facilitating trade across borders shown in Figure 1. Based on IAB results (2010), countries tend to attract more FDI if they allow foreign ownership of companies in a variety of sectors, make start-up, land acquisition, and commercial arbitration procedures efficient and transparent, and have strong laws protecting investor interests. For instance, studies have shown that 70% of countries miss out on foreign investment due to deficiencies of investment promotion institutions in providing potential investors with accurate and up-todate information (IAB, 2010). These policies target improving BiH’s competitiveness, helping to facilitate the country’s dialogue with the EU on accession, and promoting economic growth. The May 2014 floods are estimated to have caused around US$2.9 billion in damages and losses, the equivalent of nearly 15 percent of GDP in 2014. Figure 1. Fastest and slowest countries for starting a foreign business. BiH is in a delicate position, caught between the â€Å"middle-income trap† (too poor to be a world-class innovator and service provider, but too rich to compete for low-cost manufacturing) and legacy issues on the one hand, and having the potential and opportunities to improve the business environment and attract more investment on the other (world bank, 2013). The main goal of BH is EU membership. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a potential candidate country for EU accession and BH has signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, which is a step toward EU membership (FIPA, 2012). Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), creating a free trade zone with access to a large consumer market. Also,the process of negotiation to join the World Trade Organisation is underway. Privatization in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an overall process, through which attractive investment opportunities are opened up to foreign investors in sectors such as the energy sector and telecommunications. Bosnia and Herzegovina is accelerating the privatization process for companies of strategic importance in order to increase economic growth and enhance the volume of foreign investment. The existence of free zone as part of the customs territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is specially fenced and marked and where business activities are carried out under special conditions in accordance with the Law on Customs Policy of BH and the Law on Free Zones of BH (FIPA). Any industrial, commercial or service activity, (banking, insurance and reinsurance of property and persons, etc.), can be carried out in the free zone. The users of free zone do not pay VAT and import customs, so investment in the free zone, transfer of profit and transfer of investment are free of charge. One of t he main reasons for investing in BH is also favorable tax system. Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the lowest rates of VAT (17%) in the region and Europe, as well as the very acceptable corporate tax rates that are also among the lowest in the region and Europe (10%) (FIPA). Bosnia and Herzegovina has Agreements on avoidance of double taxation with the following countries: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (FIPA). Agreements on Avoidance of Double Taxation, which mean that companies only have to pay tax in their home country, accelerate the flow of investments into the signatory countries, encourage joint ventures, create more investment opportunities, expedite the transfer of technology and constitute a legal framework to bolster economic cooperation and enhance strategic economic partnership (FIPA). With the purpose of facilitating trade, creating preconditions for the increase in exchange of goods (and particularly expor t), the creation of a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investments, Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded certain number of bilateral/multilateral free trade agreements. Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), in effect as of November 2007, with the following countries: Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, UNMIK/Kosovo (FIPA). BH has also signed a Free Trade Agreement with Turkey which provides additional free access to this consumer market with 70 million people. Bosnia and Herzegovina has 40 Agreements on Promotion and Protection of Investments with the following countries: Albania, Austrua, Belgium and Luxemburg, Belarus, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Netherlands, OPEC Fund, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and USA OPIC (FIPA). Foreign investors concerned about risks of transfer restrictions, expropriation, war and civil disturbances and denial o f justice, can be insured against these risks with the European Union Investment Guarantee Trust Fund for Bosnia and Herzegovina, administered by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA, member of the World Bank Group). According to the Central Bank of BH (CBBH) annual data shown in Figure 2. And Figure 3., total amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina till December 2013 was 11,044 million BAM or 11 billion BAM (5,647 million EUR or 5.6 billion EUR). The inflow of FDI in 2013 amounted to 418 million BAM (214 million EUR). Figure 2. Foreign currency reserves, in million euro Source: FIPA Figure 3. Flow of FDI in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by years, million â‚ ¬ Source: FIPA; *preliminary data withouth reinvested earnings The biggest amount of investments in BIH was made by companies from Austria (27.1 %) and Serbia (15.6%). Croatia (11.7%), Slovenia (11.4%), Switzerland (6.8%), Germany (5.5%), Russia (5%), The Netherlands (2.5%), Italy (2.1%), USA (1.9%), Turkey (1.3%), and other countries (9.1%) follow them (Table 1). Table 1. Top investor countries in BiH, Country Amount (Million Euro) Percent Austria 1,446 27.10% Serbia 832 15.60% Croatia 626 11.70% Slovenia 610 11.40% Switzerland 364 6.80% Germany 294 5.50% Russia 268 5.00% The Netherlands 134 2.50% Italy 114 2.10% USA 99 1.90% Turkey 68 1.30% Other Countries 487 9.10% TOTAL 5,300 100% Source: FIPA – Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012), Investment Opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, February 2012, Sarajevo. A part of the efforts aimed at attracting foreign investors, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliamentary Assembly adopted the Law on Foreign Direct Investments, which established political directions for favorable treatment of foreign investors and protection of their interests. Foreign investors enjoy the following benefits (APF 2009; FIPA 2012): Exemption from customs duties on investments; Unlimited right to open and keep an account in all commercial banks in the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in domestic or any other foreign convertible currency; The right of free and undisturbed foreign transfer of all income realized by investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina in all convertible currencies; Equal property rights with all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Protection from nationalization, expropriation, requisition, or measures with similar consequences; The right to employ foreign citizens in accordance with Bosnia and Herzegovina laws on labor and immigration. International Development Agency (IDA) and Investment Guarantee Agency (IGA) provide guarantees for protection from political risks for short term and medium term commercial transactions between Bosnia and Herzegovina companies and foreign companies, suppliers and banks. Conclusion The main advantage of FDI is its contribution to economic growth in host countries. The extent of such growth enhancing responses depends on country specific characteristics such as liberal trade regimes, accumulation of human and physical capital and macroeconomic stability (ilgun, 2009). Bosnia and Herzegovina is accelerating the privatization process for companies of strategic importance in order to increase economic growth and enhance the volume of foreign investment. BiH’s business environment reforms includes areas such as reducing the time and cost or registering a business, streamlining procedures for obtaining construction permits, and facilitating trade across borders. With the purpose of facilitating trade, creating preconditions for the increase in exchange of goods (and particularly export), the creation of a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investments, Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded certain number of bilateral/multilateral free trade agreements. Due to the good reputation and long industrial tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the manufacturing sector received the largest amount of FDI (32%). A significant share of investment has been in banking sector (22%). References APF Agency for Privatization in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, (2009), http://www.apf.com.ba Botric, V. (2010). Foreign Direct Investment in the Western Balkans: Privatization, Institutional Change and Banking Sector Dominance. Economic Annals. Voolume LN, No. 187. The Institute of Economics, Zagreb. Demekas, D.G., Horvath, B., Ribakova, E., Wu, Y. (2005). Foreign Direct Investement in Southeastern Europe: How (and How Much) Can Policies Help? IMF Wroking Paper. European Department. FIPA – Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012). Investment Opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. March 2012, Sarajevo. Investing Across Borders. (2010). Investment Climate Advisory Services. World Bank Group. Ilgun E., Coskun A. (2009). Foreign Direct Investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Banking sector example. Vol. 4. No. 2. Alatoo Academic Studies Malcolm, N. (2002). Bosnia: A short history, Pan Books, Pan Macmillian Ltd. London Penev, S. Rojec, M. (2004). Foreign Direct Investment and Investement Climate in South-East Europe. Economic Annals. Economic Institute, Belgrade. World Bank Group – Bosnia and Herzegovina Partnership: Country Program snapshoot. (2014). http://www.worldbank.org.ba 1

Female Sexuality & Desire in Chopins The Storm Essay -- Chopin Storm

Female Sexuality & Desire in Chopin's The Storm  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   In Kate Chopin's time traditional patriarchal notions about women and sexuality deemed sexual passion a negligible, even improper, aspect of women's lives. Yet Chopin boldly addresses a woman's sexual desire in her short story "The Storm". This story shockingly details a torrid extramarital sexual encounter between Calixta and Alcee` in the midst of a raging storm. While this story line could have been presented in a traditional light, perhaps as a lesson about the evils of uninhibited female sexuality, Chopin maintains a non-judgmental stance by refraining from moralizing about the sanctity of marriage or impropriety of Calixta's actions. In failing to condemn and even condoning Calixta's actions, as well acknowledging the existence and depth of sexual desire in women, Chopin imbues "The Storm" with a strong feminist tone and calls the very institution of marriage into question. The mere presence of Calixta's sexual desire and certainly its marked intensity make this story revolutionary in its feminist statement about female sexuality. Chopin uses the conceit of a thunderstorm to describe the development, peak, and ebbing of passion in the encounter between Calixta and Alcee`. At first, Calixta is unaware of the approaching storm, just as her sexual desire might be on an unconscious level; yet, as the storm approaches, Calixta grows warm and damp with perspiration. Chopin deliberately juxtaposes these two events when she writes that Calixta, "felt very warm...she unfastened her white saque at the throat. It began to grow dark and suddenly realizing the situation she got up and hurriedly went about closing windows and doors" (282). The gathering storm serves as ... ...s Chopin expresses in this story would certainly have seemed outrageous to her contemporary society and would have been grounds for an almost universal condemnation of Chopin and her work. She daringly celebrates female sexuality and uses this celebration as a feminist assertion about women's equal potentialities and rights to express themselves and experience pleasure. That "every one was happy" when the storm passed suggests that revolutionizing traditional concepts of gender and marriage will change everyone's, especially women's, lives for the better. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. "The Storm: A Sequel to 'The 'Cadian Ball'." Kate Chopin: The Awakening and Selected Stories. New York: Penguin, 1984. 281-86. Gilbert, Sandra M. "Introduction: The Second Coming of Aphrodite." Kate Chopin: The Awakening and Selected Stories. New York: Penguin, 1984. 7-33.   

Othello :: essays research papers

After reading Othello by Shakespeare over about 3 times, I came to feel sorry for a man that I can easily say was gulled into tragedy by his own purity. I can see Othello as a man that could sit at the ‘Round Table† with King Arthur and rank among those wonderous knights of chivalry. At his end, he had nothing. The Duke calls Othello ‘Valiant Othello’ (1057) Othello also stands ready to face Brabantio, Iago tells him to run. Othello - ‘Not I; I must be found. My parts, my title and my perfect soul Shall manifest me rightly. (1054) As grand as his internal characteristics are, he also stumbles with his own susceptibility to become betrayed. Othello also has no sense of grey. He sees things are either good or evil. To Cassio, Othello – ‘Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee, But never more be officer of mine’ (1078) For his one transgression, Cassio is stripped of his rank and cast aside. Othello seems to place his trust in people that have not demonstrated a reason to be mistrusted. Iago at no time gives cause to be mistrusted. Othello had to see the reason, something tangible. The external pressures on Othello are partially due to his being black. Iago starts his scheming of destruction using Othellos color against him, when he beckons Barbanito to action. Iago – Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise! Arise! (1051) This prejudice may have damaged his self-esteem, where he believed he was unworthy of Desdemona. Iago drops doubt in his mind, Othello begs for the suspicious thoughts. Othello – â€Å"By heaven, I’ll know thy thoughts.’ (1087) This opens the door to Iago’s deceit. Iago – ‘O, beware my lord of jealousy!†¦ which doth mock.’ (1087) Othello – ‘Farewell, Farewell,†¦.. Set on thy wife to observe. Leave me, Iago.’ (1089) Here is where the splinter drives deeper. From this point, there is more falls of the seal the fate of poor Othello. The mind bending Iago plants deep the seeds of wicked thoughts.

Art and Aesthetics Essay -- Art

Art and Aesthetics Art is usually referred to as the visual arts, where a piece of work is judged through the aesthetics in which it creates. However, art refers to all human endeavors, including the product of oneÂ’s creative impulse. In other words, art does not have to be innovative to be good. I believe art is the communication of an idea, be it visual, musical, communicative or other. Art is the interplay between the conscious and unconscious part of our being, between what is real and what is an illusion; it is the voice of our soul through color and form in a constant search for connection with something beyond. I think of art as the bridge between our souls and the physical world. I see art as both an interaction between our psychological existence and our cultural expression of that existence. Thus, this can include challenging and sometimes disturbing imagery as well as the aesthetically pleasing. The artist's conceptual vision and a personÂ’s ability to translate this to an audience is what transforms the ordinary experience to a historically and culturally significant event. Moreover, art has a purpose. It is a way of reaching out and sending out a message, of opening a different way of communicating something with others, in ways otherwise would not be possible to achieve. Culture definitely plays a big role on the different varieties of art we have in our world today. For example, Japanese adolescents can be seen spending hours of their spare time trying to create animated art, otherwise known as Ââ€Å"manga†. This form of art may not be acceptable to every culture, as it may be seen as being unrealistic childish nonsense. However, to these Japanese adolescents, Ââ€Å"manga† is a valuable work of art. Contemporaries like Andy Warhol may have a different definition of what art is. However, traditionalists may sneer upon WarholÂ’s creation of the CampbellÂ’s soup can as a work of art. Generally, an artistÂ’s surroundings and culture plays a big influence in the type of art he or she creates. Personally, my culture did not play a big role when I was in the midst of working on my artwork. Although I consider myself as an amateur when it comes to art, I believe that if you let your emotions and inspirations guide you, you would be able to produce a fine piece of art. This will make your piece of art original, as it would have come from deep within yours... ...of something to the person who tries to interpret it. Every piece of art is created through the knowledge of something, be it objective or subjective. For example, in an artistic way, a skilled craftsman would have a purpose and message in mind and he adapts and molds materials to fulfill this end. If he is to succeed in conveying his message, he needs to develop his expertise. There is a kind of craftsmanship and intelligence at work in the practice of his art. Whether a ship builder or weaver, he applies his practical knowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœhow, virtuosity, and talent in fashioning objects that he is creating, and he draws upon general principles which he applies to concrete cases. Moreover, art can help a person develop their critical senses. It could give a person an intuition for forming judgments and trying to decipher what the artwork is trying to portray. Knowledge provided by art is very distinct, as it deals with having a good sense of judgment and interpretation. In conclusion, there is no one true definition of art. Art is valued differently, depending on the individual. Different individuals have different views as to what art is; and as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Pentium history and specifications

Pentium Intel released its original Pentium Processor, also known as the Pentium 1, on March 22, 1993. The Pentium 1 replaced the Inte1486 as Intel's mainstream microprocessor for personal computing applications. While the Pentium 1 processors were specifically designed for use in desktop computers, later members of the Pentium family could accommodate laptops and other mobile devices. Reviewing some of the Pentium 1 ‘s specifications can help you better understand the microprocessor's capabilities.The name Pentium is originally derived from the Greek word pente (Tl†°vtE), meaning five† (as the original Pentium processors used Intel's fifth-generation microarchitecture, the PS), and the Latin ending -ium. The current Pentium processors only share the name but are in fact based on the same processor chips that are used in the Intel Core but are typically used with a lower clock frequency, a partially disabled L3 cache and some of the advanced features such as hyper- t hreading and virtualization disabled.History The original Pentium branded CPUs were expected to be named 586 or 1586, to follow he naming convention of previous generations (286, 1386, 1486). However, as the company wanted to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names (as AMD had done with their Am486), Intel attempted to file a trademark on the name in the United States, only to be denied because a series of numbers was not considered distinct. [3] Following Intel's previous series of 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486 microprocessors, the company's first PS-based microprocessor was released as the original Intel Pentium on March 22, 1993.Marketing firm Lexicon Branding was hired to coin a name for the new processor. The suffix -ium was chosen as it could connote a fundamental ingredient of a computer, like a chemical element,[4] while the prefix pent- could refer to the fifth generation of x86. [3] Due to its success, the Pentium brand would cont inue through several generations of high-end processors. In 2006, the name briefly disappeared from Intel's roadmaps,[5][6] only to re-emerge in 2007. [7] In 1998, Intel introduced the Celeron[8] brand for low-priced microprocessors.With the 2006 introduction of the Intel Core brand as the company's new flagship line of processors, the Pentium series was to be discontinued. However, due to a demand for mid-range dual-core processors, the Pentium brand was re-purposed to be Intel's mid-range processor series, in between the Celeron and Core series, continuing with the Pentium Dual- Core line. [9][10][11] In 2009, the â€Å"Dual-core† suffix was dropped, and new x86 microprocessors started carrying the plain Pentium name again. Specs clock SpeedThe original Intel Pentium 1 Processor could operate with a clock speed of either 66 MHZ or 60 MHZ. Bus speed refers to the speed at which a microprocessor's front-side bus or FSB can transmit data simultaneously. An FSB is the digital p athway that connects a microprocessor to the other components comprising a computer's motherboard. The higher a microprocessor's bus speed, the faster it can communicate with the rest of a computer system. The original, 1993 Intel Pentium 1 Processor could provide bus speeds of 66 MHz and 60 MHz, while the 1994 Pentium 1 could provide bus speeds of 6 MHZ, 60 MHZ and 50 MHZ.Manufacturing Process Intel manufactured the original Intel Pentium 1 Processor using an 0. 8-micron, bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor or BiCMOS circuit. This circuit integrates bipolar and CMOS transistors, allowing the Pentium 1 to perform faster and with more processing power than it could if using one type of transistor over the other. The later, 1994 version of the Pentium 1 also used BiCMOS technology. However, the size of this microprocessor's BiCMOS circuit was smaller, at either 0. or 0. 35 microns depending on the specific model.Transistor Count The original Intel Pentium 1 Processor has a transistor count of 3. 1 million, while the 1994 version had a transistor count of 3. 3 million. The number of transistors a microprocessor has correlates positively to how complex that microprocessor's integrated circuit is. A higher degree of circuit complexity translates to a higher processing performance. Storage Specs Both the original and 1994 Pentium 1 processors had Level 1 cache storage capacities f 8kB and addressable memory storage capacities of 46B.Also known as the primary cache, the Ll cache is a small, integrated storage location that a microprocessor can use to store and rapidly-access commonly-accessed data. Storing data in an Ll cache increases processing time by eliminating the need for the microprocessor to communicate directly with a computer's primary memory. Addressable memory, instead of making copies of actual data like an Ll cache, searches for data in a computer's primary memory and then makes copies of that data's location.

Early Risk Factors for Being a Bully, Victim, or Bully in Late Elementary

26 Nov. 2012 Early endangerment factors for macrocosm a swagger, victim, or hooligan/victim in late wide-eyed and aboriginal secondary education. The longitudinal cultivate hit the books By Danielle EMC Jansen, Rene Veenstra, Johan Ormel, Frank C Verhulst and Sijmen A Reijeveld This seek discusses the curve of earlyish risk factors on later(prenominal) betrothal in determent. In the beginning of the article, the authors mentioned that season bully is a serious worry in naturalise all oer the world, the most seekes on bullying direction on characteristics of children at the moment they already ar involved in bullying.Thus at that place ar h senile in data regarding the meet of early risk factors in bullying. They examined the influence of pre naturalize behaviors, family characteristics, and enate mental health on bullying and victimization. Their examination includes compassing data of family characteristics, conjure upal mental health and ex post factoly on childrens preschool behavior with survey method. Then, they heedful the schoolmates names for involvement of adolescents in bullying or victimization at bestride 11 and 13. 5.As the seek conclusion, signifier of aspects much(prenominal)(prenominal) as behavior in preschool, aroused problem, motor problem, socio-economic status, and family crock upup, atomic number 18 linked to the involvement in bullying at a later age. The authors emphasize that focal point on risk groups in early age enhances prevention of bullying and its consequences. In this article, the authors are indicating the problem that bullying is a signifi give the bouncet issue all everywhere the world, and that there are only limited evidence that associate features of children background forwards they were involved in bullying.As a consequence to this problem, the authors wanted to seek the risk factors peculiarly before children begin affable relationship. They designed their research to examine the impact of the childrens background during the preschool age on bullying at the early teen age. The study subjects family characteristics include parental mental health, and preschool behavioral, emotional problem and motor problem. I call back this research design is enamour for the beginning of the problem. The ethods of sampling they use were survey and companion nomination from schoolmates survey is to measure childrens background in preschool hood, peer nomination is to measure involvements in bullying as macrocosm bully, bully/victim, or victim. I assume that the sampling methods are appropriate because there are limited contaminations such as experimenters bias or base rate problems. The likely contradictory variables are gender, diagnoses of development disorders, stress level, and explanation of heredity mental disease by means of family. When measuring the behavior, the gender is al slipway the possible confounding variable.Boys and Girls have different prefer ences of toys, ways of playing, and tension level. The diagnoses of development disorders such as ADD or ADHD are major confounding variables for the measuring childrens behavior as considerably. The main confinement of the data collection was that they used retrospective reports of preschool behavior. As a result, parental report may have been affected by inaccuracies in their memory. Other than that, I could imagine that the data gathering method is good and also valuable because the results were based on facts.As a result of their research, preschool children with aggressiveness were to a greater extent(prenominal) likely to be a bully, bully/victim, and victim. Preschool children with good motor skill were more likely to be bully and little likely to be victim. Children from low socioeconomic status families were more likely to be bully, bully/victim, and victim. Children from intact two parent families were more likely to be unaffectionate in bullying. after considering t he entire research outcomes, the authors concluded that certain aspects from children in preschool are related to involvement in bullying at a later age.Thus I could say that the evidence substantiated this conclusion. Focusing on risk at an early age can enhance the prevention of bullying. The research results are very interesting and informative. It helped me as a parent, to realize the importance of preschool social and environmental factors of bullying at later ages. I chose this article for the discussion on this short paper because I am interested in parenting techniques. The way to heave children without involvement of bullying, neither being a bully nor a victim.I do not want my children to get involved with both fears or sadness in school caused by bullying. I believe umpteen often parents feel the same way. I have never experienced either aspect of bullying during my early school age. However I have comprehend of many stories about bullying in our school and resulted in psychological harm or injury. I believe that being strong physically and emotionally are very important to escape from bullies. association sports clubs is one of the great ways to fabricate stronger physically and emotionally.My four year old son, has recently has joined a flagstone football team. Being a penis of this team will help him obtain the physical ability and emotional development. After he go steadyed how to efficiently visitation faster and move quickly, he achieved well during the games. When he did well during games, he was encourage by positive feedbacks from adults. The positive feedback from adults is effective tools that will help him earn up confidence. some other great aspect of being a part of sports team is the hazard to gain social skill such as fairness, care, respect, and responsibility.Being a fair and real player is very important for sportsmanship. Coaches and onetime(a) players are always encouraging children to be fair and trustworthy. Practicing with the same teammates two to triplet times a week helps children to build a powerful trust and rent great relationship with their teammates. Children can learn many lessons from small societies like a sports team to prepare for their real life. Another thing that I learned from this research article is the importance of family environment.I realize that children are very sensitive to their family characteristics and affected advantageously from negative family factors such as fight among parents and family break ups. I remembered the time when I was a child, I hated when my mystify and father were arguing in preceding of me. I was sad and unhappy sense of hearing their fighting voices. Thus I can easily imagine how sad to be in the middle of parental difference of opinion in their childhood. To provide the environment without care from parental conflicts, mental issues or family break up is very important for demonstrate a strong and mentally electrostatic pe rson.