Robert Frost Home Burial - The Insensitive, Selfish Husband Essay

The Insensitive, Selfish Husband of Home Burial  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Even in the closest of relationships, the death of a baby can separate and form a wedge between a husband and wife. Husbands and wives tend to handle the process of mourning differently, not only because of the differences between male and female, but also because of personality and the social molding in one's upbringing. In the poem, "Home Burial," Robert Frost gives a glimpse of the conflicts caused by non-communication and misunderstanding between a husband and wife upon the death of their first and only child. Their conflict is rooted in part in the husband's selfishness, revealed by his insensitivity, narrow-mindedness, and pride. The husband's selfishness is reflected in his unconscious insensitivity to his wife's feelings. The death of a child is extremely hard for anyone to deal with, but it seems to be an impossible task for the man's wife Amy. Even in just walking down the stairs from a window overlooking their family graveyard, her frequent "Looking back over her shoulder at some fear" (3) is a sign of Amy's inability to let go of her emotional hurt. The husband seems to be blind to her concern, for he has to ask her, "What is it you see / From up there always?for I want to know" (6?7). It is not until he goes to the window and looks out for awhile that he finally makes the connection that his wife is hurting from the sight of ". . . the child's mound?" (30). Amy tries to run away from confrontation with her grief, for she ". . . slid[es] downstairs; And turn[s] on [her husband] with . . . a daunting look, . . ." (32?33). The air between them might have begun to clear if her husband had not lost his temp er and lashed out saying, "Can't a man speak o... ...ring you back by force. I will!?" (116). His prideful male instinct of leadership cannot take her rebellion, and her assertive independence takes her right out the door. The difficulty of men understanding women and women understanding men can probably be traced back to creation. When life adds such things as death on top of individual personality traits, the balance in a marriage often teeters. In his personal views and ideals, the husband in Frost's poem has begun to build a brick wall between Amy and himself. Since his understanding of Amy and her grief has not moved beyond the point of self, he might be close to placing the last brick in the wall.    Works Cited Frost, Robert. "Home Burial." Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing.2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990. 144?47.   

Abdul Basit

Introduction McShane and Von Glinow state that â€Å"the best organizational structure depends on the organization’s external environment, size, technology, and strategy† (409). To identify the best organizational structure for Protege Engineering, I will first determine what ‘Organizational Structure’ means. In a second step I will analyze its elements and carve out the important components for the considered organization. Finally I will provide a conclusion and recommendation.Organizational Structures In general, organizational structure is related to the way that an organization organizes employees and jobs, so that its work can be performed and its goals can be met. McShane and Von Glinow define ‘Organizational Structure’ in more detail; they state that organizational structure â€Å"refers to the division of labor as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities† (386).To understand what this means we will have a look at each component. The division of labor is related to the â€Å"subdivision of work into separate jobs assigned to different people† (McShane and Von Glinow 386). The patterns of coordination refer to the coordinating of work activities between the employees where they divide work among themselves. This process requires coordinating mechanism to ensure the workflow, which means that everyone works in concert (McShane and Von Glinow 386).The primary means of coordination are informal communication which involves â€Å"sharing information on mutual tasks and forming common mental models to synchronize work activities†, Formal hierarchy which refers to the â€Å"assigning legitimate power to individuals, who then use this power to direct work processes and allocate resources†, and Standardization which involves the â€Å"creating routine patterns of behavior or output† (McShane and Von Glinow 387).We can admit that informal communication is necessary in no routine and ambiguous situations because employees can exchange large volume of information through face-to-face communication and other media-rich channels. Therefore informal communication is important for Protege Engineering because their work involve new and novel situations when developing specific solutions for each client. Even if informal communication is difficult in large firms it can be possible when keeping each production site small (McShane and Von Glinow 388).Now, that we identified what organizational structure means, and that informal communication is necessary for Protege Engineering, we need some more information of how structures differ from each other. McShane and Von Glinow state that â€Å"every company is configured in terms of four basic elements of organizational structure†; namely: span of control, centralization, formalization, and departmentalization (390). Further on, I will explain these four elements and carve out what this means for Protege Engineering.The span of control â€Å"refers to the number of people directly reporting to the next level hierarchy† (McShane and Von Glinow 390). Today’s research found out that a wider span of control (many employee directly reporting to the management) is more appropriate especially for companies with staff members that coordinate their work mainly through standardized skills and do not require close supervision – like the highly skilled employees of Protege Engineering (McShane and Von Glinow 390-391).However, McShane and Von Glinow also state that a wider span of control is possible when employees have routine jobs and a narrow span of control when people perform novel jobs. This statement is based on the need for frequent direction and supervision. Another influence on the span of control is the degree of interdependence among employees. Employees that perform highly interdependent work with one anoth er need a narrow span of control because they tend to have more conflicts with one another.I assume that the employees working for Protege Engineering do not require close supervision because they are highly educated – have university degrees in these fields and a few have doctorates; therefore, a wider span of control allows the employees to work in self-directed teams that coordinate mainly through informal communication and formal hierarchy plays a minor role (McShane and Von Glinow 390-391). Centralization â€Å"occurs when formal decision authority is held by a small group of people† (McShane and Von Glinow 393).Companies often decentralize when they become larger and their environment more complex; however, â€Å"different degrees of decentralization can occur simultaneously in different party of the organization†. In my opinion, the power of decision-making should be decentralized in the considered company because the mentioned projects demand highly spec ialized knowledge, which cannot be provided by the head of the organization. Formalization â€Å"is the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanism† (McShane and Von Glinow 393).Usually larger organizations tend to have more formalization because â€Å"direct supervision and informal communication among employees do not operate easily when larger numbers of people are involved†. Notwithstanding that Protege Engineering employs about 600 individuals, I assume that a high degree of formalization is not appropriate because their jobs cannot be standardized, every project is customized to the client and has therefore novel and new components.Another evidence against formalization is, that formalization tends to â€Å"reduce organizational flexibility, organizational learning, creativity and job satisfaction†, which the employees of Protege Engineering definitely need (McShane and Von Glinow 409 ). Regarding the first three elements of organizational structure we can admit that Protege Engineering should have an organic structure because organizations with â€Å"organic structures operate with a wide span of control, decentralized decision making, and little formalization† (McShane and Von Glinow 395).This structure works well in dynamic environments because they are very flexible to change, more compatible with organizational learning, high performance workplaces, and â€Å"quality management because they emphasize information sharing and an empowered workforce rather than hierarchy and status† (McShane and Von Glinow 395). Departmentalization â€Å"specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together† like presented in an organizational chart of the organization (McShane and Von Glinow 395).A functional structure organizes organizational members around specific knowledge or other resources, which enhances specialization and direct supervi sion; however, functional structure weakens the focus on the client or product (McShane and Von Glinow 396-397). A functional structure would not support Protege Engineering because the success of this company highly depends on especially developed products for its clients; therefore, this organization should focus on the satisfaction of its clients rather than focusing on organizing employees around specific resources.A divisional structure organizes groups of employees around geographic areas, clients or products in very flat team-based structures with low formalization. This structure seems to be very appropriate for Protege Engineering because it focuses employee’s attention on products or clients and self-directed teams with low formalization. However, there are some disadvantages that need to be considered, like duplicating resources and creating silos of knowledge. Conclusion and Recommendation In the introduction I stated that the best organizational structure depends on the organization’s external environment, size, technology, and strategy.We found out that Protege Engineering should have an organic organizational structure because a wide span of control, decentralized decision-making, and little formalization will organizes employees and jobs so that Protege Engineering work can best be performed and its goals can best be met. Furthermore, McShane and Von Glinow give the advice that â€Å"corporate leader should formulate and implement strategies that shape both characteristics of the contingencies as well as the organization’s resulting structure† (409). This advice is very valuable because the structure of an organization should follow its strategy and not vice versa. . Many organizations think that they integrate organizational cultures when merging or acquiring other companies. Explain what does integrating organizational cultures means? Under what conditions is this strategy most likely to succeed? Case 6: Merging Or ganizational Cultures Introduction Every organization has its own culture. According to McShane and Von Glinow organizational culture stands for â€Å"the values and assumptions shared within an organization† (416). When companies are merging with, or acquiring, other companies the likelihood is very high that the organizational cultures differ from each other.To avoid that the new company ends up with two different cultures, there need to be any kind of integrating organizational cultures. First I will explain what integrating organizational cultures means and second I will present the conditions under which this strategy is most likely to succeed. Finally, I will provide a conclusion and recommendation. Merging Organizational Culture The necessity of merging organizational cultures becomes clear when regarding that failures to coordinate activity, based on cultural conflict, contribute to the widespread failure of corporate mergers (Weber and Camerer 412).Differences in cul ture in an organization lead to consistent decreased performance for both employees after the merger, and there is an evidence of conflict from the differences in culture, which could be a possible source for the high turnover rate following mergers (Weber and Camerer 412). McShane and Von Glinow also state that â€Å"most mergers and acquisitions fail in terms of subsequent performance of the merged organization† and that this happens because leaders fail â€Å"to conduct due-diligence of the corporate cultures† (426).At this point, we can admit that some forms of integration may allow companies with different cultures to merge successfully. One strategy in avoiding cultural collisions is to conduct a bicultural audit. A bicultural audit is â€Å"a process of diagnosing cultural relations between companies and determining the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur† (McShane and Von Glinow 427). The bicultural audit identifies cultural differences an d determines those that possibly result in conflict. In addition, it also identifies values that provide a common ground on which cultural foundations can be built.Finally, it identifies strategies and prepares action plans to bring the two merging cultures together (McShane and Von Glinow 427). In some cases the bicultural audit may identify that the two cultures are too different to merge effectively; however, the companies can still form a workable union, if appropriate merger strategies are applied (McShane and Von Glinow 427). Like the following illustration shows, McShane and von Glinow provide four main strategies to merge different corporate cultures successfully. Figure 4: Strategies for MergingDifferent Organizational Cultures Source: McShane and Von Glinow 428. The first strategy is Assimilation, which â€Å"occurs when employees at the acquired company willingly embrace the cultural values of the acquiring organization† (McShane and Von Glinow 427). This strategy is most likely to succeed when the employees of the acquired company are looking for improvement because they have a weak, dysfunctional culture and the acquiring company has a strong culture, which is aligned with the external environment (McShane and Von Glinow 427).The second strategy is Deculturation, which means that the acquiring company is â€Å"imposing their culture and business practices on the acquired organization† (McShane and von Glinow 428). However, this strategy rarely works because employees usually resist organizational change, especially regarding personal and cultural values. Sometimes deculturation may be necessary; for example, when the culture of the acquired company does not work effectively (McShane and von Glinow 428). The third strategy – and the strategy which the given case is asking for – is the Integration Strategy.This strategy is a combination of â€Å"the two or more cultures into a new composite culture that preserves the bes t features of the previous cultures† (McShane and Von Glinow 428). That sounds like a good compromise, but the integration strategy is â€Å"slow and potentially risky because there are many forces preserving the existing cultures† (McShane and Von Glinow 428). McShane and Von Glinow also state that â€Å"mergers typically suffer when organizations with significantly divergent corporate cultures merge into a single entity with a high degree of integration† (McShane and Von Glinow 427).This strategy works best when both sides can benefit from an integration strategy; for example, when the existing cultures of both companies are not optimal and could use some improvements. The negative aspects of the integration strategy – for example being very time-consuming – result from the employees being resistant to changes, or ambiguous rules which are also a source of conflict and often occur during mergers and acquisitions (McShane and Von Glinow 335).Howeve r, the integration strategy, which is the most effective combination of all existing cultures, is most likely to succeed when the â€Å"existing cultures can be improved† and members of the organization â€Å"are motivated to adopt a new set of dominant values† (McShane and Von Glinow 428). The fourth strategy is separation, which â€Å"occurs when the merging companies agree to remain distinct entities with minimal exchange of culture or organizational practices† (McShane and Von Glinow 428).This strategy is most suitable when the merging organizations operate in different industries or countries because cultures differ between industries and countries (McShane and Von Glinow 428). Conclusion and Recommendation The integration process of merging companies is a combination of the existing cultures into a new culture that maintains the best features of the previous cultures, and it is most likely to succeed when existing cultures already need improvement so that employees are motivated to accept change.This strategy is particularly challenging when the members of the organization are satisfied with their previous culture because they will be resistant to change. Another very important factor for the success of mergers is the level of commitments made by the employees. Therefore, employees should be brought into the process as early as possible (Badrtalei and Bates 314).

Banking System of China Essay

The Chinese banking system is said to be undergoing some tremendous change in the wake of the emergence of China as a major player in the global economy. This is so after several years of state ownership and communism that was so prevalent in the country. The reforms in the Chinese banking system commenced in the 1980’s to date. The structure of the Chinese banking system initially was monolithic with the People’s Bank of China being the only bank allowed to do banking business in the country as its Central Bank. But this changed in the early 1980’s when the Chinese government allowed some state owned banks that were specialized to start doing banking businesses and taking deposits. The banks licensed included: Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. This were the pioneer specialized banks in China and in 1994, there was the establishment of new banks whose purpose was policy specific lik e the China Development Bank, Export Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). These banks have a varying ownership degree by the public that was done through the initial public offers but despite this, the majority shareholder of these banks is still the Chinese government. Several joint stock commercial banks and city c commercial banks have been licensed to operate in China. The government of China has also licensed banks that are dedicated to develop the rural centers of China. Foreign banks have also been allowed to operate in China. As of 2010, the total of the assets of the Chinese banking system were 14 trillion dollars. The four specialized banks in China at that time controlled 48 percent of these assets. The main regulatory body that controls the banking system is the CBRC (China Banking Regulatory Commission) that is charged with the responsibility of making rules and regulation of China banks CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The CBRC is in charge of oversight and collects banking statistics to be used in the process of approval of bank expansion. It also goes a long way in solving the potential solvency and liquidity issues that might trouble banks. This People’s Bank of China while acting as China’s Central bank has quite an authority over the Chinese banking system. This includes the typical role played by the central bank of representation on international monetary forums and maintenance of monetary policy. Its other roles are the reduction of risk and promotion of financial stabilit y of the system. The PBC is also responsible lending regulation and the exchange of foreign currency between banks. It supervises settlement and payment system in the country. The Chinese banking system does not consist of a deposit insurance where the depositors are protected from the loss of their funds in case the banks get wound up. However reforms are underway to ensure that Chinese depositors are able to get insured for their deposits. In the beginning of 2009, the Chinese government encouraged a large credit boom in order to offset the possible effects of the global financial crisis. The larger part of this credit was used to finance infrastructure and construction of real estate which helped China to grow by forty five percent between 2008 and 2013. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund’s credit reports increase to 200 percent with much of it coming from bonds, loans and non-bank financing equivalent to 13 trillion dollars. Out of the 200 percent increase, non-bank financing accounted for two thirds of the total CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). This meant that the flow of credit was not from regulated Chinese banks but from Chinese financial institutions. The Chinese shadow banking system which has evolved over this period comprises of several layers which include capital markets, non-banking financial institutions and the informal sector. Review of Literature Globalization is a multifaceted term and deals with all the social, political and economic issues in the developed and developing world. The world has seen many changes in the form of innovation, technological advancements and economic prosperity. One of the major shifts in the current era has been the creation of a world with no boundary. This has resulted into integration of technology and modernization of production and working methods. This paper presents an in depth analysis on determining who have benefited from globalization in China. The term ‘globalization’ has been a concept which has integrated in the world of current times. Globalization pertains to the growing relationships of people, culture, and economic activity on the global level. The term is often utilized to refer to the perspective of economic globalization: it is the production and distribution of the services and goods on the global platform and takes place with the help of the reduced obstacles of international trade. These trade barriers include the export fees, tariffs, and import quotas, and also comprise of the free movement of investment and capital in the entire world. There are many ways countries that have benefited from globalization in China CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The impacts of trade brought by globalization could be seen by the diffusion of the art of glass making in China from Western. Religious ideology spread quickly in all directions through globalization. Mercantilism for instance spread fro m the West to the East through globalization. The easy flow of ideas, art and culture resulted in economic, cultural and social vibrancy that was unmatched anywhere else in the world. Globalization has made China’s economy the fastest growing economy with an average of 9 percent of growth in the last three decades. China has the largest volume of goods imported and exported throughout the global market. Provinces at the coasts of China are more industrialized and developed than those in the hinterland. It is for this reason that China has a substantial influence on the world economy because of the large volume of trade. The most valuable sector of China’s economy is industry and agriculture CITATION Moo99 l 1033 (Moore, 1999). The Agricultural output has been adversely affected by erratic and sporadic weather of East Asia. The industrial sector in China has advanced more than the agricultural sector in China because of incomes, technology and labor productivity. The differences in the two sectors of the economy are the reason for the social, economic and cultural disparity between the urban and rural areas. China is the leading producer of mineral an d industrial products like coal and oil. According to statistics, China has achieved a growth level of 10.9%, which is quite a massive growth. With this rapid growth, people are now quite able to achieve higher living standards which can be observed in China where people can now be more luxurious in the goods they buy over the inferior ones CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The government of China can now provide timely and more efficient services for everyone’s wellbeing. This is as a result of more people being able to pay their taxes as there are more employment opportunities. The availability of more revenue has enabled them to improve on the medical healthcare facilities and education. This not only has private benefit, but a healthy population can be more productive due to the increased life expectancy. With increasing globalization, Western Europe established favorable for trade and entrepreneurship through its educated workforce working in China. The development of infrastructural linkages in China favors trading in the region. This process has enhanced the rate of international trade of different services and goods. The production processes have been broken down into various stages separated by the geographical boundaries and is conducted on large scale. Moreover, an enormous expansion in the manufacturing exports has occurred from many developing countries. All these factors have created new opportunities and possibilities for the developing regions of the world.   For instance, during 1900s, the Japan and China experienced an increasing market share while the rest of the world witnessed the export share to be decreasing. China’s globalization has also enhanced the participation of the developing world in FDI expansion. Due to the boosting of financial expansion in the industrial world, the developing nations have also obtained a platform to give their contributions in the financial world and enjoy the advantages of modern concepts CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). Globalization in China has encouraged increased flight of capital and ideas to other countries like Korea and Japan which have increased their inventiveness and expertise through the hiring of fresh and innovative human resources from the developed nations. Moreover, they are able to avail the opportunities of investing in the developed regions of the world as well as attracting newer investments from other parts of the world CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). China’s globalization has in turn influenced the neighboring countries. India for instance has picked a few lessons from China and has adopted a more open economy in the process. This has in the process transformed the nation as regards to development and creation of opportunities in the global scale for most multi-national companies. Globalization in China has resulted in an increased level of trade of China with other countries that are in different parts of the globe. Its recent growth has led to the revi val of Japan’s economy and in the process saving them from recession thus averting a serious global downturn. With the huge population figures in China, it has provided markets for American companies and their products. This has led to the flow of income from the U. S to China. The exported cheap products that are produced in the US has resulted in the increase of job opportunities thus an improvement of the living standards of the Americans and other countries nationals who are in active trade with China. With globalization China has been able to export some of its products to markets like the U.S thus managing to keep the level of inflation and interest rates down in the process prolonging the economic boom in America CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The success of globalization in China has led to decreased cases of wars and conflict in the globe. China is often a quiet participant in global conflict and its lack of interest in conflict has been beneficial to the global stage. With globalization it has managed to steer away from instances of tug of wars with the other global super powers. It does not sponsor insurgencies in conflict prone areas like the Middle East Asia and Latin America unlike other superpowers. It has by all means through globalization supported the global financial institutions like the IMF in assisting the poor CITATION Moo99 l 1033 (Moore, 1999). As a result of this, third world countries have benefited the most from China’ s generosity as regards to funding and sponsoring of development projects in their countries. In recent time China has been an active participant in the African scene f infrastructure with most of the projects in these countries being sponsored and conducted by China. This in esse nce shows Africa as the direct benefactor of globalization in China. China has been able to provide loans to these countries and in the process has strengthened ties with these nations. The concept of globalization has also proven to be a friend to the developing world by providing it the chances to stand in the line of competitors and thus, aim on attaining efficiency and competitive advantage Methodology The non-banking financial institutions constitute the larger part and they are subject to regulatory oversight. The oversight involves various degrees that include direct loans for surfeit funds from companies to trade credit or other borrowers, wealth management products and trust companies, pawn shops, micro credit providers, over 3000 private and equity providers partly funded by private investors, consumer credit institutions, and financial guarantors to finance companies. The capital markets allow institutional investors and insurance companies to by debt and equity securities. The informal sector poses as a major risk for the Chinese economy because it involves direct lending between secretive and individual lending which is often conducted by illegal loan sharks like back lane bankers and unrestrained capitalists who offer loans at high interests to small business enterprises. What drives this tremendous growth of the Chinese shadow banking system is the regulation and structu re of the country’s financial system. China’s credit markets is dominated by four major banks that are controlled by the state and focus on lending to government associated firms , enterprises owned by the state and projects with official sanctions. This makes it quite difficult for other businesses to gain access to bank credit which triggers shadow banking to fill this gap. This exemplifies a popular saying in Chinese culture which asserts that’ countermeasures come from below while policies come from above. There is immense risk that is associated China’s shadow banking system which questions the longevity of the Chinese financial welfare. Although it may be difficult to ascertain the exact size of the Chinese shadow banking system, it is evidently growing rapidly and accounts for approximately 70 to 100 percent of the country’ GDP CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). A major problem is that most of the financial guarantors and trust companies of the Chinese shadow banking system often lack enough capital. This forces them into an average leverage that is twenty times their worth given that most of the investments are of high nature. More so, the detail as to what exactly the investor will use the funds for is not clear. There is ambiguity regarding how to enforce security interests and due diligence by the investment enterprise or sponsor and the rights if the investor and borrower. The controls and oversight of the shadow banking system are weak since it operates with regulations that are limited. Main Issues/ Findings The share of lending by Chinese banks has now decreased from ninety percent over the past ten year to fifty percent showing how much the Chinese economy now relies on the shadow banking system as a vital financial source. This has mostly affected the local governments, small and medium sized enterprises and property companies. This interconnection between conventional banking systems and the shadow banking system lead to the creation of moral hazards and additional risk based on regulatory reasons CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The banks often use the shadow banking system when shifting loan assets from their window financial statements and balance sheets for investors and regulators. For example, when Chinese banks are not able to lend funds at high interests to companies, they use Wealth Management Products and Trust Companies. They also create products of investment for investors looking for higher returns thereby acting as an intermediate between borrowers and savers Chine se banks has thus used shadow banking investment products like Security Brokers and Trust Companies to maintain the earnings and market share through the commissions and fees from the products. Currently, there has been an increase on the number of Wealth Management Products issued by Chinese banks has increased from roughly 100 billion dollars to 3 trillion dollars CITATION Kuh12 l 1033 (Kuhn & Yang, 2012). Shadow banking has caused uneven credit quality of many borrowers in the market. This is because of the variability in collateral used to secure loans. Although most of the wealth management products are invested as bond markets, interbank deposits and money markets whose large proportion is secured through real estate. The problem with real estate is that the investors are highly vulnerable to losses because property values fluctuate every now and then. This exposes them to high negative risk. There are also other risky forms of collateral in shadow banking which include invaluable commodities and industry machinery and other exotic forms like graveyards that also expose businesses to risk. Most importantly is the fact that the collaterals pledged may not even be in existence CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). A good example is that of Wealth Management Product the Golden Elephant Number 38 which was secured by a deserted housing estate located in rice filed within th e Jiangxi Province of China. This Wealth Management Product offered 7.2 percent to its investors on an annual basis. The collaterals used also entail substantial mismatches whereby long term assets are financed by short term funds that do not generate any income. This poses a liquidity crisis for the financial system and the conduit vehicles which face constant periodic payments and other refinance requirements. This is evidenced by the huge 660 billion dollars’ worth of trust products that have matured as of 2014. The linkages between bank and shadow banking system in China are quite complex in nature. There are different transactions between the different shadow banking institutions. China growing concern over the debt accrued is complicated by the fact that there has been an increase in the rate of borrowing by most of its local government and the important role the shadow banking system plays in this economy. This is quite undermines the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit and highlights the huge problems in China’s system of finance. The relaxation measures taken by the central government in the wake of 2007/2008 financial crisis led to increased government expenditure in an endeavor to increase economic activity. The legal limitation is that the local governments in China are not allowed to ask for any form of funding or rather borrowing. This was after the creation of Urban Development Investment Companies (UDIC) that was allowed to ask for any form of funding the local government need. Ideally, UDIC’s are allowed to ask for funding from banks but the recent action by banks to reduce on loans led them to borrow from the shadow banking system. This has thus resulted in the local banks being left in the dark as there are disputes on the exact figure of borrowings made despite the growing level of scrutiny revolving the issue CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). There has been an increased rate of borrowing, misappropriation of funds and servicing of debts due to prices of property increasing in China. The growing concern by the lenders is more likely to reduce the availability of credit and as a result leading to a restrained cash flow. It can be said that the rise of the shadow banking has emerged from the structured financial system that is regulated. The limited access to funds and credit in bank has led to the emergence of shadow banking as the alternative solution to access credit. The regulation by the government in terms of deposits and interest rates has contributed majorly to the growth of shadow banking. The loss of purchasing power by consumers has led them to opt for the high interest rates offered by shadow banks CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The Chinese central government has been on the offence through curtailing of expansion of credit through making reduction in loan quotas thus to a large extend limiting lending to certain sectors in the long run encouraging the growth of shadow banking. The shadow banking system is multi-faceted where there is lending in the informal sector say between individuals and underground lending through shylocks who offer high rates of interest on loans to small businesses. This can be seen as some form of harassment to the small businesses where they incur the high costs of interest rates charged to them by this shadow banking system. The problems by this shadow banking system are aggravated by the fact that this shadow banking system in China is made up of non-banking financial institutions like leasing companies, finance companies and guarantors that are supposed to be regulated. The dominating products in the non-banking institution sector are wealth management products. These trust companies thrive in financing riskier transactions and borrowers who banks cannot do business with because of the strict regulations that come with them. These companies raise money from investors who then invest in securities and loans. The attractions of such investments are the high returns in comparison to bank deposits. The financing of local government projects of infrastructure come from trust funds because of the reluctance of the Central bank to limit the local government financing. A common feature of China’s shadow banking is the working relationship they have with banks. The banks act as an agent in loan from one financial institution to another. Short term government debts interest is administered by the respective Central bank of that particular country. This is so because the sole role of the Central government is the maintenance of economic growth and price stability CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). With lower interest rates then there is economic growth this is because of the affordability of credit as the people are able to service their loans and debts at low costs. From Statistics of the Chinese Central Bank, there has been a steady decline and rise in the interest rate in China for the last decade. This could be attributed to the public outcry in the country calling for effective and efficient monetary policy measures by their respective departments of finance. These measures have thus maintained the interest rates to a bare min imum thus enabling the stable economic growth in China. The GDP growth rate figures are an indication of the wealth produced per capita in an economy. This then determines the levels of foreign direct investment that are attracted to an economy. A high GDP and growth rate like that of China shows a growing economy thus a high attraction rate for investors in the country CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The high inflation rate in China erodes the purchasing power of the consumers. The inflation rate of China serves as an economic indicator of the economic direction of the country except for special global cases like Japan that despite low and negative inflation rates show no growth rate. ConclusionFrom this analysis therefore, it is clear that the economic policies and issues of the Chinese economy is determined by various economic variables provided by the Central Bank of China which plays a vital role to ensure the full realization of the economic vision. The central bank’s monetary role and the governments’ fiscal policy role determine the economic development. With a proper and effective economic policies then the economic development agendas can be easily arrived atCITATION nte06 l 1033 (International Monetary Fund, 2006). Shadow banking has grown in China and it is now rivaling conventional banking systems and this has made the country a focal point regarding macroeconomic attention. There is a lot of speculation as to whether or not China’s economy will slow down and eventually cause critical financial upshot as a result of shadow banking CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). Consequently, this has become a serious issue that has gained global concern. In the beginning of 2009, the Chinese government encouraged a large credit boom in order to offset the possible effects of the global financial crisis. The larger part of this credit was used to finance infrastructure and construction of real estate which helped China to grow by forty five percent between 2008 and 2013. References Claessens, S., & Kodres, L. E. (2014). The Regulatory Responses to the Global Financial Crisis: Some Uncomfortable Questions. New York: International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund. (2006). Progress in China’s Banking Sector Reform: Has Bank †¦, Issues 2006-2071. Kuhn, R. L., & Yang, L. (2012). China’s Banking and Financial Markets: The Internal Research Report of the Chinese Government. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Looney, R. E. (2013). Handbook of Emerging Economies. New York: Routledge. Moore, T. G. (1999). China and Globalization. Asian Perspective, 65-85. Yen, J., Lai, K. K., & Wang, M. (2014). China’s Financial Markets: Issues and Opportunities. New York: Routledge. Source document

Laws and Regulations Essay

Introduction British Petroleum is the US’s largest corporation. One of the largest oil producers, BP services globally for billions of dollars each year. BP distributes oil and natural gas all over the world. British Petroleum has run into several problems with federal regulations over many years. Because of safety issues against the communities OSHA had to investigate many times for oil spills and natural gas leaks. Coca Cola is also one of the largest company beverage companies on the world. Coca Cola was used at first to cure addicts but the n it was revamped and used for making drinks for everyone. Like BP, Coca Cola had its issues with the law as well. They have been accused of violating human rights, pesticides in the groundwater, and finding cancer causing chemicals in the soft drinks. In 2008 it was concluded that Coca Cola was in direct violation FDA for health risk. We will compare and contrast the risks of safety regulations, OSHA violation, product safety and liability, workers compensation, and workplace data security and property protection from Coca Cola and British Petroleum. OSHA The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970 is a federal regulation that establishes and enforces health and safety policy in the workplace (Goetsch, 2008). It covers private sector employers and employees and encourages states to participate in health and safety programs. States that participate receive half of its funding from the federal government (OSHA.gov, 2011). In the advent of increasing awareness and training of health and safety, company safety representatives must be up-to-date on laws, regulations and liability. The OSH Act requires employers to maintain statistical health and safety records and to report occupational illnesses and injuries under certain conditions at each company location. The reporting conditions are the following: â€Å"Death of one or more workers, one or more days away from work, restricted motion or restrictions to the work that an employee can do, loss of consciousness of one or more workers, transfer of an employee to another job, medical treatment beyond in-house first aid (if it is not on the first-aid list, it is considered medical treatment), and any other condition listed in Appendix B of the rule† (Goetsch, 2008, p. 121). Employers are responsible for informing employees about health and safety practices, laws, and regulations. OSHA regulations apply to BP and Coca-Cola with some deviation because of the nature of the business. OSHA regulations include general industry standards and it provides health and safety training programs for employees and employers. In the last few years, BP has been under much scrutiny. OSHA fined BP $87.4m for safety violations that led up to the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion (Walter, 2009). In 2010, BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill is still under investigation by the government. Insiders blame the spill on BP’s decision to shortcut procedures and skip a quality test (Casselman & Gold, 2010). Unlike BP, Coca-Cola received OSHA recognition in 2009 for having the highest employee safety and health standards at its Milesburg, PA site (OSHA.gov, 2009). Worker’s Compensation According to Goetsch (2008) â€Å" the concept of worker’s compensation developed as a way to allow injured employees to be compensated appropriately without having to take their employer to court† (Overview of Worker’s Compensation, p. 174). British Petroleum (BP) and Coca-Cola are large organization with locations around the world. Both organization have over 90,000 workers worldwide and have worker compensation plans to make sure injured employees are cared for. According to Ramos Law (2011), â€Å"workers at Coke suffer injuries similar to that of other factory employees. These workers suffer shoulder injuries from repetitive jobs such as mixing formula; knew injuries from loading product; or back pain from general warehouse jobs† (Hurt While Working at Coca-Cola or in the Beverage Industry?, para. 1). Coke needs to do a risk analysis and provide training to reduce the amount of workers’ compensation claims. British Petroleum (BP) had a massive oil spill in April of 2010 off the Gulf of Mexico in which BP hired over 20,000 people to help clean up the disaster. The care, training and protective gear for the cleanup crews was below safety standards. Training and protective gear could be the cause of the worker’s compensation claims that BP has will continue to receive. According to Johnston Moore & Thompson Attorneys at Law (2011), â€Å"seven oil spill workers were hospitalized on May 26 after experiencing nausea, dizziness and headaches. Four more were hospitalized on May 28, two of whom were admitted for chest pains† (First Workers’ Compensation Cases Building for Oil Spill Cleanup, para. 4). The fumes from the oil and the touching of the hazardous material to try and reduce the damage caused many to become sick. The safety standards of BP are being questioned for both the workers and the surrounding areas that were hit by this devastating oil spill. Product Safety and Liability Product safety and liability is a law that was created to hold distributors, retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers responsible for injuries caused from the product (Goetsch, 2008). This law was designed so that in the event injury occurs the consumer is protected. There are a number of different concepts that have laid the groundwork for the product liability law. The four major reasons that the laws were created were from, negligent manufacture, breach of warranty, strict liability in tort, and negligent design (Goetsch, 2008). Companies must take the time to ensure that the products that have been designed meet the safety standards to prevent potential instances from occurring. Coca Cola ensures that the product safety and liability is met by measuring the product and package requirements against the company standards. The company uses â€Å"The Coca-Cola Management Systems† which is a quality management system that maintains the company’s operations worldwide, maintain the Coca-Cola standards (thecoca-colacompany.com, 2011). BP has been under the analysis for quite some time since the oil spill occurred that caused millions of dollars in damage to the Gulf of Mexico. Since that time BP has created new ideas to monitor the waters that hold different oil rigs, these have been created to ensure quality monitoring. BP has created an observation program that will support constant monitoring. (BP.com, 2011) This will allow for the creation of quality monitoring preventing additional instances of the oil spill occurring in the future. This is important part of the product liability and safety program to ensure that the company follows the guidelines required to prevent future liability’s from occurring. This new quality monitoring will be able to â€Å"detect changes within the water quality, marine mammal vocalizations and weather and water temperature† (BP.com, 2011). Workplace Data and Property Protection In the workplace the most important option to the company is security and protection. Companies spend millions of dollars creating systems to protect all the assets and data that passed through a system. At BP, system security over their data tying global partnerships each refinery is a goal amongst the company. British Petroleum train each employee to keep information confidential and away from media if there is a minor incident. The risk of an employee breaking that code of silence about vital information is likely to happen. They have contracts to state employees cannot talk to media or there will be consequences that could ultimately lead to termination. Environmental Protection Agency protects the property and materials produced by BP. EPA keeps the regulation on what products are safe for BP to use to drill oil. Coke Cola has similar issues of security, but they are interested in keeping new products under the table so they can have the advantage over their competition once they launch a product. Their data protection requires a secure system as well. Both IT departments make sure systems do not get hacked by putting up server walls on the system. The security side of the results of companywide is an enterprise-level record of reference that becomes the official record for a given employee, customer, supplier, facility or other entity. Records of reference are the gold standard against which all other records in the system must be validated. These bind together the mass of company data and are at the core of the master data management approach to enterprise-wide integration (Goetsch, 2008). Although other large corporations are developing their own information frameworks, BP’s design is unique in that it specifically complements BP’s decentralized business structure. Casselman and Gold (2010) describes a situation in which a BP employee might have multiple records in one or more human resource databases, making it time-consuming to weed out the duplicate data. Conclusion There are many risks and contrasting information between the Coca Cola and British Petroleum. Both must follow rules and regulations of OSHA and federal laws in order to stay in business. Both companies had their share of setbacks when it came to employees and safety issues that made the public eye. Both companies continue to make billions of dollars and each year as the rules change they are learning to change with it. References BP.com. (2011) BP Deploying Advance Unmanned Water Quality Monitoring Vehicles in Gulf of Mexico. Retrieved from http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7064711 Casselman, B. and Gold, R. (2010). BP decisions set stage for disaster. Current, 524,14-16. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete. Goetsch, L. (2008). Occupational safety and health for technologists, engineers, and managers (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Johnston Moore & Thompson Attorneys at Law. (2011). Hunysvills Pearsonal Injusry Law. Retrieved from http://www.huntsvillepersonalinjurylaw.com. OSHA.gov. (2009). U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA recognizes Coca-Cola Danone Waters LLC for workplace safety and health success. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/ pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=18137. OSHA.gov. (2011). United States Department of Labor. Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/OSHA_FAQs.html. Ramos Law. (2011). Ramos Law Firm Workers’ Comp Blog. Retrieved from http://www.ramoslawblog.com. Thecoca-colacompany.com. (2011) Product Quality: Coca-Cola Quality. Retrieved from http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/quality.html Walter, P. (2009). BP handed 87.4m fines. Chemistry & Industry, 22, 7. Retrieved from Business Source Complete.

Battle of kings mountain narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Battle of kings mountain narrative - Essay Example After overpowering the revolutionary army and Major General Gates on September 1780 at Camden, Major General Lord Cornwallis proceeded towards north to invade Virginia and North Carolina. An outpost towards the British army’s West was occupied by Major Ferguson. The Tories succeeded in plundering the Whigs. Ferguson was known for his ferocity against the mutineers. The Whigs gathered in the West of Virginia and Carolina. For support, Ferguson sent on to Cornwallis. The Whigs attacked Ferguson and his army on 7 October 1780 on the King’s Mountain and won the Battle within an hour (Hammett). In the Battle of King’s Mountain, 300 Tories were killed and wounded and another 700 were imprisoned by the Whigs. 90 Whigs were killed in the Battle. The success of the Whigs caused Cornwallis to abandon the intention of invading North Carolina. The Battle of King’s Mountain was fought between Americans except for only one British man that was Major

Marketing Proposal - LA Fitness Gym Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Proposal - LA Fitness Gym - Essay Example This is the reason why we have proposed a business idea of introducing a chain of restaurants in LA fitness gyms across the United Kingdom. The name which has been proposed for the restaurant is LA Cuisine, and the restaurant would provide healthy food that contains would supplement required for a healthy diet. Moreover, a variety of meals would be available on the menu to suit all type of workouts and individuals. The four main offerings which will be made are mentioned below. 1. Protein booster - ideal for bodybuilders 2. Slim fast meal –ideal for people who want to lose weight 3. High crab meal - ideal for people who do endurance training 4. Low meals - ideal for people who want to acquire a lean body and muscle definition Moreover, advice will also be provided to the customers in order to counsel them with regards to the best meal that would suit their workout. This would enable them to attain the workout results quickly and breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served. SWOT Analysis With regards to the business, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have been identified are mentioned below. Strengths Locations of LA Fitness Gym There are eighty gyms all over the UK and has multiple health club locations.  Therefore, they will not hesitate in availing services offered by LA Cuisine. Market Research LA fitness gyms already know their customers well and since LA Cuisine is offering food for the people who have joined the gym, they will not have to spend huge amounts of money in conducting market research with regards to the customers (Meyerson & Scarborough 2007, pp. 55). Lower Advertising Costs Since customers are already aware of the LA fitness gym, LA Cuisine will not have to spend heavy amounts on advertising. Weakness Association with LA Fitness Gym Since LA Cuisine would be associated with LA fitness gym, anything bad that happens will also have a negative impact on the goodwill and the reputation of LA Cuisine. Opportunities Increase Locations LA Cuisine can open a restaurant in locations other than those at LA fitness gyms as well. In this way, they can expand their pool of customers and increase market share (Dunbar & McDonald 2004, pp. 200). Threats Competition The United Kingdom covers quite a large area and so the population is also large. Therefore, there are many people who go to gyms for fitness purposes because of which there are lots of gyms in the UK that gives the people a variety of choice due to which the competition for LA Cuisine is intense. Credit Crunch Lack of availability of funds or loans results in credit crunch due to which LA Cuisine can get adversely affected.  

Alzheimer's disease and relationship to nutrition and hormone Essay

Alzheimer's disease and relationship to nutrition and hormone - Essay Example Alzheimer is mostly seen in individuals who are above the age of forty five and it principally develops into dementia in its latter stages. It is characterized by loss of cognitive abilities which occurs due to the loss of normal brain functions. In the latter stages of Alzheimer Disease the sufferer becomes totally disoriented and shows memory loss such that he is not able to recognize his very close family members. (Evans et al, 1989; Gao et al, 1999). The primary feature of Alzheimer Disease is the atrophy of the cortex. But in some cases it is seen that neuritic processes may accumulate, abnormalities in cerebral nucleus may occur or amyloid angiopathy may be seen. The question now stands as to why Alzheimer disease onsets in an individual. To answer this question many aspects of the disease are analyzed. Nutrition is presumed to be directly related to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Research done on the relation of the nutritional status of an individual has shown that Vitamin D may have a direct relation with the onset of Alzheimer. A research by Dr Grant proves that Alzheimer’s may be related to low serum levels of Vitamin D. It is said by Dr Grant that old people usually have the deficiency of Vitamin D because of which dental caries, diabetes mellitus and depression may arise in individuals. And all these diseases together are presumed to be a cause for Alzheimer Disease. Relating nutrition to Alzheimer has paved way for many researches to be done on this issue (Drug Week, 2009). Such a research was done to find the relation between folate and the risk of Alzheimer Disease. It was seen in this research that individuals who consumed folate were greatly reducing the risk of acquiring Alzheimer Disease. The incidence rate was calculated to be 45% as the individuals consuming folate were decreasing their risk of acquiring Alzheimer by 55%. The research compared the individuals who were taking folate regularly to those who were not and it was