Marketing Plan for Snap Fitness Essay

Executive Summary With today’s society stressing a greater demand for flexibility, and ease of access to goods and services, a trend has emerged for extended trading hours for service organizations. One of the main profiteers of this trend is gym franchises. With over 1 billion people in the global population being overweight, and the still present economic uncertainty leading to longer working hours for most people, there is a demand for less rigid opening and closing hours of gyms. Consequently, the boom of the 24 hour gym came about. 3C’s Analysis The following section contains an analysis of the company, customer and competitors of Snap Fitness. Analysis of the Company The Snap Fitness franchise has become a global leader within the budget health club industry since starting in 2003. It has since established a large client base of over 1 million members in over 2000 clubs worldwide and 100 clubs throughout Australia (Sloan, 2014). Snap Fitness provides a 24/7 service with limited staffed contact hours ranging from 30 to 40 hours per week, and utilises a â€Å"no-contract† payment system. Additional services include high quality targeted fitness classes, nutritional consultation and access to accredited Personal Trainers. Snap Fitness was ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as No.1 â€Å"Best in Category’ for fitness franchises in 2009. As well, Inc. Magazine at No. 16 on its annual â€Å"Inc 500† which is a list ranked by Inc Magazine of privately owned businesses. (Snap Fitness, 2014) Customer Analysis A gym can essentially recruit any type of person interested in fitness to sign up because of the variety of services offered, such as weights, cardio machines, group fitness sessions, dieticians etc.. This being said, 60-70% of Snap Fitness customers in Australia are already â€Å"experienced gym users who just want to get in and get started† upon joining (Australian Leisure, 2010). This leaves around 30-40% of members to be inexperienced gym users  that will require help getting started, whether this is by group fitness sessions or personal training sessions. Snaps Fitness offers low prices and the gyms are open 24/7 meaning potential Snap Fitness members are seeking convenience rather than quality. Snap Fitness doesn’t have facilities such as saunas and pools etc. that other gyms such as Fitness First regularly feature and the size of these gyms are smaller in comparison to other big gyms such as Goodlife, and Genesis. This means that Snap Fitness will generally attract people who work out recreationally a few times a week as opposed to a bodybuilder who is training for competitions and would benefit from these additional services. In Australia 13% of the total adult population participate in fitness activities. Within this segment the most significant demographic is the age group bracket is 15 to 34 years in both the female and male segments and females aged 34 to 54 years. Overall there is greater female (16% of the population) participation then male (9.4% of the population) across all age brackets (Australian Bureau, 2009). Analysis of the Competitor With the market for gym-goers being so extensive, there exists steep competition between gyms for patrons. One such competitor of Snap Fitness is Jetts gym. A membership with Jetts is slightly more expensive than Snap, costing $13.95 per week, with an additional joining fee of $89 and $59 for an access card. Jetts also offer an advance 12 month membership, costing $549, paid in one lump sum at the time of joining. Jetts offers its members 24/7 access to all of its 200+ clubs in Australia with the use of the swipe card, delivering a high level of convenience for its members (see figure 1.2). However with Jetts, as opposed to Snap Fitness, once the card is registered in the security system, no further registration is required to gain entry to multiple clubs – the card is usable immediately, creating convenience for its members. (Jetts, 2014) However, unlike Snap Fitness, Jetts has no member benefits to retail outlets or other service centres. Jetts has received a Canstar award t wo years running. For the years of 2012 and 2013, Jetts was voted as the No.1 gym chain in Australia for customer satisfaction. (Jetts, 2014) Another similarly competitive gym is Stepz. As well as operating 24/7, Stepz is entirely Australia owned, with clubs only within Australia. While this, to some people, would be a selling point, it  also poses a threat to Stepz whereby is creates less convenience for its patrons by having fewer clubs members can attend (see figure 1.2). (Stepz, 2014) A Stepz Memberships costs $13 a week, with a one-off joining fee of $89, payable upfront and an access card fee of $55, with which the member has access to any Stepz club Australia-wide. (Stepz, 2014) As too with Jetts, Stepz has no membership perks for gym members that exist outside the gym, i.e., retail discounts, etc. Stepz employs a tactic whereby the number of members allowed to enrol in each club is limited. This is done to provide the members with a more personalized service, and the staff can cater to the members needs more specifically. Also, by limiting the number of patrons, it ensures that there will rarely be a wait time to use gym equipment. (Stepz, 2014) In today’s market, there exist other types of rival services in the gym racket. Not gyms that offer round-the-clock service, rather gyms that cater specifically to the specialty needs of their patrons – gyms such as Curves. Curves is a specially designed gym catering explicitly to the needs of women. Founded in 1992 in Texas, today Curves has clubs in over 70 countries, with over 300 clubs in Australia alone. Curves is the largest company being analysed in this competitor analysis (see figure 1.2). Memberships at Curves cost $18.24 a week, with a $149 joining fee. By far – out of Snap, Jetts and Stepz – Curves is the most expensive gym (see figure 1.1). However, Curves, unlike the others, has tailor-made programs targeted directly at women, for women, by women. This creates a community among the club members and enables the staff and trainers of Curves to have a competitive edge in the service industry, offering a one-of-a-kind service catering only to the needs of women. (Curves, 2014) Gyms such as Curves and Contours (another gym aimed specifically at the needs of women) has created a whole new market segment, which poses a threat to existing generic gyms, and even those that are 24 hours. Gyms that are specially designed for women may take business away from other gyms such as Snap, as a result of such gyms not exhibiting greater dedication or focus to individual needs of groups in the market segment (ie. Female gym-goers). Analysis of the 4P’s: Product Membership entitles the user access to all the gym equipment (including  cardio and weights), group workout sessions and, one initial free PT introduction session with a qualified instructor including; a weight and measure, guidance while using machines and an initial workout plan. Optional membership add-ons include PT sessions, consults with a qualified dietician and 8 week challenges. Price Single membership, joint membership and family memberships are available. The price for single membership is $25 a fortnight; this currently includes group workout sessions and access to all types of training equipment. Joint and family memberships are generally charged at a discounted rate such as $17 each a fortnight for a family membership consisting of a husband and wife. A membership with Snap is not a lock-in contract, and in addition to the fortnightly fee there is a one-off joining fee of $99, paid upfront and a further $29 for the Snap access card. Place A typical location for a Snap Fitness outlet is a high profile business strip or mall, with cafes, small convenience stores and a post office. Locations normally have access to close parking and provide a well lit exterior to ensure the safety of clients using the premise during irregular hours. Currently the most successful Snap Fitness business is located in Milton and through location analysis it was found that Snap Fitness Strathpine also possesses many of these important location characteristics (Australian Leisure, 2010). Promotion Snap Fitness promotes itself as a convenient (open 24/7 and membership grants access to any Snap Fitness location) and budget gym with a focus on physical wellbeing of young adults. Snap Fitness often has one core promotion consisting of a limited, one time offer of free joining and 1 week free gym access. If this offer is not running potential members do still get a free one day trial. Snap Fitness also have offers for current gym members such as â€Å"refer a friend† and get a month free. A consistent message present throughout promotional material is that there are no membership contracts. This means that if a member wants to leave it is a simple process and will be no cancellation fee. With a gym membership to Snap Fitness Strathpine, the member receives perks from organizations affiliated with Snap Strathpine. These benefits include a buy one, get one free scheme at the Strathpine Hyperbowl bowling alley, a 10% discount at Mega Choice and Mega Party variety stores, lunch deals at Outback Jacks Bar & Grill, and more. (Snap Fitness, 2014) Analysis of Customer Service Strategies (People/Processes) Quality customer service is key to an organisations survival in today’s market. For gym owners, the revenue source is in direct proportion to the membership base; i.e., if gym owners aren’t able to get people through the door, their profits will plummet. In order to ensure a gym maintains a competitive edge in the fitness industry, it is essential to provide a consistent level of high quality customer service. This plays a crucial role in member acquisition and retention. It is imperative that the quality of customer service is always top priority, to ensure repeat customers and positive word-of-mouth. (Fagan, 2013) A recent study has shown that customer referrals is the main reason why new customers hear about a business, or come into the business – with 30% of people stating a current member referred them. (Lewis, 2014) Snap Fitness offers a variety of customer services, such as being open 24 hours; having friendly, qualified staff; efficient handling of complaints; strong community presence through social initiatives and business partnerships; no lock-in contracts; 24 hour security surveillance; member benefits (i.e., retail discounts); and having innovative facilities to ensure convenience and comfort for members, such as having access to treadmills, cross trainers, rowing machines, free weights, shower and change rooms, bathroom amenities, stretching areas and group fitness rooms. (Snap, 2014) Snap’s main customer service strategies are promotions with neighbouring establishments, corporate tie ups, and social media facets. In March of this year, Peter Taunton, CEO of Snap Fitness, launched an initiative to coincide with National Public Health Week in the US. With word driven by the force of social media outlets, Snap Fitness, starting April 7, was offering seven days of free workouts, with no further obligations to Snap. This complimentary week was offered in support of public health and to get people motivated, and get potential members through  the door. (Taunton, 2014) With a strong presence within the community through ongoing social initiatives and partnerships with neighbouring establishments and other corporations, Snap fitness consolidates its standing as a people-friendly gym with a community-orientated outlook, making itself as attractive as possible for potential members. Analysis of the Service Environment One of the most significant problems Snap Fitness faces is during peak training times when the facilities are prone to becoming overcrowded (more demand than supply of equipment). Gym users dislike this mainly because of waiting times for machines and weights, and as a result some will completely avoid these peak times favouring a more secluded training environment. This is a difficult issue to resolve as Snap Fitness always wants more members, but at the same time if too many members are at the gym at a certain time members can become unsatisfied. Another issue with Snap Fitness is their process of making the entry cards inactive. It was found through a sentiment analysis (appendices) identified card denial as a significant area of dissatisfaction amongst users as often they have to come back during manned hours to resolve the problem. This problem stems from direct debits not clearing and is made worse by the fact that clients aren’t notified when this occurs (appendices blu eprint). Members of Snap Fitness have had to travel to the gym and be denied access, before realizing their card has been made inactive. A minor issue Snap Fitness faces is that its front counter is not always manned even during staffed hours. There are windows of time when all personal trainers who are in the gym are on the floor with clients, this could be for many reasons including assisting with a workout or maintenance to the facility. During this time if someone calls the gym or comes in to enquire about joining there may be no one available to meet these requests. This can lead to missed opportunities in gaining new clients, and a reputation for bad customer service. Recommendations In relation to the issue of equipment use during a session, one of the most viable solutions is to implement peak and off peak membership options. The way this would work is for people who choose to go to the gym during peak times would pay the rates currently being offered and would be able to also  go to the gym in off peak times. The members who purchase off peak membership are allowed access to the gyms at off peak hours for a discounted membership price. These members have the choice to attend during peak times when they swipe their card to enter the gym, however a small fee will be charged to their fortnightly bill enabling the membership to be flexible. It is worth noting that Snap Fitness aims to be a cheap, convenient gym, so without the option of expanding and adding more equipment, this is one of the best ways to encourage members to train at different times and prevent an overcrowded gym. The issue of card access can easily be solved through a change in the communication process meaning gym members should be informed if their payment doesn’t clear prior to the card being deactivated. This could be done by an automated text message or a phone call from a staff member at the gym. When a payment is declined Snap Fitness members should be given time (48 hours would be appropriate) to resolve this issue and make the payment. If a member still fails to make the payment after this 48 hour window they should then be informed that their card will no longer permit access to the gym until a payment is made. This will ensure members are always informed of when their payments don’t clear and if a member is unable to make this payment they can then contact Snap Fitness and work out a different payment method. A way for the manned counter be solved is having very clearly defined hours designated to man the desk (clear signage of hours at the shop front and on all adver tisement material including pamphlets). During this time there would always be someone answer phone calls and talk to people who physically enter the gym to respond to questions about joining. This way it’s clear when it is appropriate to enter the gym to ask questions in person and when the best time to call up would be. Phone messages should be kept track of and returned during these staffed desk hours to ensure all customer enquiries are being answered in a timely manner. From the evaluation conducted the recommendation with the most benefit would be introducing a distinction between on and off peak membership. This strategy could attract a lot of new members because people who train at off peak times at other gyms would see how cheap this option is and consider transferring. People already signed up to Snap Fitness could also be  interested in cheaper memberships and could change their workout times from on peak to off peak, which would reduce some of the clutter in the gym. This would then help to reduce overcrowded gyms during peak times, which would then increase the enjoyment of on peak members because they would have less waiting time for equipment. Currently the gym is often close to empty at off peak times and having this extra influx of people there at these odd hours is extra money Snap Fitness could capitalize on with its 24/7 system. Appendices Appendices 1: Price positioning map High Price Curves Snap Fitness Jetts Stepz Low Price Appendices 2: Size positioning map Large in size Curves Snap Jetts Stepz Small in size Small in size Appendices 3: SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis Strengths Weakness Large established client base Known brand name Customised workouts Well trained staff/ PT’s Open 24/7 Can go to any Snap Fitness centre No contracts – monthly payment plan Yoga & fitness classes Range of machine types 7 day trial period Accredited dietician Lockers to secure valuables 8 week challenge programs – club bonding Limited staff resources – not always manned Waiting times for equipment in peak times Smaller gym – less equipment, space and more demand on staff Opportunities Threats Potential partnerships/ sponsors – currently have some with local businesses (e.g. cafe discount) New membership types e.g. based on consumption times/types Paying for one group class without buying a membership Additional services e.g. Steam room, juice bar New health trends – types of classes offered e.g. Zumba Community orientation Expand existing complexes Discounts for locals Widespread competition such as home gyms and other similar companies such as Jetts Unmotivated staff Decreased interest in fitness Being a small, budget gym expansion opportunities could deter clients as they prefer a smaller business Original Service Blueprint Within this blueprint several key bottlenecks were identified, these include contacting the gym Booking into sessions Equipment usage Updated Service Blueprint Reference List About Us – Overview. (2014). Retrieved 4th May, 2014, from http://www.curves.com.au/about-curves/ About Us. (2014). Retrieved 1st May, 2014, from http://www.snapfitness.com.au/about-us/ About Us. (2014). Retrieved 4th May, 2014, from http://stepzfitness.com.au/about-us/ Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Feature article 2: health and fitness centres and gymnasia (no. 4156.0.55.001). Canberra, Australia. Australian Leisure: Snap Fitness Plans for 200 Clubs. (2010). Retrieved from Current Levels of Customer Satisfaction at a CrossFit Gym. Digital Commons @ USU. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=gradreports Curves Community. (2014). Retrieved 4th May, 2014, from http://www.curves.com.au/community/ Fagan, L. (2013, October 4). What is gym customer service? Retrieved from http://blog.gyminsight.com/2013/10/what-is-gym-customer-service/ http://global.factiva.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=NLJ00000 20140217ea2h0000q&cat=a&ep=ASE http://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/snap-fitness-plans-for-200-clubs Lewis, S. (2013). An Online Customer Service Survey to Determine Memberships. (2014). Retrieved 4th May, 2014, from http://stepzfitness.com.au/memberships/ Prices. (2014). Retrieved 3rd May, 2014, from http://www.jetts.com.au/prices Public Health Week. Retrieved from

Daylight saving time Essay

Daylight savings time, it happens two times a year, causing a multitude of occurrence, some of these being good, while some are not so good. However, it has been a hot topic for debate recently. To keep daylight savings time, or to kick it to the curb is the question many congressmen are asking themselves. Keeping daylight savings time allows the people of the United States to continue with years of tradition implemented during war time that has been a part of their daily lives ever since which is irrelevant to today’s standards. Being first put into action by President Roosevelt during the Second World War to save energy that the war effort needed, some of the states decided to keep a version of this, but only during the summer (Source A). Thinking this movement would save the American population not only the artificial lighting energy, but also it would save them money. However, nowadays the average savings per household during daylight savings time is about four dollars (video) and the â€Å"corresponding national savings of forty to fifty megawatt hours per day† (Source D). These numbers seem to be miniscule compared to how it could affect their lives. If it only saves an average of four dollars per year, DST is really useless. Considering it was added during a war time and its original purpose was to save energy and get people outside more, there is no need for it now with the more efficient light bulbs we now have and the heating and cooling machines that are saving more money than DST ever could. Daylight savings time affects the natural rhythm of sleep that humans have, not only causing them to be less productive on the job but also it’s a health problem. As O’Connor said people tend to sleep on standard time, not DST. Now daylight savings time is affecting our sleep along with our health. The video which was viewed in class went into greater detail stating that the Monday after DST there is a higher percent of heart attacks and suicides. From personal account, Mondays are no fun but with more suicides†¦that’s a little extreme. So, DST is a very serious issue if there are more heart attacks and suicides. And as stated above the body sleeps on standard time, so DST causes sleep deprivation. This in turn causes there to be less productivity on the job, the week after daylight savings time happens there is an estimated $480,000,000 lost businesses (Video). Daylight savings time just seems like one problem after another when looking at the big picture and how everything affects the other. Not only are people more tired, there are serious health risks associated with it, and the lack of productivity might just be the wakeup call big businesses and the government are look for. It’s essentially screaming that DST needs to be ended. Daylight savings time is something that is outdated, and was used for a war ear. As a country there is no need for it anymore. It is costing the country more than it’s saving it, along with causing more stress put on business leaders. Really, there is no use for it, and this shouldn’t even be a debate. The answer is clear, DST is a thing of the past and that is where it should stay.

Assessment of the Parenting Problems in Society

Assessment of the Parenting Problems in Society Parents Just Dont Understand Before Will Smith started his big solo career as a rap artist, he and his friend, Jazzy Jeff, had a song called, Parents Just Dont Understand. It was a big hit, particularly for youth. The song was about how parents just didnt understand the trends and the way life was in those days for kids. Smith told about situations he had with his parents and his audience could easily relate to these situations, thus, making the song a hit. Smith was right on track with part of his message. Parents just dont understand. They do not understand that their job as parents is to pay attention to how they raise their children. Though there are parents who do a wonderful job raising their children, many parents neglect their responsibility in child development. In this paper, the following will be discussed: the diversion the government makes in the operation of parental duties when it steps in to discipline a young person, and the parents teaching discipline in values and morals. There are times when government action prevents parents from developing the child themselves. According to Liz Seymour, Los Angeles Times staff writer, one instance involves a high school senior. He was not caught with enough marijuana after being pulled over to receive a citation, but his school decided to transfer him to another school 89 days before graduation (Seymour B2). After his parents took the issue to court and won, the senior stayed and did not transfer. The punishment exceeded the severity of the crime. Why did the school system think that exporting this student would help his life and education? A new school will not solve a drug problem. Another case in St. Petersburg reflects another situation with a school. Greg Hamilton composed an article in the Citrus Times that was about a 13-year-old who refused to attend school. After numerous attempts were taken by the court and his mother to keep the child in school, the problem had not been resolved. The court even went so f ar as to try to reach the child by threatening his mother with jail time if she did not keep him in school. Eventually, the child was placed in juvenile detention for a few days and the mother had a weekend vacation in the pen. Did this action help the childs problem? Though there is no definite answer, the verdict may have been a waste of time. As Hamilton puts it, Where is the line between societys role in the raising of a child and that of the parent? (Hamilton 1). It seems the punishment just covered up the problem instead of correcting it. One question: where is the child now? In response to an editorial in The Columbus Dispatch, Marjorie Renspie voiced her opinion stating that parents should be given the chance to raise their children (12A). The situation involved a teen who had done some things that made him a criminal in societys eyes, and the court sent him to a juvenile detention center in Jamaica. Renspie felt that shipping the delinquent to Jamaica prevented the opportun ity for the parents to work with him. Her main argument was that the key influence a child has is its parents. The parents, in Renspies eyes, were the ones who could help this kid and sending him off would not help at all (12A). The parent should raise the child, not society. Yet, in spite of this great idea, still parents do not do the job. Amongst the obstacles parents encounter while developing their children, they overlook a few things in the process. Parents have neglected teaching their children discipline. In the case of the child who refused to attend school, the mother had neglected to teach her son the importance of school attendance. To fill the gap the parent left, the judges rule was so that they would be accountable for themselves (Hamilton 1). Recall the marijuana senior. His parents had not taught him the dangers of drugs and had not engrained in him the discipline to stay away from drugs. Both instances are examples in which the parents had not done their job and society had to step in. Parents simply need to teach discipline. Along with teaching discipline, parents should attend to teaching values and morals so they are not neglected. Hamilton writes that the people who leave their children to be raised by other adults in such things as Little League, school, and church, expect to have all manner of social graces, work ethic, and values instilled in their kids, and will stand ready to jump on the person if it is not done (Hamilton 1). Hamiltons concept: the parents deliberately neglect their role. Why is it that parents think that they can just get away with doing their job? If they are responsible enough to bring the child into the world, they should be responsible enough to teach it and raise it properly. By teaching values and morals, the child will most likely grow up generally feeling better about who they are. The child values itself, and has a sense of self-worth. No longer will the child feel apt to throw their life around as if it is a joke, rather something of value not to take for granted. In M arjorie Renspies letter to the editor, she claims that using drugs, driving recklessly, taking no responsibility for ones well-being and being a threat to society as well as to ones family are much more serious problems (12A). She was leaning towards the severity of the actions of children in the past. Actions in the past included stealing cars, serious vandalism, and other similar instances. For bad seed youth, the roots to their problems start with the individuals themselves. From there, it branches out to worse things. Both the root and branches can be signs of underdevelopment. Here is where the parent receives a sign telling them their work is not good enough. It is clear that there are times when society gets in the parents way of raising their child, yet in the midst of that, the parent misses the parts of teaching discipline, morals and values. The popular saying goes like this: It takes a village to raise a child. However, the village can get in the parents way and then there are problems. The parent should have the most impact in raising a child. Society can be there for nurturing, but the main job should be done by the parents. And that is what is missing in the world today. Parents are not doing their job.

Deciding whether to buy or rent Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Deciding whether to buy or rent - Research Paper Example As the number of years that a property will be used increases, the advantages of buying also increase. Flexibility is another issue to consider when deciding to rent or to buy. For instance, if one wants an asset that he can leave and go for another option, renting would be the best choice for such a person. Renting means that the person is only attached to the house for only one month at a time and this means that the person can move out if and when they want. This is unlike buying, because once a property is bought, disposing the property can be a very difficult process and in the case where the owner wants to move to a different option, the owner may have to wait for months or even years before he is able to dispose the property. The other factor to consider when deciding to buy or to rent is the cost of maintenance. As Jared (20) asserts, when a property is bought, the owner is responsible for all the maintenance costs that the property will require. On the other hand, renting relieves the burden of any costs associated with maintenance of the property. For instance, if a home needs repair, the owner of the house is the one who is going to pay the cost of repair. If one intends to avoid the high costs of repairing and maintaining the property, the person may need to consider renting rather than buying the property. In cases of expensive assets, the other maintenance costs that the owner of the property will have to incur will be the insurance costs, which will be used to insure the property against any form of loss. Once a property is bought, any risk or risks associated with the property will have to be borne by the owner (William 12). Renting on the other hand means that the person does not own the risk, and that if the risk materializes, the person will not have to bear the risk. This is very important for a person seeking to own or rent a

The Benefits of Digital Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

The Benefits of Digital Marketing - Essay Example Most organizations seem to be heading towards digital marketing since it is proving to more effective as compared to other methods of marketing (Thomas, & Housden, 2011). Digital marketing refers to the marketing and promotion of goods and services through the internet and other digital means such as television advertisement, computers, digital billboards, Smartphones and any other devices that have the ability to combine sound and images to deliver a certain message. Digital marketing enables the organizations to engage themselves effectively with the customers in a manner that is cost-effective, timely and usually relevant. In addition, digital marketing brings the customers closer to the organization. Some digital means such as internet marketing gives the customer a chance to give his view over a certain product or services or even suggest what they might need to be done to increase their satisfaction. This is important since it makes customers feel they are part of the organizat ion and that they are being considered as important stakeholders (John and Jones, 2009). Digital marketing presents the organization with numerous opportunities to expand their operations and gain a competitive advantage over their competitors (Henderson, 2005). Apart from improving the relationship with its customers, there are numerous other opportunities that an organization can realize from digital marketing. This essay is a report on an investigation of the opportunities to an organization that chooses a digital approach to market its products and services. The organization to be investigated is Walmart. Background of the organization Wal-Mart Stores Inc is a retail store based I the United States of America. It has a global presence operating in about 15 countries worldwide. It is a public corporation and is ranked third among the top public corporations in the world after Exxon Mobil Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell. Its shares were first traded on the New York Stock Exchang e in the year 1972. No other retail store in the world is larger than Wal-Mart. In addition, in terms of private employers, Wal-Mart ranks first with more than two million employees in all its stores worldwide. Wal-Mart, a family-controlled company is among the most valuable companies in the world Walton’s family controls 48% of the company shares. Sam Walton founded the company in the year 1962 and then it was incorporated in the year 1969 (Walmart, 2012). The company offers a wide range of products in all its stores worldwide. For instance, the company is known to be the largest grocery store in the United States of America. It also sells household items such as furniture and utensils, electronics, jewelry, clothing, baby products, beverages, beauty items as well as pharmaceutical products. In addition, the company also offers a number of services. Among the services include; photo services, paint mixing, and Marlin travels. In addition, the company has a regal nail, salon, and spa, a program that offers services such as manicure, pedicure as well as nail care services (Walmart, 2012). The company offers its products and services to a wide range of customers. It targets the youths, the old as well as children. This is a strategy that has helped it gain a large share if the market. It offers almost anything that people from different age groups are likely to buy. It has a marketing strategy that has been of much benefit to its operation and that has contributed to its global growth making it one of the biggest companies in the globe (Walmart, 2012). For instance, it offers its products and services at a relatively lower price as compared to its competitors.  

Improving Maternal health Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Improving Maternal health - Research Paper Example Despite maternal health concern being in the millennium development goals, the condition is still wanting. Maternal has for been a leading cause of death for many women and children. Efforts have been made to handle the situation with political aid. According to world health organization report of 2012, it has led to the global reduction of maternal health by 47% since 1990 to 2012. However, approximately 800 women die daily from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In most underserved and marginalized communities are unable to access the information, resources, and services leading to prevailing of poor maternal health. Filippi demonstrated the health condition in developing countries to be poor compared to the developed countries (361). The factors that drive communities to high mortality rates despite the measure put to control are variety. Poverty, lack of knowledge, cultural ties, few skilled attendants and distance to hospitals are contributing factors to mor tality deaths. There is a need to look into the issue deaths related pregnancies to safeguard the lives the mother and the child. WHO report of 2013 suggested an estimation of 289,000 women died during delivery. According to Bergsma, the situation in developing countries is 97 times worse than in developing countries. Antenatal care would reduce maternal mortality (35-54). The majority of deaths are reported to occur during and immediately following birth. WHO â€Å"Maternal Mortality† report shows that excessive bleeding causes 25%, 15% due to infections, 12% for the seizure disorder and 8% are due to obstructed labor. Other causes of death during pregnancy include unsafe abortions that account for 13% of the total deaths. The situation is so alarming in the society and needs further actions to reduce the deaths globally. The issue of death is extended to the postpartum period.  

Marketing Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing - Research Proposal Example f data from fifteen respondents randomly selected to present their views on the issue and in relation to Burger King and their attitudes towards the company and its products and services before and after the scandal. The respondents were selected randomly from the general population, and all were aged above 18 years. The research was conducted through qualitative collection of data using questionnaires. The results of this study showed that the Horse meat Scandal had a significant impact on the marketing strategy of Burger King as a company. Many of its previously loyal customers lost trust, and some indicated an onset of worry. Of all the 15 respondents from whom the data was collected, only 4 (27%) indicated having not changed their attitude towards the company. The rest 73% of the respondents were angry with the revelation of the scandal and would not recommend the company to anyone in the future. This attitude was present even among 2 respondents who had not eaten at Burger King before. These results indicate that must companies to observe business ethics and ensure that they do not lose customers out of such scandals. It, therefore, recommends that Burger King should be open and admit the flaws in the suppliers’ scrutiny and accreditation and assure the consumer of vigilance and seek apology. In early 2013, a wave of consumer uproar was experienced in the food industry in Western Europe. The outrage was in regards to companies unethical practice claims. I had been reported through several media that horse meat was being added to beef products from several main producers of burgers and other foods in the industry. Among the companies who were indicated to be involved in this scandal were Burger King and Tesco, the two giants in the industry. This issue of meat adulteration came to be referred by many the â€Å"Horse Meat Scandal† (HMS). The scandal did not only have immediate effect on the meat business, but also the idea of shopper trust in items offered

Legal Week 4 Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Legal Week 4 Discussion - Assignment Example Peer review can indeed be said to be an effective program within the health sector in achieving quality health care. This is because through peer review, there is a professional back up of the actual health care service that is delivered to service users (World Health Organization, 2011). This is to say that peer review makes it possible for there to be validity of professional medical outcomes, whereby the decisions and actions of medical staff members are subject to third party scrutiny to ensure that all forms of lapses are identified and corrected. In such a situation, the patient or service user becomes the eventual benefactor, getting an assurance that there is always a back up for guaranteed health care. Peer review can also be said to be very effective in promoting peer learning. What this means is that through various peer review methods, professional medical staff are able to learn from their colleagues and peers through the corrections and critique they pass on them. Meanwhile, within the professional medical practice, continuous learning has been noted to be an important process that ensures that service providers are always equipped with the latest service standards to use in rendering quality service (Bond and Bond, 2004). Meanwhile when the service provider is guaranteed to be of high quality, this can be translated into the quality of care (World Health Organization,

HEMO TECH CASE 12-04 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HEMO TECH CASE 12-04 - Research Paper Example In this contract, HEMO had identified a number of deliverable however not all potential deliverables are in the arrangement. The contract involves multiple- deliverable revenue arrangement as stipulated in (ASC) Standard Update No. 2009-13 in October 2009. Considering whether deliverable items meets the criteria is vital since if they do not meet them ,they do not qualify as a separate unit of accounting and could be united with other deliverables in the arrangement. Though this has be adhered to by HEMO following the selling price hierarchy of Vendor Specific Objective Evidence, third party evidence and best estimate is vital for the whole process to work perfectly Standard codification (ASC) 605-25, which involves the arrangement of multiple elements.ASU 2009-13 provides guidelines that require separate arrangements for multiple deliverables by classifying them into individual units and allocating an amount on each as a unit of accounting (Barker, 1990). The deliverable units that HEMO has identified are Installation,50 boxes of equipment supplies, five units of equipment, one year monitor and test services, report services and three-year screen. However in my opinion, there are other potential deliverables that HEMO has not taken into consideration or identified. In this case, HEMO is to deliver services and before doing, so, it’s vital for it to evaluate all deliverables to establish whether they present separate units of accounting. As per the five deliverable mentioned, this can be said to be separate units of accounting, and they should have value to customer on a standalone basis where this means due to the items value. It can be sold as a separate item by any other vender. One of the potential deliverables is the EXTRACT’s purchases that exceed the initially requested 50 boxes of the supplies. The reason is that the 33% percent discount will emanate from the first purchases. In addition it will

Accounting of Enron Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting of Enron - Case Study Example was also a player in the accounting profession, he had the responsibility of upholding the integrity of his profession, which, according to Marion (2001), entails reliability, competence, objectivity and above that, integrity. The ethical responsibilities of a corporate attorney and as pointed out by Desjardins and McCall (2005), can be seen to include, the screening of clients’ reports before they are released publicly, and also the setting up of press-briefing meeting, in the case that any news or reports concerning the client firm, wants to be released to the general public. An employee such as Sherron Watkins can act as a whistle-blower to the outside authorities with regards to the on-goings within the company in the event that the company engages in the breach of law or poses a threat to public interests (Nindya, 2010). Nindya further goes on to note that one should owe their loyalty to the ‘parts’, which make up the company, and who, as in this case, happen to be the shareholders. The board of directors, as pointed out by Desjardins and McCall (2005), owes its primary responsibility to the shareholders. This means that, all the efforts by the board of directors should be aimed at safe-guarding he interests of the shareholders in the company. In an attempt to ensure that the board meets these responsibilities, laws can be put in place, for example, and as Nindya (2010) points out, each of the board members can be required to pledge loyalty to the shareholders, with regards to their conduct and not just the company as an entity separate from its shareholders. Government regulators have responsibility towards business, the market and the general public. Focusing on business, as argued by Machan (1998), government regulators ensure that individuals are engaged in fair dealing and get value for their money. With regards to the market, Machan (1988) further goes on to note that government regulators should ensure that the market attains its optimum

Astronomy Study Guide Essay Example for Free

Astronomy Study Guide Essay xix. All jovian planets have strong winds and storms 2. Be able to describe the different stages in stellar evolution and which star will end their lives in which ways. Included in this is the maximum masses of stars that will become white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes and the maximum masses of white dwarfs and neutron stars. e. Step 1- Becoming a Star xx. As a cloud collapses, the center becomes very, very hot and very dense f. Step 2- Fusion xxi. As the gas cloud collapses, the core becomes hotter and the density inside the core increases xxii. Eventually, the temperature and density reach a point where nuclear fusion can occur g. Step 3- Balance: all main sequence stars are in hydrostatic equilibrium xxiii. Fusion provides radiation that creates an outward pressure h. Protostar to Main Sequence xxiv. A protostar contracts and heats until the core temperature is sufficient for hydrogen fusion i. Upper Limit on a Star’s Mass 3. Understand everythi9ng about the HR diagram and how it can be used j. Identifies a definite relationship between temperature and absolute magnitude k. The smallest stars are the tiny white dwarfs and are found in the lower left corner of the diagram l. Main sequence stars span a range of sizes from the small found in the lower right and the large found in the upper left m. Largest stars are the giant and supergiant stars which are sound in the upper right corner n. Most stars fall somewhere on the main sequence o. Diagram Depicts xxv. Temperature xxvi. Color xxvii. Spectral Type xxviii. Luminosity xxix. Radius 4. Be able to describe the Doppler effect and indicate which stars are shifts the most from looking at the spectra of stars and from looking at the wavelength of peak radiation. p. The Doppler effect is able to determine the movement of objects in space. It can tell if the object is moving toward or away from earth. 5. What are the different types of galaxies and what are the different types and ages of stars that you would expect to observe in each q. Spiral xxx. Disk- stars of all ages, and many gas clouds xxxi. Bulge- old stars, few gas clouds xxxii. Halo- old stars, few gas clouds 1. Blue-White color indicates ongoing star formation 2. Red-Yellow color indicates older star population xxxiii. Barred Spiral Galaxy- has a bar of stars across the bulge xxxiv. Centicular Galaxy- has a disk like a spiral but much less dusty gas(intermediate between spiral and elliptical) r. Elliptical xxxv. All spherical components, virtually no disk component 3. Red-Yellow color indicates older star population s. Irregular xxxvi. Neither spiral nor elliptical 4. Blue-White indicates ongoing star formation 5. All tend to be really far away t. *Spiral galaxies are often found in groups 6. Use energy output vs. wavelength graphs to determine the size temperature and color of various stars. 7. Be able to choose the most cost effective option from a list of possible research telescopes u. Three Types of Telescopes xxxvii. Refracting Telescope-uses a glass lens to concentrate incoming light xxxviii. Reflecting Telescope-uses mirrors to concentrate incoming star light (most researching telescopes today are reflecting) xxxix. Radio Telescopes- sends radio waves into space 8. Give a general description of Big Bang theory and the evidence for it. v. In the 1940’s based on Hubble’s law, George Gamon proposed that the universe began in a colossal explosion w. In the 1950’s, the term Big Bang was coined be an unconvinced Sir Fred Hoyce x. Evidence for Big Bang xl. We have detected the background radiation from the Big Bang xli. Correctly predicts the abundance of helium and other light elements in universe xlii. The cosmic microwave background=the radiation leftover from the Big Bang xliii. Patterns of structure observed by WMAP show the â€Å"seeds† of the universe xliv. Abundance of elements give us clues as well 9. How does the force of gravity between two objects depend on mass and distance. y. Newton’s Law of Gravitation xlv. Two objects attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their own masses and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance z. Universal Law of Gravitation xlvi. Every mass attracts every other mass xlvii. Attraction is directly proportional to the masses xlviii. Attractions is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers xlix. F=G(m1m2/d2) 10. What provides energy to stars at different points during their lifetime (proto-star, main sequence, red giant, etc†¦) 11. What can we know from the spectrum of a star {. We can determine whether the star is moving toward us or moving away from us. |. We can’t determine the exact speed of the star but we can determine whether it is moving fast or slow toward us and if it is moving fast or slow away from us 12. What is a Cepheid variable? }. Light curve shows that its brightness alternately rises and falls over a period of 50 days ~. With longer periods have higher luminosities 13. What does Hubble’s law say? . Velocity=H0 x distance 14. Compare the sizes of different objects in the solar system, in the galaxy, and in the universe. . The Sun is the largest object in the solar system . Earth VenusMarsMercurymoon 15. Compare the scales (relative distances) to various locations in the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe 16. What makes something science? How do you tell if something is a scientific theory, a hypotheses, or something else? . What is Science l. Seeks to understand the rules and laws of nature li. Uses systematic observations lii. Uses mathematical models liii. Experimentally tests ideas . A Scientific Theory must: liv. Explain a wide variety of observations with a few simple principles lv. Be supportive be a large compelling body of evidence lvi. Not have failed any crucial tests of its validity 17. List properties of thermal radiation. . Hotter objects emit more light at all frequencies . Hotter objects emit photons with a higher average energy . Nearly all large or dense objects emit thermal radiation including stars, planets, and you . An objects thermal radiation spectrum depends only on temperature 18. How do we know our position in the solar system, in the galaxy, and the universe? . Kepler’s Law lvii. Using Kepler’s law we are able to calculate the orbital speed of objects and compare them. lviii. To compare our location to the galactic center we use the Kepler’s Law Rotation curve, which plots an objects orbital speed against the distance from the galactic center. 19. Understand the phases of the moon. Be able to choose relative positions of the Earth, moon, and sun to produce a given moon phase. . 1st quarter . Waxing gibbous . Full moon . Waning gibbous . 3rd quarter . Waning crescent . New moon . Waxing crescent 20. Understand the major motions in the sky- over the course of a day, over the course of man y weeks/months, and over the course of years. 21. What causes seasons? . Earth’s axis points in the same direction all year, so its orientation relative to the sun changes as Earth orbits the sun . Summer occurs in your hemisphere when sunlight hits it more directly, winter occurs when sunlight hits it less directly . Axis tilt is the key to seasons without it we wouldn’t have seasons 22. Apparent and absolute magnitudes, what they tell us, and how they are used to determine distances. . Apparent Magnitude- how bright the object appears to us on earth . Absolute Magnitude- how bright it actually is lix. Negative means brighter lx. Positive means dimmer . By comparing apparent, and absolute magnitude numbers we can estimate the stars distance from earth lxi. When m=M, then the star is located exactly 10 pc away lxii. When mM, then the star appears dimmer than it would 10 pc away 23. List the different types of electromagnetic radiation and their relative wavelengths, and energies. 24. List the pattern of motion of the large objects in the solar system. . All large bodies orbit in the same direction and nearly the same plane . Most rotate in the same direction

Politics and the English language by George Orwell Essay Example for Free

Politics and the English language by George Orwell Essay This is a statement from the Politics and the English language written by George Orwell. He says, A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation. The whole essay is mocking other writers on their language usage. He claims that the language is not used to its full extent. People use words the size of continents and in the end those big words say the same thing as a three-letter word. Those people also end up confusing them selves in the end. I do believe that language is changed by thought. After all it is the mind that is the one that thinks of the sentences and its thought that may corrupt the language. After all language does not write it self on a paper. The mind can basically create any thing with language. This is why every thing works in theory. But practically it doesnt. I do believe that man creates language to express our selves. Some might use it to corrupt other thoughts but isnt that why language is there. So we can understand each other and express our feelings, thoughts and to claim things, even though they are not true. Language according to the oxford dictionary is defined as: Language noun 1.Words and their use. 2.The words used in a particular country or by a particular group of people [from the Latin lingua=tongue] In a different dictionary it says that language is the system of human expression by means of words. Human language, as expressed by the voice, depends for its production on certain physical characteristics, which are not possessed by the apes. The left hemisphere of the human brain dominates comprehension and expression of written and spoken language. This might be  far searched but maybe this is why communists who believe in all things are equal are called the left wings usually. They are the ones who want to control every thing in life so maybe that is why they are called the left wings. There are more than 5000 languages, or dialects, which are classified in families, though the relationships are not all well established. For example, with a few exceptions, e.g. Basque, Finnish, and Tamil, all the languages of Europe and India belong to a single much diversified Indo-European family. Computers (using rules of language structure) can now translate technical documents with an 80%accuracy. This just shows the diversity of the modern technology. One problem with translating is that different people interpret the text differently. There have been experiments in Nevada USA to see if chimps have the same ability of creating languages that we understand, the scientist figured that since we where related that this could be possible, they found that chimps are not able to produce the human sounds. So at the moment humans are the only ones that have a language. It might be that other animals have languages as well. But the humans have yet to discover this. It has been discovered that animals do have some sort of communication but we cant yet speak dog or cat. Language can corrupt thought as well. A great example is the novel nineteen eighty-four. As part of a great totalitarian state the government creates one language, newspeak, where no emotion words are in the dictionary. With newspeak there is no way of expressing the true emotions, like hate towards Big Brother or love towards one and other. It is possible to disagree with the party by using double negation, or making up words. But the characters in the novel are to scared to do so, because if they do they are committing the act of thought crime, and for that they could be vaporized or worse. Communists set up the whole idea of Big Brother. So as mentioned before this might have to do with the fact that those people want to restrict the growth of the left hemisphere of the brain, as this is the part that lets us speak and write language. They probably want to restrict all things because that  would cause opposition to the party. This might lead to the political party to loose their power or sharing their power. This is something they want to avoid if they want to become a totalitarian state. The opposition might spoil that for them. I wonder in the future if the world will in a way become some thing like Big Brother. One language, every one alike and no one is allowed to be different. What a boring place that would be. I can imagine that one day the world would have one language so would avoid confusions in politics and this would make traveling much easier. Also a students life in high school would be so much easier if you did not have to learn three or four different languages. But language comes along with identity. Going to a different country and hearing a different language is something that might not be any more in the future. We might all be speaking English or a new language like newspeak might be introduced. Maybe the countries might keep their own language but that every country might have that universal language as a second language. But coming back to the point if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought, I do think that language can easily corrupt thought. Not to one self but if lets say, I tell you that the word believe has been taken out of the dictionary and you believe me and immediately tell all your companions this might cause a great confusion about language. I would be the one who spoilt the language, because what word could you use to replace believe? Synonyms of believe are: (according to oxfords Thesaurus.) accept, be certain of, be convinced of, count on, assume, conjecture, consider, gather, and guess. All of these words might be the same, but they cant really replace believe, because as all words, believe has a unique meaning that cant exactly be replaced. In conclusion to ascertain as to if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought, I totally agree. But I dont take the statement as serious as George Orwell does. He gives many examples of bad writing in the essay Politics and the English language, but I think I speak for everyone that one of those examples we use in our language every day. Does this make  us bad writers? According to Orwell we are. I know its just his opinion but he defiantly takes extremes and basically says that all essays, novels, political speeches that dont look like his own style of writing, are bad language.

The Pedagogy Verses Andragogy

The Pedagogy Verses Andragogy Jarvis expanded theory of transformation of the person through learning prepositions an argument for the andragogical model and the way in which adults learn. Given the quality and extent of experiences an adult gains throughout life-span these experiences are shaped and molded by societal roles and tasks, and according to Knowles (1984) will be used as a source of learning. A desire for knowledge or to engage the learning process, often identified as eagerness to learn, is stimulated by experiencing motivating shifts in one developmental task to another or by an important life episode, creating an adjustment in behavior that leads to improvement in some characteristic of our personal being. Laher (2007) indicates that such movement on the individuals development, leads to a alteration from a subject-centered academic orientation to a problem-centered academic orientation to learning, due mainly in response to changing life occurrences. This paper will evaluate 1) the role that social change plays from an a anadragogical approach with adult learners, 2) the responsibility of higher education institutions in facilitating adult education, and 3) briefly discuss a comparison between the role of pedagogy and andragogy approaches. Social Change And Adult Learners In terms of social change and the adult learner several factors are to be carefully considered. These would necessitate attending to social recognition of learners and addressing barriers to the learning process, reaching disadvantaged learners, fostering critical reflection associated with the process and ensuring experiential learning, and preparation for social action and community development. All of these efforts would serve to contribute to the value of college education among adult learners. Mason (2003) notes that one assumption that should be considered is the readiness of learners to be self-directed, self-motivated, and personally resourceful. Those learners experiencing disadvantage or who lack social recognition, or experience inequality as to access to educational opportunities may result in feelings of insecurity or uncertainty when approaching self-directed academics thus resulting in feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem, borne out by the extent of their disadvantage and the main motivation for learning. Therefore, Merriam, et al. (2007) and her colleagues suggest that empowering learners to act involves a number of tasks. Facilitating an environment for adult learners so that they could create a relationships of equality is key in developing skills needed to contribute to meaningful participation in adult curriculum programming at the university level. Having a role in collegiate democracy such as problem-definition, identification of adult student needs, problem-solving, and decision-making structures and the development of critical reflection allows adult students to become more invested in the educational pro cess and increases personal investment (pp. 23-27) Engagement at this level and the opportunities it provides will increase a sense of academic cohesion, groups of adult learners working to carry out social change actions and individual learners moving into opportunities for engagement that address this populations academic needs will help facilitate learning environments that provide academic experiences upon which adult students can obtain valuable successes, build confidence and reach academic goals. Experiential learning or education also helps adult learners identify their skills and strengths in order to devise progression options, and to become agents of their own learning (Connolly, 2002, p. 7). Such learning then is not only the responsibility of the individual learner, but must have a conduit by which learning is facilitated. The following section of this paper will address the responsibility of the higher education institutions role in adult education and the individual learner. Responsibility of Higher Education Institutions This section of the paper proposes the importance of institutions of higher education role in both providing and facilitating adult education with appropriate curriculum and strategies to enhance the adult learning experience. Higher education institutions goals and objectives could be adjusted to fit the learner and provide maximum opportunity to synthesize existing knowledge with new information by designing curricula that experientially relate to the learners developmental stage. The number of adults entering learning situations later in life is growing due to rapid displacement, advancements in shifts in the job market, technological demands, and movement of employment overseas. Merriam, et al. (2007) and her colleagues indicate that two best predicators of adult participation in a states higher education system were availability of undergraduate education (number of seats available, public and private) and educational attainment of the states adult population (percentage of adults with high school or higher) (p.69). Such responses to a voluntary or involuntary transition in their lives, such as seeking education to maintain current employment or to change careers, has necessitated a return to college for many older adults. It becomes the obligation of higher education institutions to adjust teaching strategies, curriculum, goals, and objectives to promote learning success in adult learners. To promote external social change and to provide optimum learning environments for older adult learners requires adjusting strategies in curricula and delivery of the curriculum. Therefore, the next section of this paper will address the important nature of the adult learner and the origins of the andragogical principles and theory. Pedagogy Verses Andragogy This section of the paper will briefly review insights with regard to the relationship between the pedagogy and andragogy principles and the adult learner. The leading form of teaching in America is pedagogy, or didactic, conventional, or teacher-directed method. A different method in terms of instructing adult learners is andragogy. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with background information regarding both instructional forms. Pedagogical Assumptions. The pedagogical model of instruction was originally developed from Greek, meaning the art and science of teaching children. In the pedagogical model, the teacher has full responsibility for making decisions about what will be learned, how it will be learned, when it will be learned, and if the material has been learned. Pedagogy, places the student in a submissive role requiring obedience to the teachers instructions. It is based on the assumption that learners need to know only what the teacher teaches them. The result is a teaching and learning methodology that promotes dependency on the instructor (Knowles, 1984). The pedagogical model has been most used method applied equally to the teaching of children and adults and is seen as a contradiction in terms. As Knowles (1984) would suggest The reason this contradiction exists is as adults mature, they become increasingly independent and responsible for their own actions. They are often motivated to learn by a sincere desire to solve immediate problems in their lives. Additionally, they have an increasing need to be self-directing. In many ways the pedagogical model does not account for such developmental changes on the part of adults, and thus produces tension, resentment, and resistance in individuals (Knowles, 1984). According to Ozuah (2005), pedagogical theory emphasized five major points: the lack of experience, dependency (in terms of self concept), external motivation, content oriented learning, and readiness to learn. Due to their relatively short lifetimes, children do not have the opportunity to gain much useful experience from many life events or developmental tasks. As a result, children rely on teacher and/or adult guidance to fill the void and provide the information with predetermined course content, to create a frame of reference upon which to build new learning (Knowles, 1984). Furthermore, what little experience children do have is perceived within their limited cognitive abilities. Other factors of pedagogy are also in opposition to the nature of andragogical principles. Children are dependent upon adults for direction and guidance, in terms of learning, the dependent child looks to teachers for guidance as to learning needs, children are basically externally motivated to reach the goals set, not by them, but by teachers and parents. Berk (2004) insinuates that youth are concrete cognitive operational thinkers and operate in the here and now concept of achievement and notes until they are capable to thinking more in the abstract, they are not able to apply current learning to future experiences. In pedagogical methodology, a childs readiness to learn is driven by measurable achievement goals rather than developmental tasks. As childrens goals are externally pre-determined by teachers and parents, their readiness to learn aligns with adult expectations of them rather than their own. In other words, childrens readiness to learn is highly correlated with content achievement, as is their dependency on teachers to know what it is they need to learn. Imel (1989) suggest that Knowles strongly believed that through a comparison of pedagogical, teacher oriented methodology with andragogical, differences between adults and pre-adults would be clearly evident. Andragogical Assumptions. Andragogy as a system of ideas, concepts, and approaches to adult learning was introduced to adult educators in the United States by Malcolm Knowles. Knowles a professor of adult education at Boston University, introduced the term andragogy which he defined as the art and science of helping adults learn in 1968. By 1980 he suggested the following: . . . andragogy is simply another model of assumptions about adult learners to be used alongside the pedagogical model, thereby providing two alternative models for testing out the assumptions as to their fit with particular situations. Furthermore, the models are probably most useful when seen not as dichotomous but rather as two ends of a spectrum, with a realistic assumption (about learners) in a given situation falling in between the two ends (Knowles, 1980, p. 43 ). The andragogical model as conceived by Knowles is predicated on four basic assumptions about learners, all of which have some relationship to our notions about a learners ability, need, and desire to take responsibility for learning: Their self-concept moves from dependency to independency or self-directedness. They accumulate a reservoir of experiences that can be used as a basis on which to build learning. Their readiness to learn becomes increasingly associated with the developmental tasks of social roles. Their time and curricular perspectives change from postponed to immediacy of application and from subject-centeredness to performance-centeredness (1980, pp. 44-45). The growth and development of andragogy as an alternative model of instruction has helped to improve the teaching of adults. Andragogy as a concept and set of assumptions is a system subdivided into pedagogy (dealing with youth education) and andragogy (concerned with adult education). There is some variety, too, in the application of related terms. Some countries use adult pedagogy, one (the Soviet Union) uses the term auto didactic among others to refer to adult education activities, and a few countries use andragology to refer to andragogical science (Knoll, 1981, p. 92). Outside of North America there actually are two dominant viewpoints: . . . one by which the theoretical framework of adult education is found in pedagogy or its branch, adult pedagogy . . . and the other by which the theoretical framework of adult education is found in andragogy . . . as a relatively independent science that includes a whole system of andragogic disciplines (Savicevic, 1981, p. 88). Knowles (1975) in contrast to child learners suggest that adult learners evolve in the area of self-directed learning. One immediate reason was the emerging evidence that people who take initiative in educational activities seem to learn more and learn things better then what resulted from more passive individuals. He noted a second reason that self-directed learning appears more in tune with our natural process of psychological development (1975, p. 14). Knowles observed that an essential aspect of the maturation process is the development of an ability to take increasing responsibility for life. A third reason was the observation that the many evolving educational innovations (nontraditional programs, Open University, weekend colleges, etc.) throughout the world require that learners assume a heavy responsibility and initiative in their own learning. Summary This paper has provided a review regarding the research on approaches to adult learning in theory and practice. Additionally, consideration was given to role social change has played in adult learning programming and community outreach opportunities for this population. Noted were both success in reaching disadvantaged learners and those under-represented. The review of literature also confirms community education works particularly well for those adult learners who have experienced educational successes in high school and who have access to college courses and affordable course work. However, it is clear that andragogy and Malcolm Knowles have brought considerable attention to the adult education field as a separate field during the past three decades. Applied correctly, the andragogical approach to teaching and learning in the hands of a skilled and dedicated facilitator can make a positive impact on the adult learner. Knowles introduction of andragogy was predicated on four basic assumptions drawn on the learning differences between adults and children. With maturity and age, an individuals self concept becomes less dependent and more self directed while accumulating a wealth of valuable experience that would serve the learner when readiness to learn is reflected. Additionally, Knowles notes that adults seek out learning when appropriate to fulfill societal roles, and orientation to learning represented the skills or knowledge sought to either apply to daily problems in fulfilling the societal roles (Lee, 1998). Finally, learning becomes less subject-oriented and more problem-centered (Lee, 1998). In 1984, Knowles added a fifth assumption that suggested that adults are internally motivated rather than externally motivated, and in 1990 a sixth: the need to know why something must be learned prior to learning it and its justification for being learned (Fall, 1998).

Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huckleberry Finn There may never be another novel written quite like Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. It combines adventure, suspense and comedy to create a most accurate account of the times. Huckleberry Finn warms the heart of the reader by placing an ignorant white boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn in some strange situations, having him tell his remarkable story the way it streams into his own eyes. Huckleberry Finn is nearly always confused on account of so many different kinds of people having such different impressions upon him; he turns to his own heart and intelligence for guidance. Huckleberry Finn has a heart of gold, and grows as a person throughout the story. Huckleberry Finn's setting jumps around to a number of different places. The beginning takes place in St. Petersburg, Missouri in around the 1840s, before the Civil War. Huckleberry lived in a very "sivilized" household; a rather prosperous one as well, with the Widow Douglas. It was a time of slavery, though throughout the entire novel there was very little said to put down African Americans. The characters in the book, as many as there were, were all created by Twain to respect and acknowledge the decency in their slaves. There are two main characters in Huckleberry Finn: Huckleberry Finn, and Jim, a runaway slave. Huckleberry Finn finds himself torn between his own judgement of helping Jim escape, and the people around him who support slavery in it's entirety. He is in a bad and dangerous situation while with Jim, because anyone might possibly think Jim a runaway "nigger" and turn him back in for the reward of cash, as well as clout for being honest. But Huck is a very bright and creative young man, and uses his intelligence to both his and Jim's advantages in order to save their lives, on more than one occasion. He is quite brilliant under pressure, as when encountered by two men looking for runaway "niggers". The men inquired about who else was with Huck. The men threatened to come closer and see, and Huck replied, "I wish you would, because it's pap that's there, and maybe you'd help me tow the raft ashore...He's sick..." and Huck let on that he needed the men's help, and that hi s "pap" was awful ill, and soon enough the men hollered, "Keep away, boy. Confound it, I just expected the wind has blown it to us.

Hamlet Literary Analysis - Stages of Grief Essay -- William Shakespear

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross developed a theory based on what she perceived to be the stages of acceptance of death. Her theory has been taken further by psychologists and therapists to explain the stages of grief in general. Kubler-Ross identified five stages: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, as happening in that order. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet exhibits all five stages of grief, we can assume in relation to the recent death of his father, but not necessarily in this order, and in fact the five seem to overlap in many parts of the play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Instead of denial and isolation, which is the first stage according to Kubler-Ross, Hamlet dwells in a state of depression. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Psychiatry states â€Å"Depression occurs as a reaction to the changed way of life created by the loss. The bereaved person feels intensely sad, hopeless, drained and helpless† (www.uams.edu). Hamlet’s depression is revealed in his fourth soliloquy. â€Å"Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ Or take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And by opposing them? To die, to sleep;† (Shakespeare III.i.57-60) Meditative and weary Hamlet gives up on any hope for the future. He contemplates suicide making obvious his profound state of despair. Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide continue in this painful speech, â€Å"His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh God! God!/ How weary, stale flat and unprofitable,/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!/ Fie onâ€⠄¢t! Ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden† (I.ii.132-135) Here are a sickness of life, and even a longing for death, that strengthens Hamlet’s intense depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While Hamlet may still be feeling depressed Hamlet moves into the stage of denial and isolation. Hamlet feels the effects of denial and isolation mostly due to his love, Ophelia. Both Hamlet’s grief and his task constrain him from realizing this love, but Ophelia’s own behavior clearly intensifies his frustration and anguish. By keeping the worldly and disbelieving advice of her brother and father as â€Å"watchmen† to her â€Å"heart† (I.iii.46), she denies the heart’s affection not only in Hamlet, but in herself; and both denials add immeasurably to Hamlet’s sense of loneliness and loss—and anger. Her rejection of him echoes his mother’s inconstancy and denies him the possibility even of imagining the experience of loving an... ...r. Hamlet speaks to Horatio quietly, almost serenely, with the unexultant calm which characterizes the end of the long, inner struggle of grief. He has looked at the face of death in his father’s ghost, he has now endured death and loss in all the human beings he has loved, and he now accepts those losses as an inevitable part of his own condition. â€Å"He states, â€Å"The readiness is all† suggesting what is perhaps the last and most difficult task of mourning, his own readiness to die† (Bloom 135). Hamlet recognizes and accepts his own death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hamlet throughout the play lives in a world of mourning. This bereavement route he experiences can be related to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s theory on this process. The death of Hamlet’s spirit can be traced through depression, denial and isolation, bargaining, anger, and acceptance. The natural sorrow and anger of Hamlet’s multiple griefs include all human frailty in their protest and sympathy and touch upon the deepest synapses of grief in our own lives, not only for those who have died, but for those, like ourselves, who are still alive. Hamlet’s experience of grief, and his recovery from it, is one it which we ourselves respond most deeply.

Formalistic Approach to Corona :: Corona Essays

Formalistic Approach to Corona The formalistic approach allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the story. Stories such as Corona by Samuel Ray Delany show the aspects of a formalistic literary piece. The specific word choice that the author uses is very obvious right from the beginning. The choice of words that are used in the opening sentences imply that the narrator does not have a high level of education, if any education at all. Then as the story progresses and more characters come into play, the narrator's language level became much more advanced. (English 102 L class lecture, January 24 2001) Words such as integration, trapezoid, and even the discussion of Lee's work on an algebraic problem show that her side is much more educated then Buddy's. (Stories, 344-345) Compared to the language at the beginning of the story when Buddy is introduced, Lee's side shows a much more complex style. This allows the reader to lead into realizing what the comparisons of the two character's lifestyles are. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, page 89, states that "Failure to note point of view as an aspect of form will result in a misreading or in an inadequate reading of the work." The way each of these characters are stated in the story is the narrators point of view. This is the author's way of making the differences between the two seem very obvious to the reader. The points of view make the form of the literary work stay together, plus stay consistent. If the author does decide to shift points of view, it is to achieve different effects at a specific time. (HCAL, 89) Delany uses this effect starting on page 347. As Lee begins to talk of her latest struggle, the story line quickly switches to Buddy and then back to Lee. The switching also relates to the form of the story, which is the most important aspect of the Formalistic literary approach. "Indeed, the fragmentation of story line and of time line in modern fiction and in some absurdist drama is a major formalistic device used not only to generate within the reader the sense of the immediacy and even the chaos of experience but also to present the philosophical notion of non-meaning and nihilism.

Short-Term Memory: The Second Stage in Memory Processing

Introduction to Psychology Psychology 101, Section 8 October 26, 2010 Short-Term Memory The short-term memory is the lead to our long lasting remembers. Short-term memory is the second stage in the memory processing (Huffman). The short-term memory is the part of the memory that temporarily stores and processes information from the sensory memory and holds it until it decides if the information will be sent to the third stage or long-term memory (Huffman). The short-term memory stores a mixture of perceptual analyses information (Huffman).The short-term memory works in different ways to increase its small capacity; it uses rehearsal and chunking to be able to remember more things at once (Huffman). Rehearsal is when a person repeats information over and over again to maintain it fresh in the memory and chunking is grouping separate pieces of information into a single group (Huffman). The short-term memory is also known as the â€Å"working memory† because it’s always re ceiving information from the sensory memory and sending to the long-term memory (Huffman).I will be discussing the difference between short-term memory and long-term memory, the theory of decay, and the working memory. Difference The main difference between short-term memory and long-term memory is the capacity that each one has. According to Michael E. Martinez the two memories work together a cognitive architecture or the mind’s basic structure. In the short-term memory a person can only think of a few ideas at a time (Martinez). One of the characteristics of the short-term memory is that is small compare to the long-term memory which has a larger capacity (Martinez).Information flows between the short-term memory to the long-term memory, depending on the direction and different kinds of thinking results (Martinez). Short-term memory is the route entry to long-term memory or the holding template until the long-term memory processes are complete (Lewis). One example the Mart inez gives is when information flows from short-term memory into long-term memory it produces learning. When information leaves flows from long-term memory back to short-term memory is called recognition or recall, which happens whenever we think about a previously known fact, person, or event (Martinez).Each memory has it’s owe limitations; the short-term memory has a small capacity making it hard to think about many things at once, while the long-term memory does not record experience completely and accurately (Martinez). Unlike the long-term memory the short-term memory has chunking, which allows the short-term memory to hold more and more information. The capacity does not change but chunk grows in complexity which allows the short-term memory to handle more data (Martinez). DecayDecay is a theory that has a long history in accounting for forgetting (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis). This is said to happen because as time passes, information in the memory erodes and is less av ailable for retrieval (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis). Berman, Jonides, and Lewis present different experiment to examine if decay is a cause of forgetting. One study that they present is the classic study of Peterson and Peterson (1959): â€Å"Consider the classic study of Peterson and Peterson (1959), originally thought to provide strong evidence for decay.In this experiment, participants were given a letter trigram to store, followed by a retention interval that varied from 3 to 18 s. During the retention interval, participants were required to count backward by threes to prevent rehearsal of the memorandum. Following the retention interval, participants recalled the item in memory. Peterson and Peterson found that performance declined as retention intervals increased, and the authors attributed this decline to increasing decay of the memory trace with increasing time.The attribution of this effects to decay mechanism is, however, suspect. † The arguments that counting backwa rd could not be a source of interference because their secondary task differed from the item to be stored in memory (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis). But the case is that counting task requires short-term memory retention, which is the main memory task (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis). Another problem in assessing the role of decay on short-term memory is the habitual tendency of rehearse materials that are to retain (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis).An example that Berman, Jonides, Lewis give is when we look up a phone number in the directory and then walk to the phone, we rehearse the number in our head until it is dialed. They are trying to come up with different techniques to prevent rehearsal, to get an accurate gauge of whether decay has an effect on memory (Berman, Jonides, and Lewis). Working Memory Theory based research has revealed that working memory is a system that allows a person to maintain task goals, update memory to meet current demands, and to separate memory to form relations hips (Shelton, Matthews, Hill, and Gouvier).The working memory is also referred to a general purpose system that is responsible for the active task or goal relevant information while simultaneously processing other information (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). The general purpose system includes: problem solving, reading, coordination and planning, and the basic intellectual functions, which leads to research on the capacity of the working memory (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). â€Å"Beginning with Daneman and Carpenter (1980), most researchers have utilized complex working memory span tasks in which to-be-remembered items are interspersed with some processing activity. For nstance, in the reading span task participants attempt to remember words or letters while reading and comprehending sentences. These tasks can be contrasted with simple memory span tasks in which TBR items are presented without any additional processing activities.The complex span tasks nicely capture the idea that the of processing and storage are needed to fully understand the essence of working memory and tap its capacity. Furthermore, these tasks can be used to estimate an individual’s working memory capacity and examine the correlation between this capacity and other important cognitive abilities (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). The possible that the complex span tasks do not file overall resources abilities but rather that the processing task displaces items from the working memory (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). Also according to the task-switching view, a person may place an item in the working memory, and a rapid switching mechanism is needed to refresh the item before it is lost due to decay (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). The faster the information can be complete and switch back to decaying representations, the better the overall performance will be (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer).There is also a difference in the amount of capacity from individual to individual (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). There are two components that individuals may differ on: first component is the need to actively maintain information over the short term and the second is the need to retrieve information that could not be actively maintain due to a large number of incoming items (Unsworth, Spillers, and Brewer). The short-term memory has it’s mysteries due to the amount of information that one can keep and pass on.One thing is for sure is that without it we will not know what information are relevant for one to keep or decay. Now one can understand the relationship and difference between short-term and long-term memory, the theory of decay, and why the short-term memory is the working memory.References Berman, M. , Jonides, J. , & Lewis, R. (2009). In search of decay in verbal short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition,35(2), 317-333. doi:10. 1037/a0014873. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Huffman, K. (2010). Memory,(9th ed. Psychology in action. (242-275) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Lewis, D. (1979). Psychobiology of active and inactive memory. Psychological Bulletin,  86(5), 1054-1083. doi:10. 1037/0033-2909. 86. 5. 1054. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Martinez, M. (2010). Human Memory The Basics. Phi Delta Kappan,  91(8), 62-65. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Shelton, J. , Elliott, E. , Matthews, R. , Hill, B. , & Gouvier, W. (2010). The relationships of working memory, secondary memory, and general fluid intelligence:  Working memory is special. Journal of Experimental Psychology:  Learning, Memory, and Cognition,  36(3), 813-820. doi:10. 1037/a0019046. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Unsworth, N. , Spillers, G. , & Brewer, G. (2010). The contributions of primary and secondary memory to working memory capacity: An individual differences analysis of immediate free recall. Journal of Experimental Psycho logy: Learning, Memory, and Cognition,  36(1), 240-247. doi:10. 1037/a0017739. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Import & Export Financing

IMPORT FINANCING Background Like other developing countries, Pakistan’s import bill exceeds exports. Therefore, it faces scarcity of foreign exchange to meet its import requirements. According to daily â€Å"DAWN† dated 18th November 2012, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were USD 13. 84 Billion at the week ended as on 9th November 2012. Gap between the import and export bills is partially covered by regulations, controls and measures exercised by State Bank of Pakistan and partially by the international credit, aid, loan agencies like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB).State Bank of Pakistan keeps control at a time, over this imbalance by imposing cash margin restrictions on import of general items from time to time. This is done in order to restrict imports and to allow import of only necessary items to fulfill genuine requirements and to discourage import of non-commercial and luxury items. CASE STUDY: On 1st Februa ry 2012, restriction on import of CNG cylinders and kits was imposed by Government of Pakistan in view of government policy to discourage use of CNG as a fuel due to its short supply and ever rising demand.No importer is allowed to import CNG cylinders & kits up till now which is being restricted by SBP & custom authority. Foreign trade involves many risks because of different locations /countries of importer and exporter. Both the parties are doing their businesses in different countries where different laws & regulations apply and it is difficult to settle any dispute regarding goods quality and payment settlement between importer and exporter. For safeguarding interest of both importer and exporter, banks involve in these transactions for smooth settlement between the parties. IMPORTERSAny body who imports the required goods into the country is called an importer. The importer has to pay the exporter for the value of goods in foreign exchange. Importers are classified into three categories: i) Commercial sector importer i-e. a firm, institution, organization, person or group of persons registered as an importer is called commercial importer. ii) Industrial sector importer i-e. any industrial unit which is registered as importer comes under this category. iii) Public sector importers i-e. the organizations owned by the government which import capital / consumer commodities as per their requirement.Usually, these organizations are not registered as regular importer and their requests for opening letter of credit is routed through SBP. Letter of Credit (L/C) Letter of Credit is a written undertaking by a bank given to the seller/exporter (beneficiary) at the request and instructions of the buyer/importer (applicant) to pay at sight or at a determinable future date a stated sum of money against the required documents. The documents include commercial invoice, certificate of origin, transport document relating to the mode of transport used (Airway Bill, Bill of Lading, Railway Receipt, Truck Receipt, etc. and other documents required as per terms of letter of credit. Parties to Letter of Credit In documentary credit operations, maximum number of parties involved are as under: i) Applicant (Opener of L/C): The applicant of a credit is an importer or buyer who requests his bank to issue documentary credit in favor of the seller /exporter. ii) Issuing Bank (Opening Bank): The issuing bank is also called importer’s bank. At the request of the applicant, this bank issues the credit in accordance with the instructions of the applicant in favor of the exporter. The letter of credit is sent to the bank in the exporter/seller’s country. ii) Advising Bank: Advising bank is also known as transmitting or correspondent bank in the seller’s country. Issuing bank forwards the advice of the credit by mail or by any means of tele-transmission (i-e. cable, telex, SWIFT, etc. ) to a correspondent bank where the beneficiary business exist s. Normally, all L/Cs are sent via SWIFT i-e. Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions. iv) Beneficiary (Seller or Exporter): The person or body receiving the letter of credit from the importer and/or in whose favor letter of credit is issued is called beneficiary. v) Confirming Bank:Confirming bank is the bank which at the specific request of the issuing bank adds its confirmation to a letter of credit. Adding confirmation constitutes a definite undertaking of the confirming bank, in addition to that of the issuing bank. vi) Negotiating Bank: Negotiating Bank is the bank which receives the documents against letter of credit as authorized bank. This bank has to give value for drafts and/or documents under L/C conditions. Negotiating Bank may or may not be the Advising Bank. This bank examines the documents against L/C, and if found in order, negotiates the documents and makes payment to the seller.The negotiating bank dispatches the documents to the Issuing Bank cl aiming reimbursement from the bank as mentioned in the L/C and as agreed between the two banks. The Negotiating Bank should ensure before lodgment of reimbursement claim that all terms of letter of credit have been complied with. vii) Reimbursing Bank: Reimbursing bank is the bank which, on behalf of the opening bank, honors the reimbursement claim lodged by the Negotiating Bank. MODES OF PAYMENT OF L/Cs There are four modes of payments of letters of credit as detailed under: (i) L/C available by Negotiation:If L/C provides for negotiation to pay without recourse to drawers and/or bonafide holders in terms of credit. Negotiation means the payment of value for draft(s) and/or documents by the bank authorized to negotiate complying with the terms of L/C. (ii) L/C available by Acceptance: In case the credit calls for a usance draft and is available by acceptance on the issuing bank, and the seller submits all the documents including usance bill of exchange to a nominated or another ban k complying all the terms and conditions of the credit, the seller receives acceptance of the payment at maturity date.However, under a separate arrangement, he may get his usance draft discounted by the bank in order to meet his cash flow requirements. In such case, seller has to bear discount charges. (iii) L/C available by Sight Payment: If the beneficiary of letter of credit is to obtain payment immediately on presentation of stipulated documents, it is the sight letter of credit. In this case the exporter draws a sight or demand draft payable at the counters of the advising bank or the bank specified in the letter of credit.The draft is paid on presentation provided that all the other terms of L/C have been complied with. (iv) L/C available by Deferred Payment: In this case, L/C opening bank has to effect payment after a period specified in the L/C, calculated as to the number of days after the date of presentation of documents or after the date of shipment. Such L/C does not r equire drafts to be drawn or presented alongwith other documents. RETIREMENT OF DOCUMENTS When the documents are received from foreign bank, L/C opening bank affixes â€Å"Dak Received† stamp and enters the same in â€Å"Dak Received Register†.The duplicate set of documents, received by the bank, is kept with original set of documents and duplicate should be separate from the original. The bank verifies that all the documents are received as specified in the forwarding schedule of the negotiating/exporter’s bank. While scrutinizing the documents, it is also ensured that all the documents have been received as per terms of L/C. The retirement of documents can be made by the following means: †¢ Through debit to the customer’s account †¢ Through Trust Receipt Facility (FTR) offered by the bank. †¢ Through Finance against Imported Merchandise (FIM)THROUGH DEBIT TO CUSTOMER’S ACCOUNT In case customer/importer has sufficient funds to settl e the bill, Cost Memo is prepared and amount in foreign currency is converted into Pak Rupees at Selling TT & OD rate of exchange. Any foreign correspondent charges and service charges are added to it. Customer issues cheque / authority letter to debit his account for bill amount plus mark-up and other charges. After receiving the amount, title documents are endorsed by two authorized signatories and the same are delivered to customer against proper acknowledgement.In case, importer has not sufficient funds to settle the bill, he can avail finance from bank to settle the claim. Credit facilities available to the importer are explained hereunder: A. FUND BASED FACILITIES 1. FINANCE AGAINST TRUST RECEIPT (FATR) If customer desires to retire the documents through Trust Receipt facility, a request letter to this effect is obtained from him. In this case, bank releases documents of the goods to importer so that he may clear the goods from custom authorities. Payment is settled by the ban k and reimbursement is made to foreign bank.The bank has lien on receivables in this case and importer repays the bank finance after sale of the goods. Trust Receipt should not be allowed against Usance L/C unless specific approval from the authority is held. Following documents are obtained before releasing the documents on Finance Against Trust Receipt: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Bill of Exchange duly accepted by the party ? Demand Promissory Note ? Trust Receipt ? Collateral (if any) as per limit approval ? Invoice ? Agreement of Mark-up The Trust Receipt facility can only be extended upto 45/60 days or as per terms of sanction. . FINANCE AGAINST IMPORTED MERCHANDISE (FIM) This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the bank and the importer. The sale price consists of value of goods or documents of title to goods and margin of profit. The sale price is payable by the buyer on deferred payment basis either in part or in lump sum. Thi s facility is granted for a period of 60 days or as per sanction advice. Following documents are obtained from the party: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Demand Promissory Note ? Letter of Indemnity for clearance of consignment ?Letter of Pledge ? Agreement of Mark-up This type of facility is against pledge of imported stocks and its process / transaction flow is similar to that of Self-Liquidating Inventory Finance. TRANSACTION FLOW: Goods imported through L/C, when reach the port in importer’s country, there is a process of releasing the goods from custom authorities. For this purpose Clearing Agents on the panel of bank. The clearing agent after clearing the goods, transports the same via Goods Transport Companies to the destination of the importer. At importer’s business premises / factory, etc.Bank Muccadam is available to take over the custody of the goods as soon as these are received at the site. These goods are kept under pledge arrangement and bank takes effective control & possession of the imported goods. B. NON-FUND BASED FACILITIES 3. USANCE LETTER OF CREDIT This type of letter of credit is issued with a condition that payment will be made after some specified period of time i-e. 180 days, 365 days, etc. The bank undertakes to pay the exporter for the value of goods at some later date in order to facilitate the importer to arrange funds for settlement of the transaction.Usance letter of credit is very useful facility in which importer not only avails the opportunity of time available to pay his liabilities but also he saves borrowing costs due to difference of LIBOR and KIBOR. At present KIBOR is upto 10% whereas LIBOR is ranging from 0. 5% to 1% for the last two to three years. In case of Usance L/C, the importer will have to pay the value of goods alongwith some additional profit/surcharge levied by the exporter (which is included in the Invoice Value) for allowing repayment period to importer.Exporter will calc ulate this additional profit on transaction on the basis of LIBOR (0. 70%) instead of KIBOR (10%). In case importer avails the credit lines to settle the import bill from his local bank, he will bear the borrowing/financing cost on the basis of KIBOR which is far above than LIBOR. 4. SHIPPING GUARANTEE The shipping guarantee is issued in favor of the local shipping agents for obtaining delivery order to clear goods from port / customer authorities in the absence of original shipping documents of L/Cs. This guarantee is issued on prescribed from provided by the shipping company.This guarantee is signed by the importer and counter-signed by the bank. Following documents are required from the customer at the time of issuance of shipping guarantee: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Copy of Invoice ? Copy of Bill of Lading / transport document ? Format of the shipping guarantee to be issued ? Counter guarantee in favor of the bank duly signed by the customer ? Letter of undertaking regarding exchange rate fluctuation ? Undertaking to accept the draft in case of usance L/C ? Undertaking to accept all discrepancies in the documentsLiability under the shipping guarantee shall be reversed only after the surrender of the original bill of lading against which guarantee has been issued and the receipt of original guarantee from the shipping company. On receipt of original bill of lading, this is forwarded to the shipping company alongwith request to return the original guarantee. This facility is very short term nature normally 30 days. B. EXPORT FINANCE In order to strengthen its position in the international markets, Pakistan has to strive for improving its balance of trade by increasing its exports.As such exports have been the top priority of the government’s agenda to improve the position of foreign exchange earning of the country. Banks have a very important role to play in trade activities of the country. Banks act as agents for both the imp orters and exporters and play important role in the development of country’s trade. While handling export transactions, Credit Manager and/or Export staff of the bank must always keep into consideration the following: ? Export Policy Order of the government for the financial year ?Guidelines/instructions of Export Promotion Bureau ? State Bank of Pakistan Foreign Exchange Circulars ? Bank’s Foreign Exchange Regulations and FEX circulars ADVISING OF EXPORT LETTERS OF CREDIT Letters of credit received from foreign banks are advised to the beneficiaries in Pakistan through L/Cs advising departments of the bank. All L/Cs received are carefully scrutinized for their authenticity adhering to the terms & conditions and complying with our Foreign Exchange Regulations and International laws & publications (UCP 500). FORM â€Å"E†No person can export any goods from Pakistan unless he is duly registered as an exporter with Export Promotion Bureau under the registration â⠂¬Å"Importer & Exporter Order 1952†. Blank â€Å"E† Forms are issued to exporters, against written request, free of any charges. In order to export, the exporter will provide details on â€Å"E† form in respect of goods, quantity, invoice value of goods, terms of sale, destination and name & address of the importer. This â€Å"E† form is the main document to calculate value of goods exported and is used to control the export of any item from Pakistan.CASE STUDY: During October 2012, Government of Pakistan allowed export of 200,000 tons of sugar from Pakistan with a condition that one sugar mill can export maximum upto 10,000 tons of sugar. This maximum quantity of sugar (10,000 tons) exported by any single sugar mill to be controlled by the â€Å"E† Form submitted by the exporting sugar mill. In case of any effort of sugar mill to exceed export from 10,000 tons, SBP can very easily trace this from the record of â€Å"E† form available in its record. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the types of financing available to exporter. . FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS PURCHASED AGAINST L/Cs This type of financing is referred to as Foreign Bills Purchased (FBP). Only those documents are purchased which are negotiable and which conform to the terms of letters of credit. The documents are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and payment is received through bank’s foreign correspondents maintaining NOSTRO account in various currencies. Following documents are submitted by the exporter for negotiation: ? Original Letter of Credit (L/C) ? Documents of title to goods (Bill of lading, Airway bill, etc. ? Bill of Exchange (B/E) ? Commercial Invoice ? Certificate of Origin ? Packing List ? Insurance Policy ? Any other document as per terms of L/C FBP is practical example of â€Å"Factoring† in which bank purchases the receivable of the client/exporter after making payment and takes the responsibility of collection of the receivable at its own end. The exporter transfers all rights of ownership of the documents to the bank and authorization to claim reimbursement from the L/C opening bank. This transaction is to be handled with extreme care, vigilance and diligence.All the financial and commercial documents are scrutinized as per terms & conditions of L/C. Documents after careful scrutiny are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and claim of reimbursement is made as well. On realization of the bill, FBP is settled /adjusted. 2. FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS FOR COLLECTION Financing against foreign bills is made on export bills which are drawn under Letter of credit and are sent for payment under documentary collection. This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the buyer (bank) and seller (exporter).The documents are sold to the bank and sale proceeds will be credited in the account of seller (exporter). This type of export finance is termed as â€Å"Finance against Foreign Billsâ €  (FAFB). All other procedures of FAFB are similar to FBP except that under FAFB in the event of non-payment of the bill by L/C opening bank or importer, the exporter undertakes to repurchase the same documents at bank’s marked up price. FAFB is the practical example of â€Å"Lien on Receivables†. 3. FINANCE AGAINST PACKING CREDIT (FAPC)Packing Credit is a sort of pre-shipment or pre-export finance, extended to prime & valued customers (exporters) against valid letter of credit / firm contract order. The finance is provided to the exporter for the following: ? Purchase of goods ? Freight charges ? Clearing forwarding charges ? Export duty, etc. ? Packing requirements Finance against packing credit is granted for 180 days or upto the period the shipment of goods is affected whichever is earlier. Lien is marked on the Letter of Credit / Firm Contract in order to prevent negotiation of documents.