Acquiring and Using Funds to Maximize Value Essay

Review Questions 1. What is the key goal that guides the decisions of financial managers? What challenges do financial managers face when they try to find the best sources and uses of funds to meet this goal? The financial mangers goal is acquisition, financing, and management of assets. The challenges are investment, financing, and asset management decisions. 2. List the four basic types of financial ratios used to measure a company’s performance, give an example of each type of ratio and explain its significance. Liquidity, Solvency, Profitability, and Efficiency are the basic types of financial ratios. The liquidity ratio is the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. Profitability ratios indicate management’s ability to convert sales dollars into profits and cash flow. Solvency ratios indicate financial stability because they measure a company’s debt relative to its assets and equity. Two common efficiency ratios are inventory turnover and receivables turnover. Business manager needs to determine what the financial health of the firm, he would use liquidity ratio. A business needs to figure out how to pay off the debt to the bank, they would use solvency ratio. A company makes paper plates; they need to know how much profit they can make. They would use profitability ratio. For example, if the bank cost totaled $5,000,000 and its revenues totaled $10,000,000, then using the formula above, we can calculate that bank’s efficiency ratio is $5,000,000 / $10,000,000 = 50%. This means that it costs the bank $0.50 to generate $1 of revenue. This is an example of efficiency ratio. 3. What are the key questions financial planning must answer? What role does the budgeted income statement and budgeted balance sheet play in finding answers to these questions? What are your long term goals for the business? What are the most significant risks you are facing? How have you mitigated these risks? How do you expect your market to evolve over the years to come? Those are the four questions. They provide the answers to these questions. It is a plan to predict and show what can happen in time, it is a prediction for theses questions. 4. What is the purpose of a cash budget? How can this tool help firms with rapidly increasing sales? Cash budgets are often used to assess whether the entity has sufficient cash to fulfill regular operations. They can use it to figure out where money needs to go or where they need to gain money. It helps financial managers determine when the firm is likely to need additional funds to meet short term cash shortages, and when surpluses of cash will be available to pay off loans or to invest in other assets. 5. Name and describe 4 commonly used sources of short-term financing. Trade credit, advances from customers, commercial banks loans, and financial institutions are types of short-term financing. Trade credit is a loan in the form of goods. An advance from customers is the reputed business houses receive a part of the price or payment from the buyers before the supply of goods. The finance institutions can help the business by providing short term funds. 6. What is equity financing and what are its major sources? What advantages and disadvantages of are associated with equity financing? Equity financing is the sale of an ownership interest to raise funds for business purposes. Personal savings, life insurance policies, home equity loans, and venture capital are major sources of equity financing. The advantages are it doesn’t have to be repaid. They share the liabilities of company with the investors. The disadvantages are you have to share some of the ownership, and you have to also share your profits. 7. What is financial leverage? How, and under what conditions, can financial leverage benefit a company? How, and under what conditions, can it harm a  company? Financial leverage is the use of borrowed money to increase production volume, and sales and earnings. The use of financial leverage also has value when the assets that are purchased with the debt capital earn more than the cost of the debt that was used to finance them. If a company’s variable costs are higher than its fixed costs, the company is said to be using less operating leverage. 8. Is it possible for a firm to have too much money? Explain. What role does cash equivalents play in a financial manager’s strategy to manage cash balances? Yes because it means there can be problems in the future. They get taxed more and they don’t know what to invest the money in. They use it to show the company’s strengths and weakness. The can use it to make balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement. 9. Why is the $1,000 you receive today worth more than $1,000 you receive next year? What concept does this illustrate? Why is this concept particularly important when firms evaluate capital budgeting proposals? It is worth more this year rather than next year because if you receive it this year and you decide to invest in it you will gain interest on the thousand dollars you received this year. It illustrates the concept of interest. It is important for firms because it benefits them in terms of long term investment. 10. What is the net present value (NPV) of a long-term investment project? Describe how managers use NPVs when evaluating capital budget proposals. The NPV of an investment proposal is found by adding the present values of all of its estimated future cash flows and subtracting the initial cost of the investment from the sum. The managers use NVP’s when evaluating capital budgeting by most likely approving a positive NPV because this means the present value of the expected cash flows from the project is greater than the cost of the project. And a negative NPV means that the present value of  the expected future cash flows from the project is less than the cost of the investment. Application Questions 1. Your company has been struggling financially for quite some time now. You have a chance of making a profit this quarter, which is sure to bolster your stock’s sagging price. But it depends on your using a low cost waste disposal practice. The disposal practice is legal but you’ve also seen some studies indicating that it is likely to harm the environment. What would you decide to do and why? 2. Choose a company and obtain a copy of its most recent annual report. (In most cases, you can access annual reports simply by clicking on the link for investors, usually found on the company’s home page. You can also try the IRIN Annual Report Resource Center at www.irin.com, or Annual Reports.com at http://www.annualreports.com.) Using the financial statements, calculate three of the ratios described in this chapter. What conclusions can you draw from these ratios about the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses? 3. Your small company has $25,000 in surplus cash right now. You don’t want to commit these funds to any long-term investments because you know of some expenses coming up in about 8 months that will require the use of this cash. But you would like to find some safe, liquid interest-earning investments where you could park your cash until it is needed. You’ve decided that T-bills and money market mutual funds are your best options, but you want to find out more about both. Use the Internet to do some research about these cash equivalents, and then answer the questions below. How do you purchase T-bills? If you want to invest in T-bills, what is the minimum amount you can invest? Can you sell these bills before they mature? How do you receive the interest on T-bills? What is the interest rate earned on the most recent T-bills? How do you purchase money market mutual funds? How do these funds differ from money market accounts? What are the different types of money funds? Are  there any drawbacks to investing in these funds? Investigate two specific money market mutual funds. What interest rate does each currently offer is the minimum required investment for each? Based on your research, how much of the $25,000 would you invest in T-bills and how much in money market mutual funds? Why? 4. Suppose that soon after earning your bachelor’s degree you are accepted into an MBA program at a prestigious university. It is an intensive program that would require you to be a full-time student for about eighteen months. What are the major financial costs and benefits of enrolling in this program? (Hint: be sure to consider not just the out-of-pocket costs, but also any other financial sacrifices you might have to make if you became a full- time student.) Describe how you could evaluate whether enrolling in this program is a good financial decision. (Hint: Keep in mind that the benefits of your education will be in the form of higher cash flows over your entire career.) 5. Visit the sites of at LendingClub.com and Prosper.com to find out more about peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. How do these sites match small lenders and borrowers? How are the sites similar, and how do they differ? Do some additional research to find out what others are saying about the pros and cons of these sites. Would you be willing to participate in this type of arrangement as a borrower? Would you participate as a lender? Why or why not? Team Project Select 4 or 5 companies in the same basic market or industry, and print their most recent financial statements before class. Break the class into small groups, give each group the financial statements for one of the firms and have them work together to compute basic financial ratios for that firm. (The formulas for several common ratios are given in Exhibit 9.1. If you have a large class you can assign the same company to more than one group  and have the groups compute different ratios.) Then have each group report their results. Compare the ratios reported by each group. In cases where ratios differ significantly among the firms, discuss the implications of these differences. Case Connections Avoiding a Cash Crash Your company’s sales are strong and have been growing rapidly, and your recent income statements show that you’ve earned a solid profit each of the past three years. But despite this good news your firm has faced a series of cash flow problems in recent years. On several occasions you’ve had to scramble to find cash to pay your bills. You feel like you’ve been pushing your luck and you realize unless you make some changes in how you manage your cash and other current assets your problems are likely to continue. In fact, you’ve already identified three major concerns. You believe that once these concerns are addressed you will have gone a long way to reducing the possibility of a real cash crisis. Your first challenge is to find some way to get a better handle on how your cash flows are likely to vary over the year. In the past you’ve just made â€Å"seat of the pants† estimates about the amount of cash you’ll receive each month and the payments you’ll have to make. These estimates haven’t always been accurate, which is a key reason you’ve had to scramble for funds. You want to develop a more rigorous way to predict when you’ll have shortages of cash so that you’ll have more time to make adjustments or find additional sources of funds. A second problem you have concerns your credit customers. You know that offering credit to customers is a necessity; a â€Å"cash only† policy would likely cause many of your customers to take their business elsewhere. But during the recent recession many of your customers began paying late—and some didn’t pay at all. The slow payments clearly contributed to your cash flow problems. You wonder if there are some ways you could still offer credit while doing a better job of collecting payments in a timely fashion. Finally, even though cash is tight in some months, you know that there are other months when your business generates substantial cash surpluses. You’ve been reluctant to invest these surpluses in the past because, with all of the cash flow problems and uncertainties you’ve faced, you didn’t want to tie up funds. But now you are beginning to realize that such a policy has an â€Å"opportunity cost.† You wonder whether there are some safe, liquid assets where you could temporarily invest your excess cash. You Decide: How is it possible for a profitable and rapidly growing company like yours to experience cash flow problems? What can you do to improve its forecast of cash shortages and surpluses? How can your firm deal with its credit customers? What trade-offs are involved if you make changes in your credit policies? Is there any other way you could turn your credit sales into cash more rapidly? What is the â€Å"opportunity cost† of holding cash? What are some short-term investments that would be good choices when your firm has temporary surpluses of cash? Describe these investments and explain why they are good places to temporarily â€Å"park† your cash. Source: â€Å"What Are Cash Equivalents?† Wise Geek website: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-cash-equivalents.htm; â€Å"Cash and Cash Equivalents,† Wikinvest website: http://www.wikinvest.com/metric/Cash_And_Cash_Equivalents; â€Å"Cash Budget,† Investopedia website: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cashbudget.asp#axzz1VEzc8Z9U; Cash Budgets/Cash Budgeting,† Accounting for Management website: http://www.accountingformanagement.com/cash_budget.htm; â€Å"Credit Policy,† Entrepreneur.com website: http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82124.html; â€Å"How to Create a Smart Credit Policy,† Inc. magazine website: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090301/how-to-create-a-smart-credit-policy.html

Family conflict Essays

Family conflict Essays Family conflict Paper Family conflict Paper I never thought my younger brother Tom would get involved in drugs. He is only fourteen and he is mixing with the wrong crowd. My name is Phil and I have never done anything remotely like that I wouldnt dream of it I am seventeen and Id like to think Im mature enough to never do anything even half as stupid as drugs. Ive told him several times that hes wasting his life. The thing that really gets to me the most is that most weekends he staggers in drugged up to the eyeballs in the early hours of the morning. He says its depression and that I dont understand but one thing I do understand is a fourteen year old boy should not be on a drugs rehabilitation course and sleeping in gutters before hes even eligible to leave school. His friends are partly to blame. They see that hes an easy target and easily lead and they just use it, to provide them with entertainment and get him to do stupid things that they are to cowardly to do which to be honest is not what I call friends. My dad has got to the point where he is thinking of leaving the family. : Hes suggested sending Tom away to a military school but my mum thought it was preposterous and that idea was scrapped. It will be Monday tomorrow start of the week hopefully a fresh start for Tom, but we all doubt it. My parents are downstairs waiting and hoping that Tom will be back in time to go to bed. She is so distraught at the moment she says that if he isnt then hes going to be locked out of the house. She says this most nights but we all know that shes just saying this in hope that it will shake him up a bit and possibly make him listen for once. I woke in the morning I heard my parents shouting in the next room I heard my parents say that tom didnt come back last night this wouldnt be the first time this has happened. Last time this happened my dad was driving round all night searching for him. He found him sleeping outside the corner shop like a tramp. He didnt tell my mum this as it wouldve upset her to find out that her son would rather sleep on the streets than sleep under his own roof. My parents were still at it, it was getting louder and louder and I heard a door slam. I think that was my dad, this is usually the way they finish their arguments. I was starting to get a bit concerned about where Tom had got up to this time so I threw on my clothes and rushed in to the next room to ask my mum what exactly was going on here. I was horrified to find my mum huddled up in the corner of the room. I asked her where dad had gone to which she replied with hes gone and hes not coming back. I swung the door out of my way and ran towards the car in a desperate attempt to save my family although it probably wasnt worth saving. I smashed the door of the hinges and ran outside hoping that Id fall over and knock my head and wake up as this being a very bad dream but reality is never that nice. I was looking for Tom hoping that if I found him I could make him stop dragging his life down and ours down with it, I had a pretty good idea of where to look. I never thought this would happen but I was actually pleased to see my brother. I peered through a window and I saw him lying on someones sofa. I turned to face the door and before I had to knock a boy of roughly the same age as Tom answered he blurted out with what do you want I didnt even bother to answer him. I just pushed past him and rushed towards the room where tom was lying. I firmly grasped his collar and hoisted him into the air causing him no choice but to speak to me. He pleaded for me to put him down but I told him that what I was doing to him now wouldnt come close to what my mum is going to. I clutched on to his jacket to make sure he didnt run off and as soon as we got home I threw him inside and shut the door. He looked up and saw mum still huddled in the corner. He lowered his head as if to say Im sorry I didnt know it had come to this. I told mum to tell him what hed caused but she was too hurt. She couldnt even look him in the eye I told him straight that dad had left. It made me sick to say those words and what made it a whole lot worse was he actually didnt look bothered by it all. I said to him you may not be bothered but mum and I are. Mum screamed for him to get out and she also said that she hated him and didnt want to see him again. Tom was actually affected by what mum had said and it caused him to storm off upstairs I heard the slam of his door and to be honest I wasnt looking forward to the sound of it opening again. I staggered off upstairs and sat on my bed. I was in despair I rested my head in my lap and closed my eyes hoping it would all go away. I could still hear crying coming from downstairs I wanted to go and check if she was alright but I couldnt bring myself to prise my head from my lap and go downstairs. As far as I was concerned, my life was over.

The majority of the World’s population now lives in an urban area. Critically evaluate the impact of this change both globally but also for the countries of the South. The WritePass Journal

The majority of the World’s population now lives in an urban area. Critically evaluate the impact of this change both globally but also for the countries of the South. Introduction The majority of the World’s population now lives in an urban area. Critically evaluate the impact of this change both globally but also for the countries of the South. Introduction Urbanisation is inevitable change   The relationship between urban change and urban povertyUrban environmental concerns: a case study of Bangkok, ThailandConclusion   ReferencesRelated Introduction UN-Habitat Report ‘State of the World’s Cities 2008-2009’ pointed that, more than half of the world’s population are people who live in the cities. Over 90 percent of urban growth is occurring in the developing world. Asia will retain the majority of the world’s urban population, account for 63 percent by 2050. During the next two decades, the urban population of the world’s two poorest regions- South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa- is expected to double. A number of Asian countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, also have very high rates of urbanisation; by 2020, Indonesia is expected to have five mega cities: a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people, and by 2025, its level of urbanisation will reach 68 percent. This global phenomenon is the result from the process of urbanisation. The trend and pace of urbanisation is compounded with various factors and marked by regional disparities. The primary factor is natural population growth, whereas another factor is the combination of rural-urban migration, infrastructure development, and other powerful socio-economic and political processes, including globalisation which drives urbanisation across worldwide (Williams, 1983). Urban growth is the rate of growth of an urban population. It is different to urbanisation which is the process by which there is an increase in proportion of a population living in places classified as urban: the movement from a rural to urban area. Population growth and city size are underpinning urban growth; which is integrated and dynamic process bringing parts into a whole. The data from UN-Habitat can be implied that half of the world’s population will be settle in urban area, especially cities. This trend led to urban transition or urban change that much involve with the scale and rate of urban growth, global economy and development issue. This essay will define the characteristic of urbanisation; examine its changing trend in both positive and negative impacts that resulted from this change. It will also critically evaluate the important urban issue that should be addressed firstly on a case study of Bangkok, Thailand, then conclusion. Urbanisation is inevitable change     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. This term is defined by the United Nations as a movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration (United Nations, 2004). Urbanisation is inevitable for development and rural to urban migration can serve as a form of poverty alleviation, provided governments support and facilitate the initiatives of the migrants in both the place of origin and destination. Owing to improvement in transport and better communication, rural to urban migration is no longer a one-time move by and entire family to an unfamiliar destination. This improvement also facilitates contacts by migrants with their place of origin and circular and return migration. As countries develop, rural to urban linkages tend to become stronger (UN-HABITAT, 2003). Small cities and towns can play an important role in regional development and be tter population distribution, it governments support local initiatives by developing basic infrastructure and services. Rapid urbanising countries are spread across the world, and represent a wide range of social, economic and geographical contexts. It resulted in term of urban growth which is attributed to both population growths; refers to natural growth and rural and urban migration, and city growth; refers to infrastructure improvement and city size expansion (Henderson, 2002). Urbanisation contributes to sustained economic growth which is critical to poverty reduction. The economics of scale and agglomeration in cities attract investors and entrepreneurs which is good for overall economic growth. Cities also provide opportunities for many, particularly the poor who are attracted by greater job prospects, the availability of services, and an escape from constraining social and cultural traditions in rural areas. However, urban population growth does not always ensure urban economic growth. The urban poor are often rely on the informal sector for their survival and therefore undertake casual or uns killed labour, or even unregistered and illegal work (Amis, 2004). This weakens their rights and benefits, and constrains their capability to escape poverty. The relationship between urban change and urban poverty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of Asian countries have very high rates of urbanisation; 15.4 percent of total population lived in urban areas in 1950 and will have increased to 49.7 percent by 2025 (Asian Study Centre, 2010). The mega-urban regions of Manila and Jakarta have a number of population over 21 million each, while Bangkok has more than 10 million.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Population density can help ensure lower per capita costs for delivery of basic services and easy access to information. Citizens may find it easier to mobilise around shares problems and pool resources to find solutions (Overseas Development Institute, 2008). Urban centres provide economic advantages and job opportunities. Urbanised countries tend to have higher incomes, more stable economies and institutions and are better able to withstand external economic shocks and volatility. Unfortunately, the global economic downturn is seem to increase the number of jobless in the urban migrants who have involved in unskilled labour firm or unregistered and illegal work. There are also pressing environmental concerns associated with urbanisation, evidenced in most of the world’s energy is consumed by urban settlements. Moreover, they are also generates the bulk of the waste in urban areas. It can be said that urban refers to a context, not a specific area or sector; urban issues are multi-sectoral and require integrated approaches that address a wide range of human needs for people living in urban settlements. It has special relationship between urban growth and poverty in term of development (Asian Development Bank, 2004). Urban change has some particular features. Firstly, the scale of change is unprecedented. Secondly, the rate of change is rapid. Finally, the nature and direction of change is more dependent on the global economy; the capitalist context (Sassen, 2001; Yeung, 2000). It can be said that urban change is resulted by urbanisation; which is driven by globalisation. Many of these factors are obviously related. Urban change refers to a context, not a specific area or sector; urban issues are multi-sectural and require integrated approaches that address a wide range of human needs for people living in urban settlements. It can be cause of urban trend; which is linked to some particular aspects of development both socially and economically as following: Unemployment; a large number of workers in developing countries, including a high proportion within urban areas, operate within the informal sector, which often entails casual or unregulated labour that can be illegal or even dangerous (Amis, 2004). The global economic downturn is in creasing the number of jobless worldwide and the urban poor are likely to be affected (DFID, 2009). Social exclusion; urban poor face social exclusion on various levels. The marginalisation stemming from status as a slum dweller may be compounded by discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, and HIV status. The specific groups such as street children and HIV/Aids are particularly vulnerable (UNICEF, 2002). Climate change and the environment; poor people living in cities in developing countries often live inadequate areas such as flood-prone or water-logged areas and are vulnerable to losing their houses due to rising sea levels or natural disasters. Some live without access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation and faced the environmental pollution (IIED, 2009). These urban trends is challenge to urban development, it offers the chance for greater focus on the urban context. This challenge is heightened by the fact that adequate responses to urban change impacts are likely to depend on strong and committed local government and communities. Urban environmental concerns: a case study of Bangkok, Thailand   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The urbanisation process is an important force driving to urban growth in Southeast Asia region. It seems to have been accompanied by excessively high levels of concentration of the urban population in very large cities. Thailand is estimated to be about 43 percent urbanised by 2006, and will have 50 percent of the population living in urban areas by the year 2015 (NESDB, 1998). Bangkok is a megacity which has grown rapidly in its 200 years. As in many developing countries, economic development has been accompanied by severe environmental and social problems. Bangkok’s path of urbanisation has focus on economic development almost exclusively on Bangkok, which has grown as a primate city to more than 30 times the size of the next most substantial urban centre (BMA, 2009). Its growth related to uncontrolled urban growth both in term s of the spread of the city and of successive changes in land use within it. There has been little form al planning (Roachanakanan, 1999). Ongoing environmental degradation and increasing pollution detract from the quality of life of urban Thai people. Urban environmental concerns are also spreading well beyond Bangkok to the broader Bangkok region and other urban areas. There is also a lack of capacity and often initiative to undertake the needed analysis, mobilisation, and action to tackle these emerging problems. With the ongoing focus on economic development at the local level, this situation can be expected to worsen (Poungsomlee and Ross, 1992). Cities can be view as systems involving people’s interactions with one another and with the built environments they have created. The built environments interact with the natural ecological processes of their sites. Intervention in one part of a system inevitably affects other parts. This analysis will divide the impacts into two parts, firstly: the impact on nature; and lastly: the impact on city people. Due to the growing population, demands for water, food, housing, energy, clothing, and consume goods are increasing alarmingly. Rapid population growth not only lesson available calorie supply from food per person but also risks the present food production with pollution (Brookfield and Byron, 1993). The production of these needs water and creates more pollutants. Many Western companies produce their products in Bangkok because of more flexible environmental law and cheaper production costs. This puts extra pressure on the environment of Bangkok. Of critical importance are problems associated with waste water, air quality, and solid waste. Public health is increasingly threatened by declining environmental conditions, especially air pollution in urban centres, about 39 percent of Bangkok residents suffer from respiratory diseases, a rate that is seven times higher than in rural areas (NESDB, 2005). Only about 60 percent of urban solid waste is disposed of to a high standard, with even a smaller proportion being properly handled in the urban fringe areas (BMA, 2009). In the area of waste water, while vast slums have been spent on treatment plants in cities throughout the country, virtually none are operational. Linked to the underperformance of city planning is neglect of managing the built environment in most Thai municipalities, severely affecting quality of life and overall public health and safety. Public participation in decision making is an important urban trend in Bangkok. Due to urban environmental issue, there has not been strong tradition of public participation in the decision-making process at any level. However, with the advert of the new Constitution in 1997, there are explicit provisions for public input into the local decision-making process, especially in managing the local environment and resources. While there is now a strong constitutional and legal basis for civic participation, the reality is much weaker. On the positive side, through the recent â€Å"Small-Medium-Large† programme, community-level planning is being introduced for the first time as a means of better integrating grassroots input into the development process. However, coordination within the municipal development plans is not being encouraged as funding is going is going directly to villages, bypassing the local administrative planning process.    Conclusion      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The important force underpinning the changing pattern; described as population growth and city expansion, is driven by globalisation process. Rapid changes are spread across the world, and represent a wide range of social, economic and geographical contexts, especially the developing countries. Southeast Asia region is the significant model of urban growth, it has very high rate of urbanisation resulted in many megacities such as Manila and Jakarta which have a number of population over 21 million each whereas Bangkok has more than 10 million inhabitants. Overpopulation problem has been address to urban concern in some megacities, especially urban environmental issue in Bangkok. Ongoing environmental degradation and increasing pollution are directly affected to Bangkok residents. This put greater pressure on the environment of Bangkok. The critical problem brings about the relationship between people and city, and making them to be one system: intervention in one part of a system inevitably affects other parts. Linked to the underperformance of city planning is neglect of managing the built environment in most urban residents affected quality of life and overall public health and safety. The important trend due to urban environmental issue in Bangkok is increasing public participation in decision-making. With the adoption of the 1997 Constitution and the 1999 Decentralisation Act (amended in 2001) made possibly change to greater public participation. However, the question still ongoing due to increasing concern on good governance of local authority. References Amis, P. (2004) â€Å"Regulating the Informal Sector: Voice and bad Governance†, In Devas, N. (ed.), Urban Governance, Voice and Poverty in the Developing World. London: Earthscan. Asian Development Bank (2004) City Development Strategies to Reduce Poverty. Manila: Asian Development Bank. Asian Studies Centre. (2010) Urbanisation in Southeast Asian Countries. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Brookfield, H. and Byron, Y. (1993) South-East Asia’s Environmental Future: The Search for Sustainability. Tokyo: United Nations University Press. Department for International Development (2009) Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future. DFID 2009 White Paper. Henderson, V. (2002) â€Å"Urbaization in Developing Countries†. The World Bank Research Observer, 17 (1): 89-112 International Institute for Environment and Development (2009) Climate change and the urban poor: Risk and resilience in 15 of the world’s most vulnerable cities. London: IIED. Poungsomlee, A. and Ross, H. (1992) Impacts of Modernisation and Urbanisation in Bangkok: Preliminary Report. Bangkok: Mahidol University. Roachanakanan, T. (1999) Bangkok and the Second Bangkok International Airport: Politics of Planning and Development Management. PhD thesis, Australian National University. Overseas Development Institute (2008) Opportunity and exploitation in urban labour markets. Briefing Paper No.44. London: Overseas Development Institute. Sassen, S. (2001) â€Å"Cities in the global economy†, In Paddison, R. (ed.), Handbook of urban studies. London: Sage Publications. United Nations Children’s Fund. (2002) Poverty and exclusion among urban children. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. United Nations. (2004) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision. New York: United Nations. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. (2003) Promoting the Positive Rural-Urban Linkages Approach to Sustainable Development and Employment Creations: The Role of UN-HABITAT. Paper presentation on FIG Regional Conference, 2-5 December 2003, Morocco. Williams, L.S. (1983) â€Å"The Urbanization Process: Toward a Paradigm of Population Redistribution†. Urban Geography, 4 (2): 122-137 Yeung, Y. M. (2000) Globalization and networked societies: urban-regional change in Pacific Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. BMA Statistic Profile http://203.155.220.118/info/Stat_search/frameENG.asp accessed on 02/04/2011 National Economic and Social Development Board nesdb.go.th/Default.aspx?tabid=92 accessed on 02/04/2011

Work with the Solid Waste Management department to provide them with Assignment

Work with the Solid Waste Management department to provide them with an analysis of their trash collection practice - Assignment Example The City is likely to collect 163138.7 tons of solid waste in the next six months. The mean, 8.6, means that every trip carries about 8.6 tons of solid waste and that a total of 163,138.7 tons of solid waste was disposed in the six months. The value can then be used as an estimate for the next six months’ quantity of disposed waste. Cost of waste disposal can be derived from quantity of waste disposed and unit cost of disposal. Based on the number tons for each truck and landfill used for the six months, the City spent $3,895,594 in the first six months and this value is predicted for the next six months. The City will therefore spend a total of $7,791,188 on solid waste disposal. Analysis of the total cost of waste disposal suggests that the City spends about $ 205.323 per day, $ 3,895,594 in six months, and $ 649,265.7 per month on solid waste disposal. The City however disposes about 27,189.8 tons per month and this can be used to compute possible cost under WMI’s proposal. The proposal will therefore lead to a monthly expense of about $492,244.5, which is lower than the current monthly expenditure of $649,265.7. Based on the data, WMI’s proposal is recommended. Before making a decision, however, factors such as reliability and quality of service that WMI delivers should be considered. The City should ensure that WMI can match quality of the other service providers. The City should verify ability of WMI to collect waste at the expected times and whether the service provider has required resources and potentials to offer the service. Terms of the company’s service delivery, its future stability, and its adherence to environmental regulations are other factors that the City should consider before deciding to work with WMI (Johansson, Lunberg, and Ryberk, 2012). This is because the factors are important to utility among involved stakeholders such as

GLOBAL MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

GLOBAL MARKETING - Essay Example A good example of a firm practicing internalization as a result of globalization is KFC Limited (Kentucky fried Chicken) which has opened eateries in Europe, Asia and Africa yet its home country is USA. Key drivers of globalization have been linked to internalization with regards to marketing in that they might have positive and negative effects on marketing. Some of the key drivers of globalization are as presented by Daniel Traca in his article(International Trade) are, lower transport and communication costs, development of international institutions and political decisions towards deregulation and liberation of trade and FDI(Foreign Direct Investment) regulations. Lower transport and communication costs have especially propelled marketing standards by firms. This has led to healthier marketing competition and reduced monopoly by some major firms. It has also widened their market base and resulted into increased revenues. Customer services and goods delivery has also improved due to this. Daniel Traca outlines that the development of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and regional trade agreements between continental blocks and countries has greatly lead to internalization benefits by major firms. Though some regulations and rules that are governed by WTO have added towards marketing internalization, some are restrictive and are not favourable to all participants. Regional trade agreements have also lead to better products and services by firms in these regions. This is as a result of favourable marketing conditions such as reduced taxes, large market sizes and setting up of Export Processing Zones that foster growth of trade and marketing. Political decisions towards deregulation and liberation of trade and FDI regulations have resulted into better marketing standards. This has enabled firms to directly market themselves globally by getting involved in community programs

Comparison between KFC (uk) and Nando's chickenland Ltd huddersfield Essay

Comparison between KFC (uk) and Nando's chickenland Ltd huddersfield - Essay Example is the highest in the hierarchy and it is very important for a company to be consistent with its strategies so that it can have competitive advantage in the market. Competitive advantage in a company grows when the company is able to provide its clients with quality products and services at the appropriate time and place. Nandos chicken land has used information technology for them to grow at the intended time and send new products and services. The supply system in Nandos chicken land has used information technology in maintaining competitive advantage. A product has competitive value when it provides more value to the users than a competitive product or services. This value can be in symbolic terms of attributor or both. In the past century, Nandos chicken land has been using information technology for operational and management of the company. It is until recently that the company is using information technology to get significant competitive advantage (Khosrowpour, 2002, p. 15). For instance, it was the first to establish online order entry in restaurants and now they dominate the hotel delivering business. Nandos chicken land has set up ways to make reservations through a computer application, which has made it impossible for other companies to overcome them. The importance of products and services offered through the computer by Nando’s chicken land system does not lie on how the information technology is sophisticated or the reports it delivers. But, they are established by examining how they play in the company’s need for competitive advantage (Khosrowpour, 2002, p. 35). These are known as strategic information systems that help in shaping and supporting the competitive advantage of the restaurant. They are plans that help in gaining and maintaining the competitive advantage. KFC (UK) uses commercial advertisement in advertising their products. The commercial advertisement features a live band where the singer swallows fire. The company has a logo

Behavioural Approach Essay Example for Free

Behavioural Approach Essay The behavioural approach suggests that all behaviour is learnt. This includes abnormal behaviours. Behaviours can be learned through classical conditioning, operant conditioning or modelling. Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning, where learning results from the association of stimuli with reflex responses. Classical conditioning can be used to explain the development of many abnormal behaviours, including phobias, anxiety disorders and taste aversions. An example of how classical conditioning might result in a phobia is the case of Little Albert. In an experiment carried out by Watson and Rayner, a 11 month old boy called ‘little Albert’ was taught to fear a white rat through associating it with a loud noise, a symbol behind his head. Each time he played with the rat the symbol would be hit which caused him to cry. Eventually he would do so even without the noise due to the classical conditioning theory. This research however, would not receive approval from an ethics committee today because it would be seen as unethical. Making the baby cry deliberately and teaching him to fear the rat would be seen as wrong because it could cause distress and would go against ‘little Alberts’ human rights. The theory of operant conditioning was proposed by Skinner. Operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of actions. Actions which have a good outcome through positive reinforcement (reward) or negative reinforcement (removal of something bad) will be repeated. Actions which have a bad outcome (punishment) will not be repeated. Operant conditioning explains how abnormal behaviours might be maintained. This could be through positive reinforcement; behaviours which have a good outcome by bringing some sort of reward are said to be positively reinforced. On the other hand it could be down to negative reinforcement which is behaviours which have a good outcome by removing something unpleasant are said to be negatively reinforced. Finally, abnormal behaviours could also be learnt through modelling or social learning, which is learning through observation of an individual. What happens is simply an individual models the behaviour and the observer imitates the model. A strength of the behavioural approach is that it can be experimentally tested. The principles of learning have been and continue to be tested empirically in a laboratory. The focus on observable behaviour means it can be objectively measured. A further strength is that unlike the psychodynamic approach, it doesn’t require delving into the past, which is problematic because it could unearth traumatic experiences which can produce unreliable data. However, those who support the psychodynamic approach suggests the behavioural model only focuses on symptoms, not on the underlying causes of abnormal behaviour. Freudians claim it treats the symptoms while ignoring the root cause of the problem. Therefore it cannot work as the problem will just represent itself with different symptoms. Whereas, the biological approach cannot explain cultural differences in abnormality such as culture-bound syndromes, a strength of the behavioural approach is that it can account for this because It accounts for cultural differences because it recognises the importance of the environment in shaping behaviour. While behavioural treatments are often effective for certain disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias, they have not been found to be effective for many other disorders and have also often been criticised for being unethical because treatment is often painful and uncomfortable and is sometimes imposed on individuals without their consent. The behavioural approach is accused of being reductionist and simplistic. This is because it’s a simple approach with connections of stimulus. It neglects the influence of cognitions (The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought and experience). A further limitation is that much behaviourist research involves animal studies. While behaviourists argue that humans are fundamentally the same as non-human animals, others would argue that the greater complexity of the human mind makes it difficult to generalise findings from animal studies to humans. Overall the behaviourist approach shows all behaviour to be learnt through our experiences. It states that this learning can either be learnt through classical or operant condition and also the social learning theory. It can be experimentally tested and proven which makes the approach credible however it can be seen just to treat the symptoms of a abnormal behaviour rather than looking at the cause.