Geographical Information about Romania - 809 Words

Romania is located in the central part of Europe between the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea. Other countries such as Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria surround it. Its location put Romania in direct contact with the Roman Empire from 106 C.E. to 271 C.E. Romania’s folk-like beliefs, arts, and culture was inspired by its interaction with the thriving Romans in the Common Era which help shape present-day Romania. Romania was first colonized by a tribe called the Dacians and later came into contact with the conquering Romans and started thriving under Roman rule (Stanford 1839). Under the Romans, the Dacian tribe incorporated their culture and the Romans culture together and flourished. The Dacian tribe thrived until barbarian tribes forced the emperor to abandon the land in 270 C.E. (Kurian). For 700 years after the region was abandoned, nobody knew what happened there except that Latin-speaking tribes engaged and divided the land (Kurian). 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Financial Market Free Essays

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management Emerald Article: Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of Malaysia Mansor H. Ibrahim Article information: To cite this document: Mansor H. Ibrahim, (2012),†Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of Malaysia†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Market or any similar topic only for you Order Now 5 Iss: 1 pp. 25 – 34 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216802 Downloaded on: 26-09-2012 References: This document contains references to 13 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight. com This document has been downloaded 335 times since 2012. * Users who downloaded this Article also downloaded: * Mohamed Hisham Yahya, Junaina Muhammad, Abdul Razak Abdul Hadi, (2012),†A comparative study on the level of efficiency between Islamic and conventional banking systems in Malaysia†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 48 – 62 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216820 Muhamad Abduh, Mohd Azmi Omar, (2012),†Islamic banking and economic growth: the Indonesian experience†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 35 – 47 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216811 Samy Nathan Garas, (2012),†The control of the Shari’a Supervisory Board in the Islamic financial institutions†, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 5 Iss: 1 pp. 8 – 24 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17538391211216794 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided y ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY OF THAILAND For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www. emeraldinsight. com/authors for more information. About Emerald www. emeraldinsight. com With over forty years’ experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/1753-8394. htm Financial market risk and gold investment in an emerging market: the case of Malaysia Mansor H. Ibrahim Market risk and gold investment 25 Department of Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between gold return and stock market return and whether its relation changes in times of consecutive negative market returns for an emerging market, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies the autoregressive distributed model to link gold returns to stock returns with TGARCH/EGARCH error speci? cation using daily data from August 1, 2001 to March 31, 2010, a total of 2,261 observations. Findings – A signi? cant positive but low correlation is found between gold and once-lagged stock returns. Moreover, consecutive negative market returns do not seem to intensify the co-movement between the gold and stock markets as normally documented among national stock markets in times of ? nancial turbulences. Indeed, there is some evidence that the gold market surges when faced with consecutive market declines. Practical implications – Based on these results, there are potential bene? ts of gold investment during periods of stock market slumps. The ? ndings should prove useful for designing ? ancial investment portfolios. Originality/value – The paper evaluates the role of gold from a domestic perspective, which should be more relevant to domestic investors in guarding against recurring heightened stock market risk. Keywords Malaysia, Emerging markets, Gold, Returns, Investments, Stock markets, Gold investment, Market return, Correlations, Market risk Paper type Research paper Introduction Over the past decades, the global ? nancial markets have witnessed a string of ? nancial crises, among them include the Mexican peso crisis in 1994, the Asian ? nancial ? in 1997/1998, the Russian crisis in 1998, the Brazilian crisis in 1999, the Argentine ? nancial crisis in 2001/2002 and most recently the US subprime crisis in 2007 and the Greece ? nancial crisis in 2009. Mentioning of these crises is likely to conjure up in the mind of many the images of excessive risk in stock market investment and to bring back interest in gold as an alternative investment asset. This interest is well-placed as gold used to be a standard of value, is still considered as a store of value and is universally accepted. Moreover, there seems to be a trong belief that gold can provide protection, as a hedge or a safe haven, against this heightened risk in the ? nancial markets. As noted by Baur and McDermott (2010), gold differs from other assets in that it reacts pos itively to adverse market shocks. As they mention, real gold value reached its historic high roughly in 1980 when the global economy faced the threat of stag? ation due to oil crises in 1970s. Likewise, at the time the US subprime crisis intensi? ed in September 2008, gold has responded with a surge in its value (Baur and McDermott, 2010). International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management Vol. 5 No. 1, 2012 pp. 25-34 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1753-8394 DOI 10. 1108/17538391211216802 IMEFM 5,1 26 Against a backdrop of recurring ? nancial crises and contagion as well as emerging interest in gold, several studies have attempted empirical investigation of gold hedging property. Notable among these studies are recent works by Capie et al. (2005), Hillier et al. (2006), Baur and Lucey (2010) and Baur and McDermott (2010). Capie et al. (2005) investigate an exchange rate hedge of gold using weekly data of gold price and sterling-dollar and yen-dollar exchange rates from January 1971 to February 2004. They ? nd supportive evidence for exchange rate hedging property of gold, although the strength of hedging tends to vary over time. Hillier et al. (2006) assesses the investment role of precious metals, namely gold, platinum and silver for the US market. They note low correlations between these three metals and stock market returns, which suggests diversi? cation bene? ts of gold investment. Baur and Lucey (2010) examines whether gold is a safe haven, i. e. maintaining its value in times of market stress or turmoil, for the US, UK and German markets. They document evidence suggesting the ability of gold to hedge against ? nancial risks and to serve as a safe haven in extreme market conditions for these markets. Most recently, Baur and McDermott (2010) extend the work of Baur and Lucey (2010) to a larger number of markets, which include both major developed and emerging markets. They analyze the relations between gold return and returns of world and emerging market indexes, various regional market indexes, and 13 individual market indexes. Their results demonstrate the ability of gold to provide a hedge and a strong safe haven for European and US markets. Thus, for developed markets, gold provides protection against losses during extreme market conditions. As they explain, investors in these markets sell stocks and buy gold when faced with heightened ? nancial risk. By contrast, the emerging markets seem to lack these properties indicating that investors tend to react differently to adverse shocks in emerging markets. Namely, they shift the composition of their portfolios by selling shares of emerging markets and seeking shelter in the developed markets, which are viewed to be relatively safe. In the present paper, we take lead from these studies and examine the investment role of gold for an emerging Asian market, Malaysia. We attempt to contribute to this line of inquiry in several aspects. First, in Baur and McDermott (2010), the investment role of gold for emerging markets is examined by looking at the relation between gold return and emerging market index return and individual market returns of four largest emerging markets, i. e. Brazil, Russia, India and China. We add to their study by looking at a smaller emerging market. Second, while the present study looks at gold investment from an international perspective, we look at the issue from a domestic perspective. All aforementioned studies employ gold price in US dollar in their analysis. Instead of using the dollar-denominated gold price and converting it into domestic currency unit as in Baur and Lucey (2010), we use domestic gold price instead. While we acknowledge that the Malaysian gold price may have depended on the global gold price, the use of gold price quoted domestically in ringgit screens out potential confounding effect of exchange rate movement and currency onversion. Finally, we bring out a new empirical perspective in evaluating the investment role of gold. Namely, we examine whether gold maintains its value or its relation with market returns when faced with consecutive negative daily returns. We focus on Malaysia due to deep interest in gold shown by Malaysian policymakers and academics in the face of 1997/1998 Asian ? nancial crisis. Tun Mahathir Mohamad, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, voiced interest in this universally accepted asset and proposed the use of gold particularly in international trade settlement The News Strait Times, 2001). A series of international conferences have been organized on the subject of gold and gold Dinar[1], among them include International Conference on Stable and Just Monetary System and International Conference on the Gold Dinar in Multilateral Trade in 2002, International Conference on Gold in International Trade in 2003 and International Conference on Gold Dinar Economy in 2007. In July 2001, Malaysia became the 12th country in the world to have its own gold bullion coins through the launching of the gold bullion coins known as Kijang Emas by the Royal Mint Malaysia. This is followed by the issuance of Royal Mint gold Dinar in 2003 and Kelantan State gold Dinar in 2006. While the introduction of these gold coins is to serve primarily as a store of value or an alternative ? nancial asset for investment, the gold investment performance for the case of Malaysia has hardly received any empirical attention. The availability of daily domestic gold bullion price since 2001 provides us an opportunity to examine the investment role of gold from a domestic market perspective and, at the same time, widens the literature on emerging markets. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. In the next section, we provides the empirical framework used in the analysis. Then, we describes the data and present estimation results. Finally, we conclude with the main ? ndings and some concluding remarks. Empirical framework We specify our empirical model using an autoregressive distributed lag model along the line of Capie et al. (2005). Thus, we have: RG;t ? a ? rRG;t21 ? b1 RS;t ? b2 RS;t21 ? 1t ?1? where RG is the daily return of gold investment and RS is the corresponding return of stock investment. The lagged dependent is included to allow for autocorrelation structure in gold return. Meanwhile, the incorporation of once-lagged stock return is based on our presumption that, in emerging markets, the transmission of information among markets may take time. That is, the changes in stock return may be impounded into the gold return with lag. The total sensitivity of gold return to stock market ? uctuations is based on the sum of stock market coef? cients, i. e. b1 ? b2. If this sum is signi? cantly positive and is far from unity or the model explanatory is close to zero, we may conclude that gold serves as a diversi? cation asset (Hillier et al. , 2006). Meanwhile, if it is not signi? cant or is signi? cantly negative, then gold investment can provide a hedge against ? nancial market risk (Baur and Lucey, 2010; Baur and McDermott, 2010). We refer to equation (1) as our basic model. Based on equation (1), we ask further whether gold return dynamics remain similar under conditions of consecutive negative market returns. To this end, we adapt the framework used by Nam et al. (2005) in their analysis of stock return asymmetry by modifying equation (1) as: RG;t ? a0 ? a1 Nmt ? rRG;t21 ? ?b10 ? b11 Nmt ? ? RS;t ? ?b20 ? b21 Nmt ? ? RS;t21 ? 1t ?2? here Nmt is a dummy variable representing consecutive negative market returns. Five alternative dummies corresponding to days of consecutive negative returns are considered and they are de? ned as: Market risk and gold investment 27 IMEFM 5,1 N0 ? 28 † N1 ? N4 ? † † 1 if RS;t , 0 0 otherwise 1 if RS;t , 0; RS;t21 , 0 0 otherwise ?3? ?4? . . . 1 if RS;t , 0; 0 otherwise RS;t21 , 0; :::; RS;t24 , 0 ?5? Note that we include Nm as both intercept and interactive dummies. The intercept dummy is intended to capture the level effect of m ? 1 consecutive negative market returns, current return and the returns of last m days, on gold return. Meanwhile, the interactive dummy is to capture the changing relations between stock return and gold return under conditions of consecutive negative market returns, the main interest of the paper. In the paper, we denote these models with alternative de? nition of dummies, respectively, as model N0, N1, N2, N3 and N4. In equation (2), the sum b10 ? b20 captures the relation between the two markets under normal market conditions while b10 ? b20 ? b11 ? b21 measures their relation when the stock market experiences m ? 1 days of consecutive negative returns. Accordingly, the signi? cance of b11 and b21 re? cts the changing relations between gold return and market return in times of market downturns. If they are signi? cantly positive, then the gold return tends to move in closer tandem to stock market movement, weakening gold investment role as a diversi? cation asset. However, if they are signi? cantly negative, then gold investment is said to provide at least a hedge against ? nancial losses during market downturns. Finally, if they are insigni? cantly different from 0, the dynamics of gold return tends to resist the slumps in stock prices and preserves its relation to the stock market regardless of the market conditions. We believe that this perspective that we bring provides a nice complementary empirical exercise to the works of Baur and Lucey (2010) and Baur and McDermott (2010) that look at the relations between the two during extreme market conditions. In the implementation of equations (1) and (2), we take note of ample evidence that high-frequency asset returns tend to exhibit leptokurtic property or volatility clustering, the so-called autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) effect. In ? nance literature, various error distributions have been assumed and variance equation speci? cations have been suggested. The error distribution is assumed to be distributed according to either the normal distribution (N), t-distribution (T), or generalized error distribution (G). Among the time-varying variance speci? cations include the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH), threshold ARCH (TARCH), and exponentional GARCH (EGARCH). The latter two allow for asymmetric responses of volatility to positive and negative shocks. To avoid arbitrary model selection, we follow Capie et al. (2005) by basing on the maximum of log likelihood as a selection criterion. We ? nd asymmetric volatility speci? cation (TARCH or EGARCH) to best ? the gold return dynamics and generalized error distribution to best describe the error distribution. The suitability of asymmetric volatility modeling for gold return is in conformity with the behavior of other asset returns (Lobo, 2000; Koutmos and Martin, 2003). Data We employ 2,261 daily observations spanning from August 1, 2001 to March 31, 2010. T he beginning date is dictated by data availability of gold bullion price. The selling prices of one troy ounce domestic gold bullion are used to represent domestic gold prices while the Kuala Lumpur composite index is used to represent aggregate prices of stock market investment. The data on the two prices are sourced, respectively, from Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, and Data Stream International. We compute gold and stock market returns as the ? rst difference of the natural log of respective series. Table I provides descriptive statistics of the two returns. We also plot these series in level and ? rst-differenced forms in Figure 1. Both gold and stock prices experience an upward trend over the sample period. While the daily average gold return is relatively higher than the daily average stock market return (i. e. 0. 6 percent against 0. 03 percent), it is more volatile than the market return as re? ected their respective standard deviations. This is accounted by the more extreme positive values of gold return (0. 1246) than the stock market return (0. 0426). Meanwhile, the extreme negative value of stock market return (2 0. 9997) is only slightly higher than the corresponding value of gold return (2 0. 0782). From the plots, we also note marked reduction of stock market prices around years of the Argentine ? nancial crisis in 2001/2002 and of the US subprime crisis in 2007/2008. While the gold return is positively skewed, the market return demonstrates a negative skewness. Both return series are characterized by excess peakness having kurtosis statistics to be substantially higher than 3. This suggests volatility clustering in the return series, which is apparent in the graphical plots. The Jarge-Bera statistics reported at the bottom of Table I soundly rejects the null of normality for both returns. These characteristics in the data seem to justify the use of GARCH-type models for model speci? cation. As a preliminary analysis, we report the cross-correlations between RG,t and RS,t for up to ? e lags. With the standard error in the order of 0. 021 in absolute value, the correlation of roughly 0. 042 and higher suggests signi? cance correlation between the two returns. We note very low and mostly positive correlations between gold return and contemporaneous and lagged stock returns. Among these correlations, only the DG Mean Median Maximum Minimum SD Skewnes s Kurtosis Jarque-Bera Probability Observations 0. 000305 8. 72 ? 102 5 0. 042587 2 0. 099785 0. 008518 2 0. 999659 15. 06466 14,082. 94 0. 000000 2,260 29 DS 0. 000561 0. 000000 0. 124645 2 0. 078182 0. 011909 0. 092587 12. 8588 8,656. 123 0. 000000 2,260 Market risk and gold investment Table I. Descriptive statistics IMEFM 5,1 8. 4 0. 15 0. 10 8. 0 0. 05 30 7. 6 0. 00 7. 2 6. 8 –0. 05 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 –0. 10 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 08 09 (b) Gold Return (a) Natural Log of Gold Price 7. 4 0. 08 7. 2 0. 04 7. 0 0. 00 6. 8 –0. 04 6. 6 Figure 1. Graphical plots of gold and stock prices and returns –0. 08 6. 4 6. 2 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 –0. 12 (c) Natural Log of Kuala Lumpur Composite Index 02 03 04 05 06 07 (d) Stock Market Return correlation between gold return and once-lagged stock return is signi? ant. Its correlation is positive, suggesting that the gold market tends to follow the stock market with one-day lag. The cross-correlations bet ween gold return and lead stock returns indicate the absence of signi? cation correlations. Accordingly, the gold market does not lead the stock market. This preliminary analysis seems to provide a basis for our one-equation empirical approach with no feedback from gold return to stock return and with the inclusion of once-lagged stock return in the mean equation of gold return. As regards to our main interest, it indicates at best the diversi? ation property of gold investment since its noted positive correlation is far from unity. However, this ? nding is only suggestive and must be subject to a formal analysis, which we turn next (Table II). Estimation results This section conducts a formal analysis of gold return and its relation to stock market return as speci? ed in equations (1) and (2) using GARCH-type models. We experiment with various error distribution assumption and variance speci? cation and choose the one that maximizes the log likelihood. The values of log likelihood functions for alternative models are given in Table III. This log likelihood criterion unequivocally suggests the generalized error distribution of error terms. It also suggests either TARCH or EGARCH speci? cation to best describe variance speci? cation. TARCH speci? cation is chosen for basic model, model N0 and model N1 while EGARCH speci? cation for other models. Note that the differences in the log likelihood values between the two speci? cations are marginal. Estimation of the TARCH (1, 1) model for the basic mean equation yields the following results (numbers in parentheses are p-values): RG;t ? ht ? 0:0004 20:0344RG;t21 20:0111RS;t ?0:016? ?0:046? 0:582? 0:0000014 ?0:008? ?0:07721221 t 31 ?0:0502RS;t21 ?0:014? 20:05351221 I t21 t ?0:000? Market risk and gold investment ?0:003? ?0:9413ht21 ?0:000? N ? 2; 259; GED Parameter ? 1:7025 ? 0:000? ; Log Likelihood ? 7; 168:42 where It ? 1 if 1t , 0 and 0 otherwise. The use of TARCH model implies that previous shocks have asymmetric effects on volatility. Since the coef? cient of 1221 I t21 is negative, t bad news (1t , 0) tends to dampen market volatility. In other words, once-lagged positive news (1t2 1 . 0) exerts a greater impact on gold return volatility than negative news does, which conforms to the ? ding of Capie et al. (2005). Moreover, gold return volatility tends to be highly persistent as suggested by large coef? cient of lagged volatility. Turning to our main theme, we note the signi? cance of only once-lagged stock return. This conforms to the correlation structure observed in the previous section. However, its coef? cient is small, in the order of 0. 05. Thus, a 10 percentage point k RG,t, RS,t-k RG,t, RS,t? k 0 1 2 3 4 5 0. 0032 0. 0579 2 0. 0224 0. 0127 2 0. 0085 0. 0173 0. 0032 0. 0240 0. 0151 0. 0254 0. 0258 2 0. 0167 GARCH Speci? cation Basic N0 N1 N2 N3 N4 GARCH-N GARCH-T GARCH-G TGARCH-N TGARCH-T TGARCH-G EGARCH-N EGARCH-T EGARCH-G 7,035. 569 7,146. 246 7,163. 378 7,046. 186 7,153. 767 7,168. 421 7,026. 377 7,158. 247 7,168. 083 7,035. 893 7,146. 520 7,165. 204 7,046. 458 7,154. 348 7,170. 701 7,026. 710 7,158. 82 7,170. 554 7,036. 291 7,146. 26 7,163. 645 7,046. 785 7,153. 782 7,168. 730 7,027. 169 7,158. 361 7,168. 641 7,034. 568 7,142. 140 7,159. 647 7,045. 231 7,149. 472 7,164. 399 7,031. 521 7,154. 147 7,164. 628 7,031. 221 7,138. 171 7,156. 706 7,043. 397 7,146. 017 7,162. 170 7,030. 436 7,151. 064 7,163. 104 7,030. 379 ,134. 302 7,152. 533 7,042. 447 7,141. 644 7,157. 886 7,031. 285 7,146. 542 7,159. 008 Table II. Estimated cross-correlations Model Table III. Log likelihood of alternative GARCH speci? cations IMEFM 5,1 32 reduction in stock returns is associated the decrease in stock return by 0. 50 percentage point on average and likewise for the stock market increase. Note that the coef? cient of lagged gold return is negativ e. This suggests that the gold return tends to exhibit a reversal pattern and that the long run impact on gold return of stock market variations is even smaller. In order to evaluate the dynamics of gold return during times of consecutive negative market returns, we estimate the chosen GARCH models (Table III) for the consecutive negative returns ranging from one to ? ve days (equation (2)). Results of the estimation are provided in Table IV. Note from the table that there are no changes in the results for the variance equation. Gold return volatility depends mostly on its past volatility and positive shocks tend to propel higher volatility. In the mean equation, we generally observe no level effect of consecutive negative market returns on gold return except for model 3. Similar to the basic model, we note signi? cant positive coef? cient of lagged stock return in all models except one, i. e. model N0. More importantly, there seems to be no changes in the relations between gold and stock returns in times of consecutive negative market returns. The coef? cients of interactive dummies are all indistinguishable from 0 except one, i. e. the N3 model. In the case of N3 model, the investment role of gold is further enhanced. In responses to four consecutive Estimated coef? cients Mean equation a0 a1 r b10 b11 b20 b21 Variance equation u0 u1 u2 u3 N0 (TARCH) 0. 0000 2 0. 0007 2 0. 315 * 0. 0465 2 0. 0602 0. 0352 0. 0254 N1 (TARCH) 0. 0003 2 0. 0004 2 0. 0320 * 2 0. 0054 0. 0263 0. 0545 * * 2 0. 0114 Model N2 (EGARCH) N3 (EGARCH) N4 (EGARCH) 0. 0004 * * 0. 0001 2 0. 0341 * * 2 0. 0093 0. 0110 0. 0474 * * 0. 0150 0. 0004 * * 2 0. 0025 * * 2 0. 0265 2 0. 0034 2 0. 0979 0. 0549 * 2 0. 2243 * * 0. 0004 * * 2 0. 0008 2 0. 0284 * 2 0. 0036 2 0. 0146 0. 0507 * * 2 0. 2640 0. 000001 * * * 0. 000001 * * * 2 0. 1156 * * * 2 0. 1064 * * * 2 0. 1261 * * * 0. 0809 * * * 0. 0776 * * * 0. 0858 * * * 0. 0830 * * * 0. 0923 * * * 2 0. 0575 * * * 2 0. 0539 * * * 0. 0595 * * * 0. 0603 * * * 0. 0592 * * * . 9402 * * * 0. 9410 * * * 0. 9942 * * * 0. 9950 * * * 0. 9936 * * * Notes: Signi? cant at: *10, * *5 and * * *1 percent, respectively; the estimated models are: Mean equation: RG;t ? a0 ? a1 Nmt ? rRG;t21 ? ?b10 ? b11 Nmt ? ? RS;t ? ?b20 ? b21 Nmt ? ? RS;t21 ? 1t Variance equations: TARCH: Table IV. Estimation results of extended models ht ? u0 ? u1 1221 ? u2 1221 ? I t21 ? u3 ht21 t t GARCH: p log ht ? u0 ? u1 j1t21 = ht21 j ? u2 1t21 =ht21 ? u3 log ht21 negative market returns, current and last three-day returns, the gold market tends to move in the opposite direction of stock market slumps. The coef? cient of interactive dummy-lagged stock return in the N3 model is signi? cantly negative and its magnitude (in absolute term) is substantially higher than the coef? cient of lagged stock return. Thus, there seems to be a movement of the gold market away from downward trend in the stock market. The evidence that we uncover, thus, supports strong resistance of the gold market to stock market downturns. This is in sharp contrast to the well-documented ? nding that national stock markets tend to have strong co-movements during times of market decline and turmoil, which limit potential diversi? cation bene? across national stock markets. The heightened reaction of domestic stock markets to downturns in other markets have been documented by Pagan and Soydemir (2001) and Bahng and Shin (2003) for several emerging markets. Moreover, the ? nancial crises are noted to propagate shocks more strongly through the contagion or domino effect (Dornbusch et al. , 2000; Hasman and Samartin, 2008; Markwat et al. , 2009). Thus, a ? ight to other markets for shelter during times of ? nancial crises may not help. In the case of gold investment, its diversi? cation bene? ts are not restrained in times of market downturns. Indeed, there is some evidence that the stock market may surge in value when the stock market posts a negative trend. Conclusion A series of ? nancial crises that erupted in different parts of the world and their accompanying excessive risk have raised serious concern over investment in stock markets and are likely to bring back interest in gold as an alternative investment asset. In light of this, we examine the relation between gold and stock returns and investigate whether it changes during times of consecutive negative market returns for an emerging market, Malaysia. Applying GARCH-type models to daily gold and stock returns over the period August 2001-March 2010, we uncover evidence indicating signi? cant positive relation between gold return and once-lagged stock return. However, the coef? cient of the once-lagged stock return in gold return equation is small and far from unity. We further note that, their relation has not strengthened during times of consecutive days of market declines. To the contrary, we ? nd some evidence that gold return tends to break from its positive relation with stock market return following four consecutive stock market returns. These ? dings are in sharp contrast to the observed strong co-movements among national stock markets in periods of market downturns, which are attributed to contagion or domino effect. Based on these results, we incline to suggest the favorable property of gold as an investment asset for the Malaysian emerging market. At least, gold provides a diversi? cation bene? t to investors in the Malay sian market. The domestic Malaysian gold market tends to have resistance to heightened risk in the stock market as its preserve its low positive relation with stock market variations regardless of the market conditions. At best, with evidence pointing to the negative relation between gold return and stock market return after four consecutive negative market returns, gold tends to possess a hedging property in times of market declines. In short, our results seem to support the initiative by Malaysia in introducing various gold coins, namely Kijang Emas, Royal Mint gold Dinar and Kelantan State gold Dinar, as a vehicle for preserving wealth in the midst of recurring ? nancial turbulences during the present time. Market risk and gold investment 33 IMEFM 5,1 34 Note 1. Dinar refers to the name of gold coin used in Islamic history. The interest in gold Dinar during the Asian ? nancial crisis is not only limited to its store of value role and its use in international trade settlement but also to the adoption of gold as a payment standard. References Bahng, J. S. and Shin, S. -M. (2003), â€Å"Do stock price indices respond asymmetrically? Evidence from China, Japan, and South Korea†, Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 541-63. Baur, D. G. and Lucey, B. M (2010), â€Å"Is gold a hedge or a safe haven? An analysis of stocks, bonds, and gold†, The Financial Review, Vol. 45 No. 2, pp. 217-29. Baur, D. G. and McDermott, T. K. (2010), â€Å"Is gold a safe haven? International evidence†, Journal of Banking Finance, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 1886-98. Capie, F. , Mills, T. C. and Wood, G. (2005), â€Å"Gold as a hedge against the dollar†, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 343-52. Dornbusch, R. , Park, Y. and Claessens, S. (2000), â€Å"Contagion: how it spreads and how it can be stopped†, World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 177-97. Hasman, A. and Samartin, M. (2008), â€Å"Information acquisition and ? nancial contagion†, Journal of Banking Finance, Vol. 32 No. 10, pp. 2136-47. Hillier, D. , Draper, P. and Faff, R. 2006), â€Å"Do precious metals shine? An investment perspective†, Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 62 No. 2, pp. 98-106. Koutmos, G. and Martin, A. D. (2003), â€Å"Asymmetric exchange rate exposure: theory and evidence†, International Journal of Money and Finance, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 365-83. Lobo, B. J. (2000), â€Å"Asymmetric eff ects of interest rate changes on stock prices†, The Financial Review, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 125-44. Markwat, T. , Kole, E. and van Dijk, D. (2009), â€Å"Contagion as a dom? no effect in global stock markets†, Journal of Banking Finance, Vol. 33 No. 11, pp. 996-2012. Nam, K. , Washer, K. M. and Chu, Q. C. 2005), â€Å"Asymmetric return dynamics and technical trading strategies†, Journal of Banking Finance, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 391-418. (The) News Strait Times (2001), â€Å"Practices in Islamic banking†, News Strait Times, June, p. 26. Pagan, J. A. and Soydemir, G. A. (2001), â€Å"Response asymmetries in the Latin American equity markets†, International Review of Financial Analysis, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 175-85. Corresponding author Mansor H. Ibrahim can be contacted at: mansorhi@hotmail. com To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight. com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints How to cite Financial Market, Essay examples

Marketing Principles Activities Processes

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Principles Activities Processes. Answer: Introduction: According to Pride (2011), marketing principles are the activities or a range of processes that involves determining the customer needs and providing it for them. Nescafe is an instant coffee brand which has market across the world. The brand is owned by Nestle S.A. which is a transnational food and drink company in Switzerland (Nestle.com 2016). It is the number one brand in instant coffee in Australia and rules the market. The product is available in various forms and flavours such as Cappuccino, Dolce Gusto, Decaf, Mild, Strong, Greenblend, Blend 43 and many more (Nescafe.com.au 2016). These forms help in addressing the needs of diverse customers who consume the beverage. According to the research released from Roy Morgan, 38% of the Australians buy instant coffee for 12 months out of which 50% bought Nescafe (Boothroyd 2013). The coffee companies need to understand their customers and create differentiation through their offerings. The aim of this report is to critically analyse the theories and marketing principles. Nescafe conducts several marketing activities and it plays a significant role in the current market position of the brand. It is necessary to evaluate the factors that affect the purchase decision process of customers. This helps in making changes and addressing the customer needs effectively. This report addresses the consumer decision-making process by following a series of steps to make a purchase decision. The report further addresses the four factors that affect purchase decision process of consumers. The level of satisfaction or needs fulfilled by Nescafe is also assessed using Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory. Steps in Consumer Decision-Making Process There are five stages or steps that can be used to make a decision for purchasing the product. They are: Need Recognition- It is the most important step in which the consumer may be attracted to Nescafe due to its aroma, taste and habit. It is an internal stimulus that would result from a physiological need felt due to hunger or thirst (Pride 2011). Information Search- Selecting a coffee brand does not require substantive information search. It can be simply bought from the store shelf based on internet information. The information must be present in the customers memory due to previous experience with Nescafe or Nestle (Pride 2011). Evaluations of Alternatives- After the information is collected for Nescafe, the consumer shall evaluate alternative coffee brands such as Gloria Jeans and Vittoria Coffee which are popular in Australia. The comparison shall mainly be made on the basis of price. The consumer may also consider substitute like other beverages such as tea or juices (Adams 2012). Purchase- After evaluating the different products and brands available to satisfy the needs, the customer shall made purchase decision. The product quality, price and refreshment level shall be considered for making the purchase decision (Pride 2011). Post-Purchase Behaviour- After purchasing the product, the customer shall share their opinions about Nescafe. As Nescafe is an instant coffee brand, the consumers tend to involve at a low level and they shall make further purchase on loyalty (Aguirre-Rodriguez et al. 2012). Factors Influencing Consumer Decision-Making Process Consumer behaviour us the study in which the customers select, use or dispose the products. The consumers behaviour is influenced by four factors namely: cultural, social, individual and psychological factors (Pride 2011). Cultural factors- The purchase decision for Nescafe shall be influenced by sub-cultural factors such as social class and age. The coffee drinkers have a high social class and belong to the age group over 20 (Lysonski and Durvasula 2013). Social factors- The purchase decision for Nescafe is affected by the brands that offer discounts and higher satisfaction. Also, it is also influenced by reference groups in which the group in society influences the purchase behaviour (Lysonski and Durvasula 2013). Individual factors- Nescafes purchase decision is dependent on factors such as age, life-style and self-concept. A person with a higher perception and self-evaluation is more likely to consumer coffee on a regular basis. Coffee also determines the interests and lifestyle which influences the purchase decision (Lysonski and Durvasula 2013). Psychological factors- The purchase decision depends on psychological influences such as selective retention in which the consumers support personal beliefs. He shall make a purchase if he has had a good experience with Nescafe or has a need for it (Lysonski and Durvasula 2013). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs The Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory developed by Abraham Maslow that speaks of the lower needs to satisfy before the higher-order needs (Taormina and Gao 2013). They are described as under: Physiological- Coffee is needed in the form of drinks and one does not look much into the brewing method. It satisfied the basic need of thirst and a habit. Instant coffee is made quick that motivates the consumers to purchase Nescafe (Taormina and Gao 2013). Safety- It also helps in securing health benefits providing benefits to the body. Coffee has an association with alertness that helps in beginning the day with spiked energy. It helps in assuring that the things in the capacity shall be done effectively (Taormina and Gao 2013) Love/ Belonging- the purchase decision for Nescafe may also be influenced due to social needs such as love or belonging. The beverage helps in establishing connections with friends, business partners, family and colleagues. People may drink coffee to fit in a social group where everyone enjoys the beverage (Taormina and Gao 2013) Esteem- Coffee is perceived a luxury beverage and it helps in boosting self-confidence. Nescafe is a globally renowned brand and people consume it more than other brands. Drinking coffee may help in enhancing self-esteem as the confidence level shall increase by its physiological properties (Taormina and Gao 2013). Self-actualization- After fulfilling the physiological, safety, belongingness and self-esteem, the consumers may simply want coffee because of its goodness. Nescafe may be demanded by the consumers as it helps in creating a moment and positive space. The coffee lovers may go into the production chain to buy the best coffee and enjoy the different flavours available (Taormina and Gao 2013). References Adams, J., 2012. Australia's American coffee culture.Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 2(1), pp.23-36. Aguirre-Rodriguez, A., Bosnjak, M. and Sirgy, M., 2012. Moderators of the self-congruity effect on consumer decision-making: A meta-analysis.Journal of Business Research, 65(8), pp.1179-1188. Boothroyd, A., 2013.Nescafe remains leader in Aussie instant coffee market | Food Beverage. [online] Foodmag.com.au. Available at: https://foodmag.com.au/nescafe-remains-leader-in-aussie-instant-coffee-market/ [Accessed 27 Aug. 2016]. Lysonski, S. and Durvasula, S., 2013. Consumer decision making styles in retailing: evolution of mindsets and psychological impacts.Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(1), pp.75-87. Nescafe.com.au, 2016.A fresh start for everyone everyday. [online] Nescafe. Available at: https://nescafe.com.au/products [Accessed 27 Aug. 2016]. Nestle.com, 2016.Which products and brands do you own?. [online] Nestle.com. Available at: https://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/our-company/answers/which-products-and-brands-do-you-own [Accessed 27 Aug. 2016]. Pride, W., 2011.Marketing principles. South Melbourne, Vic.: Cengage Learning. Taormina, and Gao, 2013. Maslow and the Motivation Hierarchy: Measuring Satisfaction of the Needs.The American Journal of Psychology, 126(2), p.155.

Information System Processes in Wal

Introduction Wal-Mart Company, which was opened by Sam Walton in 1962, is among the largest retail stores in the world. Walton opened it to sell products at reduced prices in order to give customers an opportunity to save money and use it to improve their lives. The company was therefore started as a small discount store.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Information System Processes in Wal-Mart Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wal-Mart was committed to satisfying the needs of its customers by serving them in a friendly manner and offering them low prices. Until today, the company maintains its initial commitment to serve its customers. The company’s shares started trading at the New York Stock Exchange in 1972 (McKeefery 3). Currently, Wal-Mart has more than 9600 retail outlets that are spread in different countries and a total of 2.1 million workers. Most of them are based in the United States . General Explanation of Wal-Mart’s Business Process Wal-Mart has limited competitors because it has been able to establish a big business empire. It operates about 700 discount stores in the United States and 2900 supercenters, which stock groceries. In addition, it has smaller format stores that have been growing fast. The company has stores that perform well in Canada and Mexico and runs its activities in several Asian countries (Organizational Structure 6). Wal-Mart’s use of Information Systems Wal-Mart is among business organizations that have been able to implement information systems successfully. The company’s information systems aim at centralizing its operations in order to develop common practices, which can be applied in its stores around the world. All business activities carried out by Wal-Mart use technology. For instance, technology is applied to keep records of inventories from suppliers and maintain a good relationship with customers, which att racts and retains them. Application of information systems has benefited Wal-Mart since it has enabled the company to maintain its status as a leader in the market. One of the most important information systems that Wal-Mart applies is bar code system. The company is among organizations that successfully organize data gathered from different places into meaningful information.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The data, which are gathered from bar codes, are used to monitor sales. Wal-Mart has access to information on product sales such as the type of products purchased and their prices price. This is combined with advanced telecommunications to facilitate transfer of information between different branches and the centralized system. This enables Wal-Mart to sustain a real-time database equipped with adequate data on company transactions. Radio frequency identification, c ommonly referred to as RFID is another information system that is used by Wal-Mart. This is a technology that uses small tags, which contain microchips with data on particular items. The technology transmits radio signals along short distances. The signals are received by RFID readers, which pass the data to computers for processing. RFID tags are easy to work with hence the company is able to access information that is used to identify different products (Wal-Mart stores Inc 5). This type of information system enables Wal-Mart to increase its effectiveness in terms of inventory control and management of supply chains. The company can track its products along supply chains (Laudon Jane 45). Wal-Mart is also credited with the introduction of self-check-out lanes. Since the company serves many customers at the same time, sometimes, they are forced to queue for many hours. This information system makes it easy for customers to move in and out of the company’s premises without d ifficulties. Wal-Mart Information System Processes Ways through which Information Systems would Improve Wal-Mart Processes Information systems would bring numerous benefits to Wal-Mart since advancements in technology have compelled companies to embrace the concept in order to serve their customers better. Information systems would enable Wal-Mart to reduce costs and increase profits. For instance, RFID would enable the company to monitor its supply chains (Wailgum 5).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Information System Processes in Wal-Mart Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This would eliminate possible losses that occur due to a lack of proper tracking of different processes. Information systems would also ensure that both customers and the company’s employees do not waste a lot of time. For instance, self-check-out lanes would facilitate entry and exit of customers into the company’s premises. Without this system, customers would be required to queue for many hours. However, this problem would be solved through the use of information systems. Suggestion for Improvement Wal-Mart should take several measures in order to improve service delivery. The first thing that the company should do is to redefine the RFID mandate by restricting it to products that do not have high amounts of liquid and metal. This would give vendors and suppliers enough time to confirm reliability of tags for all products. The company should use its powerful nature to develop a buying consortium. Wal-Mart should also endeavor to ensure that its customers are aware of different information systems that the company uses. This would ensure that its investment in information systems is utilized accordingly. Works Cited Laudon, Kenneth, L. Jane. Managing information systems-managing the digital firm. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010. Print. McKeefery, Kevin. Wal-Mart restruct ures to boost e-commerce. 2010. Web. Organizational structure 2011. Web.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Wailgum, Thomas. 45 years of Wal-Mart history: a technology time line. 2007. Web. Wal-Mart stores Inc. 2011. Web. This assessment on Information System Processes in Wal-Mart Company was written and submitted by user Greyson R. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Julius Caesar, The Tragic Hero Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Julius Caesar, The Tragic Hero Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Julius Caesar, The Tragic Hero Julius Caesar, the tragic hero Only the ignorant would deny that the title of a novel or play has no relevance to the play itself. Unfortunately, those ignorant minds have caused the true tragic hero of Shakespeares Tragedy of Julius Caesar, an area of dispute. Brutus seems to be a candidate because he appears more than Caesar in the play, but without Caesar the whole play would be lost. It is an indisputable fact that Julius Caesar is the Tragic Hero. It is arguable that Brutus fits Aristotles guidelines for a tragic hero. He has a high position in society, which is evident through that fact that he is a senator. Brutus also has a noble and famous family name. In the play, even his enemies speak well of him (Shakespeare V, 5, 73-75). Brutus is also very prosperous. He is very wealthy and has many loyal friends. It also seems that he has a great relationship with his wife, because when she was concerned about him, he spent time to talk to her and comfort her. Furthermore, his tragic flaw causes him it make a mistake. He ends up murdering Caesar because of his overwhelming patriotism. Brutus is more concerned about his nation than he is about any single man. Although Marcus Brutus seems to fit Aristotles qualifications of a tragic hero, the fact that Caesar fits it better is undeniable. Shakespeare makes his point almost too clear. First, the citizens of Rome love Caesar so much that they offer him the thrown three times. Brutus is barely known by the citizens. Julius Caesar had already been the leader of Rome without being king, and had led his own army to many great victories, which is obviously a sign of much power. Caesar can brag of his prosperity, through his wealth, his many friends, and his loving wife. Caesars tragic flaw helps to make his death more of a tragedy. He is too trusting and over-confident in the loyalty of his friends. In no part of the play did Caesar imagine that his closest friends were plotting to assassinate him. The fact is, the title of the play is not titled The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus; it is titled The tragedy of Julius Caesar, which obviously leads the reader to believe that the story will be focused around Julius Caesar. Shakespeare creates the entire story around Julius Caesar and the events that lead to his tragedy. Brutus death isnt much of a tragedy, supported by the fact that he took his own life. Brutus last words even spoke of Caesar. Brutus is too unimportant to be the tragic hero. If Brutus was taken out of the play, another character, like Cassius, could take his place as the betrayer; but if Caesar was taken out of the story, there is no one that could take his place, and there would be no story. There are some small reasons why someone would mistake Brutus as the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must die in the fifth act (like Brutus did), but Caesar did not. Caesar is actually present, even after his death, in the form of a ghost. His ghosts appears several times in the story to haunt Brutus, and in the end, he is truly laid to rest. Second, the last speech is not about Caesar, when most of Shakespeares tragic heroes are the subjects of the last speech. It can be explained by saying that Shakespeare felt is necessary to break one small rule in order to complete the novel successfully. Most of the other arguments that can be stated on Brutus behalf are just opinions, and cannot be backed up with facts. Although Marcus Brutus can reasonably be seen as the main character of the story, the tragic hero is unmistakably Julius Caesar. Brutus is merely Shakespeares main tool in moving the play along. The play Tragedy of Julius Caesar is the story of a hero who is tragically killed, and that hero is Julius Caesar.

Analysis of Albania’s Tax System

Analysis of Albanias Tax System INTRODUCTION Every one can make the question: â€Å"why do we have taxes?†.Practically we can say , that one democratic state can not exist without taxes, even if he does not operate just with taxes.Taxes and taxability are a necessity. The standard of living of a modern society demands it; governments must collect the revenues in order to provide the goods and services that their citizens need, want and demand. The principal sources of Albanian tax legislation are the Constitution, various laws and decrees. The Parliament is the prime taxing authority in Albania, while the Ministry of Finance is the executive branch, responsible for administration of the laws. There is an important difference between tax and taxability in Albania.Taxability is an obligated and irreversible payment in state budget which include administrative charges and penalties for the delays provided by law. They are obligated payments of different contributors used for general public services, in that wa y state can accomplish his duty. While tax is an obligated contribute to pay from one person who profits directly from public services. They are a type of compensation for special public services accomplished from state in advantage of citizen. Taxes are mostly resource of locale organs entries of state, city halls, communes . Taxes for public services which we pay for has the element of volition, wich can not happen in no case with taxability. In financial point of view the taxes role is little than taxability ,so the role and the importance of taxes in confronting expenses for the public services is more sensible in the local budget than in the national budget. The following project aims to treat with no details the types of taxes and taxability in the Republic of Albania,their importance and influence in the economy.Often the country’s financial authorities have been propagating that tax levels in Albania are among the lowest in the region so in another section we will sti ck to the comparative analysis of tax burden. We will try to compare it with Macedonia and Greece. This article is structured as follows: First, we will briefly review the types of taxes and taxabilities in Albania. Second we will try to analyse and compare their importances in economy of our country with Macedonia and Greece. Finally, chapter four provides a summary and the conclusions on the issues treated.    OVERVIEW ON TAX SYSTEM IN ALBANIA In the following section we will briefly review the classification of taxability and taxes in Albania.1 1 This section is based mainly on a summary of tax system in Albania presented by Financat (2006). 2.1 Taxes 2.1.1 National Taxes National Taxes cover 23% of the income that the state recieves from the taxes system,that is why they are considered very important to the Government’s budget.Among the main national taxes,we can mention Road Traffic Tax,Higher Education Tax and Registration fee for Poker Games, Casinos, for sport compe titions taking place at the racetrack.Road Traffix Taxes include taxes imposed by the Government for the use of imported vehicles ,also the old ones,for the fuel consumption etc.The universities and other Academies are charged with the collection of Higher Education Tax.These taxes are cashed not later than 30 days from the official date of the beginning of the school year, in any academic year.While the tax on registration of gambling, casinos for sportive races held in hippodromes is payable only once at the beginning of such activities and their registration.

Analyses of the Website Gutteridge Haskins and Davey Essay

Analyses of the Website Gutteridge Haskins and Davey - Essay Example The essay "Analyses of the Website" talks about the GHD website (Gutteridge Haskins & Davey, ghd.com/australia) that represents an international network of engineers, architects, and environmental scientists. The paper also analyzes the website's audience and if the website effectively communicates to it. GHD website serves multiple purposes. It shares information to its present and prospective clients. It gives a complete detail to anyone who will open the website, about its history, its values, and the various projects it has undertaken. It also attracts Human Resource from its website where job-seekers can find job opportunities. The website also invites users to give their feedback and is a medium to contact them. One thing written on the homepage of the website is â€Å"At GHD, we think beyond tomorrow to anticipate future challenges† which shows their concern for taking business seriously and representing the company’s values. Dechernatony and Mc Donald say that a corporate brand must give a clear picture and should personify the value of the organization. Hence another purpose is to build its corporate brand on an international level. So that when anyone wants to know about GHD, they would get a clear picture of the organization and its strong brand from its website. The purpose of the website is clearly in-line with the kind of business they are in. GHD is a consultancy firm and for such firms, it is best to provide information about the business to clients or any users of the website. While developing a website, one of the first things that a business needs to ask itself is the target audience. The organization needs to develop personas for the different target audience and then analyse how this audience is going to reach out its website (Jacobson 2007). The target audience for GHD’s website are the present and prospective clients, and the prospective employees. The first target audience refers to businesses and organizations who are working in the areas of water, transportation, environment, energy and resources, property and building. Therefore clients in the area of water refer to organizations dealing with water utilities and other water related services. In the area of environment, the business serves and the website attracts privat e organizations, government organizations and authorities. Furthermore government organizations and authorities look forward to consultancy from GHD in the area of transportations. Similarly the website also attracts audiences from different government and private organizations in the area of energy & resources, and building & property. This

A Career in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

A Career in Business - Essay Example The international trade that is essential for the growth of Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd has assisted me in my capability to be tolerant to diverse cultures and understand the effect of different cultural backgrounds in business. Further, the placement has assisted me in developing a number of life skills that include communication skills, interaction skills, and information technology (IT) skills. By working in Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd, I managed to get valuable experience that is essential for my future job searches and my experience in work places. The organization that I served under placement was Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd company. The organization is extremely busy serving an array of different categories of customers and so learning was somehow difficult especially in financial department, information systems department and marketing department. In order to get the much required skills in different business related subjects, I had to undertake a negotia ted learning initiative. Negotiated learning can be defined as the process in which the instructor or the employer allows the student to propose a structure that fits him or her in all elements of the process of learning that involves instruction, content, evaluation and assessment. In some cases, it may involve logistics elements such as transportation. The outcome of my negotiated learning can be equated as excellent or I can grant it an academic grade of A. After understanding that the organization had much work and it would be difficult for me to study by myself, I negotiated with my employee on how I was to handle the placement especially on matter involving learning new practical skills. The areas that I emphasized during the negotiations are instruction while working, assessment and evaluation. As such, I was assigned to staff in each department to take me through a number of practical aspects in international trade. The major departments that I concentrated on are marketing, customer care, information technology and financial departments. The assigned staff was also responsible for my assessments. However, the placement time for instructions and assessment had to differ from the original fixed plan of one hour for each department to flexible time frame because of the busy schedule. For instance, there were cases where instruction took only 20 minutes especially during week days , but during weekends, the instruction would take 2 hours. Other changes that took place involved a shift from the original plan where assessment was to be conducted in form of writing to simple verbal assessment in order to evaluate the newly acquired skills (Wolff,1999,p.71). Although there were some reservations among workers who had been assigned to instruct and evaluate me, my good communication skills , my ability to engage in positive discussion and my willingness to obey orders even when performing the tasks that were not in my placement plan enabled me to create positiv e relationship with my co workers. As such, my co workers were willing to assist me in attaining my placement goals (Wolff,1999,p.79). Evaluation of work-Based learning My placement was based in an aluminum processing company, Â  Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd. Â  Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd is one of the largest aluminum processing companies in china. It employs hundreds of employees from different parts of the world. Â  Suzhou Aikefu Electronics Co., Ltd engages in precision machining, CNC lathes, die casting machines, Zeiss CMM, special equipment and supporting test equipment. The organization has a centralized managerial structure although it has several

Personal Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Personal Responsibility Essay Define what personal responsibility means to you. Explain the relationship between personal responsibility and college success. Include a preliminary plan to practice personal responsibility in your education. This week, using the Center for Writing Excellence resources, provide the thesis statement and informal outline for your Personal Responsibility Essay assignment, due in Week Five. Thesis Statement: Personal Responsibility means taking accountability for my own actions, accepting whatever consequences come from my actions, and then understanding how to improve or make necessary changes. By staying organized, setting personal goals, keeping my stress level to a minimum, and staying focused, I can achieve college success. Informal Outline: I. Intro II. What personal responsibility means a. Accountability for my own actions b. Being organized c. Setting goals; both personal and academic III. Tools for personal responsibility d. Having time management skills e. Setting personal goals f. Keeping my stress level to a minimum g. Staying focused IV. What I will hold myself academically accountable for h. Attending all classes i. Reading all materials j. Doing all assignments and turning them in on time k. Studying for all exams V. Conclusion: In conclusion, although it is easier to blame others for my failures and my mistakes, it is because of my personal responsibility that I will be able to have college success. I will have a clear understanding of what I expect from my education as well as what I expect for my future. I will strive to accomplish every goal that I will set for myself in my personal life as well as the goal I will set for myself as a student. Personal responsibility determines how I choose to live my life and the things I choose to do and not to do. In turn, my college success is up to me.

True Human Nature Exposed in Lord of the Flies Essay -- Lord of the Fl

True Human Nature Exposed in Lord of the Flies       The island in Lord of the Flies represents "a microcosm of human society." Stranded on an island where no definite authority is to be obeyed, the boys quickly forget the social standards that their parents have impressed on them. Eventually, the wildness of their ids cannot be suppressed. They lose their pride as "British boys" and choose their leaders, their social groups, and their lifestyles with their basic instincts rather than with practicality. Fear and superstition rule the island instead of the laws of science. Without the constant pressure of society's expectations, the boys display the fundamental elements of human nature in the way that they choose to live.    In society, a constant struggle exists between what people want to do and what they need to do. If Freud's ideas about the human mind are correct, those who stress the former are more strongly controlled by their ids. Those whose lean more towards the latter are controlled by their ego. The government tries to enforce rules while the people struggle for more freedom. This is plainly displayed in how Ralph and Jack fight for the loyalty of the other boys. Ralph promises rescue, which works for a time. However, Jack promises them fun. People would rather have pleasure than security. The boys cannot see the importance of following the rules. In society, people have a similar problem. Everyone desires to be "liberated from shame and self-consciousness." Unfortunately, this inclination is not always in their best interest.    Humans will always separate themselves into groups based on appearance and similarities. The boy automatically separate themselves into "biguns" and "littluns." The older c... ...s in self-defense, Jack tells them "I told you- he's dangerous." This type of manipulation is common in human society, particularly when a fight for power is involved.    In human society, people will do what comes easiest. They will be manipulated and mistreated before they start to think for themselves or to act as individuals. This is shown well by the boys in The Lord of the Flies because boys have not yet suppressed their basic natures as completely as adults have. The thoughtless attitudes that the boys have is common in human society, even if adults pretend otherwise.    Works Cited Baker, James R.   William Golding, A Critical Study.   New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. Golding, William.   Lord of the Flies.   New York: Harcourt, 1962. Riley, Carolyn, ed.   Vol. 1 of Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1993.

Comparison of ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘Belfast Confetti’ Essay

Both ‘Belfast Confetti’ and ‘Bayonet Charge’ present individuals caught up in conflicts. However, the speaker in ‘Belfast Confetti’ is a civilian whereas ‘Bayonet Charge’ the subject is a soldier who has chosen to go to war. Carson is writing about a topic he knows well as he is an Irish poet living during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Hughes is imagining what it must have been like for a soldier in World War One. The speaker in ‘Belfast Confetti’ is right in the middle of the action – ‘Suddenly as the riot squad moved in†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and is caught up in the streets of Belfast during a bomb scare. He is panicking because he cannot escape the ‘labyrinth’ of the streets although he knows them very well. Calling the streets a ‘labyrinth’ is a metaphor which shows the confusion and panic he feels as a labyrinth is something you cannot get out of. Carson uses punctuation as a metaphor for the riot squad itself as they block the streets and stop the speaker escaping: ‘blocked with stops and colons’. This is effective because punctuation is used to control and give order to a sentence and this is what the riot squad are trying to do in the chaos of the city. Carson also uses punctuation as a metaphor for shrapnel, saying that it is ‘raining exclamation marks’ which is the metal objects the IRA would pack into their homemade bombs. This is effective because exclamation marks look a bit like lethal weapons because they are thin and sharp like a tomahawk. The speaker feels trapped not only by the riot itself but he is trapped in the political situation of the time. The two sides were trying to resolve conflict but couldn’t find a way to communicate without returning to violence. So Carson using language and punctuation to represent the conflict is effective. He struggles to communicate: ‘I was trying to complete a sentence in my head, but it kept stuttering’. This metaphor gets across the sound of gunfire and the speaker’s struggle to express and communicate the chaos of the situation. It could even be a metaphor for the Troubles themselves. In the same way as Carson, Hughes lands the reader right in the middle of the  action, beginning the poem with ‘Suddenly†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ which creates the same blunt, startled effect that the soldier himself must have felt as he began his bayonet charge. By keeping the soldier anonymous, Hughes makes it seem as if this experience was universal among soldiers who fought in the First World War. He was not a soldier poet himself, unlike Owen, so the powerful images he uses conjure up the energy and physicality and terror the soldier feels. The simile ‘sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest’ describes vividly the heat and intensity of pounding through ‘shot slashed furrows’ charging at the enemy and facing death. Ironically, any bullet which may kill the soldier would also cut through his flesh but from outside his body, so this ‘molten iron’ coming from his insides creates an awkward parallel which makes us think of the death he is facing. Both poets use enjambed lines, but Carson’s poem is more chaotic and stuttering because of the caesuras in it, whereas Hughes’s is more fluid. Carson breaks up his lines and has a mixture of short and long lines because they represent the streets being blocked as he tries to get down them. Although Hughes uses caesuras too, the effect is different. Because Carson is using punctuation as a metaphor you notice it more and it is more powerful, whereas in Hughes’s poem the caesuras make it more narrative. Also, the caesuras in Hughes’s poem are disguised because the stanzas a re more regular. Neither of the poems use any rhyme. Rhyme can sometimes suggest harmony as the sounds match, but Carson is trying to stress the division in the city and the blunt, aggressive and violent events. In Hughes’s poem the lack of rhyme is perhaps because the man has just ‘jumped up’ and is running in a bewildered way, so again, rhyming would be too neat and ordered to effectively convey this chaotic and panicked experience.

How Society Defines Crime Essay

Criminology as explained in an institutionalized setting is viewed as an outside view of behavior which leads to defining crime as an intentional behavior that can be penalized by the state. Our text explains crime as any violations that occurs against the law. Crime is considered a social issue and so it is studied by sociologist who create theories. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to explain how we come to decide what a crime is. A few theories as to why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. So which theory is the best? Our text concludes that criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, social reaction, and control of criminal behavior. Collica, K. & Furst, G. (20120 because criminology is a social construct, it may shift over time. This shift consequently had an enormous inï ¬â€šuence on changing attitudes towards punishment and towards the purpose of the law and the legal system . Classical ideas about crime and punishment is defined by numerous writers on the subject. Some writers like Beccaria (1738–94) and Bentham (1748–1832), argued that there was an invisible relationship between the individual and the state and that the relationship as it stood was chaotic. As a part of this relationship individuals gave up some of their liberties in the interest of the common good, with the purpose of the law being to ensure that these common interests were met. For Beccaria, this meant that the law should be limited and written down so that people could make decisions on how to behave. Offenders are viewed as reasonable people with the same capacity for resisting offensive behaviors as non-offenders. This guided the principal of innocent until proven guilty. The central concern of the law and the criminal justice process was therefore the prevention of crime through this deterrent function. So how does society define a crime? The idea that criminal behavior is determined, or caused, by something, leads to the legal, social, and cultural factors that influence the decision to label some behavior’s as criminal while others or not. Like marijuana. Although it comes from the earth in plant  form its hallucinogenic effects and inability to tax mak es it illegal in most stated to manufacture produce without medical and government clearance in the states that have adopted the drug as legal. Some argue that â€Å"Drug prohibition causes the bulk of murders and property crime in major urban areas by creating a black market characterized by warring suppliers, who charge inflated prices to users, who in turn steal to pay for their habits. Drug prohibition also fosters crime abroad, funding violent entrepreneurs and even terrorist insurgencies that threaten fragile civilian governments in poor countries† (Bandow 16). It should be noted however that the classical school of thought has had an enduring inï ¬â€šuence as many legal systems are built on some of its key precepts. The idea of intent for example, emphasizes the importance of the state of mind of the individual and their capacity for making choices. To smoke or not to smoke? To plant or not to plant and to distribute or not to distribute? Many reviews of the development of criminology begin with reference to the inï ¬â€šuence of positivism. Marijuana is linked to many negative aspects outside of a few minor h ealthcare benefits like chronic pain in cancer patients and glaucoma While the speciï ¬ c meaning to be attached to this term is open to some debate, in the context of drugs inside of criminology is usually used to refer to a scientiï ¬ c commitment to the gathering of the facts that distinguish whether or not an offense has been committed. It is this search for facts which most clearly describes one of the differences between this version of criminology and classical criminology. The other main difference between these two different versions of the criminal individual was the commitment of the early positivists to search for the cause of crime within individual biology rather than individual free will (Williams &ump; McShane, 2010). Creating a policy on crime seems to give it definition when the public can prove that there is a danger to society as a whole. It is hard for anyone to grasp the concept or be able to understand why people commit heinous crimes or engage in criminal activities. We as human beings are all capable of committing or engaging in delinquent behavior. What stands in the way of a person that makes them decided to engage in deviant behavior or to choose not to commit crimes at all? It may never be truly understood what the real reasons are behind why people make decisions against the laws implemented for mankind’s protection. Philosophy can only dig so deep to  find these truths and the evolution of criminal behavior only expands with more knowledge of what works and what does not work. What is considered criminal today could be legal tomorrow and what is legal today could be found criminal as well. References Collica, K. & Furst, G. (2012). Crime & society. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Hostettler, J. (2011). Cesare Beccaria [electronic resource] : the genius of on crimes and punishments / John Hostettler. Hook, Hampshire, U.K. : Waterside Press, 2011 http://youtu.be/teKTNwgErCc Morris, R. G., TenEyck, M., Barnes, J. C., & Kovandzic, T. V. (2014). The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006. Plos ONE, 9(3), 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092816

How to Address Someone in German Properly

How to Address Someone in German Properly You is not always you, especially when youre speaking a foreign language.   One thing you need to learn quickly is how to correctly use you in German. Modern English is the only Indo-European language that has just one form of you. In German there are three: Du,  the Informal Address This form is only for those with whom youre on familiar or intimate terms, such as family, close friends, children, pets, and in prayer. In Germany, the word friend isnt used as liberally as in America, or at least it doesnt carry quite the same meaning. Ein  Freund/eine Freundin is used more to denote what we call here a close friend, whereas the word ein Bekannter/eine Bekannte is the preferred term used for casual friends and acquaintances. Ihr, Informal Plural Ihr is the plural form of du. Its the equivalent of yall in the Southern United States. For example: Wo seid ihr? (Where are you guys?)   Sie, the Formal Address This polite form implies a certain formality between people and takes into account social considerations. Sie is used for those people we address as Herr, Frau and with other formal titles. Usually, its used for older people, professionals and shop clerks. It might also be a good strategy to address co-workers as  Sie at first  until they offer you the du. Its better to call someone  Sie  and have them correct you with  du than to assume you can use the formal address and offend someone.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ Duzen and Siezen The verb that describes using Sie to address someone is siezen. To utilize du with someone is duzen.  Its best to use the Sie if  you are not sure which to use.   More About You in German Other important points about  Sie,  du and  ihr  are: The formal Sie  is always capitalized. There are no exceptions to this rule. The du  and ihr  are usually written in lower case, but some older Germans capitalize them. That was the rule about 20 years ago, before they had the Rechtschreibreform.  Sie remains written as Sie whether you are using it in the plural or singular sense. For example, if you are formally addressing one or two Germans, you wont see a difference in writing:Woher kommen Sie? (Where are you from, sir/madam?)Woher kommen Sie?(Where are you from, sirs/madams?)Sie (you, formal)  takes the same verb form as sie (they),  which is why in conjugation tables, you will find both words at the bottom together. Chart of You in German In a nutshell: Singular Plural English meaning du trinkst ihr trinkt you or yall are drinking Sie trinken Sie trinken you (formal) or you (plural) are drinking Common Problem: There Are Four Sies  and Four Ihrs Many German-language students have trouble initially with ihr. This could be because there are two ihrs. There are also multiple versions of sie, which can be complicated.  Take a look at the following examples:   Hey, kommt ihr heute Abend? (Are you guys coming tonight?)Ist das nicht ihr neuer Freund? (Isnt that her new friend?)Entschuldigen Sie. Ist das Ihr Auto vor meiner Ausfahrt?  (Excuse me, sir/madam, is that your car in front of my driveway?) Note that the Ihr  is capitalized as it is formal.Entschuldigen Sie. Ist das  Ihr  Auto vor meiner Ausfahrt? (Excuse me, sirs/madams, is that your car in front of my driveway?) Here are three examples for sie/Sie: Woher kommen Sie? ( Where are you from, sir/madam?)Woher kommen Sie?  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(Where are you from, sirs/madams?)Woher kommt sie?  (Where is she from?)Woher kommen sie?  (Where are they from?) Du, Ihr, and Sie Declensions Keep in mind that like with all other pronouns, du, ihr and Sie will also have genitive, dative and accusative forms that you must memorize.

Property Management in New Delhi-India Coursework

Property Management in New Delhi-India - Coursework Example According to the economic time's report, DFL- a real estate developer in New Delhi-India, is planning to outsource property management to third parties. It is close to coming into agreement and signing a contract with some companies to manage its commercial and retail spaces. The DFL enjoys ownership of huge commercial and retail space in the Indian capital and outside. From these properties, they earn good revenue that enables them to run its activities. Despite the huge revenues, they have accrued a debt which they have been trying to reduce by selling non-core assets (Sharma, 2013). Transfer of property management to third parties has several advantages accrued. It will facilitate the addition of value to the existing property, which can be achieved through proper maintenance of the buildings. This will, in turn, save the reputation of the property developer which is at risk (Sharma, 2013). Leasing, remittance or statutory dues and other related areas facilitate services for the property management. This will help real estate investors manage their assets without overdependence from family and/or friends. The transfer has also encouraged small parties and companies to capitalize on the opportunity to invest in specific asset category, hence thereof, earning periodical income. Above all, it will help salvage the debt shadow that they are currently being covered in (Sharma, 2013). On the coins other side, acts such as leasing or resale of buildings would sound costly to the real estate provider. For instance, an old building sold will not have the same income as when the building would have been renovated and rented to a tenant. Also leasing an apartment may end up in the hands of the wrong company. Such companies would provide fewer quality services as expected, which will, in turn, tarnish the name of the real owner. In addition, leasing or selling a property will, in the long run, result in a reduction of the company's revenues.  

Case study of Strategic Management - New Balance

Of Strategic Management - New Balance - Case Study Example SO strategies use a firm's internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities. WO Strategies aim at improving internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities. ST Strategies use a firm's strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats. WT Strategies are defensive tactics directed at reducing internal weaknesses and avoiding environmental threats." (David, 180-181) In order to understand the external environment of the Company it is important to undertake the PESTLE analysis, which is as follows: Political: Decrease in demand due to unstable political situation. Economic: Imposition of Tax or quota from the Government on the major players of market in order to avoid monopoly in the market. Socio-cultural: The population of U.S is getting more conscious about the problems related to health. Any product accused of effecting health of the people can lead to the loss of market share. Technological: Achievement of advanced technology by the competitors resulting in shape of economies to scale. Legal: Legal actions against the company as a result of disease due to the raw material production in unconventional manner. Environmental: The Company can face environmental threat because of the Agro-terrorism. New Balance currently maintains a well-qualified and teamwork-minded staff who is dedicated to innovation and excellence in workmanship. This is a significant resource for a business, which relies on domestic manufacturing facilities as a means of cost control. In many respects, the company maintains quality human resources focus which, in the event of excess capital availability, could drive high-quality, low-cost training to minimize complications with labor. Different manufacturing capabilities give them a...Opening the doors for public trading, as had previously been considered by ownership, would raise the capital required for a variety of projects and investments, both internal and external. Additionally, the company does not experience high media visibility, a crucial element of the entire New Balance philosophy for the general public. These issues are currently a threat to New Balance long-term stability in a business environment where competition is fierce and growth is obtainable. "The Threats-Opportunities-Weaknesses-Strengths (TOWS) Matrix is an important matching tool that helps managers develop four types of strategies: So Strategies, WO strategies, ST Strategies, and WT Strategies. New Balance currently maintains a well-qualified and teamwork-minded staff who is dedicated to innovation and excellence in workmanship. This is a significant resource for a business, which relies on domestic manufacturing facilities as a means of cost control. In many respects, the company maintains quality human resources focus which, in the event of excess capital availability, could drive high-quality, low-cost training to minimize complications with labor. Different manufacturing capabilities give them a modest competitive edge in terms of issues of supply chain, however this edge could potentially be lost in the event tha

Classroom management plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Classroom management plan - Essay Example With the help of an effective class room management, teachers can plan the activities in a class room and achieve the objectives of teaching and learning. An analysis of researches undertaken in various parts of the world reveals â€Å"that effective classroom management increases student engagement, decreases disruptive behaviors, and makes good use of instructional time† (Kaliska, 2002). A recent survey study also reveals the same result that classroom management as the most important factor influencing student learning (Jones & Jones, 2004). Class room management has many interpretations by eminent authors and researchers. However, the definition put forward by Colville-Hall seems to be a comprehensive one. He defines class room management as â€Å"a broad set of teaching behaviors through which the teacher shapes and maintains learning conditions that facilitate effective and efficient instruction resulting in a learning community. Effective classroom management is an ong oing, maintenance-oriented process. It involves motivating students to learn, providing appropriate instruction and feedback, and managing student work. Efforts of the effective classroom teacher are proactive, responsive, and supportive† (Colville-Hall, 2000). The purpose of this report/plan is to explore and determine the most effective classroom management plan that best fits the need of the hour. The plan covers the comprehensive activities and procedures that one must schedule and implement to achieve the teaching and learning objectives as desired. The plan is prepared in line with my class room experience and interaction with my class mates. Classroom management means and includes all the efforts by teachers along with the students in a class to achieve their teaching and learning objectives. â€Å"It includes the preparation of plans and materials, structuring of activities into time blocks, direct teaching of skills and subject matter,

Hybrid Cars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hybrid Cars - Essay Example These hybrid cars can prove to be useful in many different ways which include the environmental factors along with the factors of scarce resources. Hybrid cars have features which help reduce pollution from the environment and are also economically feasible as compared to the conventional cars. With the increase in the prices of fuel as well as the reduction in the amount of natural resources, the popularity of these hybrid cars is increasing every day. As compared to traditional cars there are two main advantages of hybrid cars. One is that it emits less carbon dioxide which makes it an environmental friendly car. The second advantage is that it has higher fuel efficiency that can help people save sufficient amount of money and thus it can be counted as an economic advantage of these cars. In present times when world’s economy is in crucial state, every dollar matters and this has become the most important benefit of these vehicles (Hantula 2009). Some of the other benefits o f these cars are their smart styling, their well equipped interiors and their up to date safety features. In the long run hybrid cars are more of a practical choice to opt for because of low fuel cost and low emissions. Hybrid cars are more competent because of their light weight due to the usage of light weight materials in its structure. Hybrid cars capture, accumulate and recycle the kinetic energy that is produced from the car’s brakes (Congress House 2010). Hybrid cars have the ability to save energy in a very efficient way. They can switch their power on and off according to the usage of the car. If the car is standing in an area full of traffic, the car automatically turns off its power and saves energy. When the accelerator is pressed the engine automatically starts again and thus this saves energy. These cars can be said to be energy efficient considering these factors. These cars also have batteries which have a long life. The tires which are used in these cars have low resistance which reduces energy loss. All this helps this car to accelerate and drive up on higher plains easily. In this way these cars can achieve greater speed which decreases the fuel consumption and also less energy is wasted. There are also certain disadvantages attached to hybrid cars. The major drawback of hybrid vehicles is that they are still quite expensive. This is because of the fact that its production costs are very high due to using uncommon equipment for example dysprosium which is used in the manufacturing of highly developed electric motors and many more. The maintenance of hybrid cars can be very expensive as well. As for now these cars are not that common so it is difficult to find garages which have necessary materials to service them. Hence taking them to the producer can be very expensive. Even though these cars are gradually gaining popularity but there are still factors that make traditional cars more feasible as compared to them. Hence, because of the se reasons hybrid cars cannot fully compete with gasoline powered cars. When the cost of production of these vehicles would be lowered as compared to other cars the production would also rise. Once the supply rises the price would go down and the demand would rise. The exact time of this happening cannot be told but when this happens new mode of researches to

Anaesthetic Practice Appendectomy At Second Trimester Of Pregnancy Nursing Essay

Anaesthetic Practice Appendectomy At Second Trimester Of Pregnancy Nursing Essay This is a reflective essay based on my personal experience as a student anaesthetic practitioner which happened during in one of my clinical placements in an acute hospital. This is a case of a 42 year old at her 24 weeks gestational pregnancy who underwent an emergency appendicectomy under a general anaesthesia with difficult intubation. I will refer to patient as Mrs. G in order to keep her confidentiality (NMC Code of Conduct 2008). The Gibbs reflective cycle will be the framework of my reflection (Jasper 2003) which is shown in Appendix A. Mrs. G. had been admitted due to nausea, vomiting, fever, right abdominal pain, and mild elevation of her white blood cell count which are the presenting symptoms of appendicitis. She underwent ultrasonography of abdomen and confirmed an acute appendicitis, thus, an urgent booking for an open appendicectomy was done. The patient proceeded to the operating theatre with little delay to minimise the sequence to perforation. Such occurrences are uncommon, however, seeing that most cases of appendiceal perforation occur earlier to surgical assessment as described by MacMahon (1991). The theatre team gathered to do a preoperative briefing. The Operating Department Practitioner (ODP), anaesthetist, surgeon, obstetrician, neonatologist, midwife, circulating, scrub nurse and myself were present (WHO 2008). After doing all the routine checks of anaesthetic equipments and drugs as advised by the AAGBI 2004, I went to check the patient (AfPP 2007), the informed consent (DOH 2009) then accompanie d her into the anaesthetic room. Markedly, Mrs. G looked dehydrated, due to fever and reduced oral intake, hence, intravenous fluids was initiated, and pulse, blood pressure, ECG, oxygen saturation and urine output was monitored closely. A Foley catheter was inserted in theatres to ensure adequate urine output. Electrolyte deficiency should be corrected before the induction of general anesthesia (Shields Werder 2002). As a health care professional and a student, I felt pity on Mrs. G because of the severe pain she was having, but what I could only give is to support her. Mrs. G and her husband were in the holding bay and while waiting there to be brought inside the anaesthetic room, apparently, they looked very upset. I stayed with them. I remembered that I should always be present especially when the surgeon, anaesthetist and the whole medical staff discuss the diagnosis and prognosis with them. This action will ensure that someone who will have also heard the discussion dialogue will support the patient, family or carer. We should be aware of the need for privacy when giving information and must endeavour, where the physical environment allows using a closed door environment to ensure absolute confidentiality. We also provide appropriate support to relatives by accompanying them and the patient into the anaesthetic room and to keep them regularly updated and should be given the opportunity to sp eak to the medical staff especially for relatives of critically ill patient and unconscious patients. We must listen to the patients and carers. Their input should be actively sought and not rebuffed. According to Wicker ONeil 2006, we are expected to communicate and give information in a caring, sensitive, friendly and considerate manner and should endeavour to create an atmosphere of confidence and trust when communicating with patients and their families. Careful attention to the evaluation of the airway, antacid pre-treatment and all required preparation for a potentially difficult airway was done for Mrs. G in the preoperative period. It is recommended that from 16 weeks gestation patients undergoing general anaesthesia should be given prophylaxis against aspiration pneumonitis. This usually includes a non-particulate antacid such as sodium citrate 30ml and an H2 receptor antagonist e.g. Ranitidine 50mg intravenously (Yentis et al 2007). Whilst positioning Mrs. G on the operating table, a left lateral inclination of between 15 30 degrees was made. Otherwise, a wedge under the right buttock may be used to minimise aortocaval compression as stated by Aitkenhead Smith (1990). Pre oxygenation was given as it is crucial and should be with a firm fitting mask for at least 3 minutes. As said by Pinnock et al (2003), General anaesthesia involves administration of drugs with possible effects on the foetus. Drugs with good safety records du ring pregnancy were used like Thiopentone, an induction agent, Suxamethonium which is a fast-acting muscle relaxant, Phenylephrine, a vasopressor to increase blood pressure and Metaraminol which is a sympathomimetic used to prevent and treat hypotension (Ponte Green 1994). Drugs that might increase uterine tone like Ketamine and beta-blockers should be avoided (BNF 2010). Obstetricians would request perioperatively, prophylactic tocolytic drugs such as Magnesium Sulfate, Terbutaline and Nifedipine, in order to prevent premature labour. Beta-adrenergic agonists such as Terbutaline are commonly used although their efficacy is vague and may affect maternal tachycardia and pulmonary oedema as stated by Campbell Spence (1997). Recent evidence suggests that calcium-channel blockers like Nifedipine may be effective with a better safety report in line with Simpson Popat 2002. In general, the fewer drugs used overall the better. Drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAID s given near to labour may cross the placenta thereby averting the ductus arteriosus to close in relation to Moules Ramsay (2008). I explained to Mrs. G that a rapid sequence induction will be done for her safety and this is by applying a gradually increasing pressure on her neck specifically on the cricoids area. This is also known as Sellick manoeuvre. Intubation might be difficult and so adjuncts for a difficult intubation have been prepared. The operating department practitioner stood behind me whilst coaching me. Suction apparatus was available close at hand, laryngoscope and endotracheal tube was prepared, lubricated and a syringe was attached to the cuff. I did a careful cricoid pressure whilst handling the bougie with the endotracheal tube, but she could hardly see the airway hence, the anaesthetist asked for a guedel oral airway and ventilated her. Later she asked for an Airtraq, which is a disposable laryngoscope with a built-in camera for easy view of the airway. Again, it was difficult. Finally, a fibreoptic scope was used until a successful intubation was achieved. Once the airway was secured, ventilation intended to keep the PCO2 in the standard range for her pregnancy. The MAC or minimum alveolar concentration of volatile anaesthetic was reduced. The foetal heart rate was monitored preoperatively and postoperatively but intraoperatively, it has been difficult as the surgery was abdominal. Along with Allman Wilson (2006), the main concerns of the anaesthetist caring for Mrs. G are the physical response relating to the cardiovascular, respiratory, central nervous and gastrointestinal systems. Stoelting Miller 1994 pointed out that physiological and anatomical changes arise in the respiratory system all throughout pregnancy is due to hormonal and mechanical factors. In accordance with Drain (2003), dyspnoea is always common in pregnancy and oedema of the mucosal airway makes the view at laryngoscopy poor. According to Avidan et al (2003), cardiac output is increased roughly by 40%, and as early as 12-13 weeks, the gravid uterus constrict the lower vena cava when the woman rests flat on her back. Obstruction of the aorta may occur and result in diminished placental blood flow. This is very important when positioning a pregnant patient on the operating table as it can lead to profound hypotension. In severe hypotension and foetal bradycardia patient is turned to the left lateral position Yentis et al (2007). Increased in gastric regurgitation and aspiration might happen during induction of general anaesthesia as stated by Davey Ince 2000 therefore, a rapid sequence induction is obligatory when inducing general anaesthesia. Primarily, blood and oxygen flow must be given to both mother and foetus in order for surgery to be safe Gwinnut (2004). Accurate monitoring, recording and interpretation of any baseline measurement and any subsequent physiological measurement that fall outside of normal limits should be observed. Any fall in blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, respiration, and foetal heart rate should cause alarm for the team. Doctors and anaesthetists must be cautious when operating on pregnant women because of the possibility of a preterm labour which should be observed postoperatively. The surgery has finished and went well. Mrs G was extubated awake and on her side to cut the risk of aspiration of gastric contents. She was transferred immediately to the Recovery and her hus band was informed. I think having both myself and Mrs. G and her family a greater understanding of their condition, treatment, care and the risks of treatment will help alleviate their fears and anxieties. The patient will be satisfied as she understands what is being done to her, therefore, there will be improvement in the overall outcome, speed of recovery, health, and patient experience. The whole team has done their part well and everything for the safety of both the mother and foetus. Pregnant women assumed of having appendicitis are often misdiagnosed and undergo unnecessary appendicectomies which result in early delivery or loss of the foetus. After careful reflection, I strongly believe that there is a need to require more precise diagnosis to avoid needless operations and unfavorable fetal loss. One straightforward solution that I can say is the use of advanced imaging tools, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in order to increase diagnostic accuracy. Mrs. G was lucky not because of having a genuine inflamed appendix which has not ruptured so far but the diagnosis was accurately and immediately made through an ultrasound. Preterm labour was also prevented because of the necessary precautions that the whole team has contributed. Number of words: 1, 592