Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards Essay

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of Republic Act No. 6713, otherwise known as the â€Å"Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees†, approved Dn February 20, 1989, and which took effect on March 25, 1989, conformably to Section 17 thereof, the following Rules are hereby adopted in order to carry out the provisions of the said Code: Rule I Coverage Section 1. These Rules shall cover all officials and employees in the government, elective and appointive, permanent or temporary, whether in the career or non-career service, including military and police personnel, whether or not they receive compensation, regardless of amount. Over the past 35 years, the number of government employees grew at a faster rate than did the population. Philippine population grew 160% between 1960 to 1997 but total government personnel more than doubled in size from the 360,000 employed in 1960. Expressed in terms of ratio to the total population, the growth in the size of the Philippine government personnel lends some firm basis for the popular perception of a bloated bureaucracy. In 1970, the ratio of government personnel to the total population is 1:90. By 1990, the ratio stood at 1:52. The most telling indicator of the period of rapid expansion of the bureaucracy is reflected in the growth rate of government’s cash disbursements for personal services. Yearly incremental rates between 1980 to 1991 were in double figures, averaging 21% during the 11-year period, and grew as high as 35.8% in 1984-1985. In the immediately preceding years, the increase in government expenditures for personal services is accounted for by th e implementation of the second phase of the Salary Standardization Law which provided for yearly increase in basic salaries of government personnel over four years. This is because since  1992, growth in size has been arrested due to the combined effects of a number of right-sizing initiatives which include: the 5-year effectivity of RA 7041 or the Attrition Law; agency-specific streamlining programs; changes in budgetary allotments which funded only the filled positions; and to some extent, the exit of positions in the disposed or privatized units of government. In the last four years, increases in number of personnel have been attributed to the population-based personnel teachers and policemen and to the local government units, the last due to devolution by the national government of certain functions and activities. Outside of those classes of personnel, the increase in national employees (NGAs) and those employed by government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) has switched into a decelerating mode. The size, distribution, and general profile of government are given in statistical data derived from the yearly inventory of government personnel conducted by the Commission. The inventory is based on actual occupancy of positions at the end of each year. Rule II Interpretation Section 1. These Rules shall be interpreted in the light of the Declaration of Policy found in Section 2 of the Code: â€Å"It is the policy of the State to promote a high standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest.† Ethics is gaining prominence in the discourse about governance today. There is a perception that standards in public life are in decline. This raises questions about the costs of misconduct on the part of those who have been entrusted with guarding public interest and resources. These costs are losses in trust and confidence in public institutions and losses in precious resources which were meant to support the economic and social development of  nations and peoples. There is a move worldwide to restore a measure of trust and integrity in public institutions and officials, to safeguard democracy and promote better governance. It could be argued that the perception of a fall in public standards is linked to the shifting role of the state, which is undergoing tremendous reform. Globalization, technological advances, spreading democratization and fiscal crises are challenging states to deal with strong external forces, be smart in serving its citizenry, devolve power, and divest itself of obsolete activities. As a result, the public service, as an institution, is under pressure to transform itself to respond to these changes. As public servants are asked to take on new and sometimes conflicting roles, there is a need for a cost-effective structure and an encouraging culture to enforce standards and guide their behavior. Under a democracy such as in the Philippines, the people’s fundamental faith in the integrity of political institutions is what holds the system together even under the most difficult times. The present situation in the Philippines is a test of this principle. Whether or not the test is passed with success is a matter yet to be seen. However, at this stage, what could be gainfully learned from present experience is the knowledge that people’s trust seems to lie on the existence of ethics and accountability mechanisms and infrastructure. As shown and proven with quite a measure of success by many studies, ethics and accountability are keys not only to effective government but also to effective governance. The following discussions deal with some of the infrastructures and initiatives in the Philippines. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides the basis of ethical and accountable behavior in the public sector. Section 1 of Article XI states that: Public office i s a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. This provision requires every public official and employee to exhibit and live certain values while in government service. In addition, the State has been mandated by the Constitution to â€Å"maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and  effective measures against graft and corruption†. In 1989, the Philippine legislature passed Republic Act No. 6713, a law embodying the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. The Code spells out in fine detail the do’s and don’ts for government officials and employees in and out of the workplace. These do’s and don’ts are encapsulated in the eight norms of conduct to be observed by all government officials and employees. These norms or standard s are: †¢ Commitment to public interest †¢ Professionalism †¢ Justness and sincerity †¢ Political neutrality †¢ Responsiveness to the public †¢ Nationalism and patriotism †¢ Commitment to democracy †¢ Simple living The Code, likewise, introduced some reforms in the administrative systems like giving heads of agencies the responsibility of ensuring there is a value development program for their employees; continuing studies on work systems and procedures with the end in view of improving the delivery if public services; and, mandating the designation of a resident Ombudsman in every department, office and agency. Incentives and rewards system has also been put in place. Another comprehensive law passed to address and curb the commission of malfeasance in government is Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. In Section 1 of this law, it states that: It is the policy of the Philippine Government, in line with the principle that a public office is a public trust, to repress certain acts of public officer and private persons alike which constitute graft and corrupt practices which may lead thereto. This law specifies eleven (1 1) instances of corrupt practices in addition to acts or omissions already penalized by existing laws. The legal infrastructure that prescribes ethical conduct of; public servants is reinforced by political commitment. This political commitment, while difficult to benchmark, has been demonstrated by some policy pronouncements.  Quite significant are the ten-point action agenda of the present Administration and the Medium-Term Development Plan (2000 2004) or Angat Pinoy 2004 which embody the framework for the country’s socioeconomic development. The agenda and the MTDP place the implementation of a sustained training and orientation program on anti-graft and corrupt practices and laws, and on the Ethical Standards Act of Public Officials and Employees among the Administration’s priorities to reduce graft and corruption and exact high standards of ethics in government. Proceeding from this, departments and agencies of the executivebranch have set up and implemented various programs that aim to eliminate bureaucratic red tape. One-stop action centers are now being promoted and institutionalized in the agencies. The legal infrastructure and political commitment are supported and complemented by the existence of oversight institutions. The creation of the oversight institutions that deal with issues of ethics, accountability, graft and corruption are mandated by the Constitution. The common feature of these institutions is they enjoy a substantive degree of fiscal autonomy in the sense that they are not subject to the fiscal controls of the executive. The budget is directly released to these institutions and the heads are authorized to realign savings from their budget. They also have quasi-judicial powers in that they can adjudicate and decide cases and enforce their own decisions, including the imposition of sanctions which may include suspension from office or even dismissal from government service. In the Philippines, the three constitutionally mandated oversight institutions are the Civil Service Commis sion, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit. The Civil Service Commission is the central personnel agency of the government. Under Section 3, Article IX-B of the Constitution, the CSC is mandated to â€Å"establish career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service.† It is also tasked to â€Å"institutionalize a management climate conducive to public accountability.† CSC’s effort involves in enforcing ethics and accountability of line agencies basically involves three approaches. One approach is regulatory, the other, corrective, and the last one, developmental. The first approach addresses compliance of-agencies with policies and standards on HRD systems set by the CSC. For instance, CSC prescribes qualification standards for  each and every position in the Philippine government. Non-compliance with the QS by agencies in the processing of appointments of their staff results in the disapproval by the CSC of such ap pointments.But, apart from the substantive requirements for practically all kinds of personnel actions such as the publication requirement and the promotion and selection board processes. Non-compliance with the procedural requirements constitutes ground for corrective or even punitive action. The second approach deals with disciplinary actions against official or employee for infractions committed in relation to the performance of his/her official functions. The Administrative Code of 1987 or Executive Order No. 292 outlines the various acts that are subject to administrative disciplinary proceedings. However, administrative discipline is not a function within the exclusive jurisdiction of CSC. Agency heads as well as the Office of the Ombudsman also have the authority to proceed against erring government officials and employees. The third approach is developmental and will be discussed later in the succeeding paragraph. The Office of the Ombudsman acts as a prosecutor against those charged with the violation of RA 3019, RA 6713 and the law against ill-gotten wealth, among others. It is mandated to investigate and prosecute the criminal liability of public officials and employees involved in graft and corruption. The Commission on Audit is the fiscal watchdog of the government. COA is responsible for ensuring legal and proper disbursement of public funds and preventing irregular, unnecessary, or extravagant expenditures or usage of public funds. It also has quasi-judicial powers. All these oversight institutions enforce accountability ethic in government. There have been numerous initiatives in promoting ethics and accountability in the public sector. As shown in the earlier discussions, all the above mechanisms focus on exacting as well as developing ethics and accountability consciousness in government officials and employees. The other approach that will be given emphasis in the discussion are the various developmental initiatives, which are within the area of knowledge and competence of the CSC. Rule III Reforms on Public Administrative Systems Section 1. Every department, office and agency shall, as soon as practicable and in no case later than ninety (90) days from the effectivity of these rules, start conducting value development programs for its officials and employees in order to strengthen their commitment to public service and help promote the primacy of public interest over personal interest in the performance of their duties. Such programs and other parallel efforts on value development shall include, among other things, the following subjects: (a) Ethical and moral values; (b) Rights, duties and responsibilities of public servants (c) Nationalism and patriotism; (d) Justice and human rights; (e) Democracy in a free and just society; (f) Philippine history. Culture and tradition; and (g) Socio-economic conditions prevailing in the country, especially in the depressed areas, and the need for a code of Conduct and Ethical Standards. Continuing refresher courses and seminars and/or workshops to promote a high standard of ethics in public service shall be conducted. Section 2. Professional, scientific, technical trainings and education programs shall enhance to the highest degree, professionalism, excellence, intelligence and skills in the performance and discharge of duties and responsibilities of officials and employees. These programs shall be conducted in all offices of the government and may include subjects that are enumerated in the preceding section. Section 3. It is the responsibility of every head of department, office and agency to ensure that officials and employees attend the value development program and participate in parallel value development efforts. Section 4. Every department, office and agency shall conduct continuing studies and analyses of their work systems and procedures to improve delivery of public services. Towards this end, such studies and analyses shall: (1) identify systems and procedures that lead or contribute to negative bureaucratic behavior; (2) simplify rules and procedures to avoid red tape; and (3) devise or adopt systems and procedures that promote official and employee morale and satisfaction. Each department, office or agency shall develop a service guide or its functional equivalent which  shall be regularly updated and made available to the transacting public. A workflow chart showing procedures or flow of documents shall likewise be posted in conspicuous places in the department, office or agency for the information and guidance of all concerned. Upon request, the Department of Budget and Management shall assists departments, offices and agencies in the evaluation and adoption of work systems and procedures that will institutionalize a management climate conducive to public accountability. Section 5. Every department, office and agency shall consult the public they serve for the purpose of gathering feedback and suggestions on the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of services. They shall establish mechanisms to ensure the conduct of public consultations and hearings. Section 6. Every department, office and agency shall continuously conduct research and experimentation on measures and adopt innovative programs which will provide motivation to officials and employees in raising the level of observance of public service ethical standards. Section 7. Every department, office and agency shall, appoint or designate a resident Ombudsman, who shall act immediately on all request for public assistance referred to him by the Ombudsman and his Deputies. He shall be held accountable for the disposition of all requests for assistance. Section 8. Government officials shall make themselves available to their staff for consultations and dialogues. In any industry the success of an organization is extremely dependent on its human resources. Although there are many other factors that play a key role, a company must have effective employees in order to stay financially solvent and competitive. In order to maintain this valuable commodity, organizations must be aware of employee satisfaction and retention. Many companies make the mistake of assuming that employees are only seeking financial benefits for their jobs. This assumption overlooks the high importance many people place on the intrinsic benefits of their careers. It is not only a mistake for employee satisfaction and retention, but it also has negative business consequences. Organizations must have employees who are able to quickly adapt to an ever-changing world market. Companies need to invest in on-going employee development in order to both keep employees and be successful. Employee development programs clearly play a significant role in employee satisfaction, which helps lead to employee retention. The Gallup study shows a clear link between training and job satisfaction. When people receive relevant and valuable training, they are generally happier in their jobs. When that training is carried to the next level and becomes overall development, employees tend to feel even more valued by their employers. They are not only given the tool to do their jobs well, but they are also given opportunities to develop new skills and attain career goals. Companies that invest in their employees and clearly communicate the importance of employees will keep employees. Although there are other factors that are important to job satisfaction and many reasons that employees may leave companies, development programs can still make a positive difference. They can make people feel like they are contributing to the organization’s success, which gives them intrinsic motivation to go to work everyday and do a good job. Companies that offer employee development programs enjoy the luxury of higher employee satisfaction and lower turnovers than those that do not invest in such endeavors. Although it is an investment, it is worthwhile for the returns. Employee Development programs benefit individuals as well as companies. Companies that do not offer on-going learning will not be able to keep with those that do. They may see times of financial gain, but they will lose in the race for intellectual capital. A company can only move as fast as its employees, so the ones that train and develop people will move much more quickly. Many companies view training as a time consuming burden that takes away from the time for employees to complete their job tasks. This concern may be true for companies that offer training in a vacuum and do not support it. However, those companies that offer employee development that is engrained throughout the organizational culture know that the money they put into training will hardly compare to the benefits they get out of it. Employee development can be viewed in two distinct ways. Either its primary purpose is to benefit the company and it is a side bonus that individuals get something out of it, or its primary purpose is to benefit individuals and it is a side bonus that the company gains from it. Either way, everyone wins. The ideal approach is to have equal emphasis on benefit to the company  and benefit to the employees because they are ultimately mutually beneficial to each other.

Film and Persepolis

Persepolis is an animated film directed by MarJane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. The film was based on the novel Persepolis written by MarJane Satrapi. It followed the storyline of the book. It showed the life of MarJane Satrapi growing up during the Iranian Cultural Revolution. Persepolis was very vibrant to look at with stunning visuals in its black and white animated style. The whole film was an emotional roller coaster ride from MarJane being extremely happy and in love to her homeless on the streets of Vienna. It held your interest from start to finish.The film garnered critical cclaim from its critics and it was nominated for several prestigious awards. It also did well in the box office by recording a fifteen million dollar profit. I thought that the film was very good myself and it really gave viewers an interesting look at the revolution. I thought that Persepolis was a very good movie. It was a coming of age film about MarJane growing up during the Iranian Cultural Revolut ion. It showed her vibrant personality and how she grew up to become the successful author and film director she is today.The whole film is done in an animation style and I really think this elped the film a lot. It gave the film a sense of originality and it was a big change from the things we normally see in films nowadays. Without the film being in an animation form I think that a lot would have been taken away from it. A lot of Persepolis' glamor came from the fact that it was animated. The animation helped viewers become more emotionally attached to MarJane. With this being said I thought Persepolis had a very good mix of drama, comedy, somber moments and it kept you interested throughout.I don't have any criticisms about the film at all. There wasn't ne point in the movie where I was bored, confused or Just uninterested in anyway. It was honestly one of the best movies IVe recently seen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All of the movie reviews that I have seen online have been ver y good. From RottenTomatoes to New York Times movie reviews all of the reviews have been good. At RottenTomatoes the film had an extremely high percentage of critics that liked it at 97 percent. The New York Times called the film â€Å"a perfect expression of imagination† and Empire praised the film calling it â€Å"stark and beautiful†.I agree with most if not all of the movie reviews that IVe seen. The reviews all praised the movie for being able to have very smooth changes in mood and for its sharp visuals. Persepolis debuted at the 2007 Cannes film festival where it won multiple awards including the very prestigious Jury Prize. It then went on to achieve the most prestigious award at the London film festival by winning the Southerland trophy. In an interview with Moviefone a few days after Persepolis was released Satrapi explained why they decided to keep the film in the animated condition it was in in the novel.She explained that she didn't know how to type and sh e and Paronnaud ere more into art and drawing anyway. Satrapi stated in the interview that she and Paronnaud were not technical people (Satrapi 1). This is a reason that the film was in the format it was in. I think that keeping the comic book look helped the film a lot. It gave it a sense of originality and it allowed them to make funny over the top animations. The whole script was written in pencil by Parronaud and Satrapi because they didn't know now to use computers. I thought ith the whole vibe ot the movie.I thought that Persepolis was a very refreshing movie given the types of ovies that we see now. It had a little bit of everything. In the New York Times review of the film they agreed with my point that I made earlier about the animation greatly helping the movie. New York Times writer A. O Scott said that â€Å"if â€Å"Persepolis† had been a conventional memoir rather than a graphic novel, Ms. Satrapi's account of her youth in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran would not have been quite as moving or as marvelous† (Scott 1). I agree with this quote one hundred percent. As I stated earlier, the animation really helped Persepolis move along as a movie.I think that without the animation Persepolis would have been a boring movie and it wouldn't be relevant. This isn't to say that the storyline isn't good or well thought out I Just think that it wouldn't have been as successful or touching with real life actors portraying the roles. The review really seemed to praise the animation of Persepolis a lot. Scott claimed that the visuals of Vienna and Tehran turned the â€Å"geography into poetry' (Scott 1). He also praised the fact that Persepolis isn't an animated children's movie and that it's nice to see an animated movie being ble to have so much meaning.The rest of the review praised the movie for its moving characters and the great Jobs that Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve and Danielle Darrieux did voice acting for the main characters o f the film. He said that Sony did a great Job by getting the movie voice acted into English because had it just been subtitled to English it would of took away from the authenticity of the film. All in all A. O Scott's review of the film was highly positive. He had no criticisms about the film. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a very high review.His movie review was also very similar to my thoughts on the film. The visuals really helped the film according to Bradshaw Persepolis â€Å"funny and moving with a bracingly authentic feel, reproducing the graphic work with broad, bold strokes and a depth-of-field effect achieved with a recessive series of two-dimensional planes, like the ocean waves at the back of a panto set† (Bradshaw 1). I agreed with most of the comments that Bradshaw had for the movie. He thought that Persepolis was a fresh original story and it was told in a way that a story hasn't been told before.I thought it was nteresting that Bradshaws only cr iticism of the film was something that Scott had praised about the film earlier. Bradshaw didn't think that the English dubbed version was that good. He thought that Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve both struggled with the voice acting and you can hear there heavily accented English accents. All in all Peter Bradshaw really liked Persepolis and his only criticism was a very minor one. Helen O' Hara of Empire magazine gave the film four out of five stars. She seemed to enjoy the visuals but not as much as Bradshaw and Scott did.She praised the film ore for its storyline did she did that animation. O' Hara really enjoyed MarJane as a young girl by stating â€Å"Mar]ane-as-a-child is one of the most appealing characters in years, happy to embrace new ideas like the latest Igglepiggle and believing herself, briefly, to be a prophet appointed by God† (O' Hara 1). I thought that O' Hara's interview went the deepest into the actual storyline and characters of the movie rathe r than the visuals. She really liked the film for the roller coaster of emotions that it sent you on and as I stated earlier sne really enjoyed Mar]ane as a character.O Hara also gave the animation good words. She thought that it was a real change from the incredible animations that we see nowadays in movies like Shrek but Persepolis pulled it off flawlessly. O' Hara made this point by saying â€Å"The monochrome animation is stark and beautiful, and MarJane's an appealing narrator. Often hilarious, sometimes tragic, this may be low-tech, but it's high-class† (O' Hara 1). I think that this is the perfect way to sum up Persepolis in one sentence. CNN's Tom Charity also gave the film very high praise. He thought the visuals were mazing and he also enjoyed the characters and the storyline a lot.He thought that Persepolis should of won an Oscar that year and he really enjoyed the originality of the film. I think that Charity enjoyed every aspect of the film more than any other pe rson who reviewed the film. He loved the characters the animation and the storyline. As with all the other reviews the main aspect of the article was Persepolis's visual animations. Charity claimed that â€Å"†Persepolis† has some of the blithe, spindly finesse of a New Yorker cartoon, but a cartoon that at any given moment threatens to escend into inky expressionist gloom† (Charity 1).He really seemed to enjoy the throwback feel that Persepolis had and he thought that the film gave homage to Disney's earliest days. Charitys review gave me another viewpoint on Persepolis as a film. I never thought of the movie as a moving New Yorker cartoon or homage to some of Disney's earliest films. This made me appreciate the movie even more than I already did. When list. com writer James Mottram interviewed Satrapi we were able to get an insight into what Satrapi's meaning of the film was and how successful she thought he film would be in America.Satrapi stated she didn't lik e the film being called an autobiography because â€Å"An autobiography is a book that people write to solve the problems with those around them. They don't dare to say things to their family and friends, so they decide to write in revenge. That is not what I did. † (Mottram 1) I thought that the film was an autobiography as well but Satrapi made the film so I guess she knows best. Later in the interview Satrapi explains that she thought the film would be successful in the United States. She claimed that the average American erson wasn't â€Å"ignorant and dumb†.I think that MarJane's attitude and demeanor in her real life interviews really reflects her character in Persepolis. The interview mainly focused on the hard work that it took to make Persepolis. MarJane stated that she thought â€Å"all of her animators would do the work and she would end up rich and famous† but this wasn't the case. She said she was the first one there and the last one to leave every day but her hard work paid off. This was shown by her 15 million dollar profit. All in all I thought that Persepolis was a fantastic movie and the reviews I have ead have agreed with me.The visuals were stunning and the characters were very easy to connect with. It was the most interesting autobiography that I have ever seen and it taught me a lot about a topic that I didn't know anything about. I think that Persepolis was close to flawless as a movie can get. There were no serious complaints about it from anyone and I couldn't even find a bad review for it on the internet or anywhere else. Persepolis shows that thinking out of the box can really pay off if it's done right, and I think it really should motivate people to follow their visions.

Marketing Warfare in the Zimbabwean Mobile Sector Essay

Introduction The concept that marketing is warfare can be said to be largely true in respect of the Zimbabwean mobile sector where players have drawn lessons from established battlefield concepts of planning, maneuvering and outwitting fellow players in order to stay ahead of the pack. However the marketing is warfare concept does not adequately charectirise the competitive nature of the mobile industry as there are other factors to be taken into consideration such as customer needs. The mobile sector was introduced in Zimbabwe by Strive Masiyiwa through his Econet brand. A protracted battle with authority ensured before he was finally granted the licence to operate a mobile network. In the meantime, Net-one was granted a licence to operate and started offering Mobile phone services in 1996 followed by Net-one which was granted a licence in 1998 with Econet being the last to enter the market after its legal battle in July 1998. The mobile sector has since grown to incorporate other players who offer mobile services such as Africom, Broadacom and most recently Tel one who offer the (086) mobile line range. Going by the concept that marketing is warfare, the increase in players thus equates to an increase in the number of armies in the battlefield. This essay shall analyse how the players in the mobile sector industry have utilized well known battlefield strategies in order to control the giant share in the mobile industry. ‘Marketing is warfare’ defined Al Ries and Jack Trout have drawn a parallel between military warfare and the competitive strategies employed by competitors in the marketplace. Ries and Trout propose that there are four strategies that can be used in fighting a marketing war; defensive, offensive, flanking and guerrilla tactics. In any industry there is a market leader, market challenger, market follower and market niche. The market leader employs the defensive strategy in order to maintain its position as market leader and to expand its market share further. It has to continuously protect its market share from offensive attacks by its competitors. The market challenger is the one which follows behind the market leader and can employ offensive tactics to out rightly attack the market leader and its smaller competitors in order to increase its market share. It can also choose to accept its position as a market challenger and fight to maintain and defend their position as such. The market follower is much smaller and commands a smaller share of the market. It can chose to use the flank attacks which is an indirect approach rather than the offensive which can prove to be a more expensive and less effective method. The market follower recognizes the areas of the market not being covered by the market leader and challenger and focuses its attention on those areas in order to gain competitive advantage. Econet as the Market Leader Econet, commands about 58% of the mobile market in Zimbabwe with about 8million subscribers whilst Telecel has a market share of about 28% with subscribers amounting to 2.5 million.Net-One is last with a market share of around 15% and a subscriber base of 700 000. The above statistics clearly show that Econet is the market leader in the Zimbabwean mobile sector. However this has not always been the position as Net-one, the first to offer mobile services in Zimbabwe was at one time the market leader. This could be attributed to the fact that Net- one was the first to provide mobile services with Telecel and Econet entering the fray two years after net- One had already started providing services to the market. As such it was only normal that Net-One was the market leader at this stage. Due to the economic challenges experienced by the country especially the period before 2008, Net-One failed to maintain its position as market leader resulting in Econet taking over that position Amongst the tactics used by Econet to gain its position as market leader, is the offensive tactic. It quickly came in to increase its market share by increasing its subscriber base. This it did by upgrading their capacity to enable them to sign up as many new customers as possible. Econet took advantage of the fact that initially, mobile services were a scarce commodity and a preserve of the elite, to outwit its competitors by increasing its subscriber base and flooding the market with its mobile lines way before its competitors followed suit. Another factor which might have contributed to the rise of Econet to the position of market leader is the fact that, for it to get its licence to operate, Econet went through a protracted battle with the authorities even though they had come up with the idea to introduce mobile services in Zimbabwe. This protracted battle endeared the public to Econet as it was a general perception that Econet was being victmised. Consequently when it launched its own mobile services it had already won the loyalty of customers way before it started offering the service. Mobile defence. When it gained the position of market leader Econet then adopted the defensive strategy in order to maintain its position as such. It did this by a continued increase in its subscriber base whilst at the same time introducing new products so as to lure more customers. By continuously increasing its capacity in terms of the subscriber base, Econet ensured that it shut out its competitors, who due to a lack of resources were not able to match Econet’s continued rapid growth.by so doing Econet used the mobile defence strategy which entails more than just a leader maintaining a fotress position whilst assuming that its competitors will never catch up. In the mobile defence strategy however, the market leader, ‘concentrates upon market broadening and diversification.’ (Gilligan) Econet also went about the business of expanding its network coverage area. It did this hot in pursuit of Net-One which had gone on a network expansion drive, particularly in the rural areas an area which Econet had not yet penetrated. Econet went on a counter- offensive attack and expanded its network faster and wider than its competitors thus maintaining its position of market leader. This method was used by Cadillac when faced with stiff competition from Mercedes. It went on to produce a newer and better model than that which had been released by Mercedes. This is the method which was applied by Econet, because even though Net-One’s now covered the rural areas which previously had no access to mobile services, Econet’s network coverage was now bigger and even wider than any of its competitors. Since attaining its market leader position, Econet has worked on developing new products and services to maintain its present customers and to lure more customers. For instance, Econet introduced the Ecolife service to provide lie assurance services to its customers. This was a means of Econet diversifying from its main services and also worked to ensure that customers from other networks could migrate to Econet as their networks were not providing a similar service. On the other hand, Econet might have offered this product before doing their homework as regards their capacity to offer the product as they had to withdraw it following disputes with their partner. In order to maintain its market share whilst at the same time making meaningful inroads into hitherto unconquered territory, Econet was also the first one to introduce 3G services which enabled its customers to send and receive multimedia messages. The introduction of this service was long overdue as most of its customers already owned phones which could perform this task. The fact that it did so before any of its competitors did gave Econet a competitive advantage. In further diversifying, Econet ventured into internet services through its division Ecoweb. It further developed this concept by ensuring that it was the first to offer internet services on its mobile platform thus enabling users to access internet services on their mobile phones. Counter-offensive defensive When Net-One and Telecel introduced mobile banking through ‘One wallet’ and ‘Isikhwama’ respectively, Econet launched a counter- offensive defence by launching its own Ecocash. A counter-offensive attack is one in which the market leader responds to an attack by the market challenger. As they say that a bigger army has got an upper hand and is more likely to overpower the smaller armies, Econet could afford to embark on massive advertisement and roll out of their new product so as to outdo its competitors. Econet used all its resources and went into overdrive marketing Ecocash. This had the impact of overshadowing Telecel and Net-One’s own mobile banking services to the point that it is now as good as if they do not exist. Econet used the counter offensive defence in order to ensure that its competitors’ new products had a still birth. Using its enormous resources as the market leader, Econet went on to roll out its programme by recruiting agents all over the country, rural and urban areas alike which also serve as a marketing tool for them. By allowing its competitors to introduce their new products before coming in from behind after realizing that the product was viable, Econet also used a marketing strategy known as ‘constructive following’(Mercer1996). Econet took advantage of the gap in its competitors who, although they had a good idea, did not have as much resources as the market leader to roll out the programme as effectively as Econet did. In this particular instance it can be said that Econet went ahead to counter attack its competitors as it did not spare any resources in ensuring that the product gained attention. Furthermore it has set to flex its muscles by preventing Telecel and its partner Cabs, access to its customers through their ‘Textacash’ product. Position defence The position defence is a strategy used by a market leader to erect barrier around its company and ensure that its brand position is invincible. This can be done through massive advertisements and promotions to ingrain its position as the market leader. Econet has invested a lot of money in entrenching in the mind of the customer that theirs is the best brand to such an extent that even their competitors might also believe that this is a fact. Its vast profit margins ensure that it has the money to dominate the advertising sector and to promote its brand as the leading brand. The ‘Inspired to change your world’ catch phrase is used to imprint in the consumer’s mind that only their company can bring positive change to the consumer’s life and that the purpose of its very existence is to provide the best service to its customers through continued innovation. All throughout the country, Econet has put up billboards asserting its position as the market leader. This has the effect of making their presence felt not only by its competitors but society at large. The net effect of this is that its competitors will end up believing in Econet’s assertion that its position as market leader is unassailable thus preventing/ reducing attacks from competitors. Econet has also endeared itself to its customers through various social corporate responsibility activities such as Capernaum trust, Joshua Nkomo Scholarship fund and the National Health Trust. These activities enhance Econet’s competitive advantage as people begin to perceive it as a caring organization which is not just after their money. Telecel as the Market Challenger From the above statistics, it is can be deduced that Telecel is the market challenger. As a market challenger, Michael Porter suggests that a market challenger has three ways in which to offset the market leader’s advantage: i) By creating a competitive advantage in cost or differentiation. ii) By neutralizing the leader’s strong points. iii) By setting up a defence against counter- attack by the market leader. Telecel has been able to employ one or more of these tactics as the market challenger through various promotions and incentives to give it a competitive edge against the market leader. A market challenger also has to decide whom to challenge between the market leader and the market follower. Frontal attack The frontal attack is a military tactic in which the enemy is attacked head on. As a marketing tool, it involves the market challenger matching the market leader product for product and price for price (C. Gilligan 2010, pg 487). Telecel has kept itself on Econet’s heels by trying to keep abreast of all new products offered by Econet. Even though Econet was the first one to launch 3G services and mobile internet services, Telecel also quickly followed suit offering the same service to its customers and at similar cost. By so doing, it made sure that it did not lose a substantial number of customers to Econet seeking a better service. However a frontal attack is not always the best method as it very expensive and risky considering that the market challenger is dealing with a well resourced competitor. Not to be outdone by Econet, Telecel has also launched its own social corporate responsibility initiative through supporting old people’s homes which also can be seen as a frontal attack on its competitor. Flank attacks Telecel has taken advantage of those areas in which the market leader is weak in order to assert itself as a superior brand. This strategy is called the frontal attack and is less risky and less costly than the frontal attack. Telecel has identified those products that Econet does not provide and its weaknesses to fill the void left by Econet. A good example is the pre activated lines which are being offered by Telecel. Econet does not offer the same service, the result being that it takes longer for a customer’s new line to be activated than for a Telecel customer. This gives Telecel a competitive advantage over Econet. Telecel also provides airtime on credit up to a certain limit, another service which Econet does not provide. Through this product, Telecel customers can use airtime then pay for it later upon topping up their pre-paid lines. Upon purchasing a new mobile line, it is mandatory that one registers their details with their service provider before accessing service. Telecel has provided for this service to be provided via the phone without the need for filling in of forms. On the other hand Econet does not have a similar facility and one actually has to visit their offices to fill the forms with a considerable waiting period. Telecel was also the first one to provide call me back facility. This facility enables a customer without credit to send a message for another subscriber to call them back. Econet then launched a counter- offensive defense by immediately following suit. Nonetheless, Telecel still has the upper hand in terms of customer satisfaction as their subscribers are allowed to send call me backs across all networks. Econet on the other hand, only allows call me backs on its own network. This could give Telecel an advantage resulting in customer migration from Econet to Telecel, for those who require the service to be across the board. Telecel has consistently looked at ways to outwit their market leader by taking advantage of those service gaps left by Econet. Telecel took advantage of the social media platforms by being the first to encourage the market to like them on Facebook before Econet did. Econet has since taken a counter- offensive response by also signing up on the social network platform. Telecel also took the lead on teletunes a service whereby a caller can listen to a tune whilst waiting for their call to be connected. It also initiated a quiz facility where its customers would stand a chance to win prizes if they answered the questions correctly. All this enhanced Telecel’s brand as it would constantly seek to provide a differentiated service from that of its competitors. Telecel offered mobile banking services before Econet did. Econet immediately launched a massive counter-offensive as outlined above. This shows that it is a risky business to attack the market leader, as it has more than enough resources to counter the offensive and even surpasses the market challenger. Guerilla tactics These tactics entails hit and run moves which are designed to keep the competitor off balance. This can be in the form of temporary price reductions as Telecel did with the introduction of ‘mega juice’ airtime where their customers would get massive discounts within the network after topping up their airtime. This also worked to increase product as customers would buy more airtime knowing that they will receive bonuses. Telecel also reduced the price of their sim card starter packs as compared to those of their competitors. It can actually be argued that these two tactics alone helped Telecel to overtake its competitors from behind thus becoming the second largest mobile network in Zimbabwe. Guerilla warfare can also be by way of product comparisons. When Econet changed its platform from ‘091’ to ‘0772’ whilst Telecel was changing its own from ‘023’ to ‘072’, Telecel took advantage of this changeover to put its product in comparison with Econet. Previously Econet was associated with the elite, whilst on the other hand Telecel was associated with the less affluent. However with the changeover of the identifying numbers the difference was no longer notable. Telecel released advertisements encouraging people to ‘†¦.move over to Telecel since they were changing numbers anyway’. On its website in an apparent dig on the market leader Telecel says ‘We might not be the biggest but we are the best’ Telecel also underwent rebranding and increased advertisements and visibility. It also gives a statement that you do not have to be the biggest in order to be the best. Net-one as the market follower. Net-one having is the market follower in terms of the above statistics. It has the option of employing the following tactics: i) Product imitation or the me-too strategy ii) Guerilla tactics through price reduction iii) Use their Research and Development effectively Net- One moved from being the market leader to being the market follower due. This could be attributed to the economic meltdown between 2002 and 2009 and also the introduction of United States Dollar. Net- One lost a lot of revenue as it had established a niche market among the corporate and parastatals that preferred its contract line service. The introduction of the United States Dollar meant that all money owed under the Zimbabwe Dollar era was lost. Net-One has embarked on a number of warfare tactics in order to regain its market leader position. Initially, Net-one sought to regain its position as market leader through an aggressive network expansion drive. Net-One used the flanking attack by ensuring that they expanded to the rural areas whereas all its counterparts were concentrating on the urban areas. Thus Net-One took advantage of the gaps left by its competitors to gain competitive advantage. Econet however countered by expanding its network even wider than Net-One. Nevertheless, Net-One is still perceived to be the network that is easily accessible in the rural areas. Net-one has used the me-too strategy by also introducing airtime promotions and bonuses for topping up airtime. This it has done in imitation of the promotions done by Telecel under the ‘mega-juice’ promotion. It is reported that these promotions have resulted in it growing its subscriber by 500 000 subscribers. Net-One has also engaged in frontal attack in dealing with its competitors. In 2006 when Econet offered to sponsor the national Premier Soccer League (P.S.L), Net-One countered by offering to sponsor a team in the P.S.L. This would result in promotion conflict as Econet wanted players’ uniforms to all bear its brand whereas the Net-One sponsored team would also be required to wear the Net-One logo. In the end Econet pulled out of the sponsorship deal. Shortfalls of warfare marketing strategy. It has been argued that the warfare strategy’s shortfall is that it concentrates mainly on competitors moves whilst forgetting the customer. It has been proposed that there needs to be a strong focus upon the customer and that the organization must be customer-led. The marketing is warfare concept leads to too much aggression and sometimes a company can lose sight of its own objectives and or its own customers’ needs. This can have a negative impact on its performance as the company engages in unnecessary aggression. On the other hand, one cannot be purely customer –oriented as customers very often do not realize what they want and relying on customer opinions can be misguiding. Conclusion Marketing has been likened to a football match where one cannot just concentrate on the game without looking at his opponents’ because they will not win the game. From the above it can be said that indeed if the players in the mobile sector were to totally ignore their competitors they would not gain competitive advantage. However the mobile sector should also concentrate on their customers if they are to give their customers value. Overall it should be pointed out that the competition strategies highlighted above result in value addition for customers as players try to outdo each other. References †¢ http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com †¢ http://www.econet.co.zw †¢ http://www.netone.co.zw †¢ http://www.telecel.co.zw †¢ http://www.techzim.co.zw †¢ Gilligan C. et al [2009] Strategic Marketing Planning , 2nd Edition Butterworth-Heinmann United Kingdom. †¢ Hooley G. et al [2012] Marketing Strategy & Competitive Positioning 5th Edition Prentice Hall International, United Kingdom. †¢ Kotler P. et al†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¢ Mercer D. [1998] Marketing 2nd Edition Blackwell Publishers United Kingdom.

In the Late 1990s a Growing Number of Economists

Q. In the late 1990s a growing number of economists argued that world policymakers were focusing too much on fighting inflation. The economists also argued that the technical level of potential output had risen. Show their argument using the AS/AD model. Ans. During the 1970s and the 1980s inflation had risen to relatively higher levels as compared to the earlier decades. The tightening of the monetary policy was one of the action that lead to the fall inflation rate after remaining high for two continuous decades. But economists in the past have argued that there has been too much stress on fighting inflation during 1990s. The prime reasons for this argument is the fact that both fiscal and monetary side, i. e. both the instruments which managed the demand side of the economy where used for curbing inflation at a time when there was a technical boom in the economy in the form of enhancing productivity. This lead to the potential output of the economy to increase and therefore had a favourable impact on efforts to curb inflation. This enhancement of productivity (which was primarily due to decline in prices of computers) during the 1990s especially the later half is the chief factor that lead to the shift of the aggregate supply curve of the economy as shown in the figure. The Aggregate supply curve shifts from AS0 to AS1. This shift is because of the technical progress during the concerned period. The technical progress caused the economy to produce a higher level of produce from the same amount of inputs because of productivity enhancement which caused the prices in the economy to cool off automatically. This is visible in the graph where the aggregate price in the economy falls from P0 to P1. Therefore, the argument made by the economist during this period of unneeded stress being given on fighting inflation is valid from the macroeconomic point by looking at the aggregate demand and supply curve. The shift of the aggregate supply due to technical progress backs up the argument stating the fall in economy real prices in aggregate sense due shift of the supply curve.

Believing God

My parents thought me Christian values and Christian ethics and they sent me to a Catholic school during my childhood that's why I grew up believing that there is really a God. There are always obstacles in life that makes one another question if there is a God out there. I had personal experiences that there is God's presence. One question, why do we pray? To whom do we pray? I think this is the best way to see the presence of God. We pray because we believe in God. The Muslims, Buddhist, Christians, etc. may have different Gods but they believe that there is a God. God's presence for me is when I pray.Every night, before I go to bed, I always pray for the safety and health of my family and friends. When I wake up and knew everybody is okay, I also pray to thank Him for answering my prayer. Every morning, I already feel His presence inside me. Also, when I'm feeling sad and depressed, I always ask His guidance and help to resolve my problems. Blessed, He answered my prayers and most of my problems were resolved. I think we all have different types of relationship with God. Another example about the presence of God is about what my grandmother(who lived with us for 16yrs) told me when she was sick and diagnosed with stage 4 ancer.She told me that every night, every time she sleeps, she always dream of his husband, dead relatives, or sometimes an unknown man calling her. One time, she told me that she dreamed that she was in the sky and an unknown man is calling her to go with her. She told that He was God. Maybe she didn't go with Him many times because she knew that we are not yet ready to let her go with her Creator. For how many days have passed and we told her that we are ready to accept whatever happens, she Joined with her Creator. With her story, I really felt the presence of God and my faith in Him grew stronger. Another influence is from my parents.We celebrate a lot of Christian events. For example, the Holy Week. Our family do Visita Inglesia during Holy Weeks and we do the Stations of the Cross to know more about the story of God's son, Jesus. I think this influence also helped me to really believe in There are also times that I feel the absence of God. Every time I fail to achieve something, I always blame God. For example, recently I took the BSA Qualifying Exam. not pass the exam. I was so depressed during those times and thought to myself where is God during those times. After how many days, I still pray to him to help me ith my decisions in life and He answered my prayers.My parents and friends comforted me, help me decide and told me that it is not the only course in college that will make me a successful person. They said that I should work hard and pray hard to resolve my problems. These are the only things(failure) that I feel the absence of God but with these failures, good things happen right away. We can always see the presence of God everywhere. For example, we can see a lot of Holy objects everywhere – ros ary, pictures, etc. We can also see a lot of people going to Church to pray and ask petitions to Him. Also, why do people avoid to commit sin?Maybe because they believe in Heaven and Hell. They also know that they lose the presence of God when they commit a sin. As long as we try very, very hard not to commit sin, deliberate mortal sin, God is on our side and we are in His Presence. God continues to love us, no matter what, but He hates the sin. God is everything. For what I understand, God created all the things here on Earth. As a conclusion, to feel His presence, we should always pray for Him, have faith, avoid sins, follow the ten commandments, and we should love all the things He had created.

Southwest Washington Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Southwest Washington - Essay Example It is true; the dams are hydroelectric and are possessed and managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. These four major dams are of great importance in the area since they produce 3033 Megawatts power energy (Whitesell, 2004). More so, they provide navigation, recreation and aquatic conservation. Rivers include The Snake River which flows through the Snake River valley. It is the largest tributary of Columbia River which empties into the Pacific Ocean runs from known for salmon and other aquatic animals. This river is well known for salmon and other aquatic animals. The natives relied on fish, especially salmon, for food and source of income The southeastern Washington has fertile farmland where wheat is grown. The region also has strong, reliable winds suitable for wind energy. The wind power development has boosted the economic potential in the region; there is a tremendous increase in employment opportunities and other social, economic activities. However, the rate of crime has risen in the region. The effects of pollution are also felt in the ecosystem, that is to say there is a decrease in farm produce the number of salmon has also decreased. I agree that this region is a place to be because of its beautiful physical features and lucrative economic development. Energetic (2009, October 4). Lower Monumental Lock and Dam ~ Hydroelectric Energy.  Lower Monumental Lock and Dam ~ Hydroelectric Energy. Retrieved May 23, 2014,

Explain and illustrate, using graphs, the effect on economic Research Paper

Explain and illustrate, using graphs, the effect on economic efficiency of government prices control and taxes. include an example of a government price control - Research Paper Example Together these two concepts form the basis of economic efficiency. Economic efficiency is nothing but the presence of both production and allocative efficiency. Production efficiency is another name of cost efficiency. The term can be mathematically defined as following: The figures 1.a and 1.b above show the necessary conditions for productive efficiency. In Figure 1.a, productive efficiency is achieved where point MC curve has intersected the ATC (Average Total Cost) curve. At this point, the production of Q1 goods is going to cost the least and at this point productive efficiency will be obtained. The same is shown in Figure 1.b. The point where MC interests the ATC curve is the point where the firm is experiencing the minimum possible costs. Any production at this point is going to achieve the necessary conditions for productive efficiency. The allocative efficiency is always achieved at a point where the minimum amount of effort produces the maximum result. In other words, any change in resources are not going to increase the output because the currently employed resources are producing the maximum output. If there is room for increasing production by changing the resource allocation, then the point of allocative efficiency is not achieved. In figure 2, the point â€Å"C† is not allocative efficiency because resources are underemployed and output can be increased by employing more resource. However, Point â€Å"A† and â€Å"B† are both allocative efficient because resources are producing the maximum output. There is no room for the increase of the production at this point until there is technology advancement or increase in the population, both of which are long-term considerations. Economic efficiency can be looked at from another point of view. Economic efficiency can be described as something that maximizes the benefit of a transaction for both producers and consumers. The benefits for consumer and producers can be looked upon as consumer and

Orientalism. Franois Bernier and Kaempfers Manuscripts Essay

Orientalism. Franois Bernier and Kaempfers Manuscripts - Essay Example This was extensively practiced by the imperialistic European scholars and it paved the way for an entirely new discipline of study called "Orientalism". Orientalism is the study of near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples by Western scholars. It also refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West. When used in a neutrally descriptive sense, "Orientalism" describes a development in the history of ideas that was shaped by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But, the term when it is interpreted antagonistically, it implies trivializing, dismissive and prejudiced interpretations by Westerners of Eastern cultures and peoples. Thehistoryandcultural influence of these "Oriental books" can be felt consistently. Writers who explored various facets of the countries cultures revealed only those in consistency with their culture and despised the other facets of the target countries culture. The traveler's manuscripts were beneficial in a number of ways, for example the traveler's records have paved the way to improve the trade relations between the east and the west. Also we learn ancient secrets from their books. From their rich experience the travelers provide a huge amount of information which is useful at many times and confusing at times. Sometimes works by some intellectuals are merely baseless, thanks to their very little knowledge about other intimates and ethos of the country they describe and so they end up with some records which are just entirely misleading. Let us evaluate the various pros and cons of these travelers's account. Kaempfer's manuscripts: At Kaempfer's death his mostly unpublished manuscripts were purchased by Sir Hans Sloane, and conveyed to England. Among them was a History of Japan, translated from the manuscript into English by J.G. Scheuchzer and published at London, in 2 Vols. in 1727. In this manuscript he gives a good account about Japanese and their culture. In first hand, he describes the highways of Japan. Kaempfer has provided a map about ancient Japan paving way for various explorers in the later years. Kaempfer says "An incredible number of people daily use the highways of Japan's provinces, indeed, at certain times of the year they are as crowded as the streets of a populous European city." He also gives a good account of Japanese Shrines and 33 important temples. Further, he gives a good account about the Japanese warlords richness and their might. Besides Japanese history, this book contains a description of the political, social and physical state of the country in the 17th century. For upwards of a hundred years it remained the chief source of information for the general reader, and is still not wholly obsolete. But his description about the pilgrims as 'Beggars', clearly portrays author's ignorance about the Japanese tradition. Pilgrimages to Ise have been popular for centuries and seven visits was said to ensure salvation. Even in the secular Japan of today, Ise holds a place equivalent to Mecca or Jerusalem for many Japanese. It is their holy duty to walk to the shrine barefooted. They renounce their earthly wealth before starting on the pilgrim and depend on the alms for their living in their travel. Further, his categorizing of 'Beggars' as 'Kannons', silent, common and his description about the prostitutes clearly depicts his imperialistic goals. He tries his best to establish the superiority of the West over the East. In this contest he even criticizes the work of moderate Oriental writer like Francois Caron. Further, his ridiculous description

Brand Life Cycle and Brand Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Brand Life Cycle and Brand Knowledge - Essay Example These parameters can be applied in brand positioning as well but the thought process needs to be different. For example, product positioning may possess metrics like product look, product features, product variants, overall analogous products in the industry, supply chain, customer support, replacement guarantees, etc. These aspects require a lot of operational considerations to be embedded in the product strategic framework. Hence, product life cycle assessed & planned by virtue of the realities in the market that includes customer perceptions, changing end user tastes, supply chain weaknesses (like obsolescence of raw materials) & creative destruction by new innovation activities by the competition. But brand positioning requires lot of thought process about the in-depth cultural & emotional aspects of the customers in the process of introduction, elaboration & fortification of brands that builds an overall "expectation framework" of end customers from the organization as a whole ( Park and Jaworski et al. 1986. pp137-139). It requires lot of strategic thinking at much wider perspective without looking much into the operational aspects. For example, going for an ISO 9001 certification can have one of the benefits as improved branding given that the customers develop better trust in the organization's commitment to quality of products. When we talk about products here, it is not specific to a particular product but is pertaining to the organization's overall quality commitment to its products. The products may become obsolete but such impressions last much longer - may die only if the next branding effort has not been made amidst changing market dynamics. For example, if the quality expectations of the consumers are modified to the latest version of ISO 9001 (ISO 9001:2008), the companies certified with the older versions may face brand obsolescence unless they tangibly demonstrate innovations in their internal quality control as per the new standard. Consumers may immediately realise this differentiating factor once one of the companies starts marketing their compliance with the latest version of the standard. Brand Knowledge and its impact on Retro Products and Brand Life Cycle Keller (2003. pp596) presented the key dimensions of brand knowledge as awareness, brand attributes, benefits, images (visualizations), thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and experiences. These dimensions form an important part of consumer memory that impact their buying behaviour. However, a closer look reveals that all these dimensions are volatile and possesses definitive risk of coming out of the consumer memory if the organization does not practice effective "memory refresh" or "brand reminder" techniques. Banbury & Mitchell (1995. pp178) and Hendricks & Singhal (1997. pp44) emphasized that incremental innovations and regular new product introductions impacts the business performance of organizations positively. These can result in complete refreshing of brand knowledge in the consumer's mind due to their door knocked by the innovative companies periodically to present new innovations & product releases.

RU486 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RU486 - Essay Example The mechanism of action of RU486 is that it sensitizes the myometrium to prostaglandin-induced contractions and then softens and later dilates the cervix; the Gemeprost would then stimulate the uterus to contract and expel the fetus (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). The drug is to be taken with precaution among asthmatics and among those with blood disorders or those taking anticoagulant medications (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). This drug cannot be taken by smokers aged 35 years and above. Moreover, Aspirin and NSAIDS should be avoided while taking RU486 as it can increase bleeding (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). It is contraindicated in uncontrolled severe asthma, suspected ectopic pregnancy, chronic adrenal failure, and porphyria (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). Its side effects include nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, and possibly severe vaginal bleeding (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). In case the abortion is not successful, it is advised that other means of abortion be applied in order to complete the abortive process (Medic8 â€Å"Health Guide†). Some of the issues with this drug are related to the fact that no actual testing has been performed on the drug before it has been released into the market. Apparently, the only testing which has been conducted on the product before 1988 was a test to determine dosage. Such tests did not resolve or address the drug safety in actual usage (MacDonald â€Å"RU486). Large scale testing of the drug has been conducted in France and in England and the reports reveal alarming results for women. Severe and violent side-effects on women have been seen after administration of this drug. These side-effects included nausea, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding and the bleeding has been known to last up to 35 or 40 days with an average duration of 8 to 10 days; some women actually required blood transfusions after profuse bleeding following administration of this drug (MacDonald â€Å"RU 486†). Those who oppose the use of

It isnt worth the trouble evaluating training; Go ahead and assign me Assignment

It isnt worth the trouble evaluating training; Go ahead and assign me to a control group - Assignment Example They are not enthusiastic about their job. This lack of motivation is demonstrated through negative reaction after the training. The employees show pessimism. This indicates unsettled issues. Some employees attend the training but fail to learn for the simple reason that they did not understand the skills, principals and the facts the trainer wanted them to, (DeSimone & Werner 2008). The behavior of the employees reveals that they never had any intention to change in the first place, (McLean & 2010). All this culminates to poor results even after heavy investments in training programs. This happens when organizations ignore vital aspects about the employees’ welfare. Most of these aspects cannot be addressed in training sessions. In some organizations, the leadership receives an extremely high salary while the ordinary workers receive extremely small salaries, (McLean & 2010). This difference causes an immense deal of the inequality, which kills motivation among workers. My or ganization evaluates training through a results oriented model. Improved results reveal that training was well received and understood. This includes improved turnovers and timely achievements of the targets, (DeSimone & Werner 2008). The use of structured control and experimental groups is a model for evaluating the impact of training, (McLean & 2010). It is in order to train some workers and leave others without training. The group that receives training is referred to as the experimental group while the group that goes without training is called a control group, (DeSimone & Werner 2008). The composition of these groups is quite random and, therefore similar. Then the relevant indicators of success are taken from both groups before and after the training, (McLean & 2010). If the experimental group performs better them the training was successful. The assumption here is that if the training is considered successful, the organizations can in future a

Genetic problems , down syndrome, hurlintong disease, diabetes, and Research Paper

Genetic problems , down syndrome, hurlintong disease, diabetes, and turner syndrome - Research Paper Example Sometimes errors can occur in the transmission of genetic material from parents to offspring or in the structure of the genetic material causing serious disorders in human beings. Structural chromosomal abnormalities arise when different enzymes are not able to repair several breaks in the pattern of chromosomes or even if they are able to do so these repairs are not specific enough to avoid the abnormality. These can be caused by chemicals, radiations, viruses, or any other type of abnormal event. These structural abnormalities are classified into four main classes respectively. These are Deletions, Translocations, Inversions and Ring Chromosome (Langman & Sadler 2006; Robbins et al 2005). Other names of deletion are gene deletion and deficiency mutation. Deletion is that type of genetic abnormality in which a sequence of DNA is absent in the chromosome or a part of chromosome is absent. It results in the loss of the genetic material from the chromosome. Translocation is also genetic aberration which occurs due to the rearrangement of the different parts of chromosome with nonhomologous chromosomes. Translocations are of two types that are reciprocal translocations and Robertsonian translocations. Reciprocal translocation is the translocation of genetic material between nonhomologous chromosome. These type of chromosomal translocations are harmless. When the two acrocentric chromosome fuse near the centromere resulting in loss of the short arm, this type of translocation is called Robertsonian translocation. In Robertsonian translocation the resulting karyotype in humans is 45 chromosomes. Inversion is that type of chromosomal abnormality in which a part of chromosome is split and introduced back to the same chromosome. Inversion is basically the aberration in a single chromosome itself and is not associated to other homologous or nonhomologous chromosome. Inversions are of two types paracentric and pericentric.

Managing and training a global workforce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing and training a global workforce - Essay Example Due to the importance of training companies have to device ways to become more effective at training a global workforce. The managing of employees internationally requires the use of sound management techniques. The business structure of a company affects the way employees are managed. Centralized and decentralized management systems function very differently. In a centralized management system all decisions are made at the top level, while in a decentralized system employees are also involved in the decision making (Blurit). Getting employees involved is a great way to instill confidence in the workers and to establish good labor relations. There are different factors that affect a company’s abilities to manage a global workforce. Four of those factors are cultural differences, language, currency differences, and regulatory variations (Gordon). The cultural differences among workforces affect a company’s ability to manage its workforce. Japanese culture is very male or iented. It would not be a good strategy for an American company to put an American woman in charge of a Japanese factory. In the United States women have equal employment opportunity, but there still exist a glass ceiling for women to get into managerial positions. During the next five years there will be more women at the top managerial positions of companies. ... Regulatory variations affect the way a company manages a global staff. The normal work week in France is 35 hours, while in the United States the normal work week is 40 hours (Itodt). The training of employees in global settings is extremely important. Due to the distance barriers companies that have headquarters in the United States or Europe have to adapt their strategies to train its staff located across the 200 countries in the world. A technique that can help multinational corporations implement training sessions faster and in a more efficient manner is the use of online training tools. An online training can be created customized to the needs of the global staff. Language barriers can be eliminated by creating the training in the native language of the population. One of the advantages of online training is the flexibility of implementation. Companies can choose to give the online lessons during working hours or to allow the employees to take the training sessions on their own time. Employees can assess the company’s intranet online to take the training. In order to be fair and to motivate employees to take the training session seriously companies can pay financial incentives upon successful completion of an online training taken at home. Due to issues associated with cultural factors another option companies can utilize to train its global workforce is to hire domestic consulting companies from the foreign location. For example a US company would hire a HR consulting specialist in China to train the employees from its Chinese operation. The use of this strategy can achieve better results because these firms have special insight into the cultural factors that motivate the employees from

Furniture piece (I WILL DO IT)in the Aesthetic movement, U.S Assignment

Furniture piece (I WILL DO IT)in the Aesthetic movement, U.S. (1890-1915) - Assignment Example birth of various skillful craftspeople who have flourished because of the artistic outlet they achieved through hand making of the most durable and beautiful goods ever. Based on this, there has emerged a group of extremely talented artisans termed as Roycroft Renaissance Artisans, who have continuously carried on with the tradition of producing high quality goods. It is a modern day edition of Arts & Crafts movement, and serves towards preservation and protection of the quality and vision of the American Arts & Crafts (Koon, 2004).   The Roycroft designs have indeed brought in a lot of significance towards the growth and establishment of America’s aesthetic value and designs. This is because in America at large, the aesthetic Movement has come up to be the first paradigm of the ultimate phenomenon that can now be termed as a ‘Lifestyle’. This is due to the fact that Aesthetic ideal not only applied to the aspects of painting, portraiture, and sculpture, but also to the entire furniture designs courtesy of Roycroft furniture models (Koon, 2004).   In fact, it appears that Roycroft designs has borrowed much from the aesthetic in coming out with completely new models that appear exciting to most customers. The aesthetic ideal is thus one of its kinds in the organization. It generally gave a proposal that being artistic was a significant touchstone of enlightened

Human resource Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Human resource - Assignment Example Etihad Airlines is one of those airlines, which have been spending heavily and generously on the training and development of their employees, something that creates short term and long-term benefits for the company by improving the performance and productivity of its employees (Werner et al., 2011, p. 30). This paper is an attempt to explore and analyse the training and development activities taking place at Etihad Airways and the degree to which they have a correlation with the overall learning and performance. Discussion Similar to the training and orientation programs of many of the MNCs, Etihad Airways has a comprehensive rotational program for its new trainees who spent almost 18 months in nine different departments of Etihad, in an attempt to explore their real talent and capacity and also to learn as much as possible from the veterans of different departments (Saks & Haccoun, 2011, p. 74). With the vision of creating leaders for tomorrow, in the spring of 2012, Etihad Airways signed an agreement with the International Air Transport Association’s Training and Institute development to train its employees according to the international standards. More importantly, with the collaboration of Harvard University, many of the senior and middle level managers of Etihad Airways would be receiving training to brush up their leadership and management skills (International Air Transport Association, 2012). In an effort to make its training initiatives more comprehensive, in the fall of the year 2009, Etihad Airways signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Applied Technology in Dubai. This MoU would mean that, in the coming years, IAT and Etihad would work together to satisfy the on the job training needs of its professionals and more importantly, it would be responsible to teach, groom and nurture young students and professionals according to the strategic needs of Etihad. This initiative does not only open employment opportunities for Emirat i students but as well as graduates from other parts of the world. These graduates would have received education of such calibre and level that they would possess valuable skills, which would allow them to exert strong bargaining power in the entire aviation industry. Nevertheless, the contracts that they would have signed with Etihad would allow the organisation to keep them employed during the start of their careers (Etihad Airways, 2009). There are strong theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that the efforts of Etihad’s management towards ensuring the training and development of their employees are actually converting into higher performance and employee satisfaction. Experts agree that human resource management is not only about hiring the best people and giving them the best possible benefits and perks but it also about giving them the tools, techniques, knowledge and information to do the job according to the expectations and demands of the organisation. This is where training and development of employees plays a crucial role (Mathis & Jackson, 2008, p. 35; Laird et al., 2003, p. 10). When the employees of Etihad go through the various training programs, they are not only learning how to do their jobs but more importantly, they are learning how to do their jobs in Etihad’s way. This training allows them to learn the organisational culture and truly become a part of Etihad

Effectice Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effectice Performance Management - Essay Example Swann Communications is a global leader in home and business CCTV security industry. The company employs about 65 professionals who do their best to meet organizational objectives and industry requirements. Performance standards applied by Swann Communications help the management to support general activity of organization and its performance: technical support, high morale of employees, conditions of work, etc. The company's performance is based on certain standards which can be described as an expression of planning goals. These standards are based on social corporate responsibility and corporate ethics employed by Swann Communications. Some goals cannot easily be expressed in quantitative form, e.g. morale of a group, and are measured only in a qualitative manner. Group members in Swann Communications have one goal in common, such as to produce and market high quality CCTV surveillance solutions. Communication is essential within each project and members of the group which help to achieve the group task. Expected behavior patterns are developed within each group and these are referred to as norms of Swann Communications. All project teams follow certain stipulated standards of work and behavior which help them to avoid conflict situation and increase work efficiency. The role of managers in Swann Communications is to channel employees into constructive activities that are in the interests of the company. One answer has been to obtain more employee participation in decisions that affect their interests so that group members will not be so much against management. The most important is that performance indicators are used at all organizational levels, from the technical/managerial and institutional level. Swann Communications plays special attention to relationship between all levels and the accreditation process. The quality and nature of the decisions made are influence by the nature of the structure. Based on horizontal structure, Swann Communications is able to develop activities which are competitive with, or directly complementary to, a company's present activities. Swann Communications interprets organization as socio-technical system which concerned with the interactions between the psychological and social factors, as well as structural and technical requirements. The Ways in which Performance is Reviewed Goal theory is used to measure motivation of employees. This is a useful tool which helps to measure behavior at different organizational levels. The systems approach to organization and management also give recognition to the importance of groups in influencing behavior at work. In Swann Communications job evaluation is concerned with intrinsic value. Control is used to measuring performance against standards. Standards and controls are set according to the job performed. Deviations observed by HR department are reported immediately to the management team. In some cases, such information is usually supplied too late to be of immediate use, and can be used only for future planning. Monitoring is used to gather information and certain deviations in order to respond effectively to group changes. Swann Communications management team stipulates and set clear goal and responsibility for work done is well defined. In this situation, monitoring becomes more effective and it is

Human resource management simulation game of Green leafs hotels Essay

Human resource management simulation game of Green leafs hotels - Essay Example Absenteeism was also not more than the national average of 498 but equal to it. For the second quarter, the cost of hiring and layoffs dropped to $185,000. This comprised a sum of 60 new hiring, 5 new promotion additions and 5 promotion losses. This move helped in recording no overage or shortages. Different rates of wages increases were carried out across various levels given as $20, $15, $10, $7, and $5. This was in relation to a total training cost of $33,800. Indeed, the department did not pay as much attention to issues of training as it did in the previous quarter. The reason was that there were not as many new vacancies that needed to be filled. But the absence of training slightly increased accident rates and absenteeism (Chen and So, 2002). The total cost of hiring and layoff for the third quarter came up to $158,000. This entailed 59 new hiring, nine new promotions nine promotion losses. Consequently, there was no vacancy, anytime there was a loss of promotion position. Except for level 5, there was planned wage increase across all levels with levels 4, 3, 2 and 1 recording increases of $60, $55, $50 and $45. This was in relation to overall training cost of $33,800 just as in the second quarter. This means that we learnt from our mistakes in the second quarter were wages increases were not used as a means of morale boaster to ensure that there was sufficient wage increases this time round. The motivation helped in improving punctuality but because cost of training was not increased, minor accidents were still recorded (Hissam and Daniel, 1999). The fourth quarter saw one of the least total costs of hiring and layoffs, which came up of $100,000. Much of these went into promotions as compared to hiring as there were 50 new hiring; less than previous quarters but 19 promotions; far more than had been for any previous quarter. This quarter saw the highest increase in

Constitutional protections in criminal investigations Essay

Constitutional protections in criminal investigations - Essay Example However, in Minnesota v Murphy, an individual who was required to disclose the facts of an unrelated crime to his probation officer, was convicted on the basis of this information (Lupia, 1984, p. 673). With this ruling, the state was permitted to procure involuntary confessions that exploited the suspects’ ignorance regarding their constitutional rights. With the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v Arizona, procedural safeguards were firmly established. These protections related to the right against self – incrimination (Grewell, 2005, p. 727). In addition, these rights ensured that the police did not resort to torture and other coercive measures during interrogation. Moreover, the reliability of the evidence obtained from the testimony of the witness was ensured (Grewell, 2005, p. 728). As such, the Fifth Amendment is crucial for the accused. The principal features of this amendment that provide protection are; the right against coerced self – incrimin ation, right to a grand jury, right to protection against double jeopardy, and the right to due process (Miller, Cross, & Jentz, 2008, p. 614). Moreover, this amendment precludes the government from coercing a suspect to provide a self – incriminatory testimony (Lupia, 1984, p. 674). ... In addition, the decision in Miranda v Arizona, provides the right to an attorney to felony suspects. However, grand jury witnesses, who fail to enter immunity deals before giving evidence, usually are unaware of whether they are suspects, till such time as the hearings are not concluded. During the hearing such witnesses could be compelled to answer, in the absence of a lawyer. Failure to do so would lead to imprisonment. Such witnesses are also in danger of perjury traps, if they change the facts under oath (Welch, 2005). Under the provisions of the Fourth Amendment, no individual’s person or home can be examined and property impounded, in the absence of a proper warrant or if there is no such warrant, without some special necessity. The warrant should be on the basis of probable cause that evidence of a crime that had been committed could be procured from that place (United States Federal Laws Regarding Privacy and Personal Data and Applications to Biometrics, 2006). Conseq uently, the Fourth Amendment sanctions seizures and searches, under narrow and explicit circumstances. In order to prevent double punishments and duplicative trials, the Double Jeopardy Clause was introduced in US law. The protection offered by this clause was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Abney v United States (Cases, 2008, p. 2007). This decision was diametrically opposed to the decision in United States v Calabrese, wherein the majority permitted the trial to continue, without finalizing the double jeopardy claim (Cases, 2008, p. 2008). Moreover, the Sixth Amendment directs that the accused in every criminal prosecution shall be entitled to a public and speedy trial. Such trial is to be by an impartial jury of the state and district where the crime had been committed. In

Masculinity and the Mythology of Cinematic heros Essay Example for Free

Masculinity and the Mythology of Cinematic heros Essay Gender roles have been a part of the social norm of society since the early existence of civilizations. These roles strictly incline to the two collective divisions of society known as males and females, thus, such gender roles are dubbed as masculinity and femininity. Masculinity is a term which refers to the characteristics attributed to the male populace of society, while femininity signifies qualities reflective to females (Devor, 58). Generally, masculinity is applied with the integration of dominance and pride, in this sense, masculinity for the longest time has been commonly associated with agression and superiority in various aspects of human capability (Devor, 58). In an aesthetic context, motion pictures particularly often incorporate the stereotypical domineering qualities of males in the element of character. Regardless if a role be a police officer, a cowboy, a superhero or an average individual, masculinity is always expressed in male Hollywood film characters, from Superman to Rambo to Terminator, the fundamentals of toughness, dominance and power are always the viewers heroes. Furthermore, machismo, in fact, seems to be the only reasonable and vital characteristic distinct to characters of major motion pictures. Contemporary filmmakers, conversely resshaped the cinematic interpretations of heros, this modern approach is considered to be an augmentation of masculinity since these heroes express more humane qualities, emotion and sensitivity while still poised with conventional toughness. The exemplification of such hybrid portrayal of masculinity is evident in Bruce Willis film Live Free or Die Hard. The motion picture Live Fast or Die Hard gives the hybrid depiction of a hero in John McClaines (Bruce Willis) persona. McClaines responsible yet femine character departs from the dogmatic and arrogant side of manliness. McClaines brawn elements, however, prove to be the only viable means to defeat his adversary, consequently, masculinity is portrayed to be valued and in turn advocates the ideology of male supremacy and patriarchy. The motion picture Live Free or Die Hard depicts John Mclaine at war with an internet based terrorist faction led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant). In erference to the films plot may urge a disturbing thought on the emasculation of the conventional cowboys stature in the American film industry. In this regard Live Free or Die Hard may address to this cultural ordeal as it serves as the contemporary guide on the retention of American ideas on the aforementioned character. The film begins with the establishment of the modern hybrid hero, where McClaine is shown as a veteran detective of the New York Police Department receiving a degrading treatment from non-ranking members. The principles of masculinity are epitomized by the law enforcing fathers over-protective nature results to a blatant display of masculinity when his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is caught torridly kissing a guy in a car. The intimacy of the moment is interrupted when the young man tries to go to second base, McClaine then pry opens the door to apprehend the individual who is taking advantage of his daughter. McClaines knight-in-shining-armor routine, scares the male companion half dead as the latter is single-handedly pulled out of the vehicle. The subsequent scene bequeathes another panorama of the modern heros amlgamation. The supposed macho hero is then found chauffeuring a computer hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to Washington, a total contraband to the archetypal duty of a hero of saving such national nerds from national bullies. The total drift on the popular notion of heroism is not only on the supporting characters treatment of McClaine but on the plot as well, there are several conflicts in the film that only Farrell can resolve. It is also important to take notice of Farrells qualities; scrawny physique, rebellious attitude and in the fact that Farrell requires some saving every once in a while. There are, conversely, counter-villain moves that do not require the brain-bashing experties of McClaine, a very unorthodox execution of an action movie with an established character. Additionally, to add more insult to the injury of traditional masculine male heroes, Farrell gets to kill the last villain in the movie. The potential hybrid treatment of the hero is consequently transferred to the scrawny computer geek since he gets to battle the villains in the cyberworld, hence, this weak bodied geek gets to save the day. In this regard, the masculinity is now present in the person with the nerdy smarts.

Macroeconomics Tutorial Test Essay Example for Free

Macroeconomics Tutorial Test Essay Question 1. (i) Identify and briefly explain the main features of the business cycle. (2 marks) Business cycles are usually characterized by periods of transition from peak to trough and then from trough to peak. The peak of a business cycle is the high point of GDP prior to a downturn whereas a Trough is the low point economic activity prior to a recovery. The period in which the economy is moving from a peak to a trough is called a contraction and the period in which the economy is moving from a trough to peak is an Expansion. (ii) Explain the concepts of (a) potential output and (b) the output gap. (3 marks) Potential Output (y*) or full employment output is the level of GDP an economy can produce when using its resources, such as labour and capital, at normal rates. This is not the same as maximum output. Potential output grows over time with growth in labour and capital and with growths in technology. At any point in time, the difference between the economy’s potential output and actual output is called the output gap (y y*). A positive output gap, which occurs when actual output is higher than potential output and when resources are being utilised at above-normal rates, is called an expansionary gap. This is related to firms operating above normal capacity and can lead them to raise prices (inflationary). On the other hand, a negative output gap, which occurs when potential output exceeds actual output and when resources are not being utilised, is called a contractionary gap. This is related to capital and labour not being fully utilised (cost in terms of forgone output). (iii) Explain the concept of Okun’s law. Discuss the implications of Okun law for policymakers. (5 marks) Okun’s law states that each extra percentage point of cyclical unemployment is associated with about a 1.6 percentage point (for Australia) increase in the output gap, measured in relation to potential output. The quantitative relationship is (y-y*)/y* = -B(u-u*). This describes how an additional percentage point of cyclical unemployment is associated with a B percentage point decline in the output gap. The output losses associated sustained in recessions, calculated according to Okun’s law, can be quite significant. Calculations using this relationship depict that output gaps and cyclical unemployment may have major costs. Therefore, we can conclude with the fact that the public and policymakers have concern in relation to contractions and recessions. Question 2 (i) Discuss the role played by fixed (or sticky) prices in the Keynesian model of income determination. Briefly explain what would happen if prices were fully flexible in the short run. (2 marks) New Keynesians assume prices and wages are fixed or sticky, meaning that they do not change easily or quickly with alterations in supply and demand, so that quantity adjustment prevails. When prices are sticky, higher aggregate demand raises production, and this raises incomes. If prices were fully flexible in the short run, economy’s resources would be fully employed and thereby the economy would return to the natural level of real GDP. Firms would stop producing when price is lower than production cost, so there would be less competition. (ii) Explain the concept of Planned Aggregate Expenditure (PAE). How does PAE differ from Actual Expenditure? (2 marks) Planned Aggregate Expenditure is the total planned spending on final goods and services. In equilibrium, planned expenditure and actual expenditure must equal in the economy. The difference between planned and actual expenditure is unplanned inventory investment. When firms sell fewer products than planned, stocks of inventories increase. Because of this, actual expenditure can be above or below planned expenditure. (iii) Use the Keynesian aggregate expenditure model and appropriate diagrams to explain the following: The paradox of thrift The effect on equilibrium GDP of an exogenous increase in exports. (6 marks) Question 3 (i) Explain what is meant by the multiplier? Why, in general, does a one dollar change in exogenous expenditure produce a larger change in short-run output? (3 marks) The income-expenditure multiplier, or the multiplier for short, is the effect of a one-unit increase in exogenous expenditure on short-run equilibrium output. For example, a multiplier of 3 means that a 6-unit decrease in exogenous expenditure reduces short-run equilibrium output by 18 units. Therefore, a one dollar change in exogenous expenditure produce a larger change in short-run output as initial amount of expenditure leads to raised consumption spending resulting in an increase in national income greater than the initial amount of spending. (ii) Explain the role played by the marginal propensity to import in determining the size of the multiplier. Other things equal, how does an increase in the marginal propensity to import affect the size of the multiplier? (3 marks) The marginal propensity to import is the change in imports divided by the change in disposable income. It decides the slope of the aggregate expenditures line and is part to the multiplier process. Similar to taxes, the marginal propensity to import tends to lower the size of the multiplier as demand for domestically produced final goods and services falls. An increase in the marginal propensity to import increases the value of the denominator of the equation, which then decreases the overall value of the fraction and thus the size of the multiplier. (iii) Use a diagram to illustrate the concept of short-run equilibrium in the Keynesian aggregate expenditure model. Suppose the economy is initially not in equilibrium, explain the process by which the economy adjusts to equilibrium. (4 marks) Question 4 (i) What are the main instruments of fiscal policy? Explain how each might be used to close an expansionary output gap. (4 marks) Main components of Fiscal Policy: Government expenditure: Government spending of goods and services, investment and infrastructure directly affects total spending. If too much or too little total spending causes output gaps, the government can help to guide the economy toward full employment by changing its own level of spending. Taxes or transfer payments: In contrast, changes in tax or transfers do not affect planned spending directly. When disposable income rises households should spend more. Thus tax cut or increase in transfers should increase planned aggregate expenditure. Similarly, an increase in taxes or a cut in transfers, by lowering households’ disposable income, will tend to lower planned spending. This stimulates spending and eliminates contractionary gap. (ii) Explain what is meant by the government budget constraint. Indicate how it provides a link between fiscal policy and public debt. (3 marks) Government budget constraint is the term given to the concept that government spending in any period had to be financial either by raising taxes or by government borrowing.We can denote government expenditure undertaken by the government in period t by Gt and transfer payments by Qt. Therefore, the total spending activities of the government can be noted as Gt+ Qt. Also, the government has three means at its disposal to finance this expenditure: 1. Taxes available to be spent by government it time t – denoted by Tt. 2. Issued security when government borrows money – This is a financial asset that obliges the government to repay the loan, and pay interest, over some designated time period. Bt-2 is the stock of securities that the government still has owing at the end of the last period. Any new borrowing that the government unde rtakes in period t will be denoted as Bt Bt-1. The stockpile of debt that accumulates when government continues borrowing money is called the public debt. 3. Interest needed to pay on government’s stock of debt – in any time t the government pays interest of rBt-1 where r is the real rate of interest. Government expenditures (purchases, transfer payments and interest payments) in any period need to be funded by taxes or by borrowing. This is the Government budget constraint summarized as below: Gt+ Qt + rBt-1 = Tt + (Bt Bt-1). If we rearrange this so that gross taxes are on the left-hand side, the link between fiscal policy and the stock of public debt becomes readily apparent: Gt+ Qt Tt + rBt-1 = (Bt Bt-1). (iii) Explain the difference between discretionary fiscal policy and automatic stabilisers. Which one of these will be the main influence on the size of the structural budget deficit? Explain. (3 marks) Discretionary fiscal policy refers to deliberate changes in the level of government spending, transfer payments or in tax rates. Automatic stabilizers refer to the tendency for a system of taxes and transfers, which are related to the level of income to automatically reduce the size of GDP fluctuations.