Biology - Genetics The Cystic Fibrosis Gene Introduction Cystic Fibro

Biology - Genetics The Cystic Fibrosis Gene Introduction: Cystic fibrosis is an inherited autosomal recessive disease that exerts its main effects on the digestive system and the lungs. This disease is the most common genetic disorder amongst Caucasians. Cystic fibrosis affects about one in 2,500 people, with one in twenty five being a heterozygote. With the use of antibiotics, the life span of a person afflicted with CF can be extended up to thirty years however, most die before the age of thirteen.1 Since so many people are affected by this disease, it's no wonder that CF was the first human genetic disease to be cloned by geneticists. In this paper, I will be focusing on how the cystic fibrosis gene was discovered while at the same time, discussing the protein defect in the CF gene, the bio-chemical defect associated with CF, and possible treatments of the disease. Finding the Cystic Fibrosis Gene: The classical genetic approach to finding the gene that is responsible f or causing a genetic disease has been to first characterize the bio-chemical defect within the gene, then to identify the mutated protein in the gene of interest, and finally to locate the actual gene. However, this classical approach proved to be impractical when searching for the CF gene. To find the gene responsible for CF, the principle of "reverse genetics" was applied. Scientists accomplished this by linking the disease to a specific chromosome. After this linkage, they isolated the gene of interest on the chromosome and then tested its product.2 Before the disease could be linked to a specific chromosome, a marker needed to be found that would always travel with the disease. This marker is known as a Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism or RFLP for short. RFLP's are varying base sequences of DNA in different individuals which are known to travel with genetic disorders.3 The RFLP for cystic fibrosis was discovered through the techniques of Somatic Cell Hybridization a nd through Southern Blot Electrophoresis (gel separation of DNA). By using these techniques, three RFLP's were discovered for CF; Doc RI, J3.11, and Met. Utilizing in situ hybridization, scientists discovered the CF gene to be located on the long arm of chromosome number seven. Soon after identifying these markers, another marker was discovered that segregated more frequently with CF than the other markers. This meant the new marker was closer to the CF gene. At this time, two scientists named Lap-Chu Tsui and Francis Collins were able to isolate probes from the CF interval. They were now able to utilize to powerful technique of chromosome jumping to speed up the time required to isolate the CF gene much faster than if they were to use conventional genetic techniques.3 In order to determine the exact location of the CF gene, probes were taken from the nucleotide sequence obtained from chromosome jumping. To get these probes, DNA from a horse, a cow, a chicken, and a mouse were s eparated using Southern Blot electrophoresis. Four probes were found to bind to all of the vertebrate's DNA. This meant that the base pairs within the probes discovered contained important information, possibly even the gene. Two of the four probes were ruled out as possibilities because they did not contain open reading frames which are segments of DNA that produce the mRNA responsible for genes. The Northern Blot electrophoresis technique was then used to distinguish between the two probes still remaining in order to find out which one actually contained the CF gene. This could be accomplished because Northern Blot electrophoresis utilizes RNA instead of DNA. The RNA of cell types affected with CF, along with the RNA of unaffected cell types were placed on a gel. Probe number two bound to the RNA of affected cell types in the pancreas, colon, and nose, but did not bind to the RNA from non-affected cell types like those of the brain and heart. Probe number one did not bind ex clusively to cell types from CF affected areas like probe number two did. From this evidence, it was determined that probe number two contained the CF gene. While isolating the CF gene and screening the genetic library made from mRNA (cDNA library), it was discovered

The English Proficiency Program Essays

The English Proficiency Program Essays The English Proficiency Program Essay The English Proficiency Program Essay SOCIAL WELFARE ADMINISTRATION Established in 1932, Shree Barbhaya Orphanage is an establishment that has been supplying aid to immature misss from Gujarati Hindu households that are either orphans or whose parents are helpless owing to societal or economic grounds to take attention of their kids. Since its constitution, one of our foremost aims has been to supply quality and holistic instruction for our kids. This twelvemonth, we plan to present an English Proficiency Program at Barbhaya, from July 2014 to March 2015 for the benefit of our misss, who are enrolled in two Gujarati medium schools in the locality. From our experience so far, the English being taught at the school degree has been unequal so far in fixing them for a mostly English talking puting one time they are out of school. The misss have the possible but need intensive coaching and exposure to the English linguistic communication. Hence a dedicated English proficiency programme is a must for them. In fact it is now an pressing demand as Science is now taught in English in the school where most of our kids are larning. For the above mentioned plan we will necessitate a amount of Rs. 75,000 and your aid for the plan at this point of clip is truly really valuable. Our purpose is to guarantee that our kids at Barbhaya have an easy entree to larning the English linguistic communication and therefore supply them a vocational accomplishment that will ever come ready to hand to them. We are really enthusiastic about the plan and look frontward to your support. Thank you for your consideration. Yours unfeignedly, Contact Person, Lydia Thomas Contact No. : +91 12345 12345 Electronic mail: lydia.thomas2013 @ tiss.edu Enclosure *Program Proposal Table OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Statement of Need Undertaking Aims Plan of execution Undertaking Activities and Outcomes Evaluation Organization Description Program Budget Executive Summary The English Proficiency Program for the kids at Barbhaya will be an attempt to expose them more than they already have been to the English linguistic communication, through the Activity Based Learning ( ABL ) attack. Following a baseline appraisal that was conducted to measure the girls’ clasp on the English linguistic communication, the demand for conveying about something a plan of this kind came up. The consequences that came about from the appraisal pointed out that there is an pressing demand for intercession, as they will otherwise battle subsequently on, when they have left the confines of a Gujarati medium school puting that they are in soon. The kids who live in the orphanhood are all from Gujarati households. This is because the orphanhood was set up harmonizing to the wants of Shri Muljibhai Barbhaya, as mentioned in his will ; and one of his demands were that all misss who were to be taken in should be Gujarati. The ground why the kids go to Gujarati medium schools is because they hail from unstable backgrounds, most of them being from Gujarat. Switching to a new course of study in English when they move to the orphanhood freshly is a hard stage, and is one of the grounds why the orphanhood continues to direct kids to Gujarati medium schools. The demand for a such a plan is necessary in such fortunes, where they have no entree to acquisition and utilizing English apart from school, which has been unsatisfactory so far. The coordinator of the Proficiency Program in English is Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, former Principal at M. M. M. Girls High School, which is one of the schools in which the misss are analyzing in at nowadays. The plan will be for a period of 10 months, i.e. , during the academic twelvemonth itself, from the month of July 2014 to March 2015. The entire cost of the plan will come up to Rs. 75,000. STATEMENT OF NEED Of the 29 misss populating with us at nowadays in Barbhaya, the 27 school traveling kids are enrolled in Gujarati medium schools. They converse largely in Gujarati and Marathi with each other and the house female parents severally. Their accomplishments in English speech production and composing are truly deficient, in malice of holding been taught English linguistic communication boulder clay 8Thursdaycriterion, after which even their topics are taught to them in English medium. On detecting this, we decided to carry on a baseline appraisal to estimate the children’s ability and clasp over the English linguistic communication. The appraisal was conducted for each kid at in the undermentioned countries: Listening Comprehension/Understanding ( vocabulary ; instructions ) Talking Reading Writing The consequences that followed are inexorable and inquire for pressing intercession. The misss have the possible but need intensive coaching and exposure to the English linguistic communication, as they do non hold sufficient exposure in school. Besides, being a Gujarati orphanhood, about all interactions with people from outside apart from their school couples are from givers and the legal guardians, most of who are Gujarati. The misss come from lesser privileged backgrounds, where English speech production is a rareness. In the yesteryear, misss who have passed out from Barbhaya after 10Thursdaycriterion have found it difficult get bying with English in their higher instruction every bit good as when it came to occupation chances. The English linguistic communication will come to their assistance in about everything they need as they grow up, wishing to prosecute peculiar classs and occupations thenceforth. Learning with each other, when most of them are at the same degree, will be easier for them every bit good as the voluntary instructors to travel frontward with the course of study. Hence, the demand for a plan dedicated to English proficiency is something that is traveling to be of aid to them non merely now but in the longer run, fiting them for when they have to go forth and stand on their ain two pess. The attack we will be doing usage of is the Activity Based Learning ( ABL ) attack which is both effectual every bit good as prosecuting in nature, necessary in order to prolong the children’s involvement in larning a linguistic communication they don’t seem to see the importance of. The attack is centered toward the scholar and is synergistic. Undertaking OBJECTIVES The aims of this plan are as follows: To develop a general proficiency in the English linguistic communication among all the misss. To make an environment within Barbhaya that will be contributing for larning English and doing usage of it. To supply single attending to each miss in the acquisition procedure. To assist the misss cope with their English medium surveies at school. To do the acquisition of the English linguistic communication an gratifying experience that would ensue in increased assurance degrees among the misss. To utilize the successful experience of the 3-week pilot summer undertaking conducted in April-May 2013 to carry on the current plan. Plan OF IMPLEMENTATION The plan will be coordinated by Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, who is a retired principal of M.M.M. Girls High School, one of the schools in which the misss are enrolled. Mrs. Desai already is a voluntary instructor at Barbhaya, and will go on the same, along with organizing the English Proficiency Program. Mrs. Desai will be assisted by voluntaries. The kids will be divided into batches, based on age-wise interruption up. Those in category 4 and below will organize one group, kids in categories 5 to those in category 8, and the last group will be those in category 9 and supra. The Program will be 10 months long, get downing in July 2014 and stoping in March 2015, co-occuring more or less with the children’s academic twelvemonth in school. We have done a baseline appraisal of all the kids and we will be holding on-going appraisal of each miss utilizing the baseline appraisal as the starting point. Undertaking ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES The misss are divided into three groups, based on their ages. Group 1 is comprised of misss in category 4 and below. Children in between categories 5 to 8 will organize Group 2, and the Group 3 will be those in category 9 and supra. Group 1 6 misss Group 2 13 misss Group 3 10 misss The English Proficiency Program is a planned plan which will be integrated into the children’s school category work and will take in history their demands. This procedure of acquisition will be done through a signifier of active intervening and feedback on a regular basis from the teacher’s portion. Some of the schemes that will be employed in the instruction procedure are: Stressing on accomplishments of hearing, observation, imitation and sharing. Supply the kids with chances to derive competency in English while at the same clip non ignoring or flinging their female parent lingua Gujarati. To avoid continual rectification of the children’s linguistic communication but give them infinite to turn into their comfort zone. Make usage of Gujarati as and when needed in order to ease better understanding what is seeking to be taught. One twenty-four hours of the hebdomad in the orphanhood will be aimed toward talking merely English, and consequently other two yearss will hold merely Gujarati and Marathi speech production yearss. This is already being practiced in the orphanhood and has helped the kids. Children will be given entree to both spoken every bit good as written text therefore working toward bettering non merely phonic accomplishments but their authorship accomplishments every bit good. Small groups and activities will on a regular basis be conducted which will let the kids a non-threatening environment and chance to pattern a new linguistic communication. Activities will be planned on a regular footing, to reenforce new things being taught. More than measure of what is being taught, more focal point will be on quality, on supplying clip and chance to do usage of what is being taught. Mrs. Desai every bit good as her group of 4 voluntaries have developed a wide course of study which they will follow, maintaining in head the above mentioned arrows. Results of the plan will be looked at through the undermentioned four skills- speaking, listening, reading and composing. Talking and listening- This will cover the ability to pass on with their equals every bit good as grownups in every twenty-four hours informal contexts. This will be through basic interaction in the schoolroom, brief presentations which will give them chance to talk every bit good as listen to their equals speak. Reading- this portion will seek to develop reading accomplishments in the kids to read short and familiar work written on subjects they know. This will help in comprehension of texts which are read and assist convey intending to it. Writing- this will be with the purpose of composing in order to convey a message or thought. It will convey to utilize grammar and punctuation, every bit good as spellings. Evaluation Evaluation will be done on a regular footing through appraisals of the advancement the kids are doing. During the rating procedure each child’s different background and ability in English will be considered. These appraisals will be unwritten every bit good as including reading and authorship. Materials which are to be used for appraisal are age appropriate, maintaining in head differences in developmental age, for illustration some will be at a novice phase and necessitating highly simplified stuff. Evaluation will be conducted based on the advancement the kid has made from the initial baseline appraisal conducted, which will demo in true light how much she has gained from the proficiency plan. Language appraisal will be conducted in a 1 on one footing so as to estimate in a better organize how much advancement the kid has really made. ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION Shree Barbhaya Orphanage For Hindu Girls was established in 1932 as per the wants of Shri Muljibhhai Barbhaya and his married woman Late Bai Harkorebai Barbhaya as mentioned in the will of Shri Muljibhai Barbhaya. The establishment became functional on 28ThursdayAugust 1932. In the last 80 old ages the orphanhood has served 472 misss who are either orphans or whose parents are incapacitated due to societal or economic grounds to take attention of their kids. This twelvemonth we have 29 pupils shacking in the establishment. While till the last academic twelvemonth we had merely school traveling kids shacking at the orphanhood, from this academic twelvemonth some of our kids who are now traveling to college besides stay at the orphanhood. Aims of the organisation To supply instruction to girl kids who are orphaned or whose parents are incapacitated to take attention of their kids To supply life accomplishments to kids that may assist them in hereafter To prepare the kids to go physically and mentally healthy and mature grownups To transfuse values like sharing, caring and uprightness We had three plans running till a decennary ago i.e. directing the kids to school, exposing the kids to kitchen work and twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours family jobs and learning the kids embellishment and knitwork. Earlier, at times, the administration besides bore the matrimony disbursal of the misss to assist them settle down in a good household. With altering times where adult females are playing a really active function in the broader society, the Trustees have bit by bit been presenting new plans that will fit the misss to stand on their ain pess and face the universe once they move out of the orphanhood, the focal point on English linguistic communication larning being one of them. The establishment is run chiefly by a board of legal guardians who oversee the administrative staff, viz. , the manager, an comptroller, an occupational healer who is presently the residential caretaker and the house female parents ( Thai, as the misss name them ) . The chief intent of the establishment in the present context is the instruction and holistic development of the kids who are enrolled and live here. The legal guardian board and disposal has made a figure of steps in order to run into this aim. Apart from school, the misss have group tuitions every bit good as voluntaries that come assist the weaker pupils. Children with acquisition disablements are assigned to particular pedagogues. Apart from instruction some of the activities our kids are engaged in are remedial categories for those with learning disablements, occupational therapy, computing machine preparation, dance categories and the similar. Plan BUDGET Our two beginnings of financess at Barbhaya are: 1 Income from investing 2 Contributions from persons and trusts It is the good will of the givers that has helped us continue giving quality attention and instruction to our kids over such a long period of 80 old ages in malice of gyrating monetary values. The disbursals to be incurred during the proposed undertaking period are described below. Non repeating budget Commodity Measure Sum Note books 29 pieces x Rs.60 Rs.1,740 Chart documents 10 nos. x Rs.8 Rs.80 Stationery ( pens, pigments, crayons, study pens, etc. ) Rs.2,000 Learning resources ( games, playthings, etc. ) Rs.3,000 Assorted disbursals Rs.3,180 Entire cost Rs.10,000 Recuring budget Forces Requirement Salary Undertaking Coordinator A stipend of Rs.6,500 per month- 10 ten Rs.6,000 Rs.65,000 Entire Cost Rs.65,000 Undertaking Coordinator: Mrs. Vibhuti Desai, ex-Principal, M. M. M. Girls High School The budget expected from the support organisation for a period of 10 months is Rs.75,000 merely. Outgo that may originate apart from this will be accounted for by the orphanhood.

Capcakes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Capcakes - Essay Example In order to open the cafà ©, the first and foremost challenge in front of me is to identify the cost of making the plan of "Yammay Cupcake† cafà ©. I intend to start the business with US $24,000. I think about renting a small shop in the pearl land that I can acquire for US $800 per month. It is a new luxury mall, in a luxury area in Qatar surrounded by many offices and a park. I can guarantee that my customers will be employees, who will visit my cafà © in their break time. Also, the families, especially kids in the park will make potential customers. I plan the location of "Yammay Cupcake" in such a way so that it will make the nearest cupcake cafà © for the offices and the park. Also, I think I shall sell coffee, juices and lollipop cakes for the children. The fundamental ingredients for most of the desserts will be flour, sugar, oil, cream, natural cooking colors and chocolate. All of them can easily be purchased from a famous market in the locality. I intend to import ingredients for the cakes’ decoration from USA, for I know a good decoration shop in USA, that sells good decoration material for the cupcakes for little cost. That shop is IKEA. Its stores are available in many countries, though those in USA are accoutered with the most beautiful decoration material. I can tell this because I had visited the IKEA stores in Dubai and the decoration there was not like what I had seen in the stores in USA. I talked to the manager in the Dubai store. He told me that he would help me import decoration material from the USA stores for a fee of $150. I shall take all the equipment from a specialized shop that sold excellent equipment for cooking and coffee. The shops owner is my uncle. He will give me a good deal, and it will cost around US $2500 after discount. The culture of Qatar is polychronic. Duty is more important time. So I chose â€Å"Yammay Cupcake" cafà © as my first business. I have many reasons for doing so.

Thunder Heart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Thunder Heart - Essay Example Whose City†. The effects of social networking in urban environments for young adults, like the ones seen in the film, can have negative results attributed to them, especially in urban neighborhoods. As seen in the film, young adults would go out to neighborhood hangouts, like a bar or club, to meet people and dance. Such activities can be fun but also be misleading. As seen in the movie, the two young ladies, Maria and Blanca, went to a club just to dance and hangout. They happen to meet some guys who appear to be harmless and a friendship arises. As the friends begin to see each other more often they begin to learn more about one another. This is where misleading networking plays a role. One of the guys met at the bar happens to have associates within a drug ring and is tied to drug smuggling. Soon after, Maria and Blanca become smugglers for their new friends associates. Had the two girls not tried to network with others at the bar they might have evaded this ultimate outcome. Therefore, the n egative effect of social networking in these kinds environments is that people may seem to be one thing but are something quite different. In areas where drug trade is openly visible and common, like the setting in Columbia, social networking can be dangerous. This danger can also be associated in context with control of the urban cities. The danger associated to urban cities is the means of one’s sacrifices for survival. In deprived cities, like the one in the film, money is the most admired commodity. In areas where plantations and industries thrive, workers and laborers certainly do not share the profits attained by these businesses. Workers wages do not meet the bar for providing for their family and ones own personal needs therefore the danger of the drug trade looms. Drug distribution is highly recognized and sought after due to the large

Innovativeness according to company size Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Innovativeness according to company size - Essay Example panies, all employees contribute, which ensures that there are no freeloaders and slackers, which can be combined with rewards for the best innovators. In small companies, it is also easier to identify, utilize, and nourish innovative talent. Since it easier to recognize creative talent at smaller companies, it is easier to motivate them. Finally, small company founders are more accessible and can talk constantly about objectives of innovation, which helps them hammer home the message (Leifer, 2009). Big companies also have advantages when it comes to innovation. First, creation of new categories of products is the best way to achieve total control of innovations and, as such, only the big companies like Google and Apple have the capital to do so (Leifer, 2009). Secondly, big companies are able to do better in the international market place where innovation has now shifted. Larger companies also possess the scale for them to deal with big problems such as the environment, healthcare, and education where a lot of innovation is taking place. These big companies also possess the resources to attract and retain the best talent. In addition, some of the big companies presently had grown from small companies at a ferocious pace and remembered their roots. Finally, these companies have learnt to be more nimble and porous (Leifer, 2009). Current trends in America and Western Europe have seen legislation of new patent laws that mark a fundamental change in patent protection to first-to-file rules and away from first-to-file (Cohen & Merill, 2011). This shift favors the bigger companies that possess resources for broad research and increased capabilities. These companies can file patents faster compared to smaller companies without funds, and thus, no way to protect their inventions. Most small entrepreneurs initially did not take filing of patents, as a priority and especially not before fundraising since they knew that they had an invention and had a way of proving it.

Objectives And Responsibilities Of The Hilton Hotels Group Tourism Essay

Objectives And Responsibilities Of The Hilton Hotels Group Tourism Essay Chapter 1 Hilton Hotels in groups UK is known as one of the leading hotel group in the world. The Hilton Hotels group was found with its very first hotel established by Mr. Conrad in 1919 in Cisco, Texas. But, today the Hilton Hotels group has expanded geographically, produced original hotel and travel concepts, and developed modern technologies to enhance the experiences of the valuable guests. Today, it consists of more than 3600 hotels all over the world also with nearly 500,000 luxurious rooms in 81 countries with the continuously growing crew of over 135,000 members internationally (Hilton Hotels, 2011). Depending on that, it is clear and it was proven that the Hilton Hotels group has the capability of satisfying the interest of their customers as well as their stake holders. The Hilton Hotels consists of well reputed and highest quality popular brands with in their group such as, Hilton Conrad hotels and resorts, double tree by Hilton, Hampton inn by Hilton, Hilton garden inn, Hilton Grand vacations and home woods suites by Hilton and Waldorf Astoria collection. The whole Hilton Hotels group is running adherence to the Mr. Conrad Hiltons philosophy, the vision of the hotel Hilton Hotels group is To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality (Hilton Hotels, 2011). Accordingly, the Hilton Hotels group believes it is their insight to convey the message of kindness and generosity all over the world, simply known as hospitability. According to the core values of the Hilton Hotels group, their brand name HILTON stands for, H HOSPITALITY   We are passionate about delivering exceptional guest experiences. I INTEGRITY   We do the right thing, all the time. L LEADERSHIP   We are leaders in our industry and in our communities. T TEAMWORK   We are team players in everything we do. O OWNERSHIP   We are the owners of our actions and decisions. N NOW   We operate with a sense of urgency and discipline (Hilton Hotels, 2011). At present, Hilton worldwide can be considered as one of the leading global hospitality company, crossing over the accommodation sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. The Hilton Hotels group is operated as an innovative and dynamic company which is mainly focused on administrating their business operations following the eco-friendly concepts and also with the services to the global community and enhancing the guest experience. Since the foundation formed by Mr. Conrad Hilton 90 years ago, Hiltons commitment to creating exceptional guest experiences still remains unaltered, and our more than 130,000 team members continue to bring the highest quality of service to the global visitors also achieving the interests of the stake holders with the mission of We will be the preeminent global hospitality company the first choice of guests, team members and owners alike (Hilton Hotels, 2011). 1.2 Groups of stakeholder and achieving their objectives Stakeholder can be considered as a person or people who have a stake also known as share in a particular organization or system. Stakeholders can be groups of people, organisations, institutions and sometimes even individuals. Sometimes the terms either actors or interest groups are used to describe the term stake holders. Accordingly, the word actor emphasizes that stakeholders are active in order to make interactions with each other. The use of the words interest group suggests that people can be grouped to achieve common goal. In some occasions, stake holder can be identified as a corporate  stakeholder, a party that may have the potential to affect or be affected by the actions of the business as a whole. This concept was first used in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research institute. It defined stakeholders as those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist (Grimble and Wellard, 1997). The theory was presently developed by  R. Edward Freeman  in the 1980s. Since then it has gained wide acceptance in business practice and in theorizing relating to  strategic management,  corporate governance,  business purpose  and  CSR together. Stakeholders can be found at any level or position in society, from the international to the national, regional, household or intra-household level. It is clear that, stakeholders may include all the people who affect and may get affected by the policies, decisions or actions within a particular system or an organization. Referring to the Hilton Hotels group, the stake holders can be identified at three major levels depending on their institutional levels. Local National Global or International Locally, the Hilton Hotel group is a business which is based on the ancient cultural environments as well as the aesthetic beauty in the country encouraging their customers as well as their stakeholders to incorporate those things to their beings. Therefore, it is clear that Hilton Hotel is being achieved the objectives of their local stakeholders objectives at a satisfactory level. Nationally, the Hilton hotels group is known as a business which is mainly focussed on the development of tourism in UK. By providing the lodging facilities by enhancing the customer experiences on travelling through their branded partners such as Hilton Conrad hotels and resorts, double tree by Hilton, Hampton inn by Hilton they have achieved their objective of development of tourism commercially in order to achieve their national stake holders objectives. Statistically it is proven that, the Hilton Hotels group consists of more than three hundred hotels all over the world also with nearly 500,000 luxurious rooms in 80 countries with the crew of over 135,000 members internationally (Hilton Hotels, 2011) and the group is still expanding all over the world. Therefore, the contribution of the international investors may lie at a higher level referring to that statistics. Because of that, it can be concluded that the Hilton Hotel group is being achieving their International Stake holders objectives. 1.3 The key responsibilities of the hotel group and the strategies The key responsibilities that should be possessed by the Hilton Hotel group can be divided in to three major dimensions. The Customer Dimension The Employee Dimension Internal process and financial dimensions The Customer Dimension consists of increment of the market shares, guest satisfaction, improve the customers profitability, increased the awareness of brand name and the increment of the MICE conversion rate. At present, Hilton Hotels group is incorporated with several partners all over the world such as double tree by Hilton, Hampton inn by Hilton. Therefore, the Hilton Hotel has got the potential to establish as the market leader. At past few decades, Hilton Hotels market revenue index increased from 104% to 106% and customer retention has increased Customer retention increased 6% to 56% (Balanced Scorecard Collaborative Hall of Fame Case Study on Hilton Hotels Corporation, 2003). The employee dimension may include, adherence to recruitment procedures, conducting training and development programs completion of the performance appraisals, control of the staff turnover and control the payroll as % of turnover. Proper management of human resources with the incorporation of employees are may be the strategy behind the achievement of these targets. Reservations efficiency, improved check-in efficiency, time and motion cleaning of rooms, food beverage cost efficiency, and control property maintenance may be the responsibilities that can be taken under the internal process dimensions. Increment of average room rate and revenue per available room, increment of non-room revenue, proper management of variable cost and reduction of fixed cost can be considered under financial dimension of responsibilities. At past few decades, RevPAR of Hilton Hotels has been increased by 2.7% (Balanced Scorecard Collaborative Hall of Fame Case Study on Hilton Hotels Corporation, 2003). Chapter 2 Economic, Social and Global Environment 2.1 Planned and mixed economic systems and impacts Planned economy is an  economic system  in which the  government  directs the whole  economy of a country.  This economic system is driven by the central government and it may control and makes critical decisions regarding the production and supply of goods and services. The planners may decide what should be done regarding the production process and hoe to direct lower-level enterprises to produce those goods in collaboration with national and social objectives. Under the planned economy, state sector may involve in the environmental protection, maintenance of the standards of the employments and maintenance of competition and also the economic planning. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, many governments of different countries, commanding over planned economies began deregulating. For an example, after fragmentation of the Soviet Union the economy is being moving towards the market-based economies by allowing the private sector to make the pricing for goods and services, production, and distribution decisions. Although most economies today are  market economies  or  mixed economies. Examples for the countries for the existence of planned economies are as  Cuba,  Libya,  North Korea,  Saudi Arabia, and  Myanmar ( Brabant and Jozef , 1991). Considering the impacts of the planned economy on Hilton Hotels group, there may be a regulation of the production and services according to the decision which are made from the government. Accordingly, there may be economic barriers for the foreign investors and stake holders to invest their properties in relation to the hotel industry. This may negatively affect on the Hilton Hotels group also. In contrast the mixed economy reflecting the features of both socialism and capitalism. In some occasions, it is also known as balanced economy. It is described as market economies with strong lapses, in addition to containing various government sponsored aspects. It is believed the term mixed economy should include the degree of private economic freedom mixed with a degree of government regulation process of markets. Countries may differ in relation to the relative weakness of each component. For an example, economies which are ranging from US to Cuba have been identified as mixed economies. The economic freedom may include individual freedom, economic efficiency and also the incentives to innovation provided by competition. When considering the Hilton Hotels group, individual competition may be very important between the partners to improve their capabilities in marketing. For an example, if there is a competition between Hilton Conrad hotels and resorts and Hampton inn Hilton, the separate partners may tend to improve their marketing capabilities in order to increase their market shares. This may be beneficial for the Hilton Hotels as the mother company. On the other hand, some times the whole marketing process can be negatively affected by the individual competition. Referring the government side of the mixed economy, it may consists of several processes such as environmental protection, maintenance of the standards of the employments and maintenance of competition and also the centralized economic planning some situations. Those are the things that the private sector may not capable to address. Referring to the Hilton Hotels group, due to the environment protection policies implemented by the government, the marketing process can be affected. For an example, if the government is implementing an environmental policy restricting the private access to the places with an aesthetic beauty such as beaches and forests, if the hotel group rely on that places whole marketing process can be negatively affected. In contrast, the establishment of the centralized economic planning may generate positive results in the relation of Hilton Hotels, at marketing process. 2.2 Social welfare policy and industrial policy measures in the UK The United Kingdom can be considered as a unitary state in which central government considerably lead the most of the state activities. But, when considering the structure of some regions such as Scotland, Wales it differs in certain degrees. Each region occupies a secretary of state and administrative department located in central government, and its own congress and executive, which participate in the region of certain central state ministries. Accordingly, the laws which apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland may differ from those in England and Wales. This framework has been subjected to the frequent changes. The most critical changes in recent years have been the renovation of the department of social security into the department of work and pensions, the significant transfer of income maintenance to the HMRC and the flattening of the department of transport, the regions and local government, whose key social policy responsibilities were positioned in the office of the deputy prime minister and have now been resettled mainly into communities and local government. There are some main government departments which are dealing with social policy in the UK are, the ministry of justice, the department for education, the department of health and the Department for Communities and Local Government. Referring to the administration of the welfare, UK has undergone two major phases of modifications. The first phase was applied in for 1960s and 1970s, saw central government transformed in order to allow the planning and control of public expenditure by the treasury. The objectives of these changes were to improve the managerial efficiency and economic planning. The effect was the generation of a system in which the treasury allocated resources to departments, and departments to services. The second phase was taken place in has led in 1980s and 1990s to modify the structure of the civil service and the administration of welfare. It consists of three major elements viz., the change of administration  into agencies, the introduction of management and the formation of quasi markets. Due to that implementation of social welfare policies, the hotel field can be affected in several ways. Formation of new laws regarding to the economy and welfare, management there were some barriers against the growing of the company. That may negatively affect on the Hilton Hotels group. Referring to the industrial policies in UK, multi- sector industrial policy is critical. Current mainstream economic thinking believes that industrial policy is ineffective, and that market forces should determine the fortunes of companies and industries. In the credit crisis, however, the UK state and most other governments felt obliged to step in. They established a  de facto  industrial policy strongly favouring the financial sector, at the expense of the rest of the economy. Consequently, the part of the economy that did not fail, was left playing by the old free-market rules, heavily penalised by austerity measures implemented to reduce the budget deficit. For the UK, there are a number of problems with the theory and practice of this approach. First, SMEs which provide majority of UK private sector employment are starved of credit despite Government entreaties for banks to lend more. This may be acts as a negative impact on the growth of the hotel industry, with no end in sight. Similar way, the private capital concentration in the shadow-banking sector remains surprisingly high, and may lead to volatility and crises in the non-banking sector. Finally, some of the UKs competitors, such as China and Korea, already have successful, multi-sector industrial strategies. 2.3 Impact of macroeconomic policy measures in the UK and US The belief that economic growth requires sound macroeconomic policy is a central element of in relation to the development. Even those questioning about that it may be possible to believe that macroeconomic stability is a precondition for successful economic development. At the broadest level, the macroeconomic stability of East Asian countries between the early 1960s and the late 1990s could help to explain why East Asian countries have sustained high growth rates. In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America have endured a painful combination of macroeconomic disarray and slow growth. As most economists would expect, improper management of macro economy could explain not only slow growth, but also why some developing countries have become heavily in obligated. Even if slow growth is attributed to problems with external arrears, the origins of a debt crisis can typically be traced back to policy decisions. Easterly (2002) finds that the group of the HIPCs had worse macroeconomic policies over 1980-97 than other developing countries, even after controlling for income levels. At present, the global economy has deteriorated rapidly and faced with a synchronised recession in most of the worlds major economies. These developments will have a reflective impact on the UK economy and raise the prospects of an especially severe downturn. The source of the current recession can be traced to the unsustainable rises in lending, bond, equity and house prices and compression of risk that have been evident since the start of decade across many developed economies also common for both US and UK. As poor as economic prospects currently are the situation is being getting worse without the various policy initiatives that have been adopted. For example, the Bank recapitalization scheme has clearly helped to avoid a collapse of the UK financial sector. Therefore, those factors can be generating adverse effects on many industries especially in the hotel industry. Chapter 3 Behaviour of organisations and the market environment 3.1 Shortcomings of market models relevant to the hotel group Market model can be identified as a mathematical representation of the interactions among various participants in the market, variety of economic forces, and variety of choices made during the process of marketing. There are number of market models are used to explain or predict the behaviour of one or more aspects of a market. In the framework of the securities market, for example, one model may used to express the outcome on a particular portfolio and how it can be maximized. When considering the hotel industry, there are several types of market models can be identified such as future orientation model, results managing model , proactive approach and the on going process model. Referring to the future orientation model, strategic management implies a future-oriented decision-making process. The objective of this model is to act now in order to survive and improve performance in the future. This can be implemented as 5-10 years year plans. As a fundamental, this model can be identified as an attempt to set future-oriented objectives, to predict and assess future trends in the organisations environment and to devise means to ensure meeting the objectives. According to this model, it may be difficult to predict some market trends due to the unexpected situations. For an example natural disasters may create different market trends. This may be the major draw back of this model. Considering the on going process, the responsibility of the marketing process lies clearly with top management. Their support and commitment is a requirement for both the design and application of any strategic plan. Furthermore, managing strategically implies a distinct way of managing organisations, i.e. not sporadic efforts to solve problems, but rather a logical framework for perceiving and managing organisations and their environments. The major draw back of this method is it may be difficult to pre identify the failures of the marketing system and trends before it happens. 3.2 Impact by the different factors Supply and demand play an important role in the marketing process. There should be a balance between demand and supply in terms of achieving the goals of marketing. When considering those factors such as income, price, weather and substitutes can create both positive and negative impacts on the hotel industry. For an example, status of the personal income can be directly affected on the demand. Because, low income people may prefer to use facilities at low level hotel industry, while high income group prefer higher standards. Price of the good and services can be generated by the costs plus profit margin of an organization. Therefore, if the industry is not going to use proper cross cutting methods and value addition techniques, the prices may increase. It may affect on the accessibility of that goods or service. Especially in the hotel industry this can be a great issue. Weather also can be generated both positive and negative effects on the demand. If the customers are well interested in travelling and they are willing to enjoy the aesthetic beauty bad weather may lead to problems. This also can be affected on demand. Substitution may lead the customers away from the loyalty. If the service is available at higher quality at cheaper price they may tend to purchase that one instead of earlier service. Considering the above facts, it can be concluded that, managing those factors is critical for the hotel industry. 3.3 Competitive strategies in the UK Competitiveness is defined as the only complete indicator that defines the concept of competitiveness at a national level is national productivity (Porter, 1990). The current situation manifested by globalization and the increasing recognition of interrelations has imposed new rules of conduct: the prosperity of nations is based on competitiveness on international markets, and that of enterprises, on the integration in the worldwide value chains. Because of that, the competitiveness has become a major issue for all the actors in economy, from the regional level to the organizational level. Therefore, it is clear that importance of implementation of competitive strategies in relation to the marketing process. Considering the tourism as a business it is a sector in which the structure of supply is extremely volatile and the solid and reliable part is the demand. Tourism can be exists for various reasons such as pleasure, business etc. People may want to travel and are willing to spend money; consequently, they may generate demand for tourism products and services. Thus, the decision to travel precedes the acts of consumption (Keller, 2005). The key to attracting and making clients loyal is offering a remarkable experience and not just lodgings; hotel chains innovate to create a unique environment, from hotel rooms to lobbies and the restaurant. Thus, changes in the design of Marriott restaurants and in the menus so as to reflect the particularities of different regions have lead to up to 50% increases in sales recorded in rapport to the number of rooms occupied (Hotels, 2004). In company with innovation, technology also can be considered as an important strategic asset that allows hotel chains to improve their performance and competitiveness. On a global scale, the role of technology in strengthening the competitive advantage of a hotel is recognized, hence its contribution to the hotels success (Nyheim, 2004). Since the hospitality industry, as any other branch of services, is capital intensive, human resources may represent a source of competitive advantage for a company. Failite Ireland (2005) , in the research conducted among 3, 4 and 5 star hotels in Dublin to analyze successful practices in hotels underline the fact that the industry depends on the know-how of personnel, of the knowledge and understanding of the clients requirements that would make the client feel at home. By considering the above facts, it is clear that hotel industry should follow competitive strategies to survive in the market. Chapter 4 International trade and the European dimension 4.1 Pros and cons of trade between the UK and other countries Because of the rapid development of the international relationship between countries, Globalization process can be considered as critical in the marketing process. Therefore, globalization process may have the capabilities of generating both positive and negative effects on trade referring to the hotel industry. Considering the positive effects, the hotel groups can trade in the working force from the countries at a cheaper price where the working force is available at lower cost. This may lead to cutting their additional cost in relation to human resources and beneficial for the hospitality industry. Through the strong international relationship, the hotel groups reputation can be published and marketed. This may lead to bring in foreign investors to the country who may have the capabilities of investment for hotel industry as well as for the other industries. Referring to the negative points of international trade, increased job insecurity of workers may play a critical role. When the industry is demanding the working force at a lower price, the workers may not survive unless they provide their services at that lower price. Except that, the uniqueness of the culture of the country can be affected through the globalization referring to the international trade. Especially, through the development of the hospitality industry there may be a tendency to develop a globalized sub culture based on the tourism. This may lead to interfere with the uniqueness of the original culture in the country. 4.2 The impact of European Union policies on UK organisations and the hotel group The  EU can be identified as is  economic  and  political union  of 27  member states  which are located primarily in Europe. The EU was originated from the  European Coal and Steel Community  and the  European Economic formed by  six countries  in the 1950s. At present, the EU has grown in size by  the appointment of new member states, and in power by the addition of policy areas to its responsibilities. The Maastricht Treaty  established the European Union under its current name in 1993. The last modification to the constitution of the EU, the  Treaty of Lisbon, joined with the EU in 2009. EU member states keep all powers not openly handed to the Union. In some areas the EU enjoys exclusive competence. These are areas in which member states have renounced any capacity to endorse legislation. In other areas the EU and its member states share the competence to legislate. While both can legislate, member states can only legislate to the extent to which the EU has not. In other policy areas the EU can only co-ordinate, support and supplement member state action but cannot endorse legislation with the aim of incorporating national laws. Under the exclusive competence it states that The Union has exclusive competence to make directives and conclude international agreements when provided for in a Union legislative act. Accordingly the monetary policy for the member is established as Euro. Not only that, the establishment of the competition rules for the internal market has been adopted. Those things can generate both positive and negative impacts on the hotel groups. Considering the supporting competence it states that The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States actions in. Referring to that, industries, culture as well as the tourism are being regulated. This also can create positive and negative impacts on hotel group. 4.3 EMU and the economy of UK The  term Economic and Monetary Union  is used as a  collective term  for the group of policies aimed at meet the economies of members of the  European Union  in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the  euro. All members of the  EU are expected to participate in the EMU. The implication of UK becoming a member of EMU can be explained as both positive and negative impacts. For an example it is clear that, Exchange rate on locking with the Euro regarding the members as well as for UK. It may improve the stability of the value of the money against the inflation. On the other way, it may negatively affect on foreign investors. Similarly, some policies implemented by the EMU may also affect both negatively and positively on the industries. Chapter 5 Conclusion Referring to the mission, core values and key objectives of the Hilton Hotels group as a worldwide business it is clear that the objectives are being achieved up to the satisfactory level. Though the impacts of the sudden changes in the business environment, still the Hilton Hotels group has been survived in their business of hospitality with the proven capabilities in successful marketing. But, when considering the market modelling marketing mix modelling is being a developing trend at innovative marketing strategies.MMM means the use of statistical analysis such as  multivariate  regressions  on sales and marketing  time series  data to estimate the impact of various marketing  tactics on sales and then predict the impact of future sets of strategies. It is often used to optimize advertising mix and promotional tactics with respect to sales revenue or profit. Therefore, implementation of MMM on Hilton Hotels group may improve the trustworthiness as a marketing tool among its major rival companies.

Bally?s Total Fitness :: essays research papers fc

Bally total fitness originated as an average health and tennis club in 1962. Who would have thought they would be where they are today. Like many other major companies sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Today they are one of the major companies in a 14 billion dollar health club industry. â€Å"They are the third biggest health care chain behind Curves for women and the YMCA†.Currently they have around four million members and 420 facilities. They currently have operations in 29 states including Asia, the Caribbean, and Canada. You may be wondering why you don’t see that many Bally Fitness Clubs; the reason for this is because they run the business under 6 different names. The other clubs they own include â€Å"Bally Total Fitness, Crunch Fitness, Sports Clubs of Canada, Pinnacle Fitness, Bally Sports Clubs, and Gorilla Sports†. Bally total fitness currently employs 23,500 staff members, 6,700 group instructors, and 3,500 personal trai ners. These numbers are including the clubs they own that are under different names.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What many people don’t realize is Bally’s Sports clubs is only apart of the company. Along with fitness centers they also have their own products. They have an extensive line of exercise equipment ranging from medicine balls to free weights. However it does not end there they also have a full line of supplements including weight management products, performance supplements, and energy enhancers. There exercise equipment is only available for sale online however there supplements can be purchased at super markets and nutrition stores.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is not uncommon today to see companies misstate their earnings. As we know this is an illegal activity that has put companies under such as Enron. This is not something that makes your company look good and is not worth getting caught for. Well â€Å"Bally’s got into the mix in early 2003 when they were forced to restate their earnings for the current period†. Their stock price collapsed and needed help in a hurry. They decided to get a new CEO which was a well traveled man known for reviving companies. That man was Paul Toback , he knew something had to be done quickly, so he decided to come up with new advertising efforts in 2004. Those advertisements proved to be extremely successful and they will continue these same types of advertisements in 2005. During this time they have also created strong partnerships with some of the biggest companies in the world.

Public finance and policy solution gruber Essay

Questions and Problems 1. The government of Westlovakia has just reformed its social security system. This reform changed two aspects of the system: (1) It abolished its actuarial reduction for early retirement, and (2) it reduced the payroll tax by half for workers who continued to work beyond the early retirement age. Would the average retirement age for Weslovakian workers increase or decrease in response to these two changes, or can you tell? Explain your answer. The first policy change, abolishing the actuarial reduction, would tend to lower the average retirement age. The actuarial reduction is intended to make workers approximately indifferent between retiring early and waiting until standard retirement age. With the reduction, early retirees have a smaller benefit over more years. Abolishing that reduction would make early retirement more attractive: the benefits would be just as high as if workers had waited, and they would be paid over more years. The second policy change would increase the return to working later in life and thus would tend to raise the average retirement age. The overall effect would depend on a number of factors. If people discount the future by enough (that is, have a high enough internal discount rate), they will tend to retire early: the benefit is immediate. People who have a lower discount rate will choose to work longer at the lower tax rate. A second factor that would influence the decision is the potential re tiree’s health status or personal (as opposed to statistical) life expectancy. Someone who believes he has a fairly high probability of living long and well late in life will be more likely to opt for later retirement. A third factor that will tend to increase the  retirement age is that the early retirement effect is truncated at the age designated for eligibility: even people who choose to retire early will only be able to retire a few years earlier than before in order to benefit. People who choose to retire later may retire many years after the standard retirement age. 2. When you called her last night, your grandmother confided that she is afraid to sell her home because doing so will affect her Social Security benefits. You told her that you’d call her back as soon as you read Chapter 13. Now that you’ve read it, what will you say to her about how her benefits will change when she sells her house? Social Security benefits do not change with changes in the value of assets held by the beneficiary. The formula used to calculate benefits under Social Security is based on earned income only. Your grandma’s Social Security benefits will not be affected by the sale of her house. 3. Congressman Snicker has proposed a bill that would increase the number of years of earnings counted when computing the Social Security Average Indexed Monthly Earnings amount from 35 to 40. What would be the effects of this policy change on the retirement behavior of workers? Would the Social Security trust fund balance increase or decrease? Why? Workers may work longer if their best 40 years counted rather than their best 35. Generally, you would expect earned income to increase over a worker’s lifetime; thus, the last several years are likely to yield higher income than the first several years. Being able to count 5 more high-earning years  would induce some workers to remain in the workforce to increase their calculated benefits; if they did not work longer, that 40 years might include some very low or zero-earning years (when the worker was in his or her twenties, possibly still in school). Increasing the number of years of earnings counted would certainly increase the trust fund balance if it caused people to delay their retirement: people would be paying in longer and withdrawing for fewer years. Offsetting that increase would be the increased benefits payable by including 5 higher-earning years in calculating benefits. This offset may not be huge, though. The highest-earning workers would not increase their benefits by very much due to the redistributive nature of the calculations. Low-wage earners who have zero or very-low-wage years among the 40 would have a lower average on which to base the benefit calculation. In addition, by including 5 more years, people who did not delay retirement would have an even lower calculated benefit: their lifetime average would include those low-wage summer or entry-level jobs. 4. Suppose the Social Security payroll tax was increased today to 16.4% in order to solve the 75-year fiscal imbalance in the program. Explain the effect of this change on the value of the Social Security program for persons of different ages, earning levels, and sexes. An increase in the payroll tax would reduce the value of Social Security for younger workers relative to older workers. Older workers would benefit from having a more secure plan, and they wouldn’t have to pay in at the higher rate for very long. Younger workers would have to pay the higher rate over many more years, and their benefit calculation would not increase (because the increase in taxes is meant to keep the current system solvent, not to increase benefits). The very-highest-earning workers would not be harmed as much as lower-earning workers because the payroll tax is not imposed on earnings above $87,900 (currently); however, their payroll tax burden would increase. Women generally benefit more from Social Security because they live longer than men. They are also more likely than men to have interrupted their careers to raise their families, so they tend to pay in less. They are  also more likely to receive benefits as a surviving spouse. All of these factors would continue to exist with a higher tax rate. The higher tax rate would be borne by the employed, not by those who receive benefits because of their survivor spouse status. 5. Senator Deal proposes to offer a choice to future retirees: Retire before age 70 and the benefits are calculated on the last 35 years of income; if you retire at age 73, however, you receive benefits calculated on only the last 15 years of income. Which option are high-income workers likely to choose? Low-income workers? Why? A high-income worker may not benefit by much if he delays retirement until age 73, and he would lose three years of benefits. He is likely to choose the earlier retirement age. Assuming no major work interruptions, which is perhaps a more reasonable assumption for a high-wage earner than a low-wage earner, his benefits will be calculated based on his wage since he was in his mid-thirties. These are likely to be fairly-high-earning years, as they begin a decade after a person would have completed his education. Because of the regressive nature of benefit calculations, the higher wages of the last 15 years would yield a low marginal benefit. High-wage earners are also better able to save for retirement in other ways, so they may be able to afford retiring three years earlier. Low-wage earners will be more likely to delay retirement until age 73. They would lose three years of benefits, but their benefits, once they do retire, will be higher if their income is higher in the last 15 year s of work. This option will be particularly attractive if these workers had some low- or zero-earning years over the course of their working lives. In addition, calculated benefits are a higher percent of  average monthly wage for these workers, so they stand to lose less by working more years. 6. A recent study found that people nearing retirement age were more likely to retire early if they experience large windfall gains (that is, sudden large increases) in the value of their homes. The author of that study concluded that this is evidence that Social Security and private savings are substitutes. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this argument and of the empirical evidence? It seems intuitive that all sources of private wealth combined substitute for, or augment, Social Security, particularly among higher-earning workers, because their Social Security benefits will not replace as high a percentage of their pre-retirement wage. If Social Security benefits are expected to be a relatively small component of post-retirement income, as may be the case for higher-earning workers, then the official Social Security retirement age might be less influential in retirement timing. A sudden increase in the market value of an asset (like housing) might be more influential in the timing decision. One concern this scenario poses, though, is the direction of causality. The implication is that the windfall gain caused early retirement by giving the retiree more money on which to retire. However, retirement may have led to realization of the windfall gain. Increases in the value of a person’s home are realized upon the sale of that home. Perhaps people sold their h omes and realized the gain because they were retiring and relocating. Even under this interpretation, though, the windfall gain would contribute to the retiree’s income, augmenting Social Security benefits. A second concern is that increases in home value are a relatively illiquid form of private savings. Extending this particular correlation (housing value and retirement) to a general statement about private savings requires a bit of a leap of faith. Data on other savings and investment value might help clarify this interpretation. Perhaps these retirees had anticipated inflation in the housing market and included it in their retirement plan portfolio—a portfolio that included assets and Social Security benefits. Finally, other correlates must be considered. A windfall gain in the housing market may be correlated with geographic location, as housing booms can be local in nature. A gain may also correlate to membership in a demographic group that tends to buy the kind of real estate that is most likely to appreciate and that tends to retire early. Suburban businessmen, for example, may tend to fall into both groups. 7. Senator Dare suggests lowering Social Security benefits by reducing the rates at which Average Indexed Monthly Earnings are converted to the Primary Insurance Amount. Senator Snow instead proposes reducing the rate at which benefits are indexed to inflation so that when the Consumer Price Index rises by one percentage point, Social Security benefits rise by less than one percent. Which proposal will benefit the elderly more? Senator Dare’s suggestion immediately and certainly reduces the benefits paid to retirees. Senator Snow’s proposal would reduce the benefits gradually, and in unpredictable ways. In times of extremely low inflation, Senator Snow’s proposal would very gradually erode the spending power of retirees’ benefits checks. However, suppose the plan were to increase benefits by, for example, 90% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year. The following year,f the Cinflation-adjuste 10. Dominitz, Manski, and Heinz (2003) present survey evidence suggesting that young Americans are extremely uncertain about the likelihood that they will receive any Social Security benefits at all. How might demographic trends in the United States contribute to this concern? The most obvious trend in this regard is the aging of the baby boom generation. Young Americans are aware that, in a few years, the baby boom generation will become an extremely large body of retired people. Exacerbating that retiree population bulge is the fact that people live longer now than they have in the past. Those baby boomers will be around for a long time, collecting their Social Security checks. In addition, family sizes are smaller. Baby boomers may have grown up with several siblings, but they had fewer children as adults. Therefore, there will be fewer workers contributing for each baby boomer collecting. 11. The Social Security Administration Web site has a link to a publication entitled Social Security Programs Throughout the World. The European version is online at http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2002-2003/europe/index.html. Pick any two countries in Europe and compare the key attributes of their social security programs. Which of these two countries do you think will have the greater rate of early retirement? Why? Responses to this question will obviously depend on the countries chosen. There are fairly wide variations in the ages at which retirees become eligible for benefits in different countries. Retirement age is lowest in Slovenia, at 58 for men and 54 for women. Other Eastern European countries, such as the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Serbia, also have low ages of eligibility. These countries should see relatively low rates of retirement prior to the local age of eligibility, because eligibility occurs at relatively young ages. In contrast, the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Iceland, and Norway have the highest age of eligibility, 67. Holding health status equal across countries, countries in which eligibility occurs at older ages should experience higher rates of retirement prior to eligibility. It is difficult to generalize given the different currencies and complex structures of individual countries’ rules. However, most  countries generally provide an amount equal to a percent of average working wage. Some calculate it based on a fairly short window of working years; in Serbia, for example, the base is calculated using the best ten consecutive years. Advanced Questions 12. Suppose the Social Security system becomes fully privatized, so that all individuals save for their own retirements. Consider two of the various alternative methods of paying off the legacy debt of the program. (One such example is double taxation of existing generations of workers.) Compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of each potential â€Å"solution.† An inescapable problem with the Social Security system is that it pays current retirees from current workers’ taxes. If current workers were to â€Å"own† their own Social Security accounts, there would be no flow of funds available to pay current retirees, as their deposits have already been paid to the preceding generation. By double taxing a single generation, the system could switch over, but members of that one generation would have to pay their parents’ benefits as well as fund their own retirement accounts. That is a serious burden to impose on them. However, it would only have to be done once. Subsequent generations would simply fund their own retirement accounts. Another possible solution would be to increase payroll taxes over a longer time period to retire the legacy debt over several generations, while allowing current and future generations to invest privately. The high taxes necessary to accomplish this solution, however, would offset much if not all of the gains from investing in higher-yielding stock funds. An alternative to increasing taxes is reducing benefits. Several options exist to accomplish this reduction. One way would be to increase the full benefits age of retirement and adjust early retirement benefits to be actuarially neutral. An advantage of doing this is that it adjusts Social Security rules to reflect longer and healthier lives among people in their sixties and seventies. Not everyone in those age groups can continue to work, however, and this change would impose a hardship on them. In addition, there is something essentially unfair about changing the rules of the program after people have been paying into it for their entire working lives. A similar objection would be raised if the system were changed to reduce the benefits paid to the wealthy elderly. This approach seems reasonable; after all, those retirees who are wealthy do not need Social Security to stay out of poverty. But they paid into the program and perceive it to be more of a pension than an anti-poverty program. Making the program more ambitiously means-tested (as opposed to just redistributive) changes the nature and perceived legitimacy of Social Security. 13. Does Social Security provide much benefit in terms of consumption smoothing over the retirement decision? Contrast Social Security with a different social insurance program, unemployment insurance, which provides income support for half a year to individuals who have lost their jobs. Do you think that unemployment insurance is likely to pro vide more or less consumption smoothing than Social Security? Unemployment insurance smooths consumption over discrete, fairly brief, unanticipated interruptions in work; Social Security allows retirees to remain out of poverty after stopping work. Retirement is not a surprise. In the absence of Social Security (and even in its presence), people with foresight plan and save for retirement. Social Security payments alone are not enough to allow retirees to maintain their pre-retirement consumption level, but they do substantially reduce the number of retirees in poverty. The purpose of Social Security was not to allow retirees to maintain pre-retirement income (that is, to smooth consumption) but to help them avoid poverty. Unemployment insurance is much more explicitly aimed at  consumption smoothing between employment spells. It allows people to maintain their standard of living over intermittent dips in income. Thus, Social Security provides less consumption smoothing than does unemployment insurance. 14. Edwards and Edwards (2002) describe evidence that following a social security reform in Chile that reduced the implicit tax on working in the formal sector, informal sector wages rose. What do you think is the mechanism at work here? In equilibrium, prices and wages tend to equalize. In the case of Chile, if formal sector wages are particularly low, people will choose to work in the informal sector. One reason formal sector wages are low is that those wages are taxed. When tax rates are high, more people seek work in the untaxed, informal sector. However, when tax rates fall, as they did in Chile, the effective wages in the formal sector increase and people exit the untaxed sector to accept jobs in the formal sector. Wages in the informal sector must then increase to retain those employees who are tempted by higher after-tax wages elsewhere. 15. Suppose that you had information about the amount of private savings during the years before and after the introduction of the Social Security program. How might you carry out a difference-in-difference analysis of the introduction of the Social Security program on private savings? This data would be helpful in determining the extent to which Social Security crowds out private savings, but there may be reasons for savings rates to change that are unrelated to the introduction of Social Security. You could use difference-in-difference analysis to distinguish between differences in private savings that are related to general trends in saving behavior and those that are associated with the introduction of Social Security. Depending on how many years of data you have, you could determine the difference in savings rates between pairs of years preceding the change. You could also determine the difference in saving rates between pairs of years after the introduction of Social Security. Then you would want to investigate differences in savings rates in the years immediately before and after the institution of Social Security. This test is meant to determine whether that difference is statistically significantly different from the patterns of differences measured for pa irs of years in which there was no change. Specifically, if savings rates fell between the year immediately preceding Social Security and the year of the change by more than it fell for other pairs of years, you would have evidence consistent with crowding out. 16. Suppose you find evidence that high school dropout workers are more likely to retire at age 62 than are college-educated workers. You conclude that these workers do so because they are more liquidity-constrained than are other workers. Can you think of alternative explanations for this finding? One possible explanation is that less-well-educated workers are more likely to have jobs that are relatively more physically demanding and particularly difficult to continue after age 62. Similarly, the physical wear and tear of demanding jobs may leave these workers unable to comfortably work later in life. Another possible explanation is that these workers have already had their 35 best years: they began working at a younger age than college-educated workers and their upward mobility is constrained, so they will be unlikely to have high salaries later in life. Finally, higher education is correlated with better health; less-welleducated workers may  retire fairly early if they anticipate having a reduced life expectancy. 17. Consider an economy that is composed of identical individuals who live for two periods. These individuals have preferences over consumption in periods 1 and 2 given by: U = log(C1) + log(C2). They receive an income of 100 in period 1 and an income of 50 in pe riod 2. They can save as much of their income as they like in bank accounts, earning an interest rate of 10% per period. They do not care about their children, so they spend all their money before the end of period 2. Each individual’s lifetime budget constraint is given by C1 + C2/(1 + r) = Y1 + Y2/(1 + r). Individuals choose consumption in each period by maximizing lifetime utility subject to this lifetime budget constraint. a. What is the individual’s optimal consumption in each period? How much saving does he or she do in the first period? Optimizing the utility function subject to the budget constraint yields max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) subject to C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 100 – C1 + 50/(1 + 0.1), or max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(145.45 – C1 – 0.91C2). This yields first-order conditions of 1/C1 = ÃŽ »; 1/C2 = 0.91ÃŽ »; and 145.45 = C1 + 0.91C2. Solving for C1 yields 0.91C2, and substituting into the budget constraint yields C2 = 79.92, C1 = 72.73, and savings in the first period are 100 – 72.73 = 27.27. b. Now the government decides to set up a social security system. This system  will take $10 from each individual in the first period, put it in the bank, and transfer it to him or her with interest in the second period. Write out the new lifetime budget constraint. How does the system affect the amount of private savings? How does the system affect national savings (total savings in society)? What is the name for this type of social security system? The new budget constraint reduces first-period income by $10 to $90 but increases second-period income to $50 + $10(1 + r): C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 90 + 50/(1 + r) + 10(1 + r). Solving, C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 90 + 45.45 + 11 = 146.45. Following the same procedure as in a, you would find savings by solving the constrained optimization problem: max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(146.45 – C1 – 0.91C2), which yields C2 = 80.47, C1 = 73.22, and total savings are 10 + (90 – 73.22) = 26.78. This social security system is a funded plan because the money that is paid in during the first period is used to pay the benefits in the second period. c. Now suppose that the existence of the new social security system causes an individual to retire in period 2, so he or she receives no labor income in period 2. Solve for this individual’s new optimal consumption in each period in this case. What is the new level of private and national savings? Does this differ from the level of savings in part b, and if so, why? (Explain intuitively.) The new budget constraint is C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 100. The new optimization problem, then, is max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(100 – C1 – 0.91C2). Solving, C2 = 54.95, C1 = 50 and, savings are 100 – 50 = 50. Total savings is greater with earlier retirement, as this consumer must save enough during the first period to completely finance consumption in the second period. 18. For each of the reforms listed below, briefly discuss the pros and cons of the reform, paying attention in particular to efficiency implications (through potential behavioral responses to the change) and equity implications (who wins and who loses). [Note that all reforms are intended to save the system money, so you do not need to list this as a benefit.] a. Increase the number of years used to calculate benefits from 35 to 40. Increasing the number of years used to calculate benefits could lower benefits, because more low- or zero-earning years would be included in a retiree’s average wage. To avoid this reduction in benefits, workers might choose to delay retirement so that they had 40 high-earning years included in the calculation. Workers who spent many years in college and graduate school might be most vulnerable, as they will have had fewer fulltime working years by the time they reach retirement age. Similarly, workers who have had some interruptions in their employment, to raise a family or to retrain for a new career, for example, will also have to delay retirement in order to avoid inclusion of zeroor low-wage years. b. Reduce benefits for beneficiaries with high asset levels (wealth). Means-testing, by considering asset levels, would increase the redistributive nature of Social Security but would induce some perverse behavior. People might be able to increase their benefits by hiding assets, by setting up trusts or other entities, for example. They might also change the timing of selling some of their assets in order to retain Social  Security benefits, which distorts resource mobility, an efficiency concern. While this plan may appear to benefit the less wealthy at the expense of the wealthy elderly, it seems vulnerable to loopholes and evasive behavior. c. Add new state and local government workers to the pool of covered workers (i.e., they pay payroll taxes now and receive benefits when they are old). Broadening the tax base to include these workers would yield a net increase to the system. Current Social Security participants will, over their lifetimes, pay in more than they withdraw. Therefore, increasing the number of workers covered provides a net increase to the cash flow in the system. The new workers stand to lose from this system relative to a plan in which they had their own retirement accounts (because with Social Security they will pay in more than they receive), but the Social Security system benefits. This new rule may induce some to exit these jobs, but since most workers are covered by the system, they will have little choice as to where else to work to avoid this tax. d. Gradually increase the normal retirement age (NRA) from 65 to 70 (under current laws, the NRA will gradually rise to 67 by 2022; the proposal is to speed up this process so the NRA will be 70 by 2022). Gradually increasing the normal retirement age will save the fund money by reducing the number of years during which retirees can collect. People who need to retire earlier for health or physical limitation reasons will be adversely affected. If they are able to, they may attempt to find less physically demanding work or they may increase private savings in order to be able to afford to retire earlier. Note: The icon indicates a question that requires students to apply the empirical economics principles discussed in Chapter 3 and the Empirical Evidence boxes.

The Battle of Waterloo

he The Battle of Waterloo Napoleon was just recently made emperor again in France in 1815. And his enemy’s had already formed an alliance against him. He only had one way to stay emperor and that was to fight his way through it. He had one main goal in his grand strategy to win the war and that was to isolate the allied and Prussian armies, and annihilate each one separately. This was a great strategy in theory because if he could destroy the coalition forces before they were reinforced then he might be able to drive the British back to the sea and knock the Prussian’s out of the war.This ended up leading to the strategy proper of the war because Napoleon knew that the British and Prussian armies were trying to meet up so he marched his army to a spot where he was in between them. Once his army was in the middle he ended up hitting the British on the west side and the Prussians on the east side. When Wellington saw how fast the French were moving he knew he had to act f ast so he concentrated most of his troops at Quatre-Bras so that he could hold a tenuous position against the soldiers of Ney’s left wing.The grand tactics come in when Napoleon wants Ney to take the crossroads of Quatre-Bras so that way he can go reinforce him if needed. This led to the battle against the British there, where the French were being held off pretty well. But while this was happening the French attacked the Prussians at Ligny and were able to defeat them which made holding Quatre-Bras for the British untenable. So the British retreated and marched north parallel to the Prussians retreat.These precursor battles affected the culminating campaign battle because a lot of men were lost and a portion of Napoleons’ army was off searching for the retreating Prussians at the time of Waterloo. There were many battlefield maneuvers that impacted the outcomes of the battles. One was when Wellington had ordered in reinforcements for Quatre-Bras. This was good because they were starting to lose the battle until the reinforcements got there and then they were able to push Ney’s forces back.The next maneuver was when the Prussians had been defeated they were able to retreat unnoticed from the French. The Prussians getting away without the French knowing was big because they were able to make it back to Wavres where there reinforcements were so that they could have a fresh new army to fight them with. This leads to another maneuver, which happened once Napoleon finally realized the Prussians had retreated. Napoleon decided to send a big chunk of his army after the Prussians even though his army would be around 2 days behind them.This was a bad move because then when the French army reached Waterloo he now had to face the British and the Prussians combined without part of his army to use. Another maneuver was when Napoleon tried to do a faint attack at Hogomouh but it doesn’t work and because of that he loses much more troops then need ed; this lead to the eventual loss of the war. And the last battle maneuver was when Wellington had his army hide behind a ridge and therefore Ney believed they were retreating and sent his cavalry after them.Once his cavalry got over the ridge they were annihilated by the British infantry, which eventually led to them losing the battle. Napoleon as a general made some bad choices during these battles. One bad choice he made was not following the Prussians right away when they retreated. Because of this the Prussians were able to get back to their reinforcements and then were able to meet up with the British. Another bad choice Napoleon made was when he decided to wait 4 hours to battle because he wanted the ground to dry to help his cavalry and artillery.Because of this move he allowed the Prussians enough time to get to the battle and now he had to fight two armies instead of one. And the next bad decision Napoleon made was sending his cavalry on an assault on Mont Saint Jean beca use he took a big loss on cavalry from that. One of the key reasons why Napoleon and his French army were defeated was because of the attack at Hogomouh. He lost a lot more troops then he needed to which did not help him in the long run. The next reason why he was defeated is because of the imperial guard attack.In this attack he lost a lot of cavalry that could have helped out later in the war. And the final key reason Napoleons army lost was that he delayed one of the battles. Because he delayed attacking it gave the Prussians enough time to arrive and help out the British. Overall Napoleon made some key decisions that turned out to lead to his defeat. Sources â€Å"Battle of Waterloo. †Ã‚  Wikipedia. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. â€Å"The Battle of Waterloo: 18 June 1815. †Ã‚  Home Page. Trans. Marjorie Bloy. 5 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. â€Å"BBC – History – British History in Depth: The Battle of Waterloo. †Ã‚  BBC – Homepage. Web. 08 Nov. 201 1.

Free Essays on Beowulf Vs. Arthur

Every hero, as a general rule, desires to be remembered for more than one heroic tendency. Every hero in World Literature class has at least three common tendencies: to protect mankind from evil, to use his powers to rescue his family and friends from evil circumstances, and to earn immortality via his heroic tendencies. Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero, has all three characteristics. His quest is to restore Herot, due to the mass destruction caused by the monster Grendel, the evilest of all evils. Grendel had been terrorizing the city, killing thousands of men in their sleep, depriving them the ability to fight back. King Hrothgar hired the brave knight Beowulf to defeat the creature of darkness. The knight boldly hunted Grendel and fought him with great might. At the end of that particular battle, Beowulf left with Grendel’s arm, his sign of triumph. Nevertheless, Grendel’s mother became furious over the death of her son, and decided that she needed to prolong her son’s rampage. She began the slaughter of innocent people in Herot. Beowulf commenced a brawl with her and soon had her head. Throughout his life, Beowulf was a man of many achievements. He was very victorious in battle, and for this Hrothgar chose him to defeat Grendel. When Beowulf killed Grendel and his mother, he also defeated the evil that they symbolized in the name of God. Beowulf made the Danes a peaceful people once again also, making him one of the greatest heroes to ever live. Everything Beowulf accomplished was through God. He boasted a protection by God, and won the battles fought in the Almighty’s name. This comitatus instilled fear into all of his opponents, even if they showed no sign of it. Just Beowulf’s touch would make a mortal man want to die. God gave him strength like no other man. He was strong enough to carry Grendel’s mother’s head when average men quivered at the very thought of lifting the monstrous thing. These sup... Free Essays on Beowulf Vs. Arthur Free Essays on Beowulf Vs. Arthur Every hero, as a general rule, desires to be remembered for more than one heroic tendency. Every hero in World Literature class has at least three common tendencies: to protect mankind from evil, to use his powers to rescue his family and friends from evil circumstances, and to earn immortality via his heroic tendencies. Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero, has all three characteristics. His quest is to restore Herot, due to the mass destruction caused by the monster Grendel, the evilest of all evils. Grendel had been terrorizing the city, killing thousands of men in their sleep, depriving them the ability to fight back. King Hrothgar hired the brave knight Beowulf to defeat the creature of darkness. The knight boldly hunted Grendel and fought him with great might. At the end of that particular battle, Beowulf left with Grendel’s arm, his sign of triumph. Nevertheless, Grendel’s mother became furious over the death of her son, and decided that she needed to prolong her son’s rampage. She began the slaughter of innocent people in Herot. Beowulf commenced a brawl with her and soon had her head. Throughout his life, Beowulf was a man of many achievements. He was very victorious in battle, and for this Hrothgar chose him to defeat Grendel. When Beowulf killed Grendel and his mother, he also defeated the evil that they symbolized in the name of God. Beowulf made the Danes a peaceful people once again also, making him one of the greatest heroes to ever live. Everything Beowulf accomplished was through God. He boasted a protection by God, and won the battles fought in the Almighty’s name. This comitatus instilled fear into all of his opponents, even if they showed no sign of it. Just Beowulf’s touch would make a mortal man want to die. God gave him strength like no other man. He was strong enough to carry Grendel’s mother’s head when average men quivered at the very thought of lifting the monstrous thing. These sup...

The financial insecurities of commercial banks Essay

The financial insecurities of commercial banks - Essay Example A different article gives solution on how to curb the federal deposit insurance corporation losses on failed commercial banks. According to him, the FDIC losses can be reduced if the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act of 1991 would be amended to allow FDIC authorities calculate the insured and uninsured depositors amounts for each deposited with several accounts in the same bank. The process of calculation will be done on a daily basis at the end of any banking day. This would be done by banks with at least two million deposit accounts. He suggests that within a large bank, this process will help a lot to allow insured depositors right to use their deposits within one business day of failure. Uninsured depositors are advised to share in the insolvency bank losses at the end of the blanking period. He suggests that this solution will apply to almost 37 banks as at the year 2014. The FDCI has tried to make the prompt corrective action initiative more determinable to secure the F DCI losses on the failing banks. The FDIC has used the test known as â€Å"least cost resolution† to protect uninsured depositors against any loss from their deposit accounts even in the failing banks. This article suggests that the entire franchise bank deposit insurance and the uninsured deposits be sold to one or more banks if this test would be successful to protect the uninsured depositors. This test aims at reducing the FDIC loss in a failed bank, by completely protecting the uninsured depositors against any financial loss.

Food chain security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Food chain security - Essay Example concerns related to food products especially during the 1990s mandated the European Union and other nations around the globe to review their policies regarding food safety and finding means in protecting consumers against contaminated food products (Newcomb, 2013, 43). During the year of 2001, the European Union prepared a paper on food safety as framework for the new legal basis for the production of suitable food and animal feed production plus food safety control measures. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an organization mandated to developing internal guidelines, standards, and recommendations that are meant to reducing risks associated with food contaminations. The Codex Alimentarius established a risk analysis, the HACCP and the approach of the integrated food chain. The paradigm of the food analysis includes risk management and assessment. The risk communication has also been included as the universal principles in the European Union regulations and they are the ones which forms the legal basis of the food safety systems in EU member countries (FAO, 2012). Many people around the world today, including scholars have been concerned on the negative effects of unsafe food on human health. A lot more have begun to explore the issue from a range of perspectives such as crisis management, food safety, state responsibility and so on (Charles, et al n.d, 2). . This paper discusses how the principles of risk analysis and food safety management can be applied to ensure food safety in the food chain. We will evaluate various principles such as HACCP, BCP and Traceability and Recall Management as measure that ensure food safety in food chains. Risk management remains a major concern for governments and food processors in protecting their consumers against harmful food products. Although Risk management may be based on both scientific evidence and risk evaluation, other areas of food production such as environmental protection and animal warfare could be