Saturday, August 31, 2019

Internal & External Factors that Affect Management

In today’s ever changing business world companies from of all sizes have to be aware of the different factors that might affect the way they are managed and ultimately operate. There are two main areas where these factors can originate, internally and externally. According to â€Å"Businessdictionary. com† (2013), â€Å"Internal factors are inner strengths and weaknesses that an organization exhibits. Internal factors can strongly affect how well a company meets its objectives, and they might be seen as strengths if they have a favorable impact on a business, but as weaknesses if they have a deleterious effect on the business.† (para. 1).External factors are the opposite of internal factors because they involve all relevant forces outside a firm’s boundaries, such as competitors, customers, the government, and the economy. In the following we will discuss how a company like Google is affected by internal and external factors that change their four function s of management such as globalization, technology, innovation, diversity, and ethics. Organizational culture is a business’ DNA.Depending on how strong or weak an organization’s culture is will determine how successful that business generally becomes. This analogy can not be more evident than with or organization, Google; founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 while still at Stanford pursuing graduate degrees. Their youthful outlook remains dominant within company culture today (Johansson, (2010)). Organizationally, Google maintains a casual and democratic atmosphere (quite similar to our owner’s personalities), resulting in its distinction as a Flat company.Within the walls or more correctly the parameters of this flat company, teams are made up of members with equal authority and certain level of autonomy is maintained. This unique approach has lead Google to boast about some unique cultural aspects such as: double rooms (few single offices! ) with thre e or four team members, dogs, lava lamps, and massage chairs and even local touches like ski gondolas in Zurich, express each office's unique location and personality. With benefits like those, it’s clear to see how Fortune magazine describes us as the best company in the world to work for.The fostering creative, relaxed work environment along with the entire unique employee perks help shape the strong unified culture amongst Google (Johansson, (2010)). On the other hand a week organizational culture can lead to toxic consequences for a business. Consider, Enron, a prime example. Once one of the most successful businesses in its heyday has long gone but its lessons endure. The company’s epic fail resulted in the biggest business bankruptcy ever, facilitated by unethical behavior by its top-level managers.Ethics which are part of the planning function of management goals are to identify both the rules that should govern people’s behavior and the products that are worth purchasing. Proper ethical behavior is generally demonstrated and facilitated by top- level manager as a working example for other employees to adopt and cultivate within the organization. â€Å"Just as character matters in people, it matters in organizations,† says Justin Schultz, a corporate psychologist in Denver. This was not the case with Enron’s leaders, who sought excess at the expense of their employees, shareholders and community.In the end, those misplaced ethics destroyed Enron and essentially the only product they produced worth seeking can be found in university textbooks that characterizes Enron’s unethical behavior (Silverstein, (2013)). Similar to how internal factors influence a company culture throughout an organization and vice versa during planning, external factors can influence management within the function of planning. Particularly technology, for example just as with any planning phase, decisions about technology must balance inte rnal capabilities (strengths and weaknesses) with external opportunities and threats.Management uses several techniques to better understand how technology is evolving within a particular industry (Bateman & Snell, Chapter 10,Assessing External Technological Trends, (2011)). Globalization is another one of the major factors that can influence the way that a company manages itself. According to â€Å"Oxforddictionaries. com† (2013), † globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale† (para. 1).According to Adams (2008) â€Å"Businesses are said to be competing on a level global playing field almost without regard to location or nationality. † (p. 153). This could be advantageous to a company like Google or a disadvantage as well. Planning can be a problem with globalization because not only is Google doing business in other countries they also have offices in them as well. Communication on a real-time level can be difficult by collaborating with people in different time zones and languages. This could be helpful thoughas well because of all of the different backgrounds and diversity in the countries that Google operates in can give strong ideas to plan upon. Organizational efforts can be a bit troublesome as well when you are working across such a vast area and diverse people. Getting the right people together to attend meetings, whether it’s over the phone or face to face via video conferencing, can be hard to organize as well. Although again this could be advantageous to Google because of all of the diversity of its employees, organizing can lead to big things.One of the more important functions of management is leading and this could be compromised by globalization in a couple different ways. If you have a employees working on a team that are far apart in different countries, the team leader or manager can find it difficult to get the most out of his workers because of language barriers, time zones, or ethical differences. However, this could work out good for the manager because he or she could use the different backgrounds of the employees to motivate or come up with new tactics to improve efficiency.The one thing that should not have an effect by globalization is controlling. With technology these days watching over or supervising a group, ever over a vast area, is not that difficult. With the invention of video conferencing and things like databases and dashboards, managers are able to see and control a wide variety of things. On the other hand, some things can be easier to get by management, like time working on a project, than if it was all in one building. Another factor that can change the way Google manages itself is diversity.The previous few paragraphs touched on this point a little but this does change things a lot. Planning can be a bit challenging because of how many different backgrounds an d morals that a manager has to consider. Again this can be helpful though as well because of the different ideas that can come out of the diversity of the employees. Organizing these diverse people can be hard as well. Some of them might have different religious holidays and beliefs so the manager might have to work around them to maintain a good moral.On the flip side this could be a good thing because again the diversity can be an advantage to the manager. Leading can be another way that this can be advantageous because a manager can really play on the emotions of their diverse employees by really respecting their beliefs and morals so that the manager can gain respect. The down side is that it might go against the morals of the manager to respect or allow an employee’s beliefs in which the leader of the team is dissatisfied. Controlling can be difficult because of the different language barriers and time zones to really get a handle on things.With all of these different fa ctors weighing on Google’s management functions, it appears that there are many more advantageous opportunities to increase efficiency and profits while expanding the company to new heights. However, if any of these factors start to change or start to affect the company in a more negative way without addressing it or changing, things might go terribly wrong for the company. So make sure that everything is running smoothly and not to a point that it will look bad on the company.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Feasibility Study of Online Shopping Essay

Technical: The Online Shopping Via SMS: Computer Parts and Accessories is a new feature that we are proposing to the Armenia’s Internet Cafà ©. Since we are offering that the computer parts and accessories of the Armenia’s Internet Cafà © will be online, they are required to have a PC (admin) with an Internet connection and a database system for the products and customer’s information. Through the Internet, they will also be required to have a website with a domain name itself. The PC (admin) and the domain name alone, of course, require some sort of financial support. If those two requirements would be realized, then a new website is to be built with interface selling the computer parts and accessories that is now online. It provides an interface for the user (customer) registration and fills up all the information needed. The mobile phone number is also needed to be fills up. All of that data will then be going to the PC (admin). So if they will be visiting the site again, they would have just to log in and would not be registering anymore. It’s up to the user (customer) if he had selected an item. He would be clicking the interface with the â€Å"buy† button. Informing the admin that someone is willing to buy that item. By that, a transaction between the customer and the admin will begin. The user (customer) will have a down payment of 20%, since cash will be given upon the delivery of materials so that there will be no fraud between the customer and the admin would arise. Transaction will now go to the payment as well as the shipping process. The customer will have his money be deposited in the Armenia’s bank account or through ML Kwarta Padala provided that the item selected is also delivered by the Armenia through LBC. If the destination or customer’s address is near, maybe a person will be in charge for that matter. Through the transaction, the latter should be realized introducing now our new feature we offered, and that is the mobile phone. The update of the items selected and the transaction process as well, is through the use of mobile phone especially if the user (customer) is now not online. The admin can still communicate him via SMS. If all of that would be realized, a benefit of the user (customer) would be met. As well as the benefit of the Armenia’s Internet Cafà © would be great since their production would increase and the high-technology we have, as of this moment had been used. Therefore, our system is technically possible. Financial: This system is very affordable for there’s no materials needed. It only uses a computer with an Internet connection and you must have your own website for you to publish to the world the items purchased. To have a website, you must have a domain name first, and in that sense it is then very affordable. It is not even one-third of your income if you have it. Also the mobile phone as of this moment is also cheap but in that matter it’s the customer’s responsibility. Organizational: Since the Armenia is an Internet Cafe, so there’s no need to have persons to look over the products. All they will provide is the person who is  responsible for the website to look over if anyone had gone to login and have their items selected and to look over the database for the updates of the products on hand and sold out. Even one or two persons will do. But of course there’s also a person be responsible to deliver the items selected. As of this present time, Armenia’s Internet Cafe only has a manual way of counting their products. By that, it takes a longer time and a tiring day to have it all done. But with our new system, all the disadvantages of the latter will be vanished with the use of our new system. Since we will be using our high-technology, like the use of computer together with the power of Internet plus the mobile phone is a very great tandem that this proposed system that we had will then be possible. Ethical: Our new system is very possible in technical matter, is very financially affordable, organizationally feasible and most especially ethically acceptable to everybody. As we all know that as of now, there are so many websites that have an online shopping, but the new feature we offered is the use of mobile phone. The users (customer) will have an update for the items selected. Even if they are not accessing the website, still they have the way to get the information of the items they want. Online shopping also offers a vast price and item selection. You can have a cheaper but durable material with your own taste and standards. Information and reviews as well convenience is possible with the use of online shopping. Also the customers are fond of shopping directly through retailers. In the same way, a majority of consumers choose online shopping for faster and more efficient shopping experience. Therefore, our system is ethically acceptable not only in our society but perhaps to the whole world. I. Executive Summary This feasibility study of Online Shopping via SMS: Computer Parts and Accessories to be proposed to Armenia’s Internet Cafe were performed by Mirasol Rosquites and Jay Alba, Information Technology students. It involves questions such as whether they can afford the technical, financial,  organizational and ethical aspect of the system. It also contains the needs to analyze the problems and the solutions of this proposed system. II. Introduction The purpose of this study is to help our valued customers to have a fast and efficient way of buying computer parts and accessories. As we all know that we are now in the world where high technologies evolve, so in accordance to that idea, our system will help everybody to access a direct buying of items over the net and provide them an update of the items they have chosen, through cell phone. Everybody can access it especially those persons who have the hard time of going outside their houses just to buy the computer parts and accessories they need. They just need a computer with an internet connection and a cell phone for update information. They need it because this will provide them a meaningful experience of shopping things. This will mainly give them convenience. Because it will be opened 24 hours .One can avoid crowded malls or retailed stores resulting in long lines, and no parking. It also gives them detailed information of the items they want with a less price. The Armenia’s Internet Cafà © up to this present time has no system of selling the computer parts and accessories they have, but rather they do it manually. With our new proposed system it would be easier for them rather than to have a hard time by doing it on manual. So from our novel idea, we are encouraged to do this system. In that sense, shopping of computer parts and accessories would be online using a website with a domain of their own, together with a mobile phone that provides update information especially during the shipping process.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The List of All U.S. Colleges With a Modern Languages Major

If you are interested in learning another language and increasing your understanding of a foreign culture, a modern language major could be the track to a fulfilling college experience and an array of interesting career paths. Keep reading to learn the reasons for studying modern languages, gain insight on what it takes to get into a top program, and see a comprehensive list of all the U.S. colleges with a modern languages major. The simplest reason for studying modern languages in college is that you’re interested in learning more about the world in which you inhabit. Languages considered for a degree in modern language are French, Spanish, German, English, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese. More than learning how to speak and write a language, modern language majors gain an understanding of language as a system and its function within a social context while also learning about the culture, media, and politics of the regions that speak it. Â   The ability to effectively communicate with people with a different language and cultural context is becoming an increasingly valuable skill in a more globalized world. Graduates with a degree in modern languages are natural fits for positions as interpreters and translators, consultants and relations specialists for international businesses and tech developers, and in education. The median annual income for interpreters and translators in 2018 was $49,930 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), which is slightly higher than the average national salary. The BLS also projects an abundance of opportunities in the future for interpreters, as they anticipate 18% growth in the field—more than twice as fast as the national average. Another good reason to study a foreign language? A Wharton and LECG Europe study found that studying a second language is correlated with about 2% more in annual income. In addition to being equipped for a language-related job, students studying modern languages also graduate with a host of skills that easily transfer across industries. Modern language majors are adept at communicating, adaptable to different situations and people, and multi-taskers. Learning a new language also makes students more aware of the use of their native language—making them better writers, speakers, and conversationalists. The ability to speak a second language makes a student more employable by helping them stand out from a field of applicants—this is especially true in globalized industries. Only about 10% of the U.S. population is multilingual—for comparison, in Europe, 52.7% of the population is multilingual—meaning when applying for a job there is a strong chance you’ll be the only multilingual candidate. In fact, a study by The New American Economy shows that between 2010 and 2015, the demand for bilingual workers more than doubled—going from 240,000 jobs to 630,000. No different than students hoping to study engineering, chemistry, or history, students seeking admission into top schools to pursue modern languages will need a robust college profile. One of the best ways to attract the attention of admissions officers is to maintain a strong GPA, high class rank, and show a willingness to challenge yourself academically by taking advanced courses, particularly in language and the humanities. Another fantastic way to stand out amongst a crowded field of applicants is through your extracurricular activities. Participation in your high school’s foreign language club, volunteering in a community where English is a second language, and tutoring are all tremendous ways to demonstrate an interest in a foreign language outside of the classroom. But don’t forget to highlight any interests outside of language as well! Sports, music, art, and volunteering are just a few of the activities that help admissions officials get a more comprehensive understanding of a student apart from their GPA and standardized test scores. Our Early Advising Program is a great way for 9th and 10th graders to get a head start on the college applications process. Paired with successful students at top-30 schools, high schoolers are advised on everything from choosing classes to what extracurricular activities to participate in—learning from students who just successfully navigated the application process and were admitted to a top school. Our College Strategy Program is designed for students further along in the college application process, helping high school juniors create college lists, solidify their college profile, and maximize this critical time in the admissions process. Most importantly, this program assists students in gaining admission into their first-choice schools—73% of participants enrolled in our College Strategy Program are accepted to top-20 schools. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. If you’re preparing to build your college list and are thinking about pursuing a modern language major, you’re in luck—we’ve taken the first step for you. Below is a list of all the colleges and universities in the U.S. that offer a modern language major. Anderson University (South Carolina) Arkansas State University | A–State Auburn University at Montgomery | AUM Austin Peay State University | APSU Bowling Green State University | BGSU California Baptist University | CBU California Lutheran University | CLU California Polytechnic State University | Cal Poly California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Cal Poly Pomona California State University, Bakersfield | CSU Bakersfield California State University, Chico | CSU Chico California State University, Dominguez Hills | CSUDH California State University, East Bay | CSU East Bay California State University, Fresno | CSU Fresno California State University, Fullerton | CSU Fullerton California State University, Long Beach | Long Beach State California State University, Los Angeles | Cal State LA California State University, Monterey Bay | CSUMB California State University, Northridge | CSUN California State University, Sacramento | Sacramento State California State University, Stanislaus | Stanislaus State California State University Channel Islands | CSU Channel Islands California State University San Marcos | CSUSM Catholic University of America | CUA Central Washington University | CWU Charleston Southern University | CSU Christopher Newport University | CNU Coastal Carolina University | Coastal College of Mount Saint Vincent | CMSV College of Staten Island | CUNY CSI College of the Holy Cross | Holy Cross College of William & Mary | William & Mary Colorado State University–Pueblo | CSU Pueblo Concordia University Wisconsin | CUW Eastern New Mexico University | ENMU Eastern Washington University | EWU East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania | ESU East Tennessee State University | ETSU Fayetteville State University | FSU Florida International University | FIU Florida State College at Jacksonville | FSCJ Franciscan University of Steubenville Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Tech Grand Valley State University | GVSU Hobart and William Smith Colleges | HWS Indiana University Bloomington | Indiana Indiana University Northwest | IU Northwest Indiana University of Pennsylvania | IUP Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis | IUPUI Indiana University South Bend | IU South Bend Indiana University Southeast | IU Southeast Jacksonville State University | JSU Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | KU Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania | LHU Mansfield University of Pennsylvania Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT Metropolitan State University of Denver | MSU Denver Middle Tennessee State University | MTSU Millersville University of Pennsylvania | MU Minnesota State University Moorhead | MSUM New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJIT North Carolina A&T State University | N.C. A&T North Carolina Central University | NCCU North Carolina State University | NC State North Dakota State University | NDSU Northeastern Illinois University | NEIU Northeastern State University | NSU Northwest Missouri State University Notre Dame of Maryland University | NDMU Oklahoma State University–Oklahoma City | OSU–OKC Our Lady of the Lake University | OLLU Pennsylvania State University | PSU Point Loma Nazarene University | PLNU Queens College, City University of New York | CUNY QC Rochester Institute of Technology | RIT Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Rutgers Saginaw Valley State University | SVSU Saint Mary’s College of California | St. Mary’s Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota | SMU Sam Houston State University | SHSU Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | SRU South Carolina State University | SCSU Southeastern Oklahoma State University | SOSU Southeast Missouri State University | SEMO Southern Connecticut State University | SCSU Southern Illinois University Carbondale | SIU Southern Methodist University | SMU Southwestern Christian College | SwCC Southwestern Oklahoma State University | SWOSU St. John’s College | SJC (New Mexico) St. Joseph’s College (New York) | SJC State University of New York at Cortland | SUNY Cortland State University of New York at Fredonia | SUNY Fredonia State University of New York at New Paltz | SUNY New Paltz State University of New York at Old Westbury | SUNY Old Westbury State University of New York at Oneonta | SUNY Oneonta State University of New York at Oswego | SUNY Oswego State University of New York at Plattsburgh | SUNY Plattsburgh State University of New York at Potsdam | SUNY Potsdam Stephen F. Austin State University | SFA Tennessee Technological University | Tennessee Tech Texas A&M International University | TAMIU Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina | The Citadel The College at Brockport, State University of New York | SUNY Brockport The State University of New York at Albany | SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Binghamton | SUNY Binghamton The State University of New York at Buffalo | SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo The State University of New York at Stony Brook | SUNY Stony Brook United States Military Academy | Army University of Alaska Anchorage | UAA University of Alaska Fairbanks | UAF University of Arkansas at Monticello | UAM University of Arkansas–Fort Smith | UAFS University of California, Berkeley | UC Berkeley University of California, Davis | UC Davis University of California, Irvine | UC Irvine University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA University of California, Merced | UC Merced University of California, Riverside | UC Riverside University of California, San Diego | UCSD University of California, Santa Barbara | UCSB University of California, Santa Cruz | UCSC University of Central Arkansas | UCA University of Central Florida | UCF University of Central Missouri | UCM University of Colorado Boulder | CU Boulder University of Colorado Denver | CU Denver University of Hawaii at Hilo | UH Hilo University of Hawaii at Manoa | UH Manoa University of Houston–Downtown | UHD University of Houston–Victoria | UHV University of Illinois at Chicago | UIC University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | UIUC University of Louisiana at Lafayette | UL Lafayette University of Louisiana at Monroe | ULM University of Maine at Farmington | UMF University of Mary Hardin–Baylor | UMHB University of Maryland, Baltimore County | UMBC University of Maryland, College Park | Maryland University of Mary Washington | UMW University of Massachusetts Amherst | UMass Amherst University of Massachusetts Boston | UMass Boston University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | UMass Dartmouth University of Michigan–Dearborn | UM-D University of Michigan–Flint | UofM-Flint University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota University of Mississippi | Ole Miss University of Missouri–St. Louis | UMSL University of Nebraska at Kearney | UNK University of Nebraska–Lincoln | UNL University of Nevada, Las Vegas | UNLV University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte University of North Carolina at Greensboro | UNC Greensboro University of North Carolina at Pembroke | UNC Pembroke University of North Carolina at Wilmington | UNC Wilmington University of Northwestern – St. Paul University of South Alabama | South University of South Carolina Upstate | USC Upstate University of Southern California | USC University of Southern Indiana | USI University of Southern Mississippi | Southern Miss University of South Florida St. Petersburg | USFSP University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) University of Texas at Arlington | UT Arlington University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin University of Texas at El Paso | UTEP University of Texas at San Antonio | UTSA University of Texas at Tyler | UT Tyler University of Texas of the Permian Basin | UT Permian Basin University of Wisconsin–La Crosse | UW–La Crosse University of Wisconsin-Madison | Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | UWM University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh | UW Oshkosh University of Wisconsin–Platteville | UW–Platteville University of Wisconsin–River Falls | UW–River Falls University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point | UW–Stevens Point University of Wisconsin–Whitewater | UW–Whitewater Virginia Commonwealth University | VCU Washington and Jefferson College | W&J Washington University in St. Louis | WashU Western Connecticut State University | WCSU Western Washington University | WWU William Paterson University | WPUNJ Winston-Salem State University | WSSU York College, City University of New York | CUNY York Our College Applications Program is designed to support students through every step of the applications process, from building a college list to figuring out the financing and everything in between. Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of students attend their dream school, and we can do the same for you. Contact our team today!

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Restrictions on Overseas Trade in Turkey Case Study

Restrictions on Overseas Trade in Turkey - Case Study Example Turkey being a natural bridge between the old continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, has a vast scope of overseas trading. But still the government of Turkey plonk restrictions on overseas trade. (Fletcher, 2006) The investment climate of Turkey, that forms barriers for any outsider, whether large or small, domestic or foreign, cause problems that affect all economic sectors of the country, particularly the telecommunication sector. The major problems which agitate Turkey's economy are shortage of well functioning capital market, limited expertise in banking system and technologically oriented companies, partial regulatory process that always intend to restrain new companies and buoy up existing companies, specially those belonging to prominent business families of the country. Companies in Turkey both the private enterprises and public enterprises specially, suffer from corruption in various levels of the organizational hierarchy. The judicial system of the country, up to some extent, can be suspected to be influenced by external political and commercial mal forces. Growing personal and political relationship between government officials and business representatives form the basis of corruption, which appears to be the most serious problem biting up the economy of the country. Barriers in investment of the private sectors and the foreign companies in the markets in Turkey is also a matter of concern. The Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between Turkey and United States of America came into force in May 1990. Due to liberal investment regime of turkey, foreign investors are provided with national treatment in the country. In Turkey companies possessing foreign capital are treated as local companies. Regardless of nationality, private sector investments are always hindered by the facts like political and economical uncertainty, lack of judicial stability, and unwarranted bureaucracy, and high tax rate, unpredictable changes in legal and regulatory environment, fragile framework for corporate governance etc. All areas except finance and petroleum sectors are fully open to foreign participation. Though the petroleum and financial areas are open to the private sectors and foreign investors in Turkey, Special permission is required for the foreign companies to establish business in these sectors. (Lamb, 2006) Foreign share holders have restricted equity participation ratio, such as near about twenty percent in Broadcasting industry, forty nine percent in aviation, marine transportation and value added telecommunication services industries. Sometimes arbitrary legislative action under cut the rationale for the investments of the foreign companies committed to the Turkish market. International settlement of investment disputes between foreign investors and the state remain bonded by efforts of the government of turkey, following the inscriptions mentioned in the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) signed by both the concerned parties. For several years the government of Turkey was providing concessions in public services, to the private investors and specially the foreign investors. According to the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Art Scavenger Hunt-Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art Scavenger Hunt-Analysis - Essay Example They made these paintings either by blowing the natural pigments from their mouth on a variety of objects or by using brushes made by chewing twigs (Buehler 56). On the basis of whatever information that can be solicited from the contemporary Australian aboriginal people and can be drawn from the research undertaken by the historians and anthropologists, it would be quiet true to say that the painting under consideration and many of the other aboriginal rock paintings like it were primarily made to fulfill some important spiritual and religious purpose in the ancient aboriginal societies (Buehler 57). These paintings were not merely works of art but also carried ample spiritual and religious significance. The contemporary aborigines consider these paintings to be sacred and an integral part of their spiritual and cultural heritage. In the ancient aboriginal societies, these paintings served a distinct spiritual and religious function and purpose. The ancient aboriginal rock art to which the above given painting is affiliated to had some vital and important ritualistic purpose in the aboriginal societies (Buehler 58). This painting and the ot her rock paintings like it included within their ambit varied levels of associated with the aboriginal spirituality. Perhaps, just as it is in the later day art galleries, the aborigines drew these paintings on the cave rocks to protect them from the ravages of time, so as to pass them safely to the future generations. The particular rock painting is a worthy example of the prehistoric aboriginal art and depicts apt usage of the principle and elements of design. This rock painting is well balanced in the sense that the artist has used a somewhat leaner figure placed at the edge of the rock surface to balance albeit rotund figure placed at the centre. The painting is evidently that of a couple and the artist has specifically introduced variation in the delineation of two figures in the

Monday, August 26, 2019

$787 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

$787 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan - Essay Example The $787 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress will not quickly solve the historic problems besetting the economy, but it could reduce the damage, while providing relief for the unemployed and the uninsured. Moodys Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi says the bill could help end the economic slide. He warns, however, that the stimulus spending will likely be too small, given the size of the economic decline, and suggests Congress may have to revisit the issue (Kirchhoff) The plan we passed tonight will strengthen our economy by creating millions of good-paying jobs here at home; deliver tax relief for 95% of workers and invest in Americvas future by fixing our communities roads and bridges, improving our childrens education and making our country more energy independent. While House Democrats said the bill is needed to create or save 3.5 million jobs, Republicans countered the proposal would leave future generations saddled with debt. Republicans also noted they had little time to read the massive bill, which was released late Thursday night (Wolf) The crisis is so deep that only the economic reform policies alone may not bring the desired results. Many economists believe that the current recession may continue longer than anticipated. In my opinion, the life styles of the American public need to be fine tuned based on the realities. The greedy public accepted the offers (loans) from the financial institutions with both hands without properly evaluating their financial capabilities. They have approached the banks for everything and the banks were ready to help them without even assessing their backgrounds or financial strengths.The financial institutions miscalculated that the global economy will never exhaust and whatever the goods and services sold in the market will bring profit. Such irresponsible allocation of resources

Sunday, August 25, 2019

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

Cribbing - Essay Example Despite how little is known about cribbing, there are preventative methods, as well as treatments. Cribbing is not only harmful to property, but also to an equine’s overall health. When a horse cribs, it is thought that the action releases endorphins. Endorphins are a chemical that releases sensations of pleasure and relaxation from the brain into the body. These endorphins are why cribbing is such an addictive habit, and why it is so difficult to stop a horse from doing it once it has begun. One of the most accepted theories on why a horse will start cribbing is stress. Many equines are kept in stalls for much of their lives, but under natural conditions, the horse is moving almost 90% of the time, constantly grazing and focusing on food. In a stall, the horse is confined and not able to move around and graze. Not being able to roam the way it is naturally designed for, a horse will grow stressed, which then leads to bad habits like cribbing. Cribbing has several negative eff ects on both property and the health of the equine. Horse teeth are very strong, and are capable of damaging things like wood, leather, plastic, and a number of other things that make up fences and equipment. When a horse cribs, it uses its teeth to grab onto an object, such as a fence. It then arches its neck and forcefully sucks in a lungful of air. This process is repeated again and again. One of the biggest dangers for a horse that cribs are dental problems. Because they are continuously chewing and grabbing hard objects with their teeth, this can have a negative consequence, which may result in chipped, broken, or deformed teeth. Teeth, however, are not the only thing horse owners need to worry about with a horse that cribs. Poor digestion and colic are two of the other problems that are often reported with a cribbing horse. Wickens (2009) said that ‘Gastrointestinal irritation has been implicated in crib-biting (CB) in horses.’ Treating this nasty habit can be bot h difficult and time consuming. Because cribbing is widely known to be caused by stress, giving your horse ample time in the pasture is one solution that could eliminate the problem altogether. Boredom can also contribute to stress in your horse, and so giving it activities and working with it on a regular basis will curb that boredom. Cadlock (2000-2005) says to ‘provide your horse with a companion, preferably another horse, but goats also often make good companions for horses.’ Other studies state that different types of work (ie, dressage, jumping, cross country, etc.) can lead to cribbing. In one such study, Hausberger (2009) found that ‘Repetitive licking and/or biting of substrates was observed mostly in eventing horses, whereas cribbing and windsucking occurred only in dressage and high school horses.’ For a more ‘hands on’ approach, there are collars available that go around a cribbing horse’s neck. These collars, or straps, are designed to stop the horse from swallowing air. A metal plate that presses into the underside of the animal’s throat makes it difficult to swallow air. As a last resort, surgery can be used to cut the muscles in the horse’s neck to stop the animal from lifting its head up. Prevention is the only true way of being certain that this damaging habit does not take hold. Limiting stall time is the biggest and most helpful way to prevent a cribbing habit. When your horse is able to be a horse, this reduces the animals’

Analysis of Beyonce's music video Run the World Essay

Analysis of Beyonce's music video Run the World - Essay Example From the structural lines that comprises the song, it is true that most of the women according to Beyonce are infringed and are not empowered hence the purpose of the song- to empower the woman in the society such that they are not regarded as second class citizens in the society setting. Formalist Analyses of the Song Beyonce song can be subjected to formalist analyses where there are critical approaches that are used for the purposes of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of the features inherent to the song. Several features are thus considered in the formalist analyses of the song, which not only includes grammar and syntax but also extends to encompass the use of literal devices as tropes and meter. In the ‘Run the World’ song by Beyonce, there has been little attention given to the grammar part of English presumably because some of the words and language used are a cliche with acquired meaning from English that will make it possible for the audience to constru e that meaning of the song without making them lose connectivity with the song. There are also uses of syntaxes where there are unique language arrangements (Altman 9). The composers of the song must have based the message delivery on how the words are arranged. The song has also used quite a number of literal devices to enhance message delivery and to bring the aesthetic value into the song. In this regard, several of such literal devices such as tropes, meter, symbolism, and simile have been used in the song to enhance the development of the song’s plot. Given the title of the song, it had to use those several literal devices in order to deliver the message most appropriately given that it is about appealing and agitating for... This "Analysis of Beyonce's music video "Run the World"" essay outlines this music video from different points of view. This song can be subjected to formalist analyses where there are critical approaches that are used for the purposes of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of the features inherent to the song. Several features are thus considered in the formalist analyses of the song, which not only includes grammar and syntax but also extends to encompass the use of literal devices as tropes and meter. In the ‘Run the World’ song by Beyonce, there has been little attention given to the grammar part of English presumably because some of the words and language used are a clichà © with acquired meaning from English that will make it possible for the audience to construe that meaning of the song without making them lose connectivity with the song. There are also uses of syntaxes where there are unique language arrangements (Altman 9). The composers of the song must h ave based the message delivery on how the words are arranged. The song has aused quite a number of literal devices to enhance message delivery and to bring the aesthetic value into the song. Several of such literal devices such as tropes, meter, symbolism, and simile have been used in the song to enhance the development of the song’s plot. Given the title of the song, it had to use those several literal devices in order to deliver the message most appropriately given that it is about appealing and agitating for empowerment of the women in the society (Zoonen 2).

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Cash Flow Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cash Flow Statement - Essay Example The secondary objective is to disclose information about the operating financing and investing activities of a company during an accounting period. The statement of cash flow gives an indication about the relationship between profitability and cash generating ability and thus the quality of profit earned. In brief, cash flow serves the following purposes: Under this method cash flow from operating activities is calculated on the basis of net profit as reported in the profit and loss account or balance sheet and is especially used when amount of sales is not given in the question. Few adjustments made under this method are as follows: For calculating operating profit before working capital changes, non cash and non operating items (such as depreciation, doubtful debts, dividend, and interest) are added back. The non operating incomes and gains are deducted from the net profit for the year. Decrease in current assets and increase in current liabilities is added back and increase in current assets and Decrease in current liabilities is deducted from the operating profit before working capital changes to arrive at cash generated from operations.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Identify the Most Appropriate form of Market Research in a Given Essay

Identify the Most Appropriate form of Market Research in a Given Situation and Implement that Research - Essay Example One of the main reasons that were understood in this connection is the happening of economic recession for which many social activities of the people countered a sharp decline. Further it was found that owing to the rise of the economic recession the main consumer segment that was increasingly affected constitutes the premium segment of consumers. Brand Heineken in this context reflects as have fallen in a trap in not being able to reduce the price of its products to help reach to a mass consumer base in the recessionary market. It is because a reduction in the price of the products may hamper or tarnish its brand image of being a premium product. On the other hand the inability to gain a larger market signified less of marketing and sales revenues which also restricted the brand’s ability to make any significant marketing and promotional investments leading to the problem getting intensified (Cannes Creative Lions, 2011). Having hinted on the problem the market research domai n can now consider on deciding on the attributes of the target group of people over whom research would be conducted based on questionnaires and again the budget for conducting the market research activity would be decided upon (Hague and Morgan, 2004, p.21). Market Research Market Research Objective In regards to the above context the company desired to conduct a market research activity which would help in satisfying the subject of the queries created focusing on the stated problem. The main objectives of market research were found to be threefold. Firstly the market research was conducted by the company to help sustain the brand image and market position of the brand in the premium beer market of Italy. Secondly the market research also focused to help sustain the same price for its premium products in the recessionary market. Finally the market research activities were also conducted to help the brand gain a large amount of consumer loyalty than before in the premium beer segmen t of Italy. Henceforth the market research objectives for enhancement of brand loyalty of the beer brand is found to be subjected to a specific market territory and to a specific consumer group to analyse the change in sales volume and market share (Cooklin et al., 2006, p.48). Market Research Process For the above condition the market research activity that was designed operated based on a threefold step. In the first step the market research team focused on segmenting the entire market into relevant consumer groups consisting of the target consumers. Such division was conducted based on demographic profiles of the consumers such that firstly the consumers in the age group of 18-24 were chosen. However the group for its failure to project the premium set of consumers the target group was based on the consumer segment of age group of 20-30 years who would drink the premium beer. The second focus of the market research activity targeted at helping the old consumers gain their bygone youthful

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Anatomy & Physiology Essay Example for Free

Anatomy Physiology Essay In this assignment the concept of homeostasis will be explained and the probable homeostatic responses to changes in the internal environment during exercise will be discussed. Homeostasis is simply how the body keeps conditions inside the same. It is described as the maintenance of a constant internal environment. Generally, the body is in homeostasis when its needs are met and it’s functioning properly. Every organ in the body contributes to homeostasis. A complex set of chemical, thermal, and neural factors interact in complex ways, both helping the body while it works to maintain homeostasis. In homeostasis there is the concept of Negative feedback which ensures that, in any control system, changes are reversed and returned back to the set level. There are four different homeostatic mechanisms for regulation these four are the heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature and blood glucose levels. Negative feedback system is made out of receptors to detect change, a control centre to receive the information and process the response and effectors to reverse the change and re-establish the original state. (Anatomy Physiology, 2013) The autonomic nervous system controls the heart and has two branches; the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. When the body is undergoing muscular work, fear or stress the sympathetic nervous system will be active. When the sympathetic nervous system is active it will cause every heartbeat to increase in strength and heart rate. During resting, peace and contentment the parasympathetic nervous system is active and it calms the heart output. During periods of fright, flight and fight the sympathetic nervous system is boosted by the hormone; adrenaline. The nerves of the adrenaline are the cardiac nerves. A special cluster of excitable cells are supplied by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system in the upper p art of the right atrium. We call this ‘the peacemaker’ in general terms. A connection of impulses from the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves acting on the sino-atrial (‘the pacemaker’) regulates the activity of the heart to suit situations from minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day. The  sino-atrial node sends out a cluster of nerve impulses every few seconds around the branching network of atrial muscle fibres to cause contraction. The impulses are caught by a different group of cells forming the atrioventricular node and relayed to a band of leading tissue made of big, modified muscle cells called Purkinje fibres. In the atrioventricular node the transmission of impulses is delayed slightly to enable the atria to complete their contractions and the atrioventricular valves to start to close. The location of heart valves is on a fibrous figure-of-eight between the atrial and ventricular muscle masses.(Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The lowest part of the brain is the medulla and is located above the spinal cord and is often kno wn as the ‘brain stem’. The two important centres for control of the heart rate are located in the brain stem. These are called the cardiac centres. The sympathetic fibres descend through the spinal cord from the vasomotor centre while the cardio-inhibitory centre is in charge of the origins of the parasympathetic fibres of the vagus nerve reaching the sino-atrial node. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) Baroreceptors are found in the walls of the aorta and they detect changes in blood pressure. If in the arteries a small upward change in blood pressure happens it often indicates that extra blood has been pumped out by the ventricles as result of the extra blood that enters the heart on the venous or right side. When the baroreceptors detect the change they relay the information in nerve impulses to the cardiac centres. Movement in the vagus nerve slows the heart rate down and reduces the high blood pressure to normal. Thermo receptors are receptors that are sensitive to temperature and they are present in the skin and deep inside the body. Also they relay information through nerve impulses to the hypothalamus; this is a part of the brain which activates appropriate feedback systems. During fear, stress and exertion, the adrenal gland releases a hormone called circulating adrenaline. Circulating adrenaline stimulates the sino-atrial node to work faster, therefore boosting the effect of the sympathetic nervous system. The hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system when thermo receptors indicate a rise in body temperature to the brain. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated it causes the heart rate to increase. Our rate of ventilation is mainly on ‘automatic pilot’ and do not notice little variations that are the result of homeostatic regulations. We are only voluntarily controlling our breathing  when taking deep breaths, speaking or holding a breath. Breathing rate increase slightly when metabolism produces extra carbon dioxide until this surplus is ‘blown off’ in expiration. Also a period of forced ventilation will decrease the carbon dioxide levels in the body and homeostatic mechanisms will slow or stop breathing until levels return to normal. A period of forced ventilation can be for example gasping.(Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) Internal receptors relay nervous impulses to the brain about the status of ventilation from the degree of stretch of muscles and other tissues when they function as stretch receptors in muscles and tissues. Changes in chemical stimuli are detected by chemoreceptors and they supply the brain with the information. There are to chemoreceptors; the central and peripheral. The central chemoreceptors are located in the medulla of the brain and monitors H+ ion concentration. When H+ ion concentration is increased it causes increase in ventilation rate. Peripheral chemoreceptor’s increas e ventilation when oxygen levels decrease. Peripheral monitors changes in oxygen. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The respiratory system has a dual autonomic supply. The sympathetic causes the bronchial muscle to relax and the parasympathetic causes the bronchial muscle to contract. This causes narrowing in bronchi. Vagus means ‘a wanderer’ and the vagus nerves is so called because it wanders all over, supplying internal organs. Sympathetic nerves emerge from the places where nerves interconnect, to run to the bronchi, these places are called a chain of ganglia.(Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The upper part of the brain is called cerebral cortex; this part of the brain is responsible for voluntary control of breathing. The respiratory centre, also called the involuntary centre is found in the medulla and the pons. Each centre receives information of internal receptors about the state of ventilation. The respiratory pacemaker and the respiratory centre are similar to each other. The inspiratory and expiratory centres are two groups of nerve cells. If one is active the other one is inhibited. The inspiratory centre is actively sending nerve impulses to the nerve to the diaphragm, the phrenic nerve, and the thoracic nerves are sending impulses to the intercostal muscles which cause contraction and the contraction results in inspiration. Inspiration stops when the stretch receptors send bursts of impulses to the inspiratory centre. These bursts of impulses indicate that the chest and lungs are fully  expanded, and the flow of impulses subsides, releasing the expiratory centre from inhibition. The expiratory centre then sends nerve impulses to the respiratory muscles which causes relaxation and expiration. The information that comes from the other internal receptors, for instance the chemoreceptors (which effects the homeostatic regulation) monitors and modifies the cycle. The body predicts the changes before an individual starts the exercise, this is because the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated. Also adrenaline is released to rise cardiac output and stroke volume. When arterioles become narrow the blood pressure increases, whereas the arterioles in the muscle relax. The extra oxygen that is needed is received by an increase in blood flow and ventilation rate. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The only animals that can survive in tropical and polar regions of the earth are human beings. This is because the efficient thermos-regulatory homeostatic processes and the use of intelligence (for shelter and clothing), which mean that body temperature changes only slightly. The importance is to keep all the organs and cells at a normal temperature while allowing the periphery to adapt to changing conditions of external temperature. When body temperature is too low the water component of the body will freeze and when body temperature is too high, enzymes and body proteins will be altered or denatured (form will alter). It wouldn’t be possible to live in these conditions therefore homeostatic regulation of body temperature is vital. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The skin plays an important role in regulation of body temperature. It covers the external surface of the body and it actually is the largest organ. The skin, protects the underlying tissues against friction damage, waterproofs the body, protects against ultra-violet radiation, protects deeper structures from invasion by micro-organisms, relays nerve impulses generated from the specialised skin sensory receptors for heat, cold, touch, pain and pressure, therefore informing the brain of changes in the environment and the skin synthesises vitamin D from sunlight acting on the adipose layer. When cells are shed from the surface layers, new cells will form to replace them and this happens continuously. The skin is an important part of our in-built or innate immunity. The skin forms a waterproof layer and a microbe-proof covering. The skin has a major role in the homeostatic regulation of body temperature and is considered to be part of our nervous system; this is  because of his sensitivity. Throughout the body the thickness of the skin will differ, for instance over the eyelids and lips and on the soles of the feet. The skin is divided into an outer thinner layer and a deeper layer. The outer thinner layer is called the epidermis and the deeper layer is called the dermis. The deeper layer covers adipose, areolar, striated muscle and some cartilage and bone. Hair follicles run down into the dermis and produce hairs made of keratin. Sebaceous glands that coat the surface in hairy parts are attached to the hairs that are made of keratin. The epidermis gets penetrated by sweat ducts as they emerge from the actual sweat gland in the dermis. The dermis is connective tissue, most likely areolar in which blood vessels, nerves, sweat glands, elastic and collagen fibres intermingle. In the basal layer we can find co llections of pigment cells, also known as melanocytes and they produce skin colour. Specialised receptors for temperature changes, pain, touch and pressure are formed by nerve endings. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The metabolic processes that take place in the body generate heat. Energy is released during chemical reaction for muscle contraction but some of this energy is released as heat. The body gains some heat from hot foods and drinks and sometimes from the sun’s rays. Most heat is gained of chemical reactions that take place in the liver, the liver is a massive generator of heat but it doesn’t feel hot because the blood distributes this heat around the body.(Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The receptor for heat temperature and cold temperature can be found in the peripheral skin and around the internal organs. These receptors are specially adapted cells with nerve fibres that run up the spinal cord to the temperature control centre in the hypothalamus of the brain. Nerve impulses get send by the hypothalamus to muscles, sweat glands and skin blood vessels. This causes changes that counteract the external changes. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) The parasympathetic nervous system helps the unstriated muscle coats of the skin arterioles to relax, but has no significant role in thermo-regulation. The sympathetic nervous system’s function is to control sweat glands and the calibre of the arterioles. While thermoreceptors tell the hypothalamus in the brain that the temperature is rising, arterioles are expanded to let extra heat reach the surface of the skin and sweat glands get activated by the sympathetic nerves at the same time. When arterioles expand it will increase heat loss by radiation and  disappearance of sweat. When the essential temperature is decreasing (cooling down), the sympathetic is active causing contraction of the arterioles but there is no sweat ‘‘it’s turned off’’. This makes the skin c older to touch and reduces heat loss and therefore it preserves the essential temperature. Essential temperature dominates the peripheral skin thermoreceptors when conflicting information is received is the reason of the colder skin and reduced heat loss. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) An increase in glucose will stimulate the production of the hormone insulin from the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Glucose is produced by digestive enzymes when carbohydrates are broken down. The functions of insulin are to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood and to increase the passage of glucose into actively respiring body cells by active absorption. Very little glucose is able to pass through cell membranes without insulin expect of liver cells, and so the plasma level of glucose rises. Individuals who have diabetes mellitus, which is caused by a lack of insulin, that are not treated will have high plasma glucose levels and this can lead to other biochemical disturbances. Glucose hardly varies at all in healthy people this is because the liver ce lls that are controlled by insulin convert glucose into liver glycogen for storage. Another hormone, glucagon, from the alpha cells in the islets of Langerhans, is secreted when blood glucose starts to fall as a result of fasting or being used up by respiring cells. The secreted hormone converts liver glycogen back into glucose for release into the bloodstream. These two hormones control the amount of glucose in the blood plasma by negative feedback mechanisms and they both have receptors attached to their islet cells to recognize increase and decrease in plasma glucose levels. Also the conversion of glucose into fat is promoted by insulin and insulin delays the conversion of amino acids into energy. It is important to identify the role of another hormone, adrenaline, in the homeostasis of glucose. Adrenal glands release adrenaline when the sympathetic nervous system is active under stressful conditions, adrenaline acts aggressively to insulin and it dominates it, to adapt glycogen in the liver to glucose. This provides energy for muscles to become active under emergency conditions. After the emergency, insulin will once more become active and store any surplus as before. (Aldworth and Billingham, 2010) In conclusion, the concept of homeostasis is explained and  the probable homeostatic responses to changes in the internal environment during exercise are discussed. In this assignment I will be explaining why homeostasis occurs during exercise and how the body responses to homeostasis during exercise. There are two types of exercise; aerobic and anaerobic. Anaerobic exercise builds muscle, power and strength. When you do anaerobic exercise, your muscles are exercising at high intensity in a short time. This short time is usually not more than about two minutes. Aerobic exercise is done at moderate level of intensity for longer periods (at least 20 minutes). Aerobic is to improve the body’s consumption of oxygen and involves mainly the large muscle groups. Homeostasis is the process by which the internal environment of the body relatively stable even with changes in the external environment. Homeostasis makes it able for the body to adapt to several conditions, for example an average human body temperature is 37 degrees. This varies slightly from individual to individual. When the temperature outside decreases your body will maintain the same temperature. This proves your body has the ability to regulate its own temperature. This is not only with body temperature but there are many other ways in which your body regulates itself, particularly during exercise.In order to maintain its normal state the body must account for and adjust functions inside the body, whenever your body feels a change on the outside. Most of the time people sweat without even thinking of why your body is suddenly dripping in moisture. During exercise, there will be a wide range of effects on the systems within the body. Each system strives to help create enough e nergy to continue exercising, also to help the body recover after exercise. This use of energy has several effects on the body’s homeostasis including increased heart rate, breathing rate and sweat rate.(wiseGEEK, 2015) Homeostasis and exercise must work together within the human body to ensure that the pulmonary, heart and muscle system function properly. Two common forms of exercise are; lifting weights or jogging down the street, these two exercises produce a stress or strain on the body. During movements of the exercise the muscles must react fast, while blood flow and oxygen levels must be redirected to compensate for the extra energy use. If an individual is jogging his breathing rate has to be higher than a person who is resting. If the individual has a lack of oxygen to any vital body system it will result in cellular damage, or injury. The extra oxygen that enters the  jogger’s lungs, which comes through the pulmonary system, helps to return balance to the body. Homeostasis refers to the human body’s balance among all vital li fe systems. When oxygen intake increases, the muscles will produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Adenosine triphosphate is needed for continued muscular movement. The heart is the main muscle that is affected by exercise and homeostasis. During exercise the heart must beat quicker to move oxygen-rich blood out to the skeletal muscles for motion. When the individual slows the exercise, the heart will respond to the change in homeostasis by reducing the pumping action. Until the individual is at rest, the body will continue to change its functions to maintain homeostasis.(wiseGEEK, 2015) The cardiovascular system has chemoreceptors which are located in two places; in the carotid arteries that run through the neck to the brain and in the aortic arch, which is an arterial feature near the heart. Some of the most essential chemoreceptors notice carbon dioxide. When the chemoreceptors sense high levels of carbon dioxide during exercise, the breathing rate and heart rate is going to increase to remove the waste product from the blood. The chemoreceptors work with the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system, since the cardiovascular system ge ts carbon dioxide to the lungs for elimination and the lungs need to work harder to exhale the carbon dioxide. During exercise the blood flow supply routes change within the body. To enhance oxygen supply to the muscle cells, the stress placed across the muscular system requires more blood than normal. The body switches blood normally directed toward digestion or nervous system activities to the skeletal muscles, in response to the exercise and homeostasis requirements. Removing the stress on the muscles will result that the blood flow returns to its normal routes to achieve a resting homeostasis. In relation to exercise and homeostasis, body temperature is an important consideration. During exercise your body’s system for regulating works quicker and harder. Heat production by the body can cause your internal temperature to rise up to as high as 40 Í ¦C. This can possibly lead to fatal complications. Homeostasis occurs during exercise by allowing the body to sweat. Homeostasis occurs by allowing the body to sweat. The lossof sweat from the skin cools the body down, which results in overall temperature balance to allow continued exercise without overheating. During exercise your metabolic rate increases. Heat is produced during  metabolism. An increase in metabolic rate also increases heat production. The change in body temperature during exercise is produced by the action of large muscle groups contracting. The more heat that is produced means the higher the temperature during exercise. Muscles that have enough energy store fat for a short burst of activity, after thisthey rely on increased blood supply to deliver oxygen, blood sugar and other nutrients to produce more energy. The human body burns the sugar in the blood and calls for the liver to supply stored glucose to keep up with energy demands, which causes variation in the blood sugar when exercising. Your muscles start c alling for nutrients, as you warm up, to produce energy. Energy supplies are; glucose that is carried in the blood and delivered to the muscles and free fatty acids, which is a type of lipid that is carried in the blood that provides energy when glucose is decreased. Using energy during exercise assists in balancing high blood sugar and provides fuel at the same time. Energy supply increases at the same time as blood flow to the muscles increases. The muscle cells refer signals to start burning glucose, and more of it is delivered to the cells which lower the blood sugar levels. During exercise the amount of oxygen available in the bloodstream increases, but the body must get rid of carbon dioxide from the blood at the same rate. When the body cells make energy, carbon dioxide is produced as a waste product. The carbon dioxide goes back into the bloodstream and from there it will flow through the veins back to the lungs where the carbon dioxide will be exhaled out of the body. Your breathing rate must continue to stay at a high level, to maintain balance. Now the lungs can expel the extra carbon dioxide being produced by the muscle cells during exercise. When the individual stops exercising and the cells turn back to normal energy needs, there wi ll be less carbon dioxide that is created. This allows the breathing rate to return to normal. In this assignment I’m going to explain the importance of homeostatic within the body. Homeostasis is the control of internal situations: it maintains a constant internal environment by negative feedback. The human cells live and function in a certain temperature which means that they depend on the body environment. The body environment is kept under control by homeostasis and it keeps the condition accurate for cells to function and live. If the cells don’t get the accurate condition they won’t be able to function properly. Certain process such as osmosis and  enzymes will not function correctly. Homeostasis maintains the body’s water and salt balance, if the water and salt balance are in a good condition it will maintain the process of diffusion and osmosis. Diffusion and osmosis is the transport of chemicals such as; oxygen, carbon dioxide and dissolved food .The living cells depend on the movement of these chemicals around the body. The cells in our body are kept alive by chemical reactions; the chemical reactions make the cells do their job. Enzymes speed the chemical reactions up which keep the cell alive and also enzymes ensure that the job is done. Homeostasis is responsible for maintaining a constant body temperature and enzymes work best at particular temperatures which is maintained by homeostasis, therefore homeostasis is very important to cells. (Bbc.co.uk, 2015) Negative feedback makes sure that, in any control system, changes are reserved and returned back to normal state, for instance; keeping a constant body temperature even in a hot or cold environment. Shivering is a reflex which is controlled by the nervous system. Without homeostasis the human body would not be able to function in hot or cold temperature. Shivering is a way to warm the body up, because it generates heat. If an individual is cold, homeostasis occurs and sends signals to the body which causes the reflex of shivering. Sweating is the opposite of shivering. If the body has an absence of sweating, which is also defined as hyperhidrosis, it can affect small and large areas within the body. Sweat is important for the human body because it keeps the human body cool, gets rid of excess body heat and protect from overheating. If an individual is not able to sweat it can be very dangerous, that’s why it is important to maintain homeostasis. Not sweating in whenever the body is hot can lead to serious damages and injuries, such as coma and death. It is important that the human body has homeostasis, because a failure in maintaining homeostasis can lead to death or diseases. For example heart failure can occur when negative feedback mechanisms become overwhelmed and unhelpful positive feedback mechanisms take over. Diseases that can occur from a failure in maintaining homeostasis are; diabetes, dehydration, hypoglycaemia, gout and any other diseases that are caused when toxin gets into the bloodstream. (wiseGEEK, 2015) A failure in maintaining energy balance can result in obesity and diabetes. Obesity is caused when a person overeats. The stomach releases a hormone whic h is called hormone ghrelin. This hormone goes to the  brain and increases a person’s appetite. The answer will come from another hormone which is named Leptin; this hormone is produced by cells in the fat tissue. Leptin goes to the brain and encourages a sense of satiety, or fullness. If the brain refuses to respond to ghrelin, an individual will keep feeling hungry. If the brain refuses to respond to the hormone Leptin, an individual will never be happy from a meal. Therefore a person will keep on eating and a person may overeat and this causes obesity. Homeostasis maintains energy balance. Without homeostasis an individual would overeat. (Biology-online.org, 2015) Homeostasis is also important in fighting viruses inside the body. For example if someone in your environment spread flu when he/she sneezed, your body will be affected. The body needs to fight off the entering virus, which likes living at normal body temperature. At 37á µâ€™ C the virus is able to breed and reproduce/multiply well, this will make the individual more prone to the illness as there is more bacteria to spread it. Although the body wants to maintain homeostasis and a normal temperature, but it would result that the v irus takes over your entire body. Therefore the body temperature rises above the normal range. When the body temperature rises it makes the body an uncomfortable place to live for the virus. In hotter temperature, the virus will slow down and you immune system will be able to attack the virus. Therefore homeostasis is very important, it helps fighting illnesses. If homeostasis would be disrupted an individual would become sick. A failure in homeostasis can result in dehydration. Maintaining water balance is important for good functioning of nerves. The kidney can detect blood pressure and the brain can detect the amount of water in the blood. The brain makes the body ‘thirsty’ when water levels in the body are low, while sending signals to the kidneys to retain more water. Dehydration occurs when there is too little water and it can cause kidney damage, heat cramps, shock, and coma and organ failure. However, when an individual drinks too much water, it can cause hyper hydration. Hyper hydration can lead to weakness, confusion, seizures and irritation. The human body’s weight is more than the half percentage of water. Homeostasis maintains the correct balance of water. (Balance, 2015) Homeostasis has a survival value, because it allows the human body to adapt in a changing environment. It deals with the temperature difference that a human faces when they step out their front door. The body will try to maintain a norm, the desired level of  a factor to achieve homeostasis. But it can only work within acceptable limits. In extreme condition the negative feedback mechanism can be disabled. In these circumstances, death can be caused unless there is medical treatment. (Biology-online.org, 2015) References Aldworth, C. and Billingham, M. (2010).Health social care. Harlow: Pearson. Balance, H. (2015). How Homeostasis Keeps Your System in Balance For Dummies. [online] Dummies.com. Available at: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-homeostasis-keeps-your-system-in-balance.html [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. Bbc.co.uk, (2015).BBC GCSE Bitesize: Why is homeostasis important for cells?. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_pre_2011/homeostasis/importancerev1.shtml [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. Biology-online.org, (2015).Physiological Homeostasis Biology Online. [online] Available at: http://www.biology-online.org/4/1_physiological_homeostasis.htm [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. Biologyreference.com, (2015).Homeostasis Biology Encyclopedia cells, body, examples, function, human, process, system, organisms, blood. [online] Available at: http://www.biologyreference.com/Ho-La/Homeostasis.html [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. LIVESTRONG.COM, (2011).The Effects of Exer cise on the Baroreceptor Reflex | LIVESTRONG.COM. [online] Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/484396-the-effects-of-exercise-on-the-baroreceptor-reflex/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. Metabolism-metabolic-rate.com, (2015).Details about catabolism and anabolism Metabolism Metabolic Rate. [online] Available at: http://metabolism-metabolic-rate.com/details-about-catabolism-and-anabolism/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. The Classroom | Synonym, (2015).Homeostasis. [online] Available at: http://classroom.synonym.com/rad-results.html?google_kw=Homeostasiscategory=subcategory=School+Subjectsmedia_type=Articlechannel=4449597176google_rt=ChBU8E7IAA3SXQrbO4SvAEfHEgtIb21lb3N0YXNpcxoIltKWAN_kRPQoAVITCOvqm_H8gcQCFQth2wodoyQAXggoogle_page_url=http%3A%2F%2Fclassroom.synonym.com%2Fhomeostasis-fails-19395.html [Accessed 27 Feb. 2015]. wiseGEEK, (2015). wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions. [online] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Managing Change In Mcdonalds Company Management Essay

Managing Change In Mcdonalds Company Management Essay All organisations that wish to stay in the industry for a large amount of time all have to undergo change in different forms to stay in touch with and to cater to the always changing needs and wants of customers. Some very big examples are the constant promotional burgers that are present at different fast food restaurants such as in McDonalds introducing the Great tastes of America promotion, or Gillette bringing new shaving cream ranges and shaving blades. This constant change is to bring a new product to the market such that it will boost sales. In this report I will discuss different types of change and the background to change such as environmental turbulence and formal versus informal organisations. I will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the bureaucratic organisation and compare alternative forms of development in their different life cycles. In the second section of the report I will Identify and discuss the stakeholder analysis, develop and analyze approaches for involving appropriate stakeholders in change with the help of tools and systems such as multiple cause diagrams, functional and divisional structure, team development and cultural web. In the final section I will draw up a realistic plan for the realization of change models and their outcomes such as business process re-engineering, learning organisations, Kotters eight stage model which will be most helpful for an effective change of the organisation. I will base my review and analysis on the business of McDonalds and will refer to it regularly. My main analysis will be of a chain of franchises owned by Mr. T Eagle. Background to Change It is very important as mentioned in the introduction for an organisation to regularly introduce change in either management or in the structures and process of the business. This is because of constantly changing environment the business finds itself in. In these times of recession it is important for business to find ways to minimise costs and overheads as much as possible and thus large managerial changes have taken place to remove staff and increase the duties of existing staff as the duties of a few are delegated over a large number or people. This brings us on to the area of environmental turbulence. Environmental turbulence refers to the amount of change and complexity in the environment of a company. [Alexander P. and Daniel J. Power. (2004-06).] A significant change in environmental factors can be considered as advances in technology or changes in governmental regulations. As more factors are taken in to consideration, the level of environmental turbulence increases. For a chain of McDonalds restaurants, current environmental factors are economic recession, the increasing price of fuel prices and the increase in the government taxation policies. The economic recession means that people are spending less as the media has created a fear of a lack of money and therefore people will either eat at McDonalds as it is a choice of choosing the cheaper option or choose to cook at home. To tackle this, a change in the pricing of the food is necessary, and to encourage people to come to McDonalds by portraying an image that it is affordable. Due to increasing fuel prices, the cost of deliveries will increase steeply as will the cost of electricity, thus the overhead costs will increase and therefore a change is needed to tackle this problem. Finally due to the government debt constantly increasing, the only method of acquiring money will be to increase taxation which will affect larger businesses more than it would as compared to individuals and small busin esses. Ongoing change is also necessary to ensure that the strategy fits the structure of the organisation. There are many different types of structures that an organisation can adopt and the strategy that is employed must cohere with the structure to optimise the resources available, which if not the case can lead to underutilization and inefficiency. A formal organisation has advantages such that in a midlife or mature organisation, it helps to keep track and to have a log of actions and reactions. As there are many people, especially in a mature organisation, it is possible to have two individuals who do not converse such as the frontline staff in McDonalds and the regional manager, however in a formal organisation it is easier for the regional manager to see the efficiency of the crew member by checking his or her punctuality, length of breaks, and contribution from comments made by the observations from floor and shift managers. When it comes to changing the organisation it is possible to see who is a better asset in a position where they can be utilised more effectively as compared to someone who is not. An informal organisation is easier to change as it is based on implicit understanding on social norms, and therefore there can be a change in the organisation which can be discussed and put into action immediately unlike that in a formal organisation where everything must be passed down a chain of command which may take time which may prove to be inefficient. However an informal organisation tends to be at the birth or the youth of the business where there are a few people involved in the organisation and harder to imitate in a larger organisation. Bureaucracy is a form of authority using structures and sets of regulations in place to control activity. [Lecture notes, organisational theories]The advantages of a bureaucracy are that the tasks are pre-defined and coordinated such that if a change is brought in it will be easier to implement as it will be pre-defined and the new manager in charge will have to optimise carrying out the task. Also due to its precision, speed and un-ambiguity, it is easier to bring about change as it separates production and decision making such that a change in the middle management or even the upper management will not impact too much on the frontline team. However the disadvantages of a bureaucracy are that is discourages individual growth and initiative as all decisions pre-determined and therefore if a change is brought about in the organisation, each individual must undergo training to their new position and therefore it will increase the overhead costs. There is also a risk of goal displacement taking place which is an inbuilt tendency to focus on means and not ends. [Lecture notes, organisational theories]. This may lead to problems if changes in the organisation take place as it means that Tuckmans Team Development Model From Tuckmans Team development model [Lecture notes, stages of team development], the different stages of development are: Forming Storming Norming Performing Forming This is in the beginning stages of the life cycle and is where people are not committed to the team, there is not much trust and the individuals are not clear what they are supposed to do. To progress to the next step of storming, the group must set a mission and goals, establish roles and must build up a trust between figures. This is where each individual needs to decide if they wish to be a fully committed part of the team. Storming At this stage the roles and responsibilities are articulated and agendas are displayed, however problem solving does not work well and people want to modify the teams mission. Competition is high and people are pushing for position and power. Due to this there is little team spirit and anxiety abounds. To advance from the storming stage to the Norming stage, leader must ask for and expect results, as well as actively support and reinforce team behaviour. The team must buy into objectives and activities and must request and accept feedback. Norming At this stage, success occurs and the team has all resources for doing the job. Appreciation and trust build along with the fact that purposes are well defined. The members self-reinforce team norms and the team is creative. The team gains commitment from all members on direction and goal. To advance from the Norming stage to the performing stage, the team must praise and flatter each other, communicate all the time and share rewards. Commit time to team and delegate freely within the team. The team must also be selective of new member and train to maintain the team spirit. Performing This is the final stage in the team development and it is where members feel very motivated and individual defer to team needs. The team is very efficient and there is little waste and there is a high empathy, trust, openness and support. Individuals take pleasure in the success of the team and there is a big win. System Development The stakeholder analysis is present to address the issue of who is affected by the business and to win their support. When carrying out a stakeholder analysis it is important to identify the stakeholder groups; are they large or small; and how to win their support to carry out the tasks that a business or organisation wishes to carry out. By identifying the most powerful stakeholder groups you can shape your strategy in such a way which will allow you to gain their support. Stakeholder groups can be very large such as customers and employees or very small such as the chief executive or an important investor. Each stakeholder may have a different power which can be generally divided into four different areas; Position power Resource power Personal powers Expert powers Gaining support from powerful resources you can gain more resources allowing working more efficiently. Also involving stakeholders in change of the organisation is also beneficial as if you let them know your ideas and your plans early and they agree to the strategy, there is a likely chance that they will actively support you as they will understand the benefits of the change. It will also allow you to anticipate their reaction and allow you to make adjustments to your current plan of action to ensure that you win their support. [MindTool. (1995).] Targets not agreed and vague Low job satisfaction Staff employed on minimum wage Targets not communicated down the chain of command accurately Store targets not met Crew Members too friendly with the manager Store manager present for too long Not many chances of promotion for staff Store manager cannot discipline crew members as they have built a relationship Too many staff arriving late as no fear of manager Poor effort from crew members and middle-management Increase staff turnover and so increased training costs Low sales and poor service from staff From the Multiple cause diagram it can be observed that the problem here lies in the fact that the manager of the store has been present too long and therefore a change in the store manager will bring about an increased efficiency in the work force. Performance reviews will allow the store manager to make decisions on which employees to promote or give a pay rise to as it will encourage those employees to stay. Also the store manager should make clear the targets for all shift managers and floor managers such that they can also pass these targets on clearly, and so the targets of the business owners are met by all staff at every level. Thus the appropriate stake holders that would be involved are the floor managers and the crew. As they will have to respond positively to the change in the management, and thus the owner of the franchised McDonalds must address and communicate with all levels of staff and ensure that they understand why the change has been made as a majority of staff may be bitter to see the store manager leave. Other stake holders may include the technicians and engineers who have built a relationship with the previous store manager, and to encourage them to continue to work appropriately. The resources will be unchanged regardless of the change in store manager, and thus they will not be a major stake holder that will be approached prior the change. Implementation The current system of McDonalds is based on a regulated set of relationships, and the upper management in this situation are content with current targets and therefore will not strive to increase sales or address areas where work is needed. Interacting between the kitchen crew members and the front of house crew members is strained and the kitchen crew members feel underappreciated and cannot ask anyone for help and therefore there is a current lack of commitment to the business. Also there is no structure in the management of the McDonalds in question and therefore there are certain managers which will run around taking orders from crew members and other managers who will only shout if it is to get busy and take a very backseat role, leaving crew members unaided in times of need. EEmploy a Regional Manager which will look after the stores in one area to analyse where the problem lies in each store separately and to see how it can be improved. Analyse the strength of managers to see if their qualities can be utilised better in a different store. CChange the store managers around such that they will be managing another store in the chain. If there is a store manager that has proved to under achieve constantly then address the issue and either send them to a popular store or closer to the CEO office such that the problems the manager has can be observed. CCarry out regular crew development programs such that aspiring managers from the current crew can be noted and trained. Altering and changing relationships can only occur when there is a change in the management of the business to such an extent that current power figures are still seen as present powers, however even they should feel they are not free in the sense that they do not have to perform. Thus changing the store manager in this situation and allowing a regional manager to help control all of the franchises will help the CEO to keep a better eye on the restaurant. As the store manager has no relationship with the current team of staff, he will remain faithful to the CEO. Thus as the CEO has a divisional structure over his restaurants, he can change managers around between stores and therefore, they remain loyal and trustworthy to the CEO, which will mean there is a larger team that works hard for the CEO which he can rely on to boost sales. Also this will change the flow of information and allow the CEO who is also the owner of the franchise to gain the information of performances from staff from several different sources and therefore will be able to assess the management situation between his stores regularly. Thus it will allow the stores to be organised around outcomes and not around the tasks that are carried out. Also if parallel activities such as kitchen crew and front counter crew members are trained to carry out both tasks, it will allow the integration of results such that a larger understanding of the difficulties that either side experience. This re-organisation will allow the geographically dispersed resources to be treated as centralised and will allow the CEO to take decisions for his chain of franchises as a whole and individually much more clearly and faster, thus optimising results and in essence his profit. Kotters Eight Stage Process [http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm] Create a sense of urgency A sense of urgency needs to be created inside the organisation. This is the first and most crucial step. The shift managers, the floor managers and even the long term crew members must want a change in the restaurant. Honest discussions must be made about which managers the crew and other managers feel comfortable working with and where is there a need to change the managers and if so how. Support must be requested by the regional manager to start the process for change. Creating a guiding coalition The leaders in the organisation must be identified in each store and these key people must be committed to the regional manager and support the change. Team building for change coalition is compulsory, and as with all great teams, there must be a range of different backgrounds and skills that each individual will bring to this team. Develop a vision and strategy Create a strategy for central values and vision and make sure that the coalition knows the change vision and believes in the vision such that they all believe that it can be achieved. The values are central for change and for the future of the organisation. Communicating the change vision The vision needs to be talked about often and it must be applied to all operations in the McDonalds stores and in the chain of command. The concerns and anxieties of each individual must be addressed and dealt with in the best and the most appropriate method possible. The change must be lead by example. Remove obstacles Identify or hire managers whose main role is to deliver the change. Reward and praise those who ensure that change is taking place and inversely identify those who are obstructing the change and either help them see what is needed or remove the barriers quickly. Generating short-term wins Create short term targets such as 100% scores on the gap buster, or improve sales on each day from last year, where there is little room for failure. After every win analyse what went right and where improvements can be made. Ensure that every win is rewarded. Anchor new approaches in the culture Talk of change success stories and in support of companys leaders. Include the change ideals when hiring or training staff, and ensure that key members of the coalition are recognised and their contributions are remembered. Finally creating plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on will help ensure that their legacy is not forgotten. Conclusion In conclusion, all organisations that wish to stay in the industry for a large amount of time all have to undergo change in different forms to stay in touch with and to cater to the always changing needs and wants of customers as I stated in my introduction. In my opinion, and using the evidence stated in this report, it will be most effective to improve results and to gain a larger profit to bring about a change in the business as it will increase efficiency and encourage greater team morale of all the employees. If the steps for bringing about change in the implementation are employed then ongoing change can be sustained if Kotters eight stage process is utilised.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Political Institutions and Economic Volatility

Political Institutions and Economic Volatility Most of the existing literature about political institutions and economic volatility focus on developed countries or countries including both developed countries (e.g., Denizer et al., 2002; Mobarak, 2005; Debrun et al., 2008; Klomp and Haan, 2009; Perira and Vladimir, 2011). These papers always examine the impact of political institutions on economic volatility from one or two aspects, seldom do they analyze this relationship in a more broad way. The existing papers study the relationship between political institutions and economic volatility from different dimensions. Many of these studies provided empirical evidence that democratic political institutions generate less volatile growth. The paper written by Rodrik (1997) shows democratic countries are less volatile than nondemocratic regimes. This opinion is supported by a number of studies. Mobarak (2005), Quinn and Woolley (1996, 2001), Klomp and de Haan (2009) and Cavallo and Cavallo (2010) report a strong negative correlation between democracy and economic volatility, strengthening democratic institutions can eliminate the negative effects of financial crisis and decrease output volatility. Democratic institutions may reduce macroeconomic volatility in several ways. First, a democratic institution which highly respects individual interest will implement policy to keep countries’ stability, since most of people prefer a stable environment. Politicians in democratic political institutions have the opportunity of future replacement. The future replacement of these politicians will be affected by median voter who would prefer a more stable economy. To get the support of these voters, politicians in democratic institutions always avoid policies with high risk (Black 1948; Downs, 1957). Second, democratic political institutions decentralize political power, which keep policy’s stability and decrease its variance. In Partha and Malik’s (2010) view, the degree of democracy in a country is determined by the proportion of the population who are in the process of political decision making. In a perfect democracy each individual has right to give their opinion in the political process and political institutions will not only represent a particular group’s interest. They also find a high correlation between disparity in political regimes across countries and differences in volatility. Thus, the decentralization of political power inherent to democratic political systems can effectively reduce the policy uncertainty which will lead to smaller economic volatility. This paper is closely related to cross-country empirical studies that examine the link between political governance –related variables and economic growth volatility. Acemoglu et al. (2003) think that a society where elites and politicians are effectively constrained will experience less infighting between various political groups to take control of the state and to pursue more sustainable policies. In their opinion, if a country has less executive constraints, politicians and elites will find various ways of getting greater political power to increase their own interest. This type of infighting between different political groups for the political power will increase political and economic turbulence. There are several papers argue that executive constraints can reduce economic growth volatility due to their decentralization function. Henisz (2000) shows that there is positive relationship between the number of politicians with independent veto power over policy changes and the possibility of large shifts in policies which may increase the economic volatility. Nooruddin (2003) suggests that effective constraints on politicians and elites, for example independence of the executive from the legislature, minority parliamentary government, and coalition government, can significantly reduce the economic growth volatility. It has been shown that the ability of governments to handle economic crisis depends on the quality of institutions (Rodrik (2000); Arin et al. (2011)). Cariolle (2014) says one important reason of the occurrence of 2008 worldwide financial crisis is poor transparency and lack of accountability mechanisms in private and public fund management. The occurrence and consequences of this crisis can be seen an illustration of the complex link between governance quality and output fluctuations. As an important part of institution quality and a variable of the World Governance Index, corruption has been discussed in some papers which examine its effect on economic volatility. Corruption can be viewed holistically as an institutional arrangement arising from the lack of inappropriateness, or ineffectiveness of formal institutions (Andvig, 2006; Williamson, 2009). Evrensel (2010) analyzes the corruption-growth volatility relationship and find that high corruption increase economic volatility. Attiya et al. (2011) argued that high corruption and low institutional quality lead to more fluctuations in the budget deficit which may increase the level and volatility of inflation. Another dimension of political institutions that some research analysis is the stability of the regime. Rodrik(1999) shows that external conflicts make economic growth more volatile. In addition, Asteriou and Price (2001) conclude that there is a strong positive relationship between political instability, measured by various political violence indicators, and macroeconomic volatility. Klomp and Haan (2009) use a four-factor model which includes â€Å"aggression†, â€Å"protest†, â€Å"regime instability† and â€Å"government instability† measure the political instability. Their results show that all four factors of political instability are positively related to growth volatility, but only regime instability and government instability have a significant effect. There are several reasons why political instability may affect economic volatility. Violent challenges may increase economic volatility because they damage or destroy physical capital, divert resources from economically productive activities and discourages such activities by the uncertainty they generate (Jong-A-Pin 2009). Ari and Francisco (2006) say that countries with political instability are often sensitive to political shocks, resulting in discontinuous monetary and fiscal policies and higher inflation volatility. From the studies discussed above, I can see that most of them study the relationship between political institutions and economic volatility in developed countries and they examine the impact of political institution from one particular aspect. This work tries to fill the gap about the impact of political institutions on economic volatility in developing countries. Compare with previous studies, this thesis analyze the relationship between political institutions and economic volatility in a more broad way by focusing three dimensions of political institutions. This paper also compares the results between different regions. The hypotheses are to see whether democracy, executive constraints are negatively related to economic volatility and corruption, internal conflicts are positively related to economic volatility.