Should We Have A Citizenship Test?

The citizenship test was introduced by the Australian Government fairly recently. As a western country, Australia is currently the most recent developed western country to have a citizenship test. However, there is a current debate being held on why is the citizenship test held for and what is the government really testing? According to the SBS news site, the Australian Government has now changed some of the content that is to be tested in the citizenship test and states that â€Å"would-be new Australian citizens will be quizzed on their understanding of their civic duty and responsibilities of citizenship rather than facing questions about Australia's sporting heroes † as it had previously asked questions about a Australian cricket player, Sir Donald Bradman and other irrelevant information. However, when questioned to why was the citizenship test was even introduced, a minister who appeared on an SBS program called ‘Insight' argued that this test was made to test English proficiency of the ‘new' Australians. The test was also made to give the new-comers a view on what is it mean to be Australian and what Australian values are? ,while stating all this information in a book that the participants would need to read. In my opinion, I do not think that this is a worthwhile test as a test can't possibly test whether the people sitting for it actually believe and practice these values but will only test their ability to memorize and learn facts and information out of a book. The test also doesn't use complex English but simple and easy-to-understand words. Therefore if the main point of having the test was to test English proficiency, it would be better to hold an English exam and to be able to apply for citizenship, the person applying would need to have been a permanent resident and would have needed to sit for an English proficiency test then anyway. This test is also a waste of time as the people sitting the test could use the time that was spent on taking the test and preparing for it on work and practicing ‘Australian values' to help Australia's community and economy. We have seen both sides of the argument here and to some others who may feel strongly for or against this issue, we can see that the Australian Government is trying its best to please the masses and that it looks like the citizenship test is here to stay for the long run.

Planning and threat management Essay

A planned performance which brings better results compared to unplanned one. A Managers’ job is planning, monitoring and controlling. As a head security official, today’s day work, Planning and goal setting are very important traits of a work. The job here of mine is to give full security to the principal from home and back again from the court to house which is located at Laguna Beach. To do this work, proper and perfect planning is required. It is done at all levels of the security organization. The thought plan process should have actions, and implementation. Planning gives more power over the future and is decided in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It bridges the gap between the two. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in logical order. A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan here is applicable for only two hours because the distance between the court and the home is a very short distance. I have with me the top graded eight security personal and they can able to handle any situation at any point of time as per the security is concerned. I have taken the best eight because the city has been terrorized by a series of related homicides of white supremacist followers and the brutal beating of his chief assistant. The newspapers and media have speculated that several of the victims have been linked to your principal and the police suspect a rival white supremacists group is vying for political power within the movement. Here the plan is the most important and key is to do the successful operation. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will, almost certainly, ensures failure. (King, 2006) In this case the threat is possible attack on the professor, both at home and at court. Furthermore there is a chance of threat on the one hour driveway too. Alongside, looking at the physical condition of the subject it is essential to arrange medical assistance during the outdoor operations such as period of the court and in transit. Therefore, the planning would involve four main parameters to secure. Medical assistance It is obvious that there would be logical medical assistance at home but during the course of transit and at the court it is essential to arrange medical facilities as the subject is extremely ill. To worsen matter the attendance at the courthouse will be new organizations, fundamentalist religious groups, white supremacist groups, and civil rights groups, all picketing what promises to be a very emotional trial. This could take a toll on the subject. The checkpoint security screening procedures for persons with disabilities and medical conditions have not changed as a result of the current threat situation. All disability-related equipment, aids, and devices continue to be allowed through security checkpoints once cleared through screening. Thus it is important to arrange liquid medications and other liquids needed by the principal. These include all prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including KY jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for med ical purposes; Liquids including water, juice, or liquid nutrition or gels for passengers with a disability or medical condition along with life-support and life-sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs would be present. There would also be items used to augment the body for medical or cosmetic reasons such as mastectomy products, prosthetic breasts, bras or shells containing gels, saline solution, or other liquids. It is also important to arrange gels or frozen liquids needed to cool disability or medically related items used by persons with disabilities or medical conditions. However, if the liquid medications are in volumes larger than 3 ozs each, they may not be placed in the quart-size bag and must be declared to the Transportation Security Officer. Declared liquid medications and other liquids for the principal and medical conditions must be kept separate from all other property submitted for x-ray screening. This is an extra step that I have taken because He is confined to a wheelchair and requires attendance by a nurse 24/7 due to respiratory and other medical conditions. He is an extremely high profile white supremacist, and is outspoken thus it is important to control his tension and emotions. (Eldelman, 2005) Transit assistance The one hour distance travel between the court and his home in Los Angles should be well protected as 6 of the 8 personnel deployed for the job would be accompanying him. The other 2 would be staying back at the subject’s home to counter any possible threats on the property during his absence. During transit there would 3 cars altogether with smoked glasses to minimize identification. The subject’s car would be juxtaposed between the other 2 cars with security personnel. All 6 personnel would be divided into 3 groups or 2 personnel for each car. (Kar, 2006) Home security It is already mentioned that there would be 2 persons securing the subject’s estate during his absence however, during his stay all 8 would be available for the subject’s security. There would be CCTV installed at strategic locations all over the estate with extra focus on the physical security of the subject. For this purpose it is essential to have a personnel to assist and secure the subject most of the time he is awake. During his resting period there would be a personnel guarding outside his bedroom. There would be other personnel who would guard the windows during this time. 5 of the security would be located all over the estate and home at strategic locations. The eighth personnel deployed for the subject’s safety would be instrumental in screening each person who ever is willing to meet the subject. (Lamb, 2004) Court Security This is the important aspect of the planning and the personnel should always be on their high alert. For that reason it is important to have complete physical protection all the while. There should be a human cordon of security personnel during the passage from parking space to court room and back as this is the area where the subject would be most vulnerable as the demonstrators would have opportunity to come in close proximity with the subject. At the courtroom too the human cordon would be applied with 4 of the personnel always encircling the subject. The remaining 2 would stand at a distance keeping a keen eye on the proceedings and scanning the crowd at the courtroom and always ready to intervene if needed. (Fletcher, 2005) Conclusion These are the Security arrangements that I will like to have at the principal’s estate because of threats on his life, but the principal will not face any difficulty while he likes to speak his mind to everyone, including and especially the press. He will have a grand entrance to court and if he wants to speak or meet with the press and others on the courthouse steps. References: Edelman, S; (2005); Evaluation Techniques in Risk Management; Bloemfontein: ABP Ltd Fletcher, R; (2005); Principals: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing; Dunedin: Howard & Price Kar, P; (2006); History of Threat Management and Related Applications; Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee King, H; (2006); Management Principals Today; Auckland: HBT & Brooks Ltd Lamb, D; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; Wellington: National Book Trust

Business strategy, researching tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business strategy, researching tesco - Essay Example It is clear that the high standards set by those in leadership and management positions at Tesco have tremendously contributed to the company’s success. The company’s ‘Every Little Helps’ philosophy ensures that its customers, the community, and company employees form an integral part of its operations. 1.1 Company Core Values and Objectives The most outstanding values of the company are its commitment to providing high standards of service and quality products to its customers by being a responsible retailer. The company continues to offer a great shopping experience to its customers who shop online or it its many other service provisions. This is manifest in the company’s desired future strategic position of reaching zero-carbon operations by the year 2050. In order to do so, the company opened the initial zero-carbon hypermarket in Ramsey in 2010, which led to Tesco winning the tribute as the Green Retailer of the Year in 2012. The continued succe ss the giant retailer enjoys depends on the reassessment and formulation of business strategies in order to remain competitive and increase profitability (David, 2011). Tesco aspires to improve customer loyalty and its core UK business base through various programs such as the club card program introduced in 1995 and is currently the most popular card in the UK. The company also continues to develop various strategies aimed at improving competitiveness and such strategies are mainly driven by price, quality, range of products and innovation. This paper examines corporate strategies at Tesco, the reasons informing each component, how vision and company values interrelate to make the strategies successful, and finally draws on a conclusion on the best alternative strategies that the company can adopt by giving recommendations based on the evaluation. 2.0 Tesco’s Corporate Strategic Position Over the years since it started operations, Tesco has developed a firm and deeply rooted strategy for growth, which is mainly focused on reinforcing the company’s core UK business operations and growth thrust in new markets. The primary tenet of the giant retailer’s strategy, formulated in 1997, encompasses the expansion of scope of operations that allows delivery of a robust and sustained long-term growth. To realize such an expansion of scope of business operations, Tesco constantly pursues existing customers with the aim of introducing them to various other Tesco products and services such as non-food, telecommunications, and financial services. Tesco’s business strategy is based on five principles including desire to remain successful in its global retail business while at the same time developing its core UK business. The company also aims to sustain its business strength both in the food and non-food sectors. Moreover, the company develops strategies that will enhance expansion of other retailing and financial services, and place its customer s and communities at the heart of its operations. 2.1 Customer Loyalty Despite the fact that Tesco Clubcard was introduced to the customers in 1995, there has been a higher degree of data collection especially over the last decade manly due to the company’s embracement of technological advances. Currently, the card can collect essential information

War on Drugs Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

War on Drugs - Coursework Example The major unintended consequences of the war on drugs include the criminalization of drug users, death penalty; punitive sentencing practices such as mandatory sentencing; excessive levels of imprisonment and the enforced drug detention centers. The drug policy directly affected the poor, vulnerable and the socially excluded groups, particularly the women and ethnic minorities. Generally, a larger percentage of the small scale drug offenders exhibit no history of criminal acts such as high level drug selling activities or violence. However, illegal drug perpetrators make up a large percentage of arrests; in the US, marijuana made up 40% of total drug arrest in 2005 (Penal Reform International, 2010). The US has been largely criticized for racially molding the War on Drugs. Even though the rate of marijuana use is evenly spread across the population, the Native American users seem to be favored by the law with Blacks and Latinos disfavored in the process. For instance, among the inmates incarcerated in prisons for drug related offences, 37% were Blacks, 31% Hispanics and only 28% were Whites in 2007 (Pew Research Center, 2009). In conclusion, the War on Drug initiative has proven ineffective in controlling the production, trafficking and consumption of the illegal drugs. It is also associated with numerous other impacts such as criminal justice system overload, overwhelmed courts, and overcrowded prisons exacerbated health problems. This, therefore, would suggest the need for trial of alternative measures such as legalization of drug use. Penal Reform International.(2010). The unintended negative consequences of the ‘war on drugs’: mass criminalization and punitive sentencing. Retrieved

Food Supply Chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Food Supply Chain - Essay Example This study is about a detail analysis of each process of the food supply chain and has highlighted the possible hazards involved in the process and also provided possible solutions to assess the problems. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Operations 4 Key processes 6 Problem findings 8 Recommendation 8 Reference 10 Introduction The global food industry relies on the web of intercompany relationship. There is an interaction among the individuals and the institutions involved in the food industry. These are vendors, food packaging providers, co-manufacturers, re-packers, brokers and other suppliers. To become an efficient supplier of a food processing company, an individual or a business needs a substantial amount of investment due to develop the quality maintenance process of food ingredients. By the effective action plans, the prevention of production as well as distribution of contaminated foods can be done which is the key value of supply chain in food industry. To ensure safe production and the distribution of the food product, the companies in the food industry need to engage efficient suppliers who can provide quality ingredients, packaging materials through efficient distribution process and medium that compliment food companies’ key goals. ... Quality retention and hygienic factor of foods are maintained in each stage from sourcing of food ingredients to on time delivery to the individual customers (Maurer, 2003). Few important terms are very popular in the area of the food supply chain like â€Å"farm to fork† and sometimes â€Å"paddock to plate†. These terms are used to mention the length of supply chain process and the two end participants of supply chains are the producer of food ingredients and the final consumers. In-between them there are many people involved in this process. The growers of food ingredients i.e. basically the farmers are responsible for efficient cultivation and production of different crops which is influenced by few more things like the quality of seeds, climate, soil and fertilizers to boost the production level. These cultivated food products are consumed by food production companies as the ingredients for process food products and also directly consumed by individuals in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables. There are suppliers who take the cultivated crops from the growers and supply those to the manufacturers or the producers of processed foods. The quality of the ingredients depends on the storage and the distribution process of the suppliers. This process has not much effect on the quality of the processed food produced by the food production companies as they take shorted foods only from the suppliers (GMA, 2008, p.8). Some producers take damage ingredients from the suppliers in low price in order to reduce the cost of production of processed foods so that they can sale the final product in low prices and can compete in price even with the big companies who believe in the quality sources of ingredients and

Facilities Management Programmes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facilities Management Programmes - Essay Example At the same time, the government has also been committed to the provision of better services in the health, transport, education and other key sectors. In addition, the economies of scale have forced many companies to outsource the services of other companies, and have been observed across the board, for both the private and the public sectors (Wood 2007). The emphasis here of course, has been a need to have growth in such sectors as education, healthcare and utilities. The government too has largely been credited for the outsourcing programmes in the public sector, in a quest to improve and upgrade accommodation, housing and other related services. To this end, the design, finance, build and operate contracting has especially found use in hospitals and schools (CFM 2002). The upgrading and support services provision of outmoded facilities has also not been left out. Given the needs as well as the projected growth of the facilities market in the united kingdom, it is only in order that there be qualified and well trained property managers who will comfortably handle such issue as space design and management, the procurement of facilities, the computation and analysis of facilities costs, as well as the handling of taxation of the same (Chapman 2008). With the rapid rise in technology, and the bar in the ma... rs, it is also important that those managers receives the latest training on computer-aided management of facilities, so as to keep abreast with the dynamic changes in the sector. The onus is on the administrators of the institutions of higher learning in the United Kingdom that offers course if facilities or property management to ensure that their graduates receive training that in s in line with the market requirements (CFM 2002). Otherwise, there is every possibility that they will not only be overtaken by technological changes, but also that they may not impact positively as future property managers. 2. Problem statement The prevailing global credit crunch has especially handed the property market a serious blow. Owing to the numerous losses that these clients may have suffered, there is every need for the industry to ensure that they win back the confidence of the consumers. At the same time, the housing market and the real estate businesses are progressing fast against a backdrop of reducing building space (CFM 2002). This has thus ensured that the property procurement protocols have become more compels by the day. Globalization has also ensured that investors put their money in diversified locations whose property rules differ, and this means that a property managers has to keep abreast with the advances in development of the industry. For this reason, there is a need that the institutions of learning are able to tailor their programmes to suit the need of the market (Nutt & McLennan 2000). Furthermore, clients are becoming sophisticated by the day, while competition in the facilities management demands astute management skills, prompting the industry to seek out shrewd property managers who cab be able to wither the storm (Graham & Price 2000). The

Promotional Activity and Pricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Promotional Activity and Pricing - Essay Example The firm also offers amenities to its customers in order to meet their entertainment needs. In addition, Southwest Airlines serves their customers by providing Business Select, Wifi, Mobile Access, and EarlyBird Check-In facilities. The South west Airlines has designed special provision for the customers who are aged 65 and older; and extreme facilities are also offered to kids and disabled persons (Seniors: Southwest.com). The company has also arranged high tech facilities for providing boarding passes. The customers can receive boarding passes from the Skycap Counter (situated in selected locations) and check luggage four hours prior to the scheduled departure. The competitive promotional packages include low costs and customers’ loyalty. Since the Southwest Airlines avoids too much luxury facilities, it can cut down the passenger charges which in turn assist the company to achieve customers’ loyalty. The efficient managerial strategies of the company have assisted it to design a competitive promotional mix that effectively meets customer interests. II Wilbur L. Schramm proposed an original model of communication process in 1954 which clearly depicts the information flow in a system. The Schramm’s model is just an extension of Shannon-Weaver transmission model of communication that proposes six elements of communication such as source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, and receiver. In addition to these elements, the Schramm’s model suggests other two concepts such as feedback and field of experience. According to Schramm’s model (as cited in Scannell, 2007, p.210), encoding plays a crucial role in the communication process as it the first step that converts the thought into content. This model says that the information is of no use if the recipient is not able to decode what the speaker actually intents to convey. Hence, Schramm’s model stands on the strength of the principle that encoding and decoding are the two basic elements of a communications system since effective flow of information between two individuals is not possible without these two. On the basis of this model, one can explicitly say that the Southwest Airlines has effectively established a communication system in its promotional mix. For instance, as the company deals with segment focused operations, it can identify domestic needs and serve local population well (Europe Lowcost). The domestic operations aid the company to avoid cultural barriers in communication process; it enables the company to effectively practice its promotional mix by ensuring effective flow of communication between customers and airlines management. In addition, the customer feedback collection process also contributes to effective information flow. III Like Southwest Airlines, many other air travel companies also offer additional services to its customers. It is necessary to take ranges of things into account while setting prices for the various service s provided by the airlines. It would be better to classify the product/service offers into two such as ordinary and luxury in order to effectively set prices for them. Ordinary products include snacks and other food items while satellite radio and TV facilities constitute luxury products. It is evident that aircraft passengers include low, middle, and upper class individuals; therefore, airlines companies must meet the interests of every class of people while setting pri

Evidence for effective Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evidence for effective Nursing - Essay Example Evidence to of its effectiveness in nursing will be examined to support the research. In recent times, the number of university students with heightened stress levels and a myriad of mental problems has skyrocketed. Pamela van der Riet, Rachel Rossiter, Dianne Kirby, Teresa Dluzewska, and Charles Harmon conducted the research above that was accepted in May 2014. Their main argument was that a stress management and mindfulness program could be incorporated into learning support besides being a stress reduction method to support nursing and midwifery students build resilience and improve wellbeing. This study was in response to incorporation of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program in Western clinical practice since the 1940s in managing stress and mental illness. This program initially was designed to assist clinicians adapt to the demanding healthcare environment. The idea is to transfer this program and incorporate as a learning support for the students who are pursuing nursing and midwifery. The stress management and mindfulness program is a superb addition to the education and support for nursing and midwifery students and should, therefore, be incorporated. As the nursing and midwifery profession continue to grow, there is increasing need for quality services from these careers (Maclnnes and Lamont, 2014). The research confirms and follows all the stages of the research process. The problem was determined as the increased frequency of stress and mental illness among the university students. The research question (Michigan Library, 2015) was explicitly stated as ascertaining the impact of a stress management and mindfulness program in reducing stress levels among nursing students. The background of the study was also solid (Michigan Library, 2015). The MSBR has been in clinical practice use since the 1945s to combat mental and stress illness. These studies compelled the question of

The Legal Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Legal Environment of Business - Essay Example Some of the major cost that is to be paid by the company while launching IPO includes expenses that are incurred for legal services, underwriter’s commission, printing costs, accounting services and personal marketing. Other legal factors include the loss of control, flexibility and confidentiality as all the necessary regulations are governed by SEC after the company gets publicly limited. Dilution of ownership results in disgruntling management. From economic point of view, the company faces a lot of pressure from the unsteady and unstable position of the economy of a country. When any news regarding the company is revealed on media, it impacts the IPO or share price of the company. Company also faces pressure to maintain and enhance its quarterly earnings as the public invests by verifying the financial position of the company. Several other economic and legal factors affect the company’s decisions while launching IPO. It is necessary to keep all the information into account as any discrepancy can lead to a discounted price of share. Labour Laws and Employment Labour laws can be defined as those laws and regulations that are defined for the employees in order to protect their rights from employer retaliation and reporting the violations to the legitimate authorities. Employment and labour policies are shaped by the countries in which they operate. However, in most of the countries the employment and labour laws are based mainly on the international standards. Due to this reason, companies do not get much influenced by the labour laws and policies. Yet, it has a certain amount of influence because the laws and policies are not precisely same. Some major criteria that labour laws of every country follow include: Freedom of assembly and speech Protection of right to sue Dues, Fees, Initiation and Assessment When companies start to expand domestically and internationally, they face some sort of discrepancies. As a company grow, the employee policy manual must grow with it. Simply being aware of what is right or wrong is not enough. Implementing these practices is also vital for the healthy growth of the companies. Fredman (1997) provided comprehensive study on the importance of labour laws in the dynamic and fast changing world. The study provided different perspective of modifications in labour law as per the changing economic and social condition of the country. Should the labour law be refashioned while protecting the worker’s right or should it be flexible enough by removing the employment protection? In my mind, it all depends upon the condition of the economy of a country and the extent to which it allows labour right protection and employee’s rights. Globalization has caused many companies to expand their business domestically and internationally. Without doing so, it is not possible to for the companies to compete with other companies. Brussels (2006) in his report mentioned the ways of â€Å"modernisin g the labour laws for the 21st centuries†. He stated that the traditional model is not suitable for all workers for adapting change and utilizing the opportunities that are offered by globalization. (Modernizing the labour laws for the 21st centuries, 2006) A report named as â€Å"The employment relationship: Overview of challenges and opportunities, (2006)† showed employment and labour law challenges faced by the company while expanding internationally and domestically. The profound changes that occurred in the work world especially in the labour

Technological solution that can bridge a gap, fix a problem or somehow Research Proposal

Technological solution that can bridge a gap, fix a problem or somehow benefit risk, crisis or emergency management - Research Proposal Example Robotics or robot technology can play a significant part in this context, which supports quick reaction in tough and unsafe working environments by substituting employees to perform the risky tasks. Fulfilling the requirements of such risky tasks involves independent control, planning and navigation, instrument fusion and machine astuteness. Robot technology can be used for preventing any problem or issue while ensuring quality and safety of human beings (Habib & Baudoin, 2010). The paper will describe the most significant problems for emergency management, and will propose the requirement for using robotic technological solutions to bridge the gap and accomplish the objectives. Crisis management is a significant area in robot technology which is developed for making major impacts towards dealing with emergency situations. The robots are expected to support in emergency conducts by improving the safety and the security of people throughout the operations. Robots can use advanced instruments and tools in those circumstances which are inconvenient for general people. The recent improvements in robot system and equipment have made the work of rescuing people possible even in harsh environments. Human beings face several difficulties in managing crisis due to several obstructions of environment, which create a gap in performance and objectives of crisis management. The robot technology provides one of the best solutions for bridging the gap in crisis management as it can perform better compared to human beings and certain other technologies (Tadokoro, Matsuno, Nardi, & Jacof, 2009). Presently, the computer and information technology (IT) has brought significant revolution in data processing. The utilization of computer technology and IT is widely spread in present era. Traditionally, the computer and IT was only limited to management of files, however, nowadays they are being used in observing the condition of entire planet and helping to generate

Global Financial Crisis Essay Example for Free

Global Financial Crisis Essay The global financial crisis started to demonstrate its effects in the mid of 2007 and continued in 2008. Around the world a large number of the financial institutions collapsed, stocks fell and the entire world was under stress. The crisis unraveled in the USA, UK and then spread around the world. This meltdown of the financial systems will affect the lives of almost everyone around the globe. The genesis of the financial crisis was the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgages. Many people defaulted on their repayments of these loans. Basically, a sub-prime mortgage is a type of a loan made to borrowers who do not have a good credit history and are unable to qualify for the high interest rates in the market. It has a diversified product range from mortgages to car loans to credit cards. These loans started out in 2001 when the interest rates were historically lowest in US. At that time, the demand for the real estate was on high because of these low interest rates. The builders kept on investing in the construction of the houses even though the demand for property saw a decline after a while. Due to this huge boom, the property became so over valued that it saw the worse decline in prices in 2006 (University of Iowa, 2008). This made most of the investors and leaders became unwilling to refinance the sub-prime loans and were strict in their policies. This raised the interest payments which some of the investors were unable to afford. Hence more and more people stared defaulting. Around 3. 6 million home owners lost their homes due to the mortgage defaults. There have been around $100 billion worth of Sub-prime mortgage leans defaults from the low-credit worth people. At the same time, the world saw the world stock prices falling in most of the places which made large number hedge funds insignificant. This collapse in demand for the securities which were backing the sub-prime mortgages forced 90 of the firms into declaring bankruptcy (Acharya, 2007). These crises in the sub-prime mortgage and the declining world stock prices led to the global financial crisis in July 2007. Investors had also over indulged themselves in the sophisticated financial instruments such as the derivatives thinking they were reducing the risk associated with the assets. As people started earning money through it, they started taking more risk and hence earning more money. The real problem arose when the market turned towards speculative in nature. This means that with each loss the investor went with more risk to cover up the earlier losses and earn a higher profit. The financial instrument that the bank expected to will reduce its risk created the greatest problems for it. This is how the derivatives became a problem in the current world and one of the causes of the destruction of the banks around the globe (Shah, 2009). This shattered the confidence of the investors. People now did not want to buy the assets or securities but they wanted their money back. Therefore, this created a crisis situation for the investor confidence around the globe. The western economies were also affected by the process of securitization. It is a process by which the financial assets are backed by the real assets through the use of instruments such as the derivatives. The sub-prime mortgages were risky and under rated when compared in isolation but as soon as these loans were gathered together with other debts to diversify risk, they become more attractive and over-rated. Soon when the stocks fell in the international market, most of the securities lost their value. This caused a large deficiency in the capital of the banks and therefore, they were forced to tighten their credit policies around the world. For example: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. It was the largest bankruptcy filed in the US history because it held a major share of the assets in the US. Its share value had fallen to less than $1. The bank had given out excess amount of the sub-prime mortgage loans which were backed by securities but it had no way to pay back the depositors. It had started facing severe problems when the credit policy was tightened across the world. Sine they were refused to be bailed out, they had filed for bankruptcy with the US government. This had a direct effect on almost all the banks in the US and abroad that were holding the assets of the Lehman Brothers and hence this caused a ripple effect globally. The whole world was affected with the sub-prime mortgage defaults because the world is a global village now and all the businesses in it are inter-related with each other. The credit housing market had indirectly affected all the other markets around the globe. The lenders developed strict policies for the credit facilities and hence decreasing the consumer spending. Demand for the goods and services decreases, profits declines and hence less investment and production. This leads to the layoffs, less household income and therefore less consumer spending. Due to the financial crisis, it is estimated that approximately 80 million people could be forced to live in poverty. The developing economies will be experiencing slow growth rates due to the decline in the export demand. This is due to the diminishing demand of the goods and services globally (Hodgson, 2007). The world GDP is expected to grow at a rate of 0. 5% which is slowest since World War II. The global financial crisis that unraveled in 2007 did expose some serious flaws in the regulations internationally as well as domestically and the global financial system. The major cause of the global financial meltdown is the weak regulatory mechanisms, inadequate transparency, insufficient competition and poorly designed incentive structures. The banking system in the US is the most unregulated sector of the financial institutions. It could create and sell many diversified products making them look secure and attractive. When the loans were being given out, there was very little risk analysis being done and that also with the imprecise and inaccurate data and models. The strict regulation of the sub-prime mortgage and low interest loans would have reduced the chances of the financial meltdown. In the US there is no notion of a central bank that controls the other financial institutions such as the insurance companies, mortgage banks and banks. The US federal government preferred self regulation of the financial institutions under the rule of Chairman Alan Greenspan. This provided for the relaxed and simple environment where different institutions came together to produce and flood the market with sophisticated and diversified products and made them look very attractive and safe. The investors invested in these banks as they did not have the right information about the negative consequences which were never released. This type of policy does result in growth but at the same time it also results in mismanagement and less control. Most of the firms present in the world were resistant to bring any change in themselves which would otherwise have brought strong competition in the market. The people have now called for better regulation and reforms for the financial sector both internationally and domestically. They want the developing nations to have some voice in the formation of these policies and shaping up the global economy. The simple and well designed policies will be easy to implement. They will protect the financial institutions in the short run and bring innovation and diversification in the products in the long run. The most important is that the banking sector in the USA needs to be regulated heavily by a central bank. They should be regulated in a way that they have the minimum required amount of deposits. The Bank of England deputy governor Sir John Gieve suggests that the capital and the liquidity requirements for the bank should be increased and made stricter along with the tough restraints on the building up of the risk. At the same time, the loans should be made difficult to get in good times. These banks need to provide the investors with the adequate information when they are making their decisions. The rating agencies in USA as well as around the world must have stricter reforms and should be heavily regulated so that they properly rate the assets using appropriate models and data. It is also suggestive that there should be a single international rating agency that will rate the assets worldwide. The IMF and the World Bank reforms will play an important role in the future. They need to go about a structural change in their policies because their â€Å"one fit all solution† was a disaster for the developing economies. They had earlier realized that the financial crisis in the developed world will sweep into the developing world and harm it further. Even then they were unable to find a clear solution. Therefore, they need to change their policies and must include the say of the poorer nation while making the new policies. The international bodies and the banks need to be more transparent in their operations and the enforcement of policies so that there no further objections rose to it (Shah, 2009). References Shiller, R. J. (2008) The Sub-prime Solution, Princeton University Press.Fraser, D. , Gup, B. , and J. Kolari (2007) Commercial Banking: The management of risk, John Wiley Sons, Australia. Heffernan, S. (2005) Modern Banking, John Wiley Sons, Chichester, England. Koch, T. and S. Scott MacDonald (2003) Bank Management, Thomson South Western, OH45040, USA. Laeven, L. and F. Valencia (2008) Systemic Banking Crises: A New Database, International Monetary Fund, Washington. Rose, P. (2002) Commercial Bank Management, McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston. Faber, Marc. Gloom Doom economist: credit crunch will spread. CNBC 19 May. 2008. Nazar, Yousuf, â€Å"The fall of US financial capitalism. † Dawn 22 September. 2008. Acharya, M. (2007) Credit crunch – the big picture, The Star, http://www. thestar. com/article/247510 [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] CNBC, (2007) Gloom Doom Economist: Credit Crunch Will Spread, http://www. cnbc. com/id/24703745 [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] Credit Crunch, (2007) Crunch Time for Credit? An Inquiry into the State of the Credit System in the United States and Great Britain, http://www. creditcrunch. co. uk/home/article. php? story=20070905083913327 [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] HM Government, http://www. realhelpnow. gov. uk/credit-crunch-causes-why. php [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] Hodgson, A. (2007) Global credit crunch: turbulences and outlook, Euro monitor international, http://www. euromonitor. com/Global_credit_crunch_turbulences_and_outlook [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] Nazar, Y. (2008) The fall of US financial capitalism, Dawn, http://www. dawn. com/2008/09/22/ebr1. htm [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009] Gieve, J (2008) Speech, John Gieve: the credit crunch and the UK economy, http://www. bis. org/review/r080924e. pdf [retrieved on Mar 05, 2009]

Analysis of Zaras Marketing Plan and Strategy

Analysis of Zaras Marketing Plan and Strategy Zara is a retailing chain with several stores situated worldwide. Its marketing strategy is based more on expansion rather than advertising or traditional methods of promotion. This report will provide a brief outline and a critical evaluation of Zaras marketing plan particularly in relation to its environment. The report will also identify and evaluate how technology and the new media could impact on Zaras future marketing plans. The sustainability of Zaras marketing strategy and how it will affect their reputation in the future will also be examined. Zara has already begun the implementation of the marketing strategy so a brief look at the current position and the results has also been included in this report. 2.0 Marketing Plan 2.1 Mission Statement Zara moves at the pace of society, fashion ideas, and trends that society itself has natured. Hence its success among people, cultures and generations that, in spite of their differences, share a special sensitivity for fashion. 2.2 SWOT Analysis Zaras main strengths are its early development in technology which has resulted in smoothly operated logistics, its ability to produce good designs and recent trends promptly and efficiently, its investment intensity and its participative culture (see appendix 1: Company background). Its main weakness is its customer service but it has opportunity for growth in new markets, new countries and on the internet. The firms main threat is the possible effect of the worldwide economic recession on the strength of the Euro which could increase the costs of Zaras outsourcing and ultimately remove the competitive advantage gained by its pricing strategy. 2.3 Marketing Objectives Increase customer equity Increase purchase frequency among plus size customers Continue to grow by extending the Zara fashion brand Increase brand awareness and favourable attitudes among consumers Zaras main corporate objectives are growth through store expansion in large highly populated cities and maintaining a competitive advantage through the constant release of a variety of new fashions regularly. The marketing objectives to increase brand awareness and extend the Zara fashion brand will contribute hugely towards achieving the overall objectives particularly the store expansion. 2.4 Marketing Strategy The target group consists mainly of women aged between 18 40 who are either working in big cities or pursuing higher education, have a mid-range income and are generally interested in fashion trends as well as conscious about their looks. The company has positioned itself as a store selling a variety of medium quality high fashion clothing at affordable prices and has stores in about 70 countries worldwide. The pricing strategy is to produce clothes that are typically inexpensive and affordable by those who cannot spend much on fashionable clothing but want to have appealing and comfortable outfits as well as wealthy consumers who like good quality and style. Zaras marketing strategy is to create a customer focused product that will differentiate Zara from its competitors by bringing a fresh look to the plus size segment, feeding on the existing Zara name and values associated with the brand and stealing the variety-seeking customer from the competitors. 2.5 Marketing Mix Product Price Promotion Place Physical Evidence People Process Quality Inexpensive Store display Logistics Customers Outsourcing Appearance Affordable Public relations Store atmosphere i.e. wide open spaces Suppliers In-house production Brand Inclusive (i.e not exclusive) Advertising in high Fashion magazines e.g Vogue, Harpers etc. Each line with its own section in the store Store managers Backward integration Appeal Internet Designers CSR initiative to create awareness e.g design competition for students According to McDonald M, (2007), all organizations have a mix of products or services that could be classified as either, a disaster, lowest cost, niche or outstanding success products based on M. Porters generic strategies matrix. But Zara has very few disasters, in fact it has a new product failure rate of just 1% in comparison to the industry average of 10% (Pearson, n.d.). Through backward and vertical integration, Zara keeps its costs low and therefore is able to maintain low prices whilst still retaining profitability. It does not particularly aim to produce niche products as most of the designs are either a copy from the catwalk or from other store designs. However most of the time it does have outstanding success with its products as a result of its excellent supply chain which enables it to produce new designs promptly. Zara can produce and distribute new designs within two weeks of a new style appearing on the catwalk, a feat which has given the firm a competitive advantage over competitors such as HM (Hennes Mauritz) and Gap. The firms clothes are advertised mainly through the store displays in their numerous stores located worldwide and through their attentive customer service. They also advertise on the internet and very rarely in other forms of media. The products are distributed through a complex technology based system which ensures that goods are delivered to all the stores simultaneously and on a regular basis. 3.0 The Marketing Plan and its Environment 3.1 Pestel Analysis Zara originated in Spain and with over 500 of its stores currently located there, the market has become rather saturated. Hence it has expanded to 63 countries and consequently faces various challenges usually presented by unfamiliar environments. Zara has a policy of establishing its stores only in the city centre of large cities and each store must have a minimum size of 1000 square metres. In certain countries obtaining this can be a challenge which resulted in Zara partnering with one of its main competitors, Benetton in an attempt to penetrate the Italian market. The joint venture failed after two years as they were unable to secure the required property size in an appropriate location. Furthermore Zara originally had a policy of owning all its stores which it has had to review following the entry into various countries with a restriction on total foreign ownership. Zara was forced to consider joint ventures and franchises to combat this problem and currently has several co-owned stores. The worldwide recession is also an economic factor that could create challenges for Zaras marketing plan. The credit crunch has left the populace with less disposable income and for many people, keeping up with the fashion may not necessarily be a priority in the face of rising prices and costs. In addition, inflation in the less developed countries that Zara operates in could create a risk as the profits may be less than expected. Part of Zaras corporate objectives, is to protect the environment as much as possible, which includes producing less waste, recycling where possible, the use of ecological fabrics, production of PVC footwear and use of biodiesel fuel. Ensuring that this objective is achieved is quite crucial as the companys image could be affected by the activities of pressure groups or stakeholders who might raise environmental issues in the countries that Zara operates in. There are also cultural considerations to Zaras international expansion strategy which forms the basis of its marketing plan. Despite overwhelming success in Europe over the past few years, Zara has been unable to penetrate the American apparel market successfully. It could be as a result of a difference in tastes and preferences added to the fact that the firm has not developed a strong supply chain strategy as they have in Europe. Nevertheless, cultural differences in tastes and styles could remain a challenge for a company focusing on diversification to foreign countries. In Moslem countries, Zara adds extra length to the hemlines of its dresses and in its corporate web page, it states that our international presence allows us to conclude that there are no frontiers that would impede a shared culture of fashion. Efforts will have to be made to ensure that sensitive cultural issues in foreign countries are not ignored. 3.2 Five Forces Analysis The relationship of Zaras marketing plan with its environment can be further analysed with the use of Porters five forces model. Zaras main competitors are Gap, Benetton and HM. Zara has maintained a competitive advantage over its competitors through its ability to control its supply chain. It does not share most of its suppliers as it has acquired some of them through its parent company, Inditex and unlike its competitors, most of its operations are executed in-house such as fabric manufacturing and part of the cutting and sewing processes. Indeed Zara competes with its rivals for customers but through its creation of a brand has secured customer loyalty. Its customers visit the stores on average 17 times a year compared to the industry average of 3 times and on most of those occasions purchases are made. Zara releases around 10,000 different designs every year and deliberately produces styles in small quantities to create an aura of scarcity. This ensures that customers visit regularly to see the latest designs and purchase immediately because there is no certainty that the style will be there the next day. There is always a threat of substitution, as competitors will all release the same design eventually but again, Zaras speed gives it an advantage and it would have sold out its top designs, long before the competitors who have a longer lead production time (usually five months compared to Zaras two weeks), can put the designs on the market. There are no real barriers to entry into the industry that Zara operates in other than the fact that Zara has differentiated its product. It is not a pure differentiation however since it does not charge a premium price for its products nor is it a cost leadership as it does not have the lowest possible price and does not really aim to be the lowest cost producer. What Zara has, is a combination of differentiation and cost leadership which translates to a very successful product that new entrants would have great difficulty competing with. 4.0 Zaras Marketing Plan and the Impact of New Media and Technology In the past few years social media has become increasingly popular as a mode of communication between consumers and companies or institutions. It provides a forum for conversations about a companys actions and also a means for companies to test the publics level of awareness about their activities as well as the peoples perception of them. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook and other blogs or discussion groups can also provide companies with a unique platform to raise awareness of their corporate responsibility activities. Many brands are cautious about online interaction because they are uncertain as to how they will be perceived and also the limited control they would have over dissenting views and negative reactions voiced publicly. Many CR managers are hesitant to highlight corporate responsibility issues and enable debates because they feel that they may be inviting unwanted attention. (WGSN, 2009). Yet online environments actually offer companies a broader space in which to connect with customers, NGOs and peers around sustainability issues. Social media can also be used for advertising purposes which most of the companies in the retailing industry seem to use it for including Zara and its competitors. Zara has an impressive movement on Facebook where latest designs are advertised and consumers comment on each post with an average of 400 700 comments and about 10,000 likes. However Zaras stance on corporate responsibility issues are not highlighted in the social media like their competitor HM who have detailed positions on corporate responsibility in every country they operate in. They also have a full sustainability report in relation to their activities and its impact on the environment with a section inviting the public to email them with feedback and questions. Interestingly they do not have a public forum for the publics responses and views to be aired but addressing the issues publicly is a first step in the right direction. Zara could use the social media to have a more positive impact on the public by opening up discussion boards to debate ethical and social responsibility issues in relation to their activities in all the countries they operate in. Sustainability has become a core issue for business operations and widespread stakeholder participation is critical. The social media is a relatively cheap method of communicating with a vast number of people worldwide and presents an opportunity that no company should overlook. Zara has a small blog which outlines a few sustainability and global issues or activities that the firm has engaged in such as global warming, climate change and more recently help given to the victims of the Japanese tsunami. However, this blog is not widely publicised and is more likely to be stumbled upon rather than sought out as a Facebook or Twitter page would. Zara has in the past found itself in the midst of a corporate responsibility storm such as a link to a supplier with a sweat shop factory in Bangladesh, (Procurement Leaders Forum, 2008) and another factory (also in Bangladesh) occasionally used for production which collapsed killing three people. In each incident, Zara responded swiftly and offered reparations which has earned it a high rating in terms of social responsibility. Zaras timely and effective response was further emphasised by the fact that competitor firms who also used the same factory, offered less and in some cases refused to accept responsibility altogether. Zara would however benefit immensely from having a social site where such issues could be discussed publicly and potential dangers could be highlighted to prevent such disasters from recurring. 5.0 Sustainability of Zaras marketing Strategy The sustainability of Zaras marketing strategy depends on two major factors that could have a crucial impact on Zaras activities in the long term. Unlike most of its competitors, Zara tends to avoid outsourcing to developing countries where labour is very cheap. The main reason for this is to have more control over its suppliers and to enable a rapid delivery process in addition to contributing to the employment market of its home country Spain. The result of this is that the labour costs are higher than those of its competitors but this is compensated by the speedy production of the latest styles with reasonably consistent quality. Zara does produce some generic lines in developing countries but 60% of its outsourcing is in Spain or Portugal. The current worldwide recession may however have a serious impact on this strategy. With rising labour costs and the effect of the recession on the Euro, Zara may be forced to increase the outsourcing to developing countries. This would make them lose the competitive advantage of speed and may affect their corporate image as a result of the stigma attached to the use of cheap labour in sweat shops. Pressure groups and international campaigns are constantly demanding an improvement to working conditions for employees in developing countries. Consequently even outsourcing to the Far East may cease to be a profitable option in the long term too. Another factor that could have an impact on the marketing strategy is the ever increasing focus on environmental issues. The major environmental impacts in the fabric sector arise from the use of energy and toxic chemicals which are utilised widely in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Zara currently executes most of these tasks in-house and could therefore face pressure from consumers making demands for environmentally sensitive production. This may mean that Zara would have to invest in research to find alternative materials or recycling options that could reduce the threat to the environment. Zaras marketing strategy could also face other challenges which might arise from the use of the new media. As discussed earlier, Facebook is used quite extensively for advertising and other forms of promotion. The question is how sustainable is the use of this new media for marketing purposes? Seth Godin, author of Meatball Sundae, in his presentation14 Trends No Marketer Should Ignore (XXXX), described the web as a world of new marketing which requires various trends for its successful implementation. He stressed the importance of communication between consumers and the manufacturers and also suggested that with the advent of the internet, everyone is now a critic that cannot be avoided or ignored. One picture on Youtube showing a serious lapse could undo millions of dollars of advertising. The underlying message is that the internet is a new world that companies could embrace for their marketing potential at low cost or ignore at their peril. If a company is not on any of the socia l media, they may be unaware if a campaign is carried out against them and consequently unable to execute a damage control program. Any sustainable marketing strategy should include a role for social sites. Zaras marketing strategy is mainly based on expansion which the internet could play a vital role in. Last year the company launched its first tranche of websites for some of its European markets including the UK and two weeks ago it also launched websites for Denmark, Sweden, Monaco and Switzerland. It plans to open further sites in two of the worlds largest e-commerce markets, US and Japan later this year which will increase its presence online. Seth Godin believes that we are in the middle of the next, possibly biggest industrial revolution and that the internet represents a tremendous opportunity for people who understand it. The reality is that any marketing strategy that does not include expansion online may not be sustainable in the long term. Robert Hellar (Internet Selling, ) stated that shopping has already begun to move in some force out of the high street and onto the Website. Traditional retailers will have to join this revolution that will cut costs, increase variety and make home deliveries. This development however exposes the investments in high streets to a new vulnerability and risk. As part of its expansion, Zara purchased several properties where stores are owned and these assets may in future become liabilities. The Amazon experience and the internet banking developments have shown that stores as we know them could become quite redundant and possibly mutate into nothing more than showrooms and warehouses. The sustainability of the high street stores cannot be determined; however the expansion of the websites is likely to be a sustainable strategy and a good fall back option in the event that shopping on the high street does eventually become unfashionable.

Proposal for an Automated System

Proposal for an Automated System III. PROPOSED SYSTEM All traditional frameworks do not discuss functional requirements or, explicitly automatable parts of ITSM processes. Automation is identified as one of the approach to tackle the challenges of current service management processes. The architecture of the system is shown below in Figure 1: Figure 1. Block Diagram for the Architecture As shown in the figure above, the architecture consists of three main blocks i.e., ITSM Server, Secondly the Knowledge server and finally the configuration Management logic for triggering the actions. Firstly an incident does gets created or submit in the iTop Server with respect to the client request. Then there is a constant polling for the current status of the incident. As the status for the given incident does have three stages i.e. New, Assigned, Closed. Subsequently, for the given new Incident the status gets changed to Assigned when the based on which an Issue also gets created in the Knowledge server. For the given Incident Id an AP Issue Id also gets created in the Knowledge server for which the status is also polled back to the ITSM server in the Public logs with respect to the given incident. Once an issue and issue id gets created within the knowledge Server based on the issue type specific knowledge Item gets triggered. KIs are the considered to be a simple rule with context written in xml format which does have an Issue condition tag which gets cross checked with respect to the given incident. Based on the issue conditions corrective actions are taken to resolve the issue which is mentioned in the command tag for the respective KI. Subsequently, the triggering actions given by the KI are been executed by the configuration management tool. After the successful execution of the actions the issue gets closed for which the status is again polled back to the ITSM server and the related incident status also gets changed to close. The MARS model basically defines the environment in which the KS (Autopilot) runs. With the help of this model the environment gone under excessive changes can be automated easily and quickly. It illustrates the interdependencies of application, resource, software and Machine. With this model, the IT landscape of a given company can be mapped to both a technical and business perspective. Here application and resource maps to the business relevant and organizational parts of IT operations whereas the software and the machine refers to the technical side of the IT operations. Hence, it allows us to optimize the IT environment based on a lightweight and reusable model which could the basis for automated IT operations i.e., services. It can also be used to create the CI’s (Configuration Items). IV. MATHEMATICAL MODEL The system can be modeled mathematically given below. Let, â€Å"S† be a proposed system such that, S = {s, E, X, Y, FS, DD, NDD †¦| ÃŽ ¦} s = Starting point = R->ITSs Where CR = Set of client requests ITSMs = IT Service Management Server E = Ending Point = The given incident in terms of issue is solved X = Input to the system Set of Incidents (I) = {I1, I2, I3 , †¦.} Y = For the Given incident an issue in created in KS; I->KS Where KS =Knowledge Server Deterministic Data (DD): Given Incident is already resolved. Non-Deterministic Data (NDD): for the given incident there is no solution. Success = Issue created in the KS in successfully solved. = In-> rn Where, In is Incident created r1 is desired result for rn. Failure = Failure in execution of user request Conditions: -Insufficient input request and not valid user. V. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP The experimental setup for proposed system will be building an ITSM infrastructure and a Knowledge Server using built on Linux based machine using ITSM tool iTop. The ITSM Infrastructure would be having a Linux Machine Node on which ITSM tool iTop is been installed. Then we need to setup other Machine node i.e., for the implementation of the DS (Delivery Integration) where the deployment for the implemented code will be done. Third is the knowledge server i.e., another Linux Machine Node for the automation tool is required and the for configuration management. The particulars about platform and technology used are mentioned as follows: Base Operating System: Linux Based Machine server (Centos 6.5+ 64bit Preferred) Technology: iTop For ITSM server ,Version 2.1.0 Arago AutoPilot, Version 5.1 Ansible 1.7.2 / Chef. (Open Source). Databases: iTop Backend MySQL. Language: Java JDK 1.7. Java Tool: Eclipse JEE Other Dependencies: Maven3,Apache2,Tomcat7, REST APIs, Shell Scripting, and XML for Knowledge Items, MARS model. According to above specifications and structure, the proposed system is built up. VII. CONCLUSION Unlike other automation solutions, Knowledge based automation can deal with high levels of incorrectness and inaccuracy and only uses the given input as an entry point, or considers as a general universe description. Using this automation technology we try to enhance the power of IT configuration management process which is quite critical for our business processes. Our approach could also serve as input for discussing a reference model for the design of management services that could help tool vendors to create interoperable Management tools by enabling service-oriented access to specific tools functionality. REFERENCES [1] ISO/IEC, ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005: Information Technology Service Management, www.iso.org, 2005. [2] Office of Government Commerce (OCG): IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Support (ISBN 0113300158), 2000; Service Delivery (ISBN 0113300174), 2001. 3] The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800-145, September 2001, P. Mell and T. Grance. [4] Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA): Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (CobiT), isaca.org/cobit. [5]Microsoft TechNet: Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0, http://technet.microsoft.com/de/library/cc506049 (enus).aspx [6] Tele Management Forum (tmf): enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM), 2009. [7] Schaaf, T., Brenner M.: On Tool Support for Service Level Management: From Requirements to System Specifications.3rdInternational Workshop on Business-Driven IT Management, 2008. [8] ITSM reference. http://www.itsm.org [9] SYMIAN: Analysis and Performance Improvement of the IT Incident Management Process Claudio Bartolini, Member, IEEE, Cesare Stefanelli, Member, IEEE, and Mauro Tortonesi IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NETWORK AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT, VOL. 7, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2010. [10] Model-based Integration of Tools Supporting Automatable IT Service Management Processes, Klaus Scheibenberger IT Infrastructure and Services Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) 76131 Karlsruhe 2010. [11] IT service management driven by business objectives: An application to incident management Claudio Bartolini, Mathias Sallà © HP Laboratories Palo Alto, USA. David Trastour HP Laboratories Bristol, UK 2006 IEEE. [12] Synthetic Incident Generation in the Reenactment of IT Support Organization Behavior. Bartolini, C.,HP Labs., Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Stefanelli, C.,Tortonesi, M. ,Integrated Network Management (IM 2013), 2013 IFIP/IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYPOSIUM. [13] K Christiance, J. Lenchner et al, â€Å"A Service Delivery Platform for Server Management Services†, to appear in IBM Journal for Research and Development, special issue on Service Delivery, 2008. [14] Arago: The Automation Experts-Autopilot-version-33-englisch-47-728. [15] BMC Patrol, www.bmc.com/

Positive Behavioral Support :: essays research papers

Schools are in great need of systems, processes, and personnel who are able to support the needs of students with problem behavior. Research indicates, however, that (while I am a big, fat cheater) information has not been made available to teachers and other professionals in a format that allows these strategies to become common practice. Many teachers choose isolated behavioral strategies that are not applied immediately after the problem behavior has occurred. As teachers, we are often expending more of our energy than is necessary by not taking time to implement a more comprehensive approach toward behavior management. In many cases one will need only a few of these strategies in place to create a positive behavioral support plan. When formulating a plan, it is important to remember that students do not exist in a vacuum. What is a problem behavior in one class may not be a problem in another; problem behavior from the home may never manifest in school. A key means of decreasing the frequency and intensity of problem behavior and reducing the need for more intrusive intervention procedures is enhancing a student's quality of life. A student will respond differently depending upon the actions and reactions of the individuals around him. Behaviors that occur repeatedly are often serving a useful function for the student. Positive behavioral support strategies make problem behavior irrelevant by redesigning the environment. Positive behavioral support strategies teach students new skills that are meant to replace the problem behavior with a socially-acceptable alternative. Addressing the larger social context surrounding a student can reduce the amount of time spent implementing intensive positive behavioral support plans. Functional assessment gathers information regarding the events that both immediately precede problem behavior and the situations where a student is successful. It is rare to find one behavioral intervention that addresses the function of a problem behavior in each situation and setting. Positive behavioral support strategies should therefore include multicomponent intervention plans. Begin by developing a hypothesis regarding the undesirable behavior. The hypothesis statement is a summary of the evidence collected in the functional assessment.

The Caribbean Identity Essay -- Culture Caribbean History Cultural Ess

The Caribbean Identity The way in which Benà ­tez-Rojo and Mintz tackle the question of Caribbean identity in their articles, is a removed, objective ideal, in contrast to Michelle Cliff’s portrayal of Jamaican identity. Cliff’s portrayal touches the heart and soul of Caribbean identity. While Mintz and Benà ­tez-Rojo are investigating trends in the Caribbean as a whole, from an outside perspective, Cliff offers the personal, tactile imagery of what it is to live in the Caribbean, utilizing the objective account of history as a background. Furthermore, Cliff deals with Jamaica, one island in the Caribbean, while Mintz and Benà ­tez-Rojo are dealing with the Caribbean on a grand scaled overview. The fact is neither article can be taken as complete truth. In fact, although Cliff uses history in her novel, I believe the account of history from someone who has completely accessed the interior of a place, is always going to be biased. Likewise, Mintz and Benà ­tez-Rojo in making their hypothes es, are lacking an insider’s view. It is the difference between a Caribbean person and Caribbeanist, respectively. Therefore, while on a logical level, an analytical level, Benà ­tez-Rojo and Mintz’s, conclusions as to Caribbean identity could rightly be accepted, these two authors do not possess the experience and intensity to make me as a reader, convinced of their conclusions. Benà ­tez-Rojo and Mintz do utilize imagery in their texts. For example, Benà ­tez-Rojo quotes E. Dovergier as a manner of displaying with images what he has attempted to explain regarding rhythm as being the unifying factor of Caribbean culture. Part of this description reads, "the buyers buzz around like a swarm of flies; they haggle, they gesticulate, they laugh, they babble ... ...er, it seems to be in Jamaica specifically, the elite and ruling class are never going to understand what it was like to be a slave or possibly never admit that it was wrong to encourage slavery. Those who were slaves or relatives of slaves, understand the horrors associated with slavery and will not be able to forgive completely the naivity and self involvement on the part of elite in continuing slavery. For as Clare says, although emancipation eventually came, as well as official freedom of Jamaica from Britain, there is no essence of complete freedom. Bibliography Antonio Benà ­tez-Rojo, The Repeating Island (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992) Michelle Cliff, Abeng (New York: Penguin, 1995; orig. 1984). Sindney W. Mintz, â€Å"The Caribbean as a Socio-Cultural Area,† in M. Horowitz, Peoples & Cultures of the Caribbean (Garden City, N.J., 1971).

The Fall of The House of Usher Essay -- Literary Analysis, Edgar Allan

Often times in literature the author will correlate attributes of a character or things happening to a character with physical items or even other people within the story. This provides an indication of how a character is structured and sometimes foreshadows things yet to happen in the story. In the short story â€Å"The Fall of The House of Usher,† the author, Edgar Allan Poe, establishes two distinct parallels between three characters. Roderick is paralleled with both his twin sister, Madeline, and the actual house itself. Determining the similarities between these characters can provide an interesting literary exercise. Roderick and Madeline being twin siblings should provide enough similarities to establish a parallel in itself, but there are other indications. Both Usher siblings suffer from debilitating ailments which Poe alludes to several times throughout the story. An example of this is when Poe states of Roderick, â€Å"an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave† (Poe 235). The author does this again when writing: â€Å"I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident† (Poe 235). Finally, he writes, â€Å"He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Poe 235). The terms â€Å"bounden slave† and â€Å"enchained† in these passages hint that Roderick is unable to move from his fears and is therefore stuck. Madeline is described as having à ¢â‚¬Å"transient affections of a partially cataleptical character† (Poe 236). This means while suffering from catatonic fits she was physically unable to move, similar in nature to Roderick’s inability to mov... ...the narrator. The use of parallels within literature has long provided readers with a way to delve deeper into the author’s view of a character. Roderick and Madeline Usher were so similar they in fact died at the same time from comparable health problems. The physical house Roderick lived in seemed to take on so many of the exact depressing attributes of its owner that it, too, perished upon his death. â€Å"The Fall of The House of Usher† by Edgar Allan Poe deals predominantly with hopelessness which fills the narrator with despair. Despite this hopelessness and despite the fact that every character the narrator encounters dies at the end of the story, and regardless that during his visit to the Usher House the narrator becomes somewhat depressed himself, one can glean hope that the narrator, and therefore the reader, escapes from an obviously despondent situation.

What are the qualities of an effective employee? Essay

In recent times, companies have to very competitive. Many companies want to improve their productivity. When it comes to productivity, employee and management effectiveness is of the utmost importance so companies can make more profit and compete better against other companies. Therefore, this essay will explain the qualities of an effective employee and outline the way bosses can increase the employees’ effectiveness. There are several factors that can make employees more efficient. The first factor is welcoming criticism. This is something that a lot of people hate. Conversely, good workers like it more than hate it. For instance, excellent employees will think criticism from others can lead to solving problems (Simmons 2008-2010). In addition, Simmons (2008-2010) reports that good workers actively pursue other people’s opinion rather than avoiding them. The author goes on to say that good workers will listen to criticism from everyone even when they know the other worker dislikes and disagrees with them. The second factor is increasing self discipline. It can help workers to work more consistently and seriously. An example to illustrate this point is that effective workers should have high spirits anytime, even when they are not feeling stimulated and energetic (Simmons 2008-2010). In addition, they must work diligently even though they are in a bad mood (Simmons 2008-2010). Furthermore, Simmons (2008-2010) explains that they need to give the boss one hundred percent support all the time. The final factor is in tackling opportunities. Successful employees will not miss any opportunities because it is a good chance to show their ability. According to Simmons (2008-2010), excellent employees look at the weak points in their organization as an opportunity to demonstrate their ability and leadership with better results. In addition, opportunities can be anywhere in the workplace, so they need to keep thinking intelligently and creatively (Simmons 2008-2010). In short, a lot of things can make workers more effective, such as welcoming criticism, increasing self discipline and tackling opportunities. Therefore, employees choose to study certain subjects to improve their qualities and make them more effective. On the other hand, bosses can improve employees’ efficiency in certain ways. Firstly, bosses need to understand staff needs. For example, bosses need to have more connection with workers to make workers feel more valuable and feel that the company is like a good family (Smith 2006-2010). Moreover, Smith (2006-2010) reports that bosses can assign different type of tasks and make one day a week as casual dress day for workers because they need variety. Bosses can commend workers that have good qualities and award good workers because they need to feel appreciated in their job (Smith 2006-2010). Secondly, bosses need to know it is important to have a balanced lifestyle for workers. According to Smith (2006-2010), workers can overwork and neglect to look after their health. Thus, bosses should care about work timetables to make sure workers have adequate free time for leisure to relieve their stress (Smith 2006-2010). Furthermore, Smith (2006-2010) explains that bosses can encourage staff to seek their hobbies. Finally, bosses can be positive and enthusiastic around workers. An example to demonstrate this point is that bosses instill hope around workers because it is a positive guide for workers in the future (Smith 2006-2010). When sales are down, bosses can instill enthusiasm to raise sales so employees become more productive and effective (Smith 2006-2010). In addition, hope can push workers to pursue their goals, such as a higher position. In brief, managers need to know about staff needs, understand significance in balanced lifestyle and instill hope to improve employee’ efficiency. In conclusion, better workmanship can be affected by the qualities of employees and bosses using different ways to improve staff efficiency. These include listening to all opinions, improving self discipline and tackling all opportunities. On the management side the result can include recognizing workers needs, understanding the importance of a balance between work time and free time for staff and giving hope to workers. The business world is a highly competitive world. If workers are more effective, it can improve company competitiveness and survival strength. References Simmons, K 2008-2010, Seven habits of highly effective employees, The Black Collegian Career Center, viewed 2 February 2010, . Smith, LH 2006-2010, Three tips for improving employee effectiveness, Personal Best Consulting, viewed 15 April 2011, .

Pakistan: Recent Economic Developments and Future Prospects

Most of the news emanating about Pakistan in the Western media relate to terrorism, bomb blasts, Islamic fundamentalism, nuclear non proliferation, military rule etc. Seldom does one see a positive story appearing about Pakistan’s remarkable economic turnaround. But the fact of the matter is that despite such negative image Pakistan is one of the favored destinations for foreign direct investment. Foreign direct investment flows have surged by 95 percent during July – February 2007 and are expected to touch $ 5 billion or 3. percent of GDP – several times higher than FDI flows to our large neighbor in relative terms.Pakistan’s international bond issues and equity floatations through GDRs have been consistently oversubscribed and are priced at fine margins. Standard Chartered Bank has made acquisition of a domestic private bank for around half a billion dollars. China Mobile – the largest mobile company in terms of subscriber base – has bought out majority shareholding in one of the local cellular phone companies for over $ 400 millions.Philip and Morris has entered into an agreement to purchase 50. 2 percent shares of the second largest Cigarettes Manufacturing Company of Pakistan for US 339 million. A number of other similar mergers and acquisitions are in the pipeline. 2. What is that inspite of such adverse publicity, perceived security risk and travel advisories the global investors, fund managers and international financial institutions from the United States, Europe, East Asia and Middle East all look upon Pakistan favorably and show such tremendous amount of confidence in the economy.Sophisticated investors from all over the world are willing to purchase billion of dollars of sovereign paper issued by Pakistan for 30 year duration. There must be something right the country ought to be doing which fails to reach the radar screen of the popular and highly influential western media. 3. As an international developmen t economist I can venture a number of reasons for this apparently highly paradoxical situation. First of all, Pakistan is a country of 160 million people which is growing at an average growth rate of 6-7 percent for the last five years.Thirty million Pakistanis earning $ 10,000 – $ 15,000 (PPP terms) constitute a large and solid market for purchase of goods and services of all kinds. There are very few markets except China, India and Indonesia that are underpinned by the size and scale that the fast growing Pakistani middle class offers. Projections show that if the current growth A paper presented at the IPRI-RUSI Conference on â€Å"Pakistan: Strategic Challenges & Prospects† At Royal United Service Institute London on April, 17 2007 ates are attained for the next ten years, Pakistan’s per capita income will double in real terms by 2020. At that time the size of the middle class will rise to 50 million enjoying purchasing power incomes of average $ 30,000 â₠¬â€œ equivalent to those of some of the European countries today. Goldman Sachs has placed Pakistan in the next eleven category of largest economies among developing countries for its long term projection. The requirements of energy, infrastructure, goods and services of these 50 million will have to be met at world class standards.Multinational firms and holders of capital with excess liquidity, eyeing these prospects in emerging countries and feeling saturation in advanced economies, are rethinking their strategies and repositioning themselves. Pakistan along with other Asian countries is one of the beneficiaries of this strategy. The changing demographics of a youthful population and labor force in Pakistan staring against the stark reality of ageing population in Europe, Japan, and US and after a while China reinforce these promising prospects for the future.Of course, none of this will be either automatic or easy and good policies, good governance and good luck will be needed t o realize this scenario. 4. Second, the economic performance in terms of macroeconomic stability, growth, poverty reduction and employment generation has been stellar. Economic growth rates have risen from 1. 8 percent in 2000/01 gradually to average 6 -7 percent a year in the last four years making Pakistan one of the fastest growing economy in the Asia region. For Pakistan these rates are not spectacular but a reversion to mean.The average growth rate of GDP ver 50 year period of Pakistan has been 5. 2 percent per annum. Manufacturing sector output growth was over 15 percent, exports have doubled in US dollar terms in these five years, and an open trade regime has allowed imports from all over the world to triple. Tax revenues have risen by 14 percent a year reducing fiscal deficit which used to average 7 percent a year in the 1990s to average 4 percent. Current account turned around from chronic deficit to a surplus for three successive years mainly due to renewed export growth a nd resurgence of workers’ remittances.Although it has become negative since 2005/06 due to phenomenonal growth in imports of machinery and equipment and increase in world oil prices it is being fully financed by foreign capital flows. Inflation rate during the first four years of the current government remained below 4 percent but oil price pass through and food shortages have led to 8 percent on average since 2004-05. External debt burden has been halved from 52% to 26% of GDP and is projected to be on a declining path.The country’s capacity to service its debt has considerably improved as debt servicing ratio which used to preempt almost 60 percent of public revenues is now down to 28 percent. Poverty incidence has fallen from 34 percent to 24 percent and unemployment rate is down to 6. 5 percent from 8. 4 percent. These movements are in the right direction but they are not acceptable as one in every fourth Pakistani is still living below the poverty line. Table-I su mmarizes the changes in the key economic indicators between October 1999 and June 2006. 5.Third, the basic premise of policy reform agenda was that macroeconomic stability will remain short lived if it was not accompanied by structural reforms to remove microeconomic distortions and by bringing about improvement in economic governance. Pakistan has successfully implemented the first generation of structural reforms that have made the economy more efficient and resilient to face unanticipated exogenous shocks. The main thrust of these reforms was to allow greater freedom to the private sector to own, produce, distribute and trade goods and services while gradually withdrawing the public sector from this arena.The promotion of public private partnership in large infrastructure projects as a policy initiative is likely to overcome some of the problems that are inherent in private infrastructure projects at the same time easing the financing constraints faced by the public sector. The r ole of the state in Pakistan has been redefined as a facilitator, enabler, protecter and regulator rather than directly managing and presiding over the commanding heights of the economy. Government intervention is justified for social protection of the poor, provision of public goods or when there is a clear case of market failure i. externalities, imperfect market structure etc.6. Fourth, Pakistan occupies a key strategic location that links India with Iran, Afghanistan and the Central Asian States, provides access to sea for land locked countries of Central Asia, Afghanistan and Western China, acts as the energy and transit corridor and opens up to the oil rich Gulf States next door. This strategic location alongwith the completed and new investments in ports, highways, pipelines, etc. will throw up vast new opportunities that can be highly attractive.Risk-return relationship in these projects is highly favorable and a number of foreign firms are keen to take the first mover advan tage by locating their investment particularly in Gawadar port area. 7. Leaving aside the current situation that I have described I would like to address two important questions this afternoon that agitate the minds of all potential investors and businessmen – domestic or foreign in respect to Pakistan. First whether the stability and growth that have so far been achieved will prove to be transitory in nature or will be sustained over time.Second, a question that has attracted a lot of attention is whether the September 11,2001 events have much to do with the economic turn around of Pakistan or whether the changes are more fundamental. To examine these two questions we have to look at the strength of economic policies, depth of structural reforms and the quality of economic governance. Before addressing these two questions let me make two broader points to set the context for our subsequent discussion. SUSTAINABILITY OF GROWTH .It should be reiterated that widespread economic reforms in Pakistan were initiated in 1991 by the Nawaz Sharif Government, continued under the Benazir Bhutto Government and further intensified and implemented under the Musharraf Government. Thus there should be no doubt in any body’s mind that the major direction of economic policies being pursued in Pakistan presently enjoys wide political consensus and support among all the leading political parties of Pakistan.The underlying philosophy that the Government should not be in the business of running businesses but regulating the markets and laying down the enabling policy framework has been demonstrably practised by all the successive governments in the past. Deregulation, liberalization, privatization and private sector – led development have been consistently followed for the last 16 years, and there is very little doubt in my mind, that these will remain the pillars of future economic policy in Pakistan irrespective of which political party assumes power.Of cours e, there will be differences in approaches, tactics and nuances, episodes of point scoring, distancing from the specific transactions of the previous governments, coming up with new modalities but the substance and thrust of economic policies will remain the same and transcend partisan politics. 9. The second important point that should be kept in mind is that Pakistan has a long, uninterrupted history of an open, non-discriminatory and liberal foreign investment regime. The Government of Mr. Z. A.Bhutto in early 1970s nationalized domestic manufacturing industry, banks and insurance companies but did not touch foreign investment. Not only that the risks of expropriation and transfer are almost zero the level playing field that is afforded to foreign investors is unparalleled in developing world. This is a deliberate policy measure as Pakistan is squeezed between two economic giants – China and India – and we cannot afford to keep the same bar on the entry of foreign i nvestors as our great neighbors have placed.We have to be much more accommodating and keep the door wide open to allow foreign investors to help our economy by bringing in capital, managerial skills, transfer of technology and integration into global markets. This policy of liberal foreign investment regime is solidly grounded in the political ethos and economic imperatives of Pakistan. 10. Now let me take up as to how a combination of strong economic policies, structural reforms economic governance and good luck has changed the economic landscape of Pakistan in many fundamental ways. Strength of economic policies 11.The bane of Pakistan’s economic problems stemmed from fiscal indiscipline over a decade that plunged Pakistan into a debt trap. This root cause had therefore to be surgically removed so that the likelihood of its further recurrence in the future is minimized A Fiscal Responsibility Law has been approved by the Parliament, which keeps a lid on the future governmen ts’ propensity to borrow their way out. Debt / GDP ratio has to be reduced by 2. 5 percentage points each year and the Debt/ GDP ratio cannot exceed 60 percent. Any deviation has to be explained to the Parliament and need its approval.This law will hopefully act as a major restraint on fiscal recklessness in the future. 12. Monetary policy is now operated by an independent central bank keeping the objective of price stability, financial stability and growth in mind. Although it involves a fine balancing act and inflationary pressures have surfaced during the last two years the Central Bank is committed to pursue a monetary policy that keeps inflation under control. Indirect market- based policy instruments have replaced credit ceilings, caps on deposit and lending rates, preferential treatment to government and directed credit to priority sectors.Interest rates and exchange rates are market determined and credit allocation decisions are made by the individual banks based on o bjective criteria but guided by prudential regulations. 13. External debt management policy was focused on (a) reprofiling of the stock of official bilateral debt, (b) substituting concessional loans for non-concessional from international financial institutions, (c) pre-paying expensive loans and (d) liquidating short term liabilities.Debt ratio has thus been reduced from 100 percent of GDP to 56 percent in five years time. This restructuring of debt has put Pakistan on a firm footing as the debt and debt servicing ratios are on a declining path. This has provided scope and enlarged the capacity of the country to meet all its future foreign exchange liabilities and obligations without much difficulty. Credit worthiness indicators have all improved and Pakistan is no longer that vulnerable to external shocks as it was in 1998 at the time of the nuclear tests. 14.Trade policy in Pakistan has been categorized by the World Bank as one of the least restrictive in South Asia along with S ri Lanka and this policy has gradually provided incentives to exporters to increase their market share in the global markets. Exchange rate policy is pursued to maintain stability in the foreign exchange markets while at the same time keeping the competitiveness of Pakistani exports intact. Large accumulation of foreign reserves played an important role in stabilizing the exchange rate and cushioning the economy from the adverse and abrupt exogenous disturbances.One of the tests that the country successfully met in the last two years was to absorb the oil price hike from $ 25/ barrel to $ 75/ barrel without any serious dislocation of economic activity or any loss of foreign reserves. Five years ago if this escalation had happened the exchange rate would have tumbled and inflation rate would have hit double digits. 15. Pakistan has also made significant efforts in unilaterally liberalizing its trade regime since the 1990s. The maximum tariff rate has declined from 225 percent in 1990 -1 to 25 percent; the average tariff rate stands at just 9 percent compared to 65 percent a decade ago.The number of duty slabs has also been reduced to four. Quantitative import restrictions have been eliminated except those relating to security, health, public morals, religious and cultural concerns. The statutory orders that exempted certain industries from import duties or provided selective concessions to privileged individual firms have been phased out and import duties on 4,000 items were reduced. Protection to domestic industry is no longer a policy objective and a uniform, across – the board, transparent regulatory regime with level playing field has been put in place.These measures have brought down effective rate of protection, eliminated the anti-export bias and promoted competitive and efficient industries. A number of laws have also been promulgated to bring the trade regime in conformity with World Trade Organization regulations. These include anti-dumping and countervailing measures and protection of intellectual property rights. This unilateral opening up to global trade has benefited the domestic firms in improving their efficiency and making themselves competitive.STRUCTURAL REFORMS 16. It was realized by the policy makers that stability will remain elusive and short lived if it was not accompanied by structural reforms to remove micro economic distortions and by bringing about improvement in economic governance. Concurrently with the debt restructuring, the country embarked on the fiscal policy reforms and consolidation by raising tax revenues, reducing expenditures, cutting down subsidies of all kinds and containing the losses of public enterprises.Tax reforms were undertaken to widen tax base, remove direct contact between tax payers and tax collectors, introduce value-added tax as the major source of revenue, simplify tax administration and strengthen the capacity of the Central Board of Revenue. Although these reforms are still u nderway, the adoption of universal self assessment followed by random audit of selected tax returns, automation and reorganization of the tax machinery have begun to help improve tax collection.Tax-GDP ratio in Pakistan is lower in comparison to other developing countries and has to be raised in the next five years to reach the average level of comparator countries. 17. As one of the sources of fiscal problems was the losses and inefficiencies of public enterprises the Musharraf Government actively pursued an aggressive privatization plan whose thrust was sale of assets in the oil and gas industry as well as in the banking, telecommunications and energy sectors, to strategic investors, with foreign investors encouraged to participate in the privatization process.Pakistan’s record on privatization since 1991 has been impressive but the transactions completed in the last few years have yielded $ 3 billion stopping the hemorrhaging of public finances that were used to underwrite the losses of these enterprises. These privatized banks are now contributing substantial sums to the national exchequer as they have all become profitable. 18. As Pakistan would continue to rely on foreign capital flows for augmenting its domestic savings it had to demonstrate its seriousness in encouraging foreign investment.There has been a major and perceptible liberalization of the foreign exchange regime. Foreign investors can set up their business in Pakistan in any sector of the economy – agriculture, manufacturing real estate, retail trade, services, banking etc. , bring in and take back their capital, remit profits, dividends, royalties and fees etc. , without any prior approvals. Foreign companies are allowed to raise funds from domestic banks and capital markets.They are treated equally with national firms in all respects and can bring in expatriate staff to run their businesses. 19. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) can also enter and exit the market freely witho ut any restrictions or prior approvals. In the Karachi Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of US$50 billion and over 650 listed companies corporate earnings were on average in 20-25 percent range much higher than those in most emerging countries. This makes Pakistan an attractive place to invest for foreign portfolio investors too.As part of this liberalization, non-residents and residents are allowed to maintain and operate foreign currency deposit accounts, and a market-based exchange rate in the inter-bank market is at work. 20. Financial sector reforms in Pakistan were also initiated early in the 1990s when new banking licenses were granted to private domestic banks to set up their shops along with the nationalized commercial banks and foreign banks. Although these reforms were implemented with fits and start, they were accelerated since 1997.The Central Bank was granted autonomy and the control of the Ministry of Finance over banking institutions was diluted. More deep rooted reforms were undertaken since 1999 when net non-performing loans of the banking system were brought down to less than 3 percent of total advances and loans, minimum capital requirements were raised to $100 million, the quality of new loans was improved, mergers and consolidation of financial institutions eliminated a number of weaker players and the range of products and services offered by the banks was widened.But the most crucial policy action taken by the Government, in my view, was the privatization of Habib Bank, United Bank, and Allied Bank – three large nationalized commercial banks of the country. As a result of these reforms, the share of the private sector ownership of the banking assets has risen to 80 percent and the banking sector is facing a healthy but strong competitive environment. The banks are highly profitable and the average lending rates have declined considerably as automation, on-line banking and multiple channels of delivery have improved the efficiency of services in response to market competition.1. Agriculture credit, SME financing, consumer loans and microcredit have become mainstream products of the banking industry and the borrower base of the banking system has multiplied from 1 million to 4 million households. The middle and lower middle class which had been completely shut off from access to banking services are now enjoying car loans, mortgages, credit cards, consumer durables. Small farmers are using bank credit for buying chemical fertilizers, certified seeds, insecticides, small implements and hiring tractor services.Small and medium entrepreneurs are expanding their fabrication and manufacturing capacities and upgrading technology. Landless labor and poor women in the rural areas are receiving loans for poultry, small livestock, sewing machines, etc. The main beneficiaries of these reforms are the customers of financial services although it must be recognized that market determined deposit rates have also d eclined significantly. But as the lending rates are surging upwards, deposit rates are also going to depict an upward movement with time lag.The outreach of banking sector is still very sparse outside the urban areas and has to be extended to cover at least 50 percent of rural households if any meaningful results are to be achieved in poverty reduction and urban – rural income inequalities. 22. Deregulation of oil and gas, telecommunication and civil aviation sectors have also brought about significant positive results. Oil and gas exploration activity has stepped up in recent years and constant discovery and production from new gas fields operated by private sector companies have added new capacity to meet the growing energy needs of the country.Independent power producers – both domestic and foreign private companies – have played a critical role in filling in electricity generation requirements of Pakistan since 1996. Telecommunication has witnessed a boom si nce the private sector companies were allowed licenses to operate cellular phones. One million new cellular phone connections are being added every month and the number of phones has already reached about 50 million or a penetration rate of almost 33 percent.Long distance international and local loop monopoly of Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation has been broken and new licenses including for wireless local loop have been issued. The customers are reaping rich dividends as the prices of phone calls – local, long distance, international – are currently only a fraction of the previous rates. One of the advantages of privatization of the state monopoly, i. e. , the PTCL would be felt in form of higher bandwidth penetration that has lagged behind other Asian countries. Economic Governance 23.The most significant shift introduced by the military government is in promoting good economic governance although we have still a long way to go. The reforms in some of the most important federal institutions – the Central Board of Revenue (CBR), Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Railways – initiated some years ago – are already beginning to take some hold and making a difference as far as governance is concerned. Discretionary powers have been significantly curtailed but corruption at lower echelons of the Government is still widely rampant.Freedom of press and access to information has had a salutary effect on the behaviour of decision makers but this has not trickled down to the lower bureaucracy yet where implementation of the policies takes place. The post 2003 period has witnessed some decline in the Transparency International ratings of Pakistan compared to the 1999-2002 period. 24. The cornerstone of the governance agenda is the devolution plan which transfers powers and responsibilities, including those related to social services from the federal and provincial governments to local levels.This plan was put into effect in 2001. The main premise of the devolution plan is the belief that development effort at the local level should be driven by priorities set by elected local representatives, as opposed to bureaucrats sitting in provincial and federal capitals. Devolution of power will thus strengthen governance by increasing decentralization, de-concentration, accountability and people's participation in their local affairs. However, in the meanwhile the transition has created its own set of dislocations and disruptions in the delivery of services that need to be addressed. 25.Other essential ingredients for improving economic governance are the separation of policy and regulatory functions which were earlier combined within the ministry. Regulatory agencies have been set up for economic activities such as banking, finance, aviation, telecommunications, power, oil, gas etc. The regulatory structures are now independent of the ministry and enjoy quasijud icial powers. The Chairman and Board members enjoy security of tenure and cannot be arbitrarily removed. They are not answerable to any executive authority and hold public hearings and consultations with stakeholders. 6. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been functioning quite effectively for the last five years as the main anti-corruption agency. A large number of high government officials, politicians and businessmen were sentenced to prison, subjected to heavy fines and disqualified from holding public office for twenty-one years on charges of corruption after conviction in the courts of law. Major loan and tax defaulters were also investigated, prosecuted and forced to repay their overdue loans and taxes. 27.Civil service reforms aimed at improving recruitment, training, performance management, career progression, right sizing of ministries and attached departments, and improving compensation for government employees are part of the second generation reforms of the go vernment for building strong institutions in the country. Proposals have been developed to depoliticize recruitment, promotions and career development, enhance the independence and responsibilities of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) and systematically introduce merit based recruitment and promotions.The Civil Service Act has to be amended to reflect performance based career progression enabling the government to reward efficient and competent civil servants. The public sector educational training infrastructure is also being restructured to strengthen skill based training of civil servants at all levels. These are highly demanding reforms and a consensus has to be built among the stakeholders before they can be accepted and implemented. 28. Reforms in access to justice, under implementation since 2001 will deal with delays in the provision of justice, case management, automation, and court formation systems.In addition, human resources, management information systems an d the infrastructure supporting judicial system are being revamped and upgraded. Small Causes Courts have been established to provide relief to the poor who have small claims. Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms have proved to be successful in bringing expeditious disposal of commercial and tax disputes and are being replicated for wider application. IMPACT OF SEPTEMBER 11 EVENTS. 29.A large number of observers and casual empiricists both within and outside Pakistan have been making bold but untested assertion that it is the massive aid flows and debt relief resulting from Pakistan’s participation in the war against terror after September 11, 2001 that has been responsible for the large reserve accumulation and economic turnaround. It is true that September 11 did help in diverting workers’ remittances from open market to inter bank, in providing some debt relief and new loans and grants, in removing official sanctions, but there were also huge costs incurred by Pa kistan.Export orders of more than $1 billion were cancelled. Visits by foreign buyers were suspended and are still avoided due to travel advisory, higher war risk premium was charged on freight and insurance premiums were raised. 30. The data presented in Table-II shows that even if we assume the extreme case that all official transfers, debt relief and all foreign loans/ credits represent the â€Å"gift† of September 11 to Pakistan, this combined amount represents only 8. 5% of total Foreign Exchange Earnings of the Country in FY-06.At its peak in FY-02, this amount was 21. 6%. But this entire amount is not a direct fall out of September 11 because Pakistan has been receiving foreign loans and grants every year since the 1950s. For example, in FY-00 and FY-01, the two years prior to September 11, we received 16 per cent and 19. 9% of Foreign Exchange Earnings in form of foreign loans and grants. The country had a positive overall balance and positive current and capital acco unt balances in FY 2000-01 much before September 11, 2001 occurred.Even in FY 1999-00 the deficit on overall balance was quite small less than 1% of GDP. Pakistan’s reserves had started accumulating in FY 2000-01 and SBP’s own reserves had almost doubled after paying off foreign currency deposits of almost $1. 7 billion to the non-resident and institutional holders and $. 2. 8 billion in debt servicing to external creditors. Thus, this perception that every thing good that has happened to the country is a direct consequence of September 11 is not only incorrect but highly exaggerated for the reasons described below. 1. It should be recognized that any external financial relief such as provided in the aftermath of Sept 11 would dissipate quickly and thus remain temporary and transitory in nature until it is accompanied by fundamental structural reforms that clean up the economic landscape, unshackle the entrepreneurial energies of private economic actors, lay the founda tions for competitive markets under the vigilant eyes of regulators and expand the productive and foreign exchange earning capacity of the country.As pointed out earlier unless the reforms of financial sector, liberalization of trade and tariff regime, improvement in tax policy and administration, deregulation of oil and gas and telecom sectors and privatization of state owned enterprises were put in place it would not have been possible to take advantage of the situation offered by Sept. 11 for its contribution to the dynamism of the economy and sustained growth during the last four years. 32.The data presented in Table-II clearly demonstrates that Pakistan’s foreign exchange earning capacity has expanded from $ 15 billion annually to $ 40 billion during the last six years or 33% GDP from 20% of GDP. Contrary to popular perception, it is the Pakistani businesses and nationals working abroad who provide the bulk of the foreign exchange earnings of the country. It is totally f allacious to argue that if the foreigners particularly Americans withdraw their financial assistance then the country will be in dire trouble.Less than $ 3. 5 billion are received through all types of foreign assistance while about $ 30 billion are generated by Pakistani businesses and nationals and the remaining amount accrues from foreign direct investment, privatization and international markets. If this pattern of foreign exchange earnings persist in the future the relative share of foreign assistance in form of grants or loans from United States, other friendly bilaterals and multilaterals will continue to decline and will become insignificant in the next 5-10 years. 3. In order to further evaluate the veracity of the assertions of the theory of dependence of our economy on the US, four key indicators are selected (a) US assistance as percent of Pakistan’s total budgetary expenditure (b) US assistance as percent of Pakistan’s total foreign exchange receipts (c) US assistance as percent of total current account receipts of Pakistan and (d) US assistance as percent of total value of imports of Pakistan.These indicators have been carefully chosen to see as to how much damage will accrue to our balance of payments and fiscal accounts if the US for one reason or the other abruptly decides to withdraw its assistance of all types. 34. The results of this analysis shown in Table III indicate that even under the worst case scenario of zero aid flows and no reimbursements for logistics services rendered to the US troops the diminution in foreign exchange receipts or budgetary resources would be insignificant – varying between 4. 5% of total foreign exchange receipts to 7. % of total budgetary expenditures. The other two indicators i. e. the proportions of total value of imports and current account receipts financed by U. S. assistance account for 6. 4 % and 5. 8% respectively – not worrisome amounts. 35. There is no doubt that the Govern ment of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan do very much appreciate the financial and moral support demonstrated by the U. S Government at the critical moment of Pakistan’s economy. Several other collateral benefits accrued to the economy as a result of the U.S bilateral debt forgiveness, strict scruntiny of remittances through informal channels, the US EXIM Bank and OPIC’s highly positive initiatives towards Pakistan and the withdrawl of all different types of economic sanctions. U. S Administration played a helpful role in ensuring larger volume of concessional assistance to Pakistan through the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The prompt and generous response to the Earthquake of October 2005 by the U. S Government, private sector and on-governmental organizations left a very favorable impressions in the minds of Pakistanis. 36. US is an important trading and investment partner of Pakistan and we should continue to remain friends with this superpower. The purpose of this analysis is not to show that we care little for our friendly relations or do not cherish friendship with the Government or the people of the United States. As a matter of fact we should expand our relations with the United States in the areas of higher education, science and technology transfer, trade, investment and labor flows.We should also seek duty free market access for the products exported from the Reconstruction opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the Tribal areas as part of our joint strategy to provide economic benefits to the 3 million population living on the porous border with Afghanistan. But the main argument of this analysis is that the pundits in the US who believe that they can use the leverage of US official aid to paralyze Pakistan’s economy are sadly mistaken as they have an exaggerated sense of the importance of these official flows.Any attempt to impose conditions that impinge upon the sovereignty of Pakistan or conflict with our own national interests can be resisted without creating a serious dislocation to our macro economic stability or growth prospects. 37. Despite these reforms, Pakistan is facing many difficult challenges and will continue to face new unforeseen challenges. There is no room for complacency. One fourth of the population still lives below the poverty line.Human Development Indicators remain low as almost half of the population is illiterate, infant and maternal mortality rates are high, access to quality education and health care particularly by the poor is limited, income and regional inequalities are widespread, infrastructure shortages and deficiencies persist, skill shortages are taking a toll in the economy's productivity while at the same time, there is high unemployment and underemployment. Most worrying to me is that Pakistan's image abroad is quite negative.Foreigners are reluctant to visit Pakistan as they perceive the country to be a dangerous place. The worldwide preoccupation with the l arge economies of China and India and the ever-increasing quest to enter these markets is also working to the disadvantage of countries such as Pakistan. But the lesson we have learned is that there is no point in complaining and whining about this but to get on with the job, to work even harder, to overcome these deficiencies and constraints and to hope for the best.