Strategic Performance Management - A Sample Solution

Question-express your research Will implementing strategic performance management in an organization improve performancec,in terms of profit, employees development,provide an outline of your research problem, research objectives and research questions? INTRODUCTION Strategic Performance Management is a necessary and crucial vehicle for the managing business in the present unstable business environment. The strategic performance management encompasses various indicator, frameworks and methodologies that help the organization in formulating their strategies and allow the employees to increase strategic insights and permit them to challenge the strategic assumptions, purify the strategic thinking and inform the strategic learning and decision making (Tonchia, 2000). This research paper focuses on the importance of strategic performance management for effectiveness of the organization. RESEARCH PROBLEM Developing an effective strategic performance management system is one of the most challenging tasks in an organization. It has several obstacles which make the overall system complex like: The terminology like the concepts of performance, efficiency or productivity is more often confusing and misused, thus making the performance management system unclear The present performance management measures is huge making the system complex to select the best one There are various factors that affect or impact the productivity of the organization and also influences the performance measure decisions There are various requirement that must be fulfilled for making the strategic performance management system effective It is very important for every company to overcome these obstacles to design a fully suitable and functional performance management system. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE Based on the above research problem the main objective of this paper is to identify whether the strategic performance management helps to improve the performance of the organization or not? In order to come to a positive conclusion, the objectives are to identify the advantages of strategic performance management system on effectives of the organization. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research questions to identify the objectives of the paper are: What is the concept of Strategic performance Management? How strategic performance management system contributes to the success of business? DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF THE SELECTED ARTICLES The articles chosen to evaluate according to the chosen research topic are: Sum Chau, V. (2008). The relationship of strategic performance management to team strategy, company performance and organizational effectiveness.Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 14(3/4), pp.113-117. de Waal, A., Kourtit, K. and Nijkamp, P. (2009). The relationship between the level of completeness of a strategic performance management system and perceived advantages and disadvantages.Int Jrnl of Op Prod Mnagemnt, 29(12), pp.1242-1265. Both the articles focuses on the why organization must focus on performance management system. The articles focus on the effectiveness of the organization through the implementation of strategic performance management system. The articles discusses about the relevance of performance management system. However the first article mostly emphasizes on the issues of performance management system and also identifying the reasons behind the lack of effective performance management system. This article identifies that the strategic performance management system recognizes the competitive advantage of the organization. This article deals with the special issues with respect to performance management at top, middle and strategic operations level. The reason behind the increase in the issues of strategic performance management system is that the senior managers are removed from their day to day activities and this creating a disconnection between the organization and the senior management. Acco rding to Witcher and Chau (2007) due to disconnection among the senior management and rest of the business firm, this will become difficult in addressing all the issues if the senior management is not involved in the strategic activities. This will lead to poor implementation of performance management systems (Sum Chau, 2008). The second article focuses on identifying the existing relationship among the completeness level of implementation of strategic performance system (SPM) and its impact on the organization. This article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of SPM. The author suggests that the implementation of SPM have positive impact on the net profit, sales and revenue of the organization. It also helps to improve the organizational communication and increases collaboration. It also helps to strengthen the organizational focus, better the process of information exchange and sharing of knowledge. This also helps to improve the process of decision making. Overall, the SPM helps to increase the satisfaction level of employee, better the planning process, improve the quality of product and services and stronger the orientation process. However the author also discusses that if SPM is not implemented effectively then the organization can face huge internal competition. The process is bureaucratic and too expensive. In this process the performance indicators are subjective in nature creating it as unreliable. From advantages of this process management can learn about the completeness of SPM implementation and can convince the personnel about its benefits to the organization (de Waal, Kourtit and Nijkamp, 2009). ANALYSIS OF THE METHODOLOGY Research methodology is the process of utilizing various methods to collect data for making an effective decision of business. The above mentioned articles have also utilized some of the research methods to make an effective conclusion about impact of strategic performance management system on the organization. In the article The relationship of strategic performance management to team strategy, company performance and organizational effectiveness, the author has focused on secondary data collection method. The research is carried based on five different case studies which comprises of issues of team performance management. All the five articles deals with the issues of performance management at strategic operation level, middle management level and top management level. The articles also discuss the impact of SPM on the performance of the company, team strategy and effectiveness of the organization. This case study method helps the author to analyze the real world problem of SPM using five case studies. From these five articles it is concluded that organization must focus on achieving the strategic performance management system which would help to improve the performance of the company. These case studies have helped to close the gap and bring attention about the team performance managemen t system. In the article The relationship between the level of completeness of a strategic performance management system and perceived advantages and disadvantages, the author focuses on primary data collection through quantitative data analysis and also focuses on secondary data using the quantitative data analysis. The qualitative data is gathered through literature review. It discusses the use and implementation of SPM and is tested by collecting the quantitative data by conducting 52 interviews from 17 Dutch organizations. The article concludes that there exists relationship between the benefits that the organizations have received from the implementation of SPM and the completeness of the implementation. The article confirms that implementation of properly designed SPM and its usage helps to improve the organizational results. The case study method provides a holistic and detail investigation of the research and different measurement techniques can be utilized in this process. However, case study method can be utilized only for small data sets. Here the real life data means that the organization or the organizations chosen as a data source. Since the data revolves around small sets thus proper empirical techniques cannot be used which might make it difficult to meet the statistical significance requirements (Remenyi, 2012). Alternatively, utilizing the mixed method that is both qualitative and quantitative method, the researcher can utilize the strengths of one method to overcome the weakness of the other method. This can provide strong evidence for deriving the conclusion through corroboration and convergence of findings. This helps to increase the generalizability of the findings. However it is a time consuming method. It can become difficult for a single researcher to conduct the mixed method research ( Axinn and Pearce, 2006). Thus based on the advantages and disadvantages of the research methods, the researcher has decided to follow the mixed method approach as this would help to make an effective conclusion about the implementation of SPM and its benefits on the organization. The researcher will make sure that the sample considered is large as it would give more precise and clear result. REFERENCES Axinn, W. and Pearce, L. (2006). Mixed method data collection strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. de Waal, A., Kourtit, K. and Nijkamp, P. (2009). The relationship between the level of completeness of a strategic performance management system and perceived advantages and disadvantages. Int Jrnl of Op Prod Mnagemnt, 29(12), pp.1242-1265. Remenyi, D. (2012). Case study research. Reading, UK: Academic Publishing International. Sum Chau, V. (2008). The relationship of strategic performance management to team strategy, company performance and organizational effectiveness. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 14(3/4), pp.113-117. Tonchia, S. (2000). Linking performance measurement system to strategic and organisational choices. International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2(1/2/3), p.15. Witcher, B. and Sum Chau, V. (2007). Balanced scorecard and hoshin kanri : dynamic capabilities for managing strategic fit. Management Decision, 45(3), pp.518-538.

Revenue and expenditure categories of local and state governments in the United States

Local and state governments require revenue in order to facilitate their operations. Government expenditure is the monies the government requires to finance its functions while revenue is their income. Generally, government expenditure is classified into three major classes; government final consumption, government gross capital formation, and transfer payments.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Revenue and expenditure categories of local and state governments in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Government final consumption and gross capital formation form the largest part of state and local government’s gross domestic product. Moreover, the expenditure of local and state governments is financed by government revenue. The local government acquires revenue through taxes and non-taxes channels; non-tax revenue includes government owned corporations, fees, licenses, or sovereign wealt h funds. The state government can also finance its operations with borrowed money through grants and loans. Categories of revenue and expenditure Expenditure State and local governments have to provide different goods and services to the public. These services and goods include transportation system, water and sanitation, health care and education and payment of pensions and other benefits. Generally, the above expenditures are classified in three categories, consumption, investment, and transfer payments. Government final consumption: According to Organization for Economic cooperation (2010, p.42), â€Å"government final consumption expenditure consists of expenses incurred by the government in the production of non-market final goods and services.† Primarily, the government spending on goods and services that are used for direct benefit of its population includes defense, provision of health care, water and sanitation and education. It is further broken down into two catego ries; the value of goods produced by the government itself and purchases of goods and services produced by the other market producers and supplied to the community. In addition, consumption expenditure constitutes the largest share of expenditures; they include purchases of nondurable and durable goods. Non durable goods include food and clothing while durable products include appliances and vehicles. Government gross capital formation: Government gross capital formation is also referred to as investment expenditure and it consists of two types, expenditure on fixed investment goods and inventory investment. Fixed investment goods are goods that are used in the long term examples are factories, commercial properties, and purchase of equipment.Advertising Looking for research paper on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Part of fixed investment expenditure involves acquisition of new asset or repairs and main tenance, as well as depreciation charge of the already in use asset. Investment expenditure on institutional sector includes transport infrastructure and public buildings like school and hospitals (Organization for Economic cooperation, 2010, p.44). On the other hand, inventory goods are goods waiting to be sold at the end of the year; they are considered as investment expenditure because they â€Å"eventually yield a flow of consumption or production services† (Organization for Economic cooperation, 2010, p.44). Government Transfer payments: According to Baumol and Blinder (2008, p.225), â€Å"government transfer payments is the expenditure the local and state governments incur through payments that do not involve direct production of or goods or service.† Transfer payments are given to persons in order to assist them in basic living requirements; examples of transfer payments are social welfare, food stamps, and disability and retirement benefits. In addition, the ne ed for transfer payments increases whenever there is a social or economic crisis. However, some transfer payments are temporal while others are permanent; for example, unemployment benefits are temporal while pension payment is permanent. Revenue Local and state governments get their revenue through taxation and other non-taxation methods. However, taxation is the most reliable method of revenue collection; nevertheless, there are other sources like direct payment from federal governments, user fees, service charges, licensing, and lottery and gambling proceeds (Brunori, 2005, p.113). Tax: Tax is a financial charge imposed on individuals or legal entities in a state. Taxation may be done directly or indirectly and the rates differ from one state to another. The governments levy different taxes on income, wealth and consumption; income tax and social security tax constitute the largest part of state government’s revenue while local governments depend on property and wealth tax es. Taxes under consumption are sale and excise tax; sale tax is tax paid on basic goods in the market while excise tax is tax on luxury goods. Moreover, property tax is the levy imposed on homes, business premises, and land depending on their net worth at the given time of valuation. Non-tax sources: According to Brunori (2005, p.114), â€Å"the use of non tax sources for revenue collection has developed over the past decade, it is approximated that $747 billion was collected from non tax sources in 2003.† Primarily, the local and state governments receive funds from the federals governments; however, they also obtain funds through fees like licenses, grants, unclaimed property, and loans and bonds issue. Inter governmental funds are funds collected from other regions, not in the area they are used to provide services.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Revenue and expenditure categories of local and state governments in the United States specifi cally for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Non-tax source are very important; however, they are unreliable sources of revenue. For instance, gambling and lotteries contribute a small portion to state revenue; it is approximated that New York raised $13.7 billion in 2003 from state run lotteries, about one percent of the total state economy (Brunori, 2005, p.117). Finally, the governments can obtain revenue through grants or loans from other states or organization. Trends and changes in revenue and expenditure categories In the past years, there have been some notable changes in revenue and expenditure, which have either helped or undermined the service delivery by the state and local governments. Generally, local and state governments do not control tax rates and property tax allocation (Garcea, 2008, p.13). According to Brunori (2005, p.116), â€Å"Local and state governments cannot spend monies from the federal government as they wish hence reducin g state control.† In addition, there is tight regulation on tax relief and the transfer expenditure to vet the people who claim these benefits. Moreover, issuing of grants and loans to local and state governments is regulated by higher forms of governments. Factors likely to affect revenue and expenditure categories and why Some factors that affect the revenue and expenditure categories are; economic situation, mandate from higher levels of governments, policies and natural disasters (Honadle, Ciggler, Costa, 2004 p.5). On the other hand, economic meltdown causes people to loss employment and business to collapse, and as a result, state and local government loss revenue from income tax, sale tax, and licensing of businesses. During an economic meltdown, the value of property goes down resulting to low revenue from property taxation, while expenditure increases due to increased number of unemployed people seeking food stamps or unemployment benefits. Government policies and reg ulations on the mandate of state and local governments affect investment expenditure. In addition, regulation on transfer fund from the federal government and interstate funds can considerably lower the revenue of governments. The unpredictability of the federal funds to state and local governments affects the planning of revenue and expenditure. Neighboring state tax policy could make business and individuals to move from one state to another. Generally, business people like areas where the environment is business friendly; thus, an influx on people in a state would result to higher revenue collection and at the same time, higher expenditure in government consumption expenditure.Advertising Looking for research paper on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conversely, natural calamities can inflate the expenditure, leading to low revenue collection due to damage of infrastructure. In addition, an increase in life expectancy affects the transfer payments to pensioners in a state. Moreover, globalization of the market place will make administration taxes to companies difficult and more expensive. Measures of reducing the impact of disruption and why Disruption of revenue collection and expenditure should be avoided since it could result in lack of vital goods and services. For instance, schools and health care services must not be disrupted. Besides, local and state governments are labour intensive; hence, they need funds to pay their workforce. Thus, functional sharing arrangements between local and state governments can help to reduce the impact of reduced revenue (Garcea, 2008, p.13). From another perspective, two neighboring states can share the police force unit or any other service, and ensure that there are better policies on all ocation and use of federal funds so as essential services are delivered to the public. In addition, local and state governments should develop a strong investment program, while the authority should make policies that would enable for quick recovery and avoid continued disruption. Conclusion Local and state governments collect revenue through taxation and other non taxation methods. Some taxes levied on individuals and business are property, excise, sale, and income tax while some non-taxation methods include charges, fees, licensing and transfer revenue from the federal government. Categories of expenditure include; consumption, investment and transfer payments, with the consumption and investment expenditures taking up most of the revenue. Changes in revenue and expenditure include regulation of tax rates and allocation of revenue. Factors that can affect expenditure and revenue categories are economic melt down, natural disasters, tax policy in the neighboring state and legislati on by higher governments. To reduce the impact of revenue disruption, measures can be put in place including proper policies and functional sharing of duties between states. References Baumol, W. Blinder, A. (2008). Macroeconomic: Principles and Policy. OH: Cengage Learning. Brunori, D. (2005). State tax policy: a political perspective. Washington: The urban Institute publishing. Web. Garcea, J. (2008). Local government reform: a comparative analysis of advanced Aglo-American countries. NY: Edward Elgar publishing. Web. Honadle, B., Cigler, B. Costa, J. (2004). Fiscal health for local governments: an introduction to concepts, practical analysis and strategies. NY: US Academic Press. Web. Organization for Economic Cooperation. (2010). National Accounts at a Glance 2009. NY: OECD publishing. Web. This research paper on Revenue and expenditure categories of local and state governments in the United States was written and submitted by user Darg0Kt0r 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.

History of Television Essay Example

History of Television Essay Example History of Television Essay History of Television Essay The beginnings of mechanical television can be traced back to the discovery of the photoconductivity of the element selenium by Willoughby Smith in 1873, the invention of a scanning disk by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow in 1884 and John Logie Bairds demonstration of televised moving images in 1926. As 23-year-old German university student, Paul Nipkow proposed and patented the first electromechanical television system in 1884. 1] Although he never built a working model of the system, variations of Nipkows spinning-disk image rasterizer for television became exceedingly common, and remained in use until 1939. [2] Constantin Perskyi had coined the word television in a paper read to the International Electricity Congress at the International World Fair in Paris on August 25, 1900. Perskyis paper reviewed the existing electromechanical technologies, mentioning the work of Nipkow and others. 3] The photoconductivity of selenium and Nipkows scanning disk were first joined for practical use in the electronic transmission of still pictures and photographs, and by the first decade of the 20th century halftone photographs, composed of equally spaced dots of varying size, were being transmitted by facsimile over telegraph and telephone lines as a newspaper service. [4] However, it was not until 1907 that developments in amplification tube technology, by Lee DeForest and Arthur Korn among others, made the design practical. 4] The first demonstration of the instantaneous transmission of still silhouette images was by Georges Rignoux and A. Fournier in Paris in 1909, using a rotating mirror-drum as the scanner and a matrix of 64 selenium cells as the receiver. [5] In 1911, Boris Rosing and his student Vladimir Zworykin created a television system that used a mechanical m irror-drum scanner to transmit, in Zworykins words, very crude images over wires to the Braun tube (cathode ray tube or CRT) in the receiver. Moving images were not possible because, in the scanner, the sensitivity was not enough and the selenium cell was very laggy. 6] On March 25, 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of televised silhouette images in motion, at Selfridges Department Store in London. [7] ATTs Bell Telephone Laboratories transmitted halftone still images of transparencies in May 1925. On June 13 of that year, Charles Francis Jenkins transmitted the silhouette image of a toy windmill in motion, over a distance of five miles from a naval radio station in Maryland to his laboratory in Washington, using a lensed disk scanner with a 48-line resolution. 8][9] However, if television is defined as the live transmission of moving images with continuous tonal variation, Baird first achieved this privately on October 2, 1925. But strictly speaking, Baird had not yet achieved moving images on October 2. His scanner worked at only five images per second, below the threshold required to give the illusion of motion, usually defined as at least 12 images per second. By January, he had improved the scan rat e to 12. 5 images per second. Then he gave the worlds first demonstration of a working television system to members of the Royal Institution and a newspaper reporter on January 26, 1926 at his laboratory in London. Unlike later electronic systems with several hundred lines of resolution, Bairds vertically scanned image, using a scanning disk embedded with a double spiral of lenses, had only 30 lines, just enough to reproduce a recognizable human face. [citation needed] In 1927, Baird transmitted a signal over 438 miles (705 km) of telephone line between London and Glasgow. In 1928, Bairds company (Baird Television Development Company/Cinema Television) broadcast the first transatlantic television signal, between London and New York, and the first shore-to-ship transmission. He also demonstrated an electromechanical color, infrared (dubbed Noctovision), and stereoscopic television, using additional lenses, disks and filters. In parallel, Baird developed a video disk recording system dubbed Phonovision; a number of the Phonovision recordings, dating back to 1927, still exist. 10] In 1929, he became involved in the first experimental electromechanical television service in Germany. In November of the same year, Baird and Bernard Natan of Pathe established Frances first television company, Television-Baird-Natan. In 1931, he made the first outdoor remote broadcast, of the Epsom Derby. [11] In 1932, he demonstrated ultra-short wave television. Bairds electromechanical system reached a peak of 240 lines of resolution on BBC television broadcasts in 1936 thou gh the mechanical system did not scan the televised scene directly. Instead a 35 mm film was shot, rapidly developed and then scanned while the film was still wet. This intermediate film system was discontinued within three months in favor of a 405-line all-electronic system developed by Marconi-EMI. [12] Herbert E. Ives and Frank Gray of Bell Telephone Laboratories gave a dramatic demonstration of mechanical television on April 7, 1927. The reflected-light television system included both small and large viewing screens. The small receiver had a two-inch-wide by 2. 5-inch-high screen. The large receiver had a screen 24 inches wide by 30 inches high. Both sets were capable of reproducing reasonably accurate, monochromatic moving images. Along with the pictures, the sets also received synchronized sound. The system transmitted images over two paths: first, a wire link from Washington to New York City, then a radio link from Whippany, New Jersey. Comparing the two transmission methods, viewers noted no difference in quality. Subjects of the telecast included Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. A flying-spot scanner beam illuminated these subjects. The scanner that produced the beam had a 50-aperture disk. The disc revolved at a rate of 18 frames per second, capturing one frame about every 56 milliseconds. (Todays systems typically transmit 30 or 60 frames per second, or one frame every 33. 3 or 16. 7 milliseconds respectively. ) Television historian Albert Abramson underscored the significance of the Bell Labs demonstration: It was in fact the best demonstration of a mechanical television system ever made to this time. It would be several years before any other system could even begin to compare with it in picture quality. [13] Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, Leon Theremin had been developing a mirror drum-based television, starting with 16 lines resolution in 1925, then 32 lines and eventually 64 using interlacing in 1926, and as part of his thesis on May 7, 1926 he electrically transmitted and then projected near-simultaneous moving images on a five foot square screen. 9] By 1927 he achieved an image of 100 lines, a resolution that was not surpassed until 1931 by RCA, with 120 lines. [citation needed] On December 25, 1926, Kenjiro Takayanagi demonstrated a television system with a 40-line resolution that employed a Nipkow disk scanner and CRT display at Hamamatsu Industrial High School in Japan. This protype is still on display at the Takayanagi Memorial Museum in Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu Campus. His research in creating a production model were halted by the US after Japan lost World War II. [14] Mechanical scanning systems, though obsolete for the more familiar television systems, nevertheless survive in long wave infra red cameras because there is no suitable all-electronic pickup device. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_television

Costa Rica Essays - Costa Rica, Republics, Economy Of Costa Rica

Costa Rica Essays - Costa Rica, Republics, Economy Of Costa Rica Costa Rica Costa Rica is officially known as the Republic of Costa Rica. It is 19,575 square miles in size and has a population of approximately 3,342,000 people. It is bordered by Panama and Nicaragua. The capital of Costa Rica is San Jose. Its coastal areas are hot and humid and heavily forested. It has a large chain of volcanoes rising over 12,000 feet. The official language of Costa Rica is Spanish. It is a democratic nation and has no military. Costa Rica has only 3 national newspapers. History Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica in 1502. In 1563 Spain began its conquest of the Costa Rican area. In 1821 Costa Rica gained independence and was successfully part of the Mexican empire. Coffee growing started in the early 1800's and banana cultivation began in 1874. Costa Rica's democratic government began in 1889. Its president from 1986 to 1990 worked for peace in Central America. Economically, Costa Rica has a history of payment problems. Government Costa Rica has a democratic government. Its current constitution was adopted in 1949. In Costa Rica, the president serves as the chief executive and head of state. The president is elected to a four year term. The legislative assembly has fifty-seven deputies that are elected for a four year term. The supreme court has seventeen justices appointed by the legislature. Costa Rica's army was abolished in 1948. However, they do have a national guard that can fight in a time of war. Costa Rica's seven provinces each have a governer appointed by the president. All citizens 18 years of age or older are required to vote in the national election. The country's two main political parties are the National Liberation Party and the Social Christian Unity Party. Population and Ancestry In 1994, Costa Rica's population was about three and one quarter of a millon people. It is estimated to be growing at a rate of about two and one quarter percent. At this rate, Costa Rica's population will double in 30 years. Costa Ricans take great pride in their country's heritage of government and social equality. They do not take for granted their personal dignity and strong family ties. Almost all of Costa Ricans speak Spanish but some blacks speak with a Jamaican dialect. About 90% of the people belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Housing About 50% of the Costa Ricans live on farms or in rural towns. A lot of farmers live in Adobe cottages with thick, white stucco walls and red or pink-tiled roofs. Most of Costa Rica's city people live in row houses. Many Costa Ricans like to decorate their homes with plants and flowers. Wealthy familys live in large ranch-style homes surrounded by huge gardens. Food Parts of the diet of many Costa Ricans can include beans, coffee, corn, eggs, rice, and tropical fruits like bananas, guaves, mangoes, oranges, and pineapples. Many Costa Rican families also serve beef, fish, poultry, and many kinds of soups. Tamales and tortillas are also foods that are often prepared. Education About 90 to 93% of Costa Rica's people can read or write. This is a higher percentage than any other country in Central America. Law requires all children to complete elementary school and then they may choose whether or not to continue on with their education. Costa Rica has several universities which include the National University in Heredia and the University of Costa Rica by San Jose. Sports and Recreation Most Costa Ricans enjoy spending their leisure time outdoors. Soccer is the national sport and playing fields can be found everywhere. Basketball, tennis, and swimming are also popular. On some religious holidays, bullfights, fireworks, and masked parades can attract thousands of Costa Ricans and foreign tourists. The only 18-hole golf course in Costa Rica is at the Cariari Country Club, just west of San Jose. However, there are many 9-hole courses. The country's national gymnasium is in Sabana Park. Many tennis courts are also in Sabana Park. Rodeos and bullfights are held at Santa Cruz. In a bullfight, the bull chases men around. During Christmas festivities, there are also Mexican style bullfights in which the person tries to kill the bull. Economy The most valuable natural resource in Costa Rica is the fertile volcanic soil. Trees such as oaks, pines, and tropical hardwood cover about 1/3 of the land. About 1/4 of Costa Rica's workers are in farming or ranching. Bananas, beef cattle, coffee, corn, rice, and sugar cane are the country's leading agricultural products. Some farmers also grow oranges, beans, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. Costa Rica's leading manufactured products include cement, clothing, cosmetics, furniture,

Identifying the academic and Behavioural Support Needs of Teachers Dissertation

Identifying the academic and Behavioural Support Needs of Teachers Teaching in LINUS classrooms in Malaysia - Dissertation Example Presently, there are about eight local based universities and the Intercontinental Islamic University which are engaged in the original training of Malaysian teachers in secondary schools. Moreover, the universities and other 28 colleges for teachers carry out the majority of Malaysian teacher education (SEAMEO Innotech, 2008). National Philosophy of Education (NPE) The National Philosophy of Education was officially put on record in 1988. The philosophy makes the use of the word ‘God’ in a basic manner to incorporate all beliefs. It is expected that having faith in God will foster positive principles that will facilitate the mitigation of social vices. The Malaysian National Philosophy of Education lays emphasis on the integration and balancing of the growth of sacred, academic, expressive and substantial realms. The education system is structured to attain this philosophy through three curricular tactics: thinking across the curriculum, values across the curriculum and language across the curriculum (Mock & Kauffman, 2002; p.211). Literacy and numeracy has placed the basis for teaching in primary education and beyond. Arithmetic, reading and writing are inherent in the fundamental rights to education. Lack of these potentials makes it unbearable for students to achieve higher efficacy in education and professional engagements in the contemporary society. Studies reveal that a section of Malaysian student populations are not well endowed with fundamental numeracy and literacy potential. For instance, in the year 2008, about 54,000 pupils in year one were selected with a low level of literacy expertise and admitted in the Initial class of Intervention Reading and writing while 117,000 year four pupils were admitted with no fundamental expertise in numeracy into a 3R remedial programme (Priestley & Rabiee, 2002; p. 371). Academic Support Needs of Teachers Teaching in LINUS classrooms in Malaysia The Malaysian government has a transformational progra m under the education National Key Results Area (NKRA) which targets to do away with the high rates of drop-outs caused by the inability of the students to deal with the demanding curriculum. There were about 31,939 dropouts from school in 2008 alone from both secondary and primary levels (Zalizan, 2000; p. 187). The main purpose of the Literacy and numeracy screening policy is to ensure that most Malaysian children get the fundamental skills in numeracy and literacy in the three years of mainstream primary education. NKRA education in Malaysia has established a target of 100% numeracy and literacy for all pupils in the entire three years. Using the fundamental literacy skills, the pupils are required to posses the capability to write, read and comprehend the phrases, plain and complicated sentences and make use of the information acquired in routine communication and learning (Malaysia, 2006). To attain the fundamental numeracy, pupils have the obligation to write, read and make co unts of whole numbers from 1 to 1000 by the time they reach year three. They are also required to show the potential to get solutions to fundamental arithmetic skills and facts in the routine function, which involves time, measurements and currencies. As opposed to the earlier attempts in addressing the problems regarding numeracy and literacy, LINUS concentrates on the initial interventions during the initial primary years prior to the pupils’

The Securities and Exchange Commission Assignment

The Securities and Exchange Commission - Assignment Example The role of the division of investment management is to regulate investment companies. The SEC protects investors by providing a regulatory framework that oversees the activity of public corporations. The SEC creates laws that are geared towards ensuring public corporations report accurate information in a timely manner. An example of a law enforced by the SEC that raised investor confidence in 21st century after a series of corporate scandals is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The work performed by the SEC enforcement division ensures corrupt companies face penalties for their actions. A fair, orderly, and efficient market means that investors have access to a reliable marketplace that is able to handle all the consumer orders during trading hours. The trading and markets division accomplishes this task by regulating the major securities market participants which includes the brokers, dealers, transfer agents, and self-regulatory organizations. The superb electronic information system of the SEC is essential to run the market in a fair, orderly, and efficient manner. Capital formation occurs when the money saved by the government and the individuals of a society is transferred to the business sector. The SEC is an institution whose objective and mission is to promote capital formation. The SEC promotes capital formation by ensuring corporation disclose all financial information through mechanisms such as the Annual Report. The investigations performed by the SEC help stop illegal activities such as insider trading that are detrimental to

The Effects of British Colonisation on Indigenous Australians Essay Example for Free

The Effects of British Colonisation on Indigenous Australians Essay The Effects of British Colonisation on Indigenous Australians There are many effects of British colonisation on Indigenous Australians. One of the worst impacts was the loss of land. The land is the sole provider of food, medicine and other basic needs to Indigenous Australians. It is also the main part of their spiritual and cultural beliefs. The Indigenous Australians lived ‘nomadic’ lifestyles. They lived in tribes that moved around, using only what they needed, recycling what they could, and moved on when they felt that the resources at the site had been exhausted. This gave the site time to recover and recuperate, and so, their resources never ran out. To the Europeans, land stated how wealthy the owner was, and they linked land ownership with power. The more fertile land you owned, the wealthier and more powerful you were considered to be. This, of course, did not apply to all Europeans who came to Australia, as most were convicts who were given land to farm and provide food for their community. When the Europeans came to Australia, their main aim was to build another colony, as well as find another place to situate their convicts. There were many reasons for the British to build extra colonies. These reasons include politics, religion and economics. Politics plays a very important part in colonialism. Extra colonies provided status, power and influence over the settlers, for the colonizer. This power enabled other effects of colonisation to take place, e. g. the spreading of religion Religion was a vital part of everyday life for the British. They felt that they had been ‘burdened’ with the task of having to spread their faith – Christianity. When the British had come into contact with the Aboriginals, they tried to ‘save’ them by introducing them to their religion, however, the Aboriginals had their own religion – the dreamtime. Building extra colonies also provided access to more natural resources, goods for trade and opened new markets for trading around the world. This provided even more wealth, and increased the economic status of many countries. When the British had ‘invaded’, many indigenous communities were forced off their land, which they considered sacred. In the early 19th century, many settlers took vital parts of the Aboriginal land, such as waterholes and soaks. By the 1870’s, all fertile land had been distributed. Many communities were reduced to living on the borders of British owned land, or on lands that were infertile, and considered unsuitable for settlement. As a result of the loss of land, the number of Aboriginal communities and the number of Aboriginals were greatly reduced. Consequently, they lost essential resources such as food and water, as there was less land to move around in, and less time for the land to recuperate. There are many effects of British colonisation on Indigenous Australians. Some of these were good, some others were bad, but the loss of land was one of the worst. Bibliography: Retroactive 1 – stage 4, world history. First published 1999 by John Wiley and sons Australia, Ltd. Lisa-Marie Long’s excursion booklet http://www. aboriginalart. com/aboriginal_australia. html visited on the 24/11/08 http://www. skwirk. com. au/p-c_s-17_u-504_t-1361_c-5239/QLD/5/Consequences-of-British-colonisation-for-Aboriginal-People/British-colonisation-of-Australia/Colonisation-resources/power-and-exploration/SOSE/ visited on the 24/11/08.