Pros and cons Co-education Essay

Pros: 1. The mixing of both the two sexes in co-educational environment eradicates the inherent shyness in each student. On the other hand, by studying and working in a mixed-gender school, students will be given facilities for expressing and sharing their own ideas or opinions in the presence of the opposite sex. Therefore, it provides students a great incentive to overcome their shyness and enhance their confidence. 2. It is manifest that in the future students have to live in a mixed-sex world and hence they should be well- prepared to easily integrate into the real life. A co-educational environment is reflective of today’s society since it offers students a valuable opportunity to get exposed to a broad exchange of diverse ideas, opinions, values and lifestyles; to get accustomed to working and sharing with their peer of the opposite sex. As a result, students in co-educational schools are more likely to adapt themselves into any new surroundings and get ahead. 3. In the past, education open to women was really restricted due to moral and religious grounds as well as the society’s conception of sex-role and gender-appropriate forms of work. However, with the worldwide advance of the society, there has been an overwhelming shift in women’s roles providing them with greater opportunity for involvement in life beyond the domestic sphere. Consequently, the practice of co-education has made the growth of women’s rights and the expansion of the modern education system to serve all the segments of the population. 4. So girls and boys in the class tend to compete in a healthy manner with each other. It is also seen that the girls fare better than boys in most of the cases. This is because both the sexes are enhanced by the presence of the other. In the olden times it was believed that girls were incompetent to compete with the boys but this is not true. Cons: 1. When studying together in a school, male and female students are likely to suffer from some bad distraction. For instance, some teenage students may be fascinated by their peer of the opposite sex and spend much time attracting them instead of their studying. Many school girls can be bothered by the teasing and even the flirting of the boys. If such distraction is not kept in control, then the students will be certainly lured away from their study. 2. While the world is witnessing dramatic improvements in co-education, there is a public question and concern about the connection among co-education and sexual freedom; a rise in unmarried, particularly teenage-pregnancy; and the growth of sex harassment and sexually transmitted diseases in mixed-sex schools where boys and girls students spend much time together and the safe boundary between two sexes can be broken at any time.

Japan or China the Most Important Strategic Relationship for Australia Among the Major Asian Powers?

Is Japan or China the most important strategic relationship for Australia among the major Asian powers? By Mej Amran B Mohamad RMAF Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College Haigate Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. 12 Nov 2009 Author can be contacted at : [email  protected] com. au ——————————————————————————————————————— Introduction Australia’s credentials and place in today international system is quite significant which influence greatly her ability to position and formulating herself strategically in the global scenario especially in the Asia Pacific region. As a nation with global interests, Australia deals with many countries in many regions and one of them is in Asian region. Australia undoubtedly and substantially engages hers interests in a wide range of aspects within the framework of the countries within this Asian region. Among the countries which are influential in shaping Australia’s strategic and defense policy within the Asia Pacific ring are China, Japan and South Korea, North Korea and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) block countries. On the other hand significant Australian interests are also engaged in Australia’s relationships with the other states such as the European Union and its member states, and in the South Pacific, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. However the emerging of China and the influence of Japanese among the major power and largest economies of the Asia-Pacific region has considerably alter the region stability lately. Many new factors and balancing pointers have emerged and its impacts cannot be ignored in shaping Australia strategic relationship and its development of defense policy. Consequently new form of challenges have emerged such as North Korea nuclear proliferation issues and overlapping claimed territory in the South China Sea to mention a few. As such advertently Australia needs to revisit and review back its strategic relationship between the so called major powers in Asia region like China and Japan in order to ensure its effective implementation of strategic environment. Australia essentially need to ensure its security, trading, investment, economic, social partners towards the region continue to uphold and be beneficial to Australia in order to continue sustain and maintain its competitive advantage. Aim The aim of this paper is to examine and to look into some critical aspects of Australia strategic and defense planning policy framework imperatives in order to decide whether China or Japan is the most important strategic relationship for Australia among the major Asian powers. Australia International Relations In its international relations arena, Australia utilizes its assets such as economic, strategic and cultural to uphold its international reputation as a responsible, constructive and practical country. It can be seen that the values which Australia brings to its international relations presently are the values of a liberal democracy greatly influence by her American ally. Australia global politics undoubtedly have been shaped by national experience and given vigour through cultural diversity of the country itself. Some of the important imperatives include the rule of law, the accountability of the government to an elected parliament, freedom of the press and a commitment to a ‘fair go’. Australia ranks eleventh in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. For comparison, Australia's main export destinations[1], 2008 to Japan was 22. 7% 1 and China 15. 6% respectively. Australia's main import sources, 2008 China 14. 6% and from Japan 9%. Australia’s defense capability is seem to be very significant in regional terms. Australia also has a broadly based alliance relationship with the United States, whose strategic engagement and commitment underwrite the stability of East Asia as a whole. Australia Strategic Environment According Senator the Hon Robert Hill Minister for Defense[2] in 2005, he stressed out that providing the capability to defend Australia and Australian interests remains the first responsibility of ruling government. Now lets us look into Australia strategic environment before discussing in depth by delineates the impact of globalization in relation to its strategic perspective. The Impact of Globalisation The world is undeniably experiencing profound and rapid change. While the international world system is dynamic, globalization is accelerating the movement of ideas and technologies and advertently exposing Australia to a new strategic environment framework such as increased the interdependency between countries and made borders more porous, increased of the potency of the terrorist threat, increase the complexity of the potential danger of WMD proliferation[3]. Globalisation has accelerated the trends which have a significant impact on security policy matters, defense capability and decision-making due to increased unpredictability and uncertainty; the technology revolution has led to a diffusion of technology at a faster tempo, particularly in the areas of information and communications; existing of asymmetric threats such as terrorism or WMD have reduced the value of defenses built around geographic advantage; non-state players quite often in some circumstances, constitute a strategic threat such as new form of transnational terrorist organisations, with no state allegiance and new types of weapons and tactics ; and borders as security barriers are now much less effective to mention a few[4]. The interconnectedness of globalisation profoundly have widen and intensify their impacts. Defense Policy In general, Australia’s defense policy response to this environment comprises of two major elements[5]. The first is to shape and build a defense capability that is versatile and adaptable. Australia has and will continue to build a force that is joint, balanced, networked and deployable. Such a force provides options for a credible response wherever Australia’s security interests are engaged. Secondly is to build strong security relationships both globally and regionally. It must be able to lead and have the capacity to contribute to coalitions in region of interest such as the Asia region as per say. Australia’s Security Interests Asia Pacific global issues have significant security implications for Australia. Generally the risk of global conflict diminished considerably with the end of the Cold War, however other potential threats remain. Conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia regions have the potential to disrupt global security. To address this Australia need to form a strategic partnership with many countries in her global political engagements and of course within Asia Pacific Ring, Japan and China are the most important priority among the Asia regional major powers. Australia’s national security and its economic interests are inextricably linked to the security and stability of the Asia Pacific region. It can be seen that the key components of Australia’s security strategy are maintaining a strong national defense capability, the security alliance with the United States, developing bilateral defense and security relationships with the countries throughout the Asia Pacific, and strengthening multilateral security links in the region, especially with the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). As such by continuously fostering strategic relationship with China and Japan are paramount. Regular bilateral security dialogues with countries in the Asia Pacific, and with key partners beyond the region, provide an opportunity to share views on a wide range of regional and global security issues, promote transparency and reinforce Australia’s commitment to working cooperatively with regional countries on security issues. Australia has increased the number of countries with which it has such dialogues, as part of its long-term strategy of promoting shared security perceptions in the Asia Pa cific region. The ARF for example is an important means of encouraging a sense of strategic community in the region. It complements the central role of bilateral links in dealing with global and regional security issues, and has an important role in encouraging regional support for international regimes against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their missile delivery systems. One of the features of the ARF in 2000 was the participation for the first time of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). On the other hand Australia sees Japan as a strong proponent and strongly supports ASEAN countries economic growth by providing financial aids and assistance in terms of Official Development Aids (ODA) for instance. Subsequently, Australia on the other hand has been very much part of the process of seeking to engage the DPRK more constructively with the regional and international community, including through an exchange of high-level visits. Australia announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the DPRK in May 2000. Australia has made a major contribution to the significant progress in establishing international regimes to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and of missiles. Australia’s future efforts will be concentrated on ensuring that these regimes are implemented and remain effective and, where necessary, are strengthened. Australia is a strong proponent of encouraging adherence to the international regime banning the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Australia is committed and relentlessly to adopt practical measures such as landmine clearance, victim assistance and mine clearance technology programs. So after looking inside the Australia needs, now lets us see what has China and Japan share in common and in what ways Australia can benefit more and have the edge by associating herself with the two countries strategically from my perspectives. One thing for sure is that Australia strategic relationships in the Asian region are becoming more complex and continue to evolve. China China’s increasing political and strategic engagement with the Asia-Pacific region with its emerging economic profoundly has many significant impacts on the global economy as well as within the Asia region. Its increasing demand for resources is driving China expansion of economic activity development in the Asia-Pacific region and also emerging as a significant technological centre for region. Hence, China’s importance to Australia grows along with this development accordingly and it cannot be totally ignored. Undoubtedly Australia sees China’s relations with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region are critically important to the maintenance of regional peace, security and stability. According to Jieh-Yung Lo, (2007)[6], Australia’s strategic responses would include China’s relationship with East Asia, placing strong emphasis on the Korean Peninsula. In particular, China’s relations with Japan and the United States play another vital role in shaping the security context for the entire region. It is in Australia’s national interest actively to encourage and support Chinese participation in dialogue and cooperation on regional security issues. As for example during 2000-01 the exchange of high-level visits started by the visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Australia in late 1999 continued, with six Australian ministers and the Deputy Prime Minister visiting China. The investment and trade relationship between Australia and China is very encouraging and expanding. China today is Australia’s third largest merchandise trade partner. New opportunities for Australia are wide open when China’s was accepted entry into the WTO, both in terms of greater market access for Australian goods and services. Thus by encouraging China to integrate further into the global economy and abide by international trade rules, the role China played in advocating regional stability become more pronounce.. Mutual economic and trade interests are increasingly underpinned by the strengthening of broader bilateral ties including cultural, educational, scientific and people-to-people links. With different cultures and traditions, Australia and China do not always share the same view, but regular dialogue and government-to-government exchanges have been established on a range of issues – from human rights to security issues – in a bid to discuss differences of opinion. The one-China policy will continue to be a fundamental element of the bilateral relationship within which Australia pursues important economic and trade interests with Taiwan. The size, competitiveness and pace of growth of the Chinese economy will continue to be a dynamic influence on other Asia-Pacific economies. Hence its strategic influence will continue to grow and need to be carefully weighted by Australia in planning her defense policy in the region. Japan On the other hand Japan arms of influence cannot be simply being ignored. It must not be forgotten and by reminiscing on the past history of the might of Japanese expansion and World War II (WW II) and the remarkable effort of its quick phase to recover and become a developed country later to become the giant world economy just next to United States need not to be considered lightly. As such undoubtedly Japan occupies a vital strategic position in North-East Asia and continues to play a primary economic and political role in Asia Pacific immediate region. So, realizing this, Australia relentlessly works hard to encourage and continue endlessly for close dialogue with Japan on a wide range of political, economic, and strategic issues and the development, to the extent possible, of policies which are mutually reinforcing. Japan continues to be Australia’s major trading partner, accounting for some 16% by value of our total trade (exports plus imports) in 2000. It is a significant investor in Australia and our largest source of in-bound tourism. The Japanese Government is taking more active role in regional and global security. It remains active in the war on terrorism. Japan increased its commitment to other part of the world such as Iraq, both financially and through the deployment of elements of the Japanese Self-Defense Force in non-combat roles. The Japanese Self-Defense contributions to peacekeeping effort are quite positive. On the other hand the strategic relationship with the United States continues to develop through increased interoperability, harmonization of Japanese and US capabilities and cooperation in missile defense. Australia’s partnership with Japan reflects the broad alignment of Australian and Japanese strategic, political and economic interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Like Australia, Japan supports the long-term strategic engagement of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region and recognizes the fundamental contribution that it makes to regional stability. Japan also shares our interest in advancing the APEC forum as the primary vehicle for economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. The Australia-Japan Conference for the 21st Century was held in Sydney on 29 and 30 April 2001 to chart new directions – strategic, economic, cultural, educational and scientific – for the relationship. The Conference Declaration, ‘The Sydney Declaration for Australia-Japan Creative Partnership’, set out a comprehensive action agenda: to strengthen economic relations, including through a trade and investment facilitation agreement; to expand dialogue and cooperation on security; and to increase people-to-people links. The Prime Minister’s visit to Japan in August 2001 built further on these links. The Factors Shaping Its Development and the Challenges to Be Met To Ensure Its Effective Implementation. In today dynamic environment more quite often the failure of existing international institutions to provide confidence in collective security arrangements has prompted an increasing resort to coalitions-of-the-willing to resolve issues of common concern. As such anticipating and meeting hallenges to Australia’s security remains a demanding task. Some of the crucial factors shaping Australia defense planning in general include the war on terrorism, proliferatio n of nuclear weapons and weapon of mass destruction The war on terrorism continues unabated on many fronts. Successive terrorist attacks in NewYork, Washington, Jakarta, Bali, Madrid, London and elsewhere since 2001 have demonstrated clearly that no country is immune from experiencing the debacle and horrors of non state actor such international terrorism. The threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has yet to be defeated as some states still seek to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. Longstanding issues, including those relating to the Middle East, North Korea, Iran and Taiwan, remain the subject of international tension. Many countries, including in the Asia-Pacific region, continue to struggle to create the conditions they need for stable economic and political development. Issues of economic downturn, human trafficking, human migration, drugs smuggling, environmental issues, overlapping claimed, boundary disputes are among current issues that need to be emphasize and handle diplomatically and strategically. These imperatives are among many challenges faced by Australia. Analyse the Strengths and Limitations on Current Australian Policy Australia employs its defence capability as the most potent of the range of instruments in order to promote and support its security interests. Among Australia strength include having a formidable Australian Defence Forces (ADF) which is able to meet all these policy and strategic needs. The ADF is capable of operating as a networked, joint force across information, air, land and maritime domains. It also has the capability to operate in environments that are complex and ambiguous, and where adversaries, including non-state adversaries, have increasingly lethal capabilities. Through continuing modernization, it needs to retain capability edge over potential rivals by having the elements of versatility[7]. robustness[8], jointness[9] and integration[10]. At all times it must maintain high levels of preparedness as demonstrated by ADF personnel whom have been deployed in many operations, including those in East Timor, Bougainville, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Iraq, the Solomon Islands, and the Sudan to mention a few. Several of these operations have been concurrent. On the other hand, there have been continuing border security tasks, natural disaster relief operations and contributions to long-running UN peacekeeping or peace-monitoring operations in the Sinai and elsewhere in the Middle East. Other role includes supporting domestic security operations such as those for the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Some of the constraints include growing cost pressures on the defense budget. This consequently affects the rising cost of ‘state of the art’ military equipment, particularly capabilities essential for the ADF’s capacity to develop and operate as a superior networked force. The other aspects is the recruitment and retention of an evermore technically capable force amidst of a strong and growing economy, will surely become more challenging Thirdly is to ensure the most efficient use of resources posses a significant challenge to the ADF. Australia Strategic Alliance Priority to Chinese or Japan Australia security accord with Japan has been greeted with much controversy over Australia's actions and intentions of containing China. These two Asian major powers have brought back the shadows of â€Å"Cold War† language of fundamental power relations and strategic competition within the Asia region. However rivalry could be restricted to peaceful economic competition for economic resources. According to Jieh-Yung Lo[11] (2007) China and Japan produce an environment of bi-polar Asia and putting Australia with the dilemma of balancing its national interests in the face of this strategic competition. All this while Japan has become a long time trusted partners in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan and Australia share a common interest in regional stability and prosperity. And today, Australia and Japan enjoy one of the most significant economic and strategic partnerships in Asia. As can be seen in July 2003 besides the latest security accord, Australia and Japan concluded a Trade and Economic Framework to set directions for the future development of the bilateral trade relationship. On the contrary Australia recognizes that both China and Japan are important to its foreign policy and defense policy in the region and shares a growing and thriving relationship with China and on the other side of the coin have a stable relationship with Japan. Australia is very clear where its interests lie and tends to see economics and security as separate issues. It welcomes China's growth, but believes that Japan and the United States should remain influential players in regional affairs. 12] Conclusion From the discussion above it can be seen that it is essential for Australia to form up a formidable defense planning which must provide for both the needs of the present and the possibilities of the future into the uncharted territory. In my opinion thus Australia strategic a lliance with Japan is most crucial and prioritized compare to with China. It is based on many elements of shared values and interests between Japan and Australia. I cogently believed the relationship will still remain the cornerstone of Australia strategic partnership in order to foster and enhance further regional security and stability in the Asian region. Bear in mind that a country’s effectiveness and influence in international affairs is determined by a combination of tangible and intangible factors including its reputation, its geographic size and population, the size and success of its economy, its strategic culture and its defense capability. I can foresee that Australia will continue to work to support the Asia-Pacific region in addressing threats of terrorism, weapons proliferation and the challenge of failing states. In an ever more inter-related world, threats to our neighbours are threats to us among which include the threat of proliferation of WMD within the region and in supporting fragile and vulnerable states. Whether fighting terrorism, piracy, transnational crime, international drug syndicates or people smugglers, effective defense policy remains a key tool of the Australian Government. As such it is importantly and uniquely for Australia to form up a smart partnership and strategic alliance with another countries in this case among one of the major powers in Asia region the most important is Japan if compare to China. In building war fighting capacity to respond to possible future threats, undoubtedly the right defense policy framework will still remains the primary instrument of the Australian Government and will therefore continue to have a central role to play in protecting and assuring Australia’s national goals of a peaceful, stable and increasingly prosperous region. However China as an emerging economic power with it renowned of its military might of course also play a vital role in destabilize the East Asian region and have great influence on the North Koreas and its proliferation nuclear issues cannot be totally ignored. I strongly believe that that a good ongoing relationship with Australia-China is still very useful and Australia need to diligently and willingly maintain a role in influencing China to a certain extent. There is evident in Australia's growing economic and political relationship with China in terms of trade and regional affairs. I also believe that strategic competition between China and Japan will continue to be dominant factors and shape the security and future stability in the region. On present trends, I believe China has reasons to be confidence. Bibliography Books Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific century: Force 2030. Canberra, ACT : Dept. of Defense (2009) Dibb, Paul. (2008) Australia’s security relationship with Japan: how much further can it go? Canberra, ACT : Strategic and Defense Studies Centre P 355. 033094 AUS/407 Frost, Frank. (2005) Directions in China’s foreign relations: implications for East Asia and Australia. Canberra, ACT : Dept. of Parliamentary Services Gupta, Amit. (2008) Strategic stability in Asia. Aldershot, England : Ashgate. 355. 03305 STR Hale, David D. 92006) In the balance: China’s unprecedented growth and implications for the Asia-Pacific. Canberra, ACT : Australian Strategic Policy Institute. P 327. 94 ASP Jennings, Peter. 2005) Getting China right : Australia’s policy options for dealing with China. Canberra, ACT : Australian Strategic Policy Institute. P 327. 94 ASP / SI 19 Lee, John. (2007) Foundations for modern approaches to the China security question. Canberra, ACT : Strateg ic and Defense Studies Centre P 355. 033094 AUS/405 Mulgan, Aurelia George. (2007) Australia-Japan relations: New Directions. Canberra, ACT : Australian Strategic Policy Institute. P 327. 94 ASP Sutter, Robert G. (2008) Chinese foreign relations: power and policy since the Cold War. Lanham, MD. : Rownan & Littlefield 327. 51 CHI Taylor, Brendan. (2007) Australia As An Asia-Pacific Regional Power: Friendships In Flux? London : Routledge 327. 94 AUS Terrill, Rose. (2006) Riding the wave: the rise of China and options for Australian policy. Canberra, ACT : Australian Strategic Policy Institute. P 327. 94 ASP Tow, William T. (2007) Asia-Pacific Security: Us, Australia And Japan And The New Security Triangle. London : Routledge. 355. 03305 ASI Williams, Brad and Newman Andrew. (2006) Japan, Australia and Asia-Pacific security. London : Routledge 355. 0310952 JAP Articles Beeson, Mark and Yoshimatsu, Hidetaka. (2007) Asia’s odd men out: Australia, Japan, and the politics of regionalism. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, Vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 227-250. Bisley, Nick. 2008) The Japan-Australia security declaration and the changing regional security setting: wheels, webs and beyond? Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 62, no. 1, March, pp. 38-52. Cobb, Adam C. (2007) Balancing act: Australia’s strategic relations with China and the United States. Georgetown Journal of Int ernational Affairs, Vol. 8, no. 2, Summer, (Available via Proquest) Ishihara, Yusuke. (2009) Partnership adrift: reshaping Australia-Japan strategic relations. Security Challenges, Vol. 5, no. 1, Autumn, pp. 103-122. Jain, Purnendra. (2006) Japan-Australia security ties and the United States: the evolution of the trilateral dialogue process and its challenges. Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 60, no. 4, December, pp. 521-535. Mulgan, Aurelia George. (2008) Breaking the mould: Japan’s Subtle Shift From Exclusive Bilateralism To Modest Mini Lateralism. Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 52-72. Naoko, Sajima. (2006) Japan and Australia: potential for an effective strategic partnership. Gaiko Forum, Vol. 6, no. 2, Summer, pp. 12-21. Sato, Yoichiro. (2008) Japan-Australia security cooperation: jointly cultivating the trust of the community. Asian Affairs, an American Review, Vol. 35, no. 3, Fall (Available via Proquest) Snyder, Craig A. (2006) Southeast Asian perceptions of Australia’s foreign policy. Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 322-340. Taylor, Nicholas. (2007) China as a status quo or revisionist power: implications for Australia. Security Challenges, Vol. 3, no. 1, February, pp. 29-45 Terada, Takashi. (2006) Thirty years of the Australia-Japan partnership in Asian regionalism: evolution and future directions. Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 60, no. 4, December, pp. 536-551. Tow, William T. (2008) Asia’s competitive ‘strategic geometries’: the Australian perspective. Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. Walton, David. (2006) Future Directions In Australia-Japan Relations: An Australian Perspective. Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 60, no. 4, December, pp. 598-605. White, Hugh. (2005) The limits to optimism: Australia and the rise of China. Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 59, no. 4, December, pp. 469-480. Internet Bateman, Sam. (2009) The great Australian defense debate: is China a threat? RSIS Commentaries, 24 April 09 http://www3. ntu. edu. sg/rsis/publications/Perspective/RSIS0402009. pdf Australia's bilateral relationships can be found at http://www. dfat. gov. au/geo/fs Specific trade and investment information see http://www. dfat. gov. au/ And http://www. tradewatch. dfat. gov. au East Asian Analytical Unit http://www. dfat. gov. u/publications/catalogue/pub_bycountry. html DFAT statistical publications see http://www. dfat. gov. au/publications/index. html Australia's international treaty commitments http://www. austlii. edu. au/au/other/dfat Australia's human rights policy e http://www. dfat. gov. au/hr Australia’s international environmental activities http://www. dfat. gov. au/environment Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), http://www. ausaid. gov. au. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, http://www. aciar. gov. au Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office, http://www. asno. dfat. gov. au Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), http://www. austrade. ov. au Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), http://www. efic. gov. au/ ———————– [1] Fact Sheet, Market Information and Research Section, DFAT, http://www. dfat. gov. au/geo/fs (dated 4 Sept 09) [2] Australia’s National Security, A Defence Update 2005, Australia Department Of Defense , pp. v [3] Ibid pp. 5 [4] Ibid pp. 2-4 [5] Ibid pp 12 [6] Jieh-Yung Lo, (2007), Article on China v Japan: implications for Australia? Dated 4 Dec 2007 [7] Versatility represents the capacity to perform a range of different roles, often concurrently. Aust ralia’s National Security, A Defense Update 2005, Australia Department Of Defense pp. 9 [8] Robustness is indicated by depth in resources and personnel and is an essential quality if the ADF is to retain the ability to sustain operations for lengthy periods. Ibid pp. 20 [9] Jointnes refers to responds to the challenge of ensuring that all service elements operate together in ways that make a truly joint force. Ibid pp. 20 [10] Integration represents the ability to network weapons platforms and capabilities to strengthen their effectiveness as part of a whole force. Ibid pp. 20 [11] Jieh-Yung Lo, (2007), Article on China v Japan: implications for Australia? Dated 4 Dec 2007. [12] Jieh-Yung Lo, (2007), Article on China v Japan: implications for Australia? Dated 4 Dec 2007

Effectiveness of Treatment Programs Research Paper

Effectiveness of Treatment Programs - Research Paper Example Patients having the problems relating to abuse of drugs are treated with the help of introducing and applying various treatment programs for the sole purpose of discontinuation of the use of drugs and other kinds of intoxicating chemicals. Apart from this, treatment programs concerning alcoholism are extensively introduced as well as exploited wherein patients with abnormal drinking habits are assisted through the most advanced measures of treatment that may include different types of exercises and meditation among others. Treatment relating to discontinuation to the habit of smoking is also provided to various patients. In addition to all the above treatment programs, there also exist certain other effectual treatment programs that are implemented in various hospitals and medical centers. In this regard, the other treatment programs embrace psychiatric treatment, wilderness therapy and residential treatment programs among others (Morral, 2006). Concept of Treatment Programs The conc eption of treatment programs aims to provide proper cure to an individual, a patient or a group of patients. It has been apparently observed that different types of treatment programs are provided to the patients for the purpose of providing effective measures for the discontinuation of various sorts of unhealthy practices that might affect the overall health of a person to a drastic level. Furthermore, treatment programs are also implemented so as to provide proper assistance for improving the mental conditions of a patient by a certain degree. There may be different kinds of patients having various problems in relation to psychological aspects. The idea concerning treatment programs especially deals with all the problems that might disrupts the behavioral attitudes of the individuals or the people in the form of students by a greater level. It is worth mentioning that effective treatment programs are designed as well as exploited to provide relief to the patients and help them in sustaining a healthy life (Morral, 2006). Effectiveness of Treatment Programs Treatment programs are structured and implemented to provide proper solutions to various patients having different medical problems that may constitute health along with mental problems. It also constitutes itself with different types of treatment which is provided to the patients so as to help them in discontinuing various types of harmful health practices that might include smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs among others. In order to determine the effectiveness of diverse treatment programs, it has been apparently observed that various sorts of treatment programs provide great aid to the patients for leading a healthier life and becoming free from conducting any kind of harmful activity relating to health and psychological problems. Different treatment programs are meant to provide distinct outcomes, but all the outcomes are specifically targeted to focus a common goal i.e. curing the patients. T reatment of a patient lays much importance in his life as it provides him/her the opportunity to start a life afresh. Different treatment programs have been viewed to provide active support to the patients in developing their morale and also raising their self-motivation by a greater level. These programs relating to treatment proves to provide the patients with increased number of health benefits. The introduction along with the execution of diverse treatm

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity Essay

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity - Essay Example In accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (the Act) 2005 â€Å"any act done or decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in their best interests†1. Such life aspects as financial, health and social care issues can be resolved from the perspective of the best interests of people with mental disabilities. Mental Capacity Act (1983) is another legal authority, which should be followed in the process of dealing with a lack of consent or mental capacity of the patients. It should be noted that consent occurs if the patient is properly informed about the potential medical treatment and is able to agree voluntarily without fraud upon it. In terms of mental capacity, a patient should be well-informed about different processes and results of medical treatment, but it should be noted that a patient may be capable in one sphere and lacking of mental capacity in making critical decisions. In accordance with Section 4 of this Act, there is a need to assess mental abilit ies or disabilities of a patient within 72 hours. The closest relatives or AMHP with one doctor’s support is essential to make some conclusions. Another doctor’s confirm should be received within 72 hours. ... iew of the case on mental capacity 2  tells us as follows: H’s was incapable in different ways and there was a need to solve his future destiny and take care of her. There was a need to improve her consent with regards to sexual relations and there was a need to prevent restrictions imposed on her liberty. Test determining mental capacity of a patient, enabling him to make relevant decisions is based on the following basic principles: first of all, it is necessary to determine whether a current turbulent state of a patient is an impairment or disturbance. Moreover, whether brain functions of a patient is damaged or not or whether a patient is able or unable to make some decisions by him or not. Therefore, it is relevant to weigh decisions and possible ways of communicating potential decisions. There are many different cases, when patients are lacking of mental capacity. Very often patients are in comma or they may suffer from â€Å"locked-in syndrome†. In case a patie nt is unable to communicate his decision, such sings as blinking or squeezing a hand may be positive signs. Therefore, the specialists of verbal and non-verbal communication are relevant in the field of such kind of patients. There is a need to take into account personal concerns and interests of a patient in order not to violate them in the process of decision making. It should be noted that medical personnel of the hospitals is always focused on life benefits of potential medical treatment of a patient or a potential possibility to save his life. Of course, it is necessary for the doctors to assess the capacity of the patients. First of all, it is necessary to assess the written records about a patient’s health conditions; to involve independent decision makers, take care of hospital complaints

Automated data reconciliation of the clinical and safety databases Thesis

Automated data reconciliation of the clinical and safety databases - Thesis Example It saves time, and more importantly, gets rid of possible discrepancies between databases. Whenever discrepancies are possible, it necessitates extra quality assurance steps for resolving mismatches (Zhengwu Lu, & Lu, Zhengwu, 2009). Serious Adverse Event, SAE, and Adverse Event, AE, reconciliation compares specific data between two databases; a clinical database and a safety database. A clinical database defined as s closed system while a safety database as an open system. A clinical database can review data for only a short time period that is lasting of the trial, hence defined as closed. A safety database on the other hand, is an open system due to its continuous reception of new SAEs or updates of SAEs that already exist concerning any clinical trials even when they are locked (Van et al 2012). Data management performs the task of SAE and AE reconciliation. Two departments are normally involved, the pharmacovigilance and drug safety, and clinical data science. During the data reconciliation, SAE is collected in the safety database and in the clinical database. Data cleaning takes place according to the specifications of data validation (Dwivedi & IGI Global, 2009). SAE reconciliation is performed continually between first patient first visit, FPFV, and last patient last visit, LPLV. The reason for such timely performances provides data that is reliable and trustworthy, that is of greatly useful in decision-making processes on a drug’s safety profile and successive trial design. It also ensures consistency in reporting to health authorities regarding individual Safety reports, New Drug Application, and the annual Investigational New Drug Update (Trasi, 1994). The skill set accessible in the data management section, many additional things can be done. The interior talents of the section are not fully utilized. It is not fulfilling for persons and the organization. The prospects and the demands are there.

Compare and contrast Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Compare and contrast - Research Paper Example To begin with, the integrative negotiation strategy is stipulated as expanding the agenda negotiation strategy. As the name suggests, it aims to expand the boundaries of the negotiation by bringing in new ideas and issues to the negotiation situation that did not previously exist. Through this strategy, the parties are able to trade issues that are less important to them while retaining the more relevant issues to them and hence achieve the outcome they needed in the negotiation (Hatfield, Agoglia & Sanchez, 2008). Problem solving approach is the second form of an integrative negotiation strategy. This is a learning approach that is mainly aimed at identifying the interests of the involved parties and gathering information aimed at coming up with new solutions to the involved parties in the negotiation situation. It is mainly applied in an auditing negotiation situation whereby the auditor uses additional information to safeguard his desired outcome while still giving the client an avenue to feel that his objective was also achieved (Hatfield, Agoglia & Sanchez, 2008). Integrative negotiation strategy can be applied in the work setting whereby both parties will lose heftily if an agreement is not reached and where one party does not have undue influence over the other. An example is in negotiation situation involving a manufacturer and a sole supplier of its raw commodities. The two parties need each other and hence problem solving or expanding the agenda using data collection will have to be employed to come up with a decision that favors both parties (Hatfield, Agoglia, & Sanchez, 2008). In contrast, a distributive negotiation strategy is achieved using the interplay of three principles; conceding, compromising or contending. When contending is applied in a negotiation situation, it is mainly aimed at making the other party comply or resisting

Undergraduate Education by Marty Nemko Assignment

Undergraduate Education by Marty Nemko - Assignment Example Nemko feels that lectures are very unproductive, however, colleges are a big business and use of lectures is the cheapest method to instruct the masses. He further argues that several professors lack the desire to educate undergraduates, but do it anyway since that’s where the cash lies. The rate of graduation at 4-year colleges is about 40%, which would be not acceptable in any other enterprise. Nemko elaborates the statistics used by colleges to make them appear more elite. He has a feeling that colleges misleadingly advertise custom-made experience amongst other things. He then elucidates what he would do to fix the system. Nemko wants colleges to provide reports that have got genuine statistics and that can directly apply to an individual. He claims that this would at least provide a student with a reasonable preview of his/her next 4 years. Nemko favors online interactive lecture and concludes by stating that continued funding of these poor enterprises will yield and chan ge nothing. It is therefore very clear that Marty Nemko presents an effective argument in â€Å"America’s Most Overrated Product: Undergraduate Education†. Nemko is very clear in his presentation as to why a college education is the most overrated product in America. He in no uncertain terms presents his argument using factual data that he has authoritatively researched on. He explains how even the parents who have no money will spare nothing to have their kids get a college education. He calls it mortgaging their future so as to pay for their children’s college education and gives the approximate figures of $200,000 for a 4-year college degree.

Reggio Emilia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reggio Emilia - Article Example Role of Teachers: Teachers' role is that of both facilitator and partner in learning which includes selecting topics based on student interests ands experiences, providing resources (notes, slides, audio or visual taping) on topics, composing small groups of friends to work on projects favoring cognitive conflicts, developing collaboration among all students to question things, emerging out project content by student's spiral understanding, extending time to a project and supporting in documentation. They share portfolios instead of checklist of skills, tests or diagnostic evaluations at end of each year. Role of Parents: Parents are an active part of their children's learning experience and they take many forms such as day-to-day interaction, work in the schools, discussions of educational and psychological issues, special events, excursions, and celebrations. Parents have the right to be involved in the life of the school. Children with special rights: Children with special rights have first priority for enrollment into the schools beginning at three months of age. If the child's neighborhood school is full, then he/she has to go to another school. They have an additional teacher with special experience and training. Children with special rights stay an extra year.

Is the solution to having it allfor parents just to have one child Essay

Is the solution to having it allfor parents just to have one child - Essay Example One child theory has been favoured by women due to its rationality and measurable outcomes. According to her theory, problem of mismanagement starts occurring when women in significant positions (professionals) opt for more than one child and end up in losing their health, wealth, joy, sanity and financial stability due to distracted presence (at home and work). A decade ago, when â€Å"Stay-at-home-mom† revolution surged then Linda Hirshman (feminist writer) advised these women to not quit their career completely for upbringing of their children, but instead adapt one child policy to balance both. However, the revolution persuaded them to an extent that they left their jobs for family life. After a decade, â€Å"Stay-at-home-mom† revolution is completely out of picture and women, who left professional life for family life, were interviewed to share their experiences of success or loss. These women who sacrificed their lives for child rearing, nearly after a decade face pressing issues like divorce, single parenting, sole management, financial instability and low professional scores on their resume due to job gap. Kali Goff the author of the article â€Å"Is Having Only One Child The Key To Gender Equality?† also supports Lind Hirshman stance on one child theory as it secures the position of a woman, when she is faced with issues like separation, divorce, single parenting or child custody. Moreover, she suggests that with multiple children dependency of a woman increases on his spouse. And this dependence is negative development for woman, as they tend to comprise bad/abusive behaviour of their spouse for the sake of their children. Thus, financial stability of a woman is a significant matter in all times and to maintain this stability, women have to embrace a strategy, which enables them to be successful as a parent and professional as well. Juggling with high profile career and family

Is there a midlife crisis Essay Example for Free

Is there a midlife crisis Essay As a man approaches middle age a number of factors converge that tend to disrupt his previous modes of experiencing himself. For some men, this stress may culminate or be expressed in a â€Å"midlife crisis. † This crisis has been variously described as a pervasive sense of alienation from ones own being in the world, unidentified or misunderstood feelings of anxiety or depression, and/or physical symptoms expressive of psychic distress. In an attempt to bring some order to conflicting reports about the experience of people entering middle age, we reviewed the existing literature. A lack of consensus soon became apparent. Some writers argued that a midlife crisis was a universal experience in male development; others suggested that men reached their peak of self-actualization at this point. Looking at the literature more closely, we saw that the research findings seemed to depend upon which methods were used and in which culture the middle-aged population was being studied. Psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and other writers working with clinical data often see a middle-age crisis as universal a developmental inevitability. Levinson proposes, as did Jaques and others, a developmental sequence, with a period of midlife crisis, which â€Å"exists in all societies, throughout the human species, at the present stage of human evolution† (Sifford 1983). More recently, theorists like Slater, Laing, and Henry have focused on the alienating effects of socialization into a culture based on denial, distortion, and repression. Culture, that is, works to deny and distort what is most human in us. Regardless of whether we see midlife crisis as a consequence of social structure or culture, many theorists tell us that midlife crisis is widespread phenomenon. The impact of historical forces on the life course does not stop with one generation. Each generation encounters a set of historical circumstances that shape its subsequent life history and that generation transmits to the next one both the impact that historical events had on its life course and the resulting patterns of timing. Cultural norms governing the timeliness of life transitions (being â€Å"early,† â€Å"late,† or â€Å"on time†) and norms governing familial obligations also shape individual and collective family timing. In all these areas, historical and cultural differences are critical. Particularly significant is the convergence of socioeconomic and cultural forces. For example, â€Å"middle-age crisis† was a relatively recent invention in popular psychology in American society. It was attributed to middle-class women in particular in describing the problems connected to menopause and the â€Å"empty nest† in mid adulthood. â€Å"Middle-age crises† were not widespread, however. They were a product of stereotypes and a social construction rather than of sociobiological or familial realities. Since the 1970s, a considerable volume of feminist psychological literature has placed â€Å"middle-age crisis† in its proper perspective by exposing the cultural and â€Å"scientific† stereotypes that created the concept (Lawrence 1980). For the process to be fully working, then, we would expect to have evidence from lay accounts that the wider public had accepted and normalised the condition. Further evidence was provided by a Gallup poll survey in 1992 which found that over two-thirds of middle-aged men in the UK believed that there was some indefinable phenomenon called the ‘midlife crisis’. Furthermore, it stated that over half of the sample thought they had experienced a midlife crisis, or were actually having one, at some point between the ages of 40 and 60 (Neustatter 1996:80). Second, a further stage occurred in the United States when the midlife crisis started to appear as a legitimate condition in course material designed for the training of nurses. The psychologist Carl Jung believed that in Western cultures, the midlife crisis of males is rooted in a search for deeper spiritual roots (Marin 2001). From the perspective of male and female roles, there is often a reversal of roles away from the closed/traditional paradigm; that is, the husband moves inward to find strength for the future, and the female moves outward to the work world and career (Morris 1995). Thus midlife men experience the self-doubts, malaise, and concern over issues of a failure of adaptation. External economic changes in the opportunity structure affect changes in the timing of entry into the labour force, and, ultimately, retirement. Institutional and legislative changes, such as compulsory school attendance, child-labour laws, and mandatory retirement, shape the work-life transitions of different age groups and eventually influence their family life as well. People who suffer a midlife crisis in this form see the exciting experience of forward movement as ending with youth and the future as repetition and decay. Some people have midlife crises, but most do not. Crises do occur in midlife, but they are usually caused by a variety of factors, certainly not by chronology alone. We conclude that a more adequate theory of human development must take into account both the socio-historical environment, on the one hand, and internal psychological and biological processes on the other. References Lawrence, B. S. (1980). â€Å"The Myth of Midlife Crisis. † Sloan Management Review, 21(4): 35-49. Marin, Rick. (2001). â€Å"Is This the Face of a Midlife Crisis? † N. Y. TIMES, June 24, [section] 9. Morris, B. (1995). â€Å"Executive Women Confront Midlife Crisis. † Fortune (September 18): 60-86. Neustatter, A. (1996). Looking the Demon in the Eye: the challenge of midlife, London: Joseph. Sifford, D. (1983). â€Å"Midlife Crisis: The Nagging Pain of Unfulfilled Dreams,† Philadelphia Inquirer, October 17, p. 4.

Global Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism

Global Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism According to the authors research, the basic summary of this report is that Accor is one of the leading hotel brands in the hospitality market with more than 4,000 hotels world wide. The Accor is the brand name for various hotels such as Sofitel, Novotel, Motel 6, Studio 6, Red Roof Inn, Ibis, Etap, and Formula1. For the expansion of the business in the global market, the Accor group of hotels are continuously concentrating for the expansion of the new properties in various emerging countries like China, India where the rate of tourism has been increasing at a tremendous rate and help to improve the economic structure of the country. The following report will outline the overall information about the companys global brand, strategies, global competitors, its promotion strategies etc. The report also focuses on the total global operations of the company that how its doing the promotion of its brands in UK as well as in India. The Accor brand have to organise their strategy very carefu lly as they have huge competitors in the market. Accor brand have different segment market hotel like Budget, economical, midscale upscale. INTRODUCTION Paris-based Accor is Europes leading hospitality group with almost 4,000 hotels in 85 countries around the world. In 1967 Gà ©rard Pelisson and Paul Dubrule opened their first Novotel hotel on a roadside near Lille in northern France. Accor provides hotels in every range, from the five-star Sofitel chain to budget-priced Formule 1, Etap, and Ibis in Europe, Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns in the United States, and midrange Novotel and Mercure in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region. In addition to its hotel properties, Accor also provides its worldwide customer base with foodservices (restaurants and employee vouchers), casinos, and onboard railway services (sleeping berths and dining) (www.accor.com/history.html).The Accor group primarily operates a chain of hotels and also provides corporate service. The group has a global presence and has properties worldwide. The Accor brand manages 899 hotels in Europe (excluding France) with 53 Sofitel, 161 Novotel, 270 Mercure, 6 Suite hotels, 278 Ib is, 85 Etap Hotels, 44 Formule 1 with 39,000 employees. All hotels have a different rating according to their standard and services under Accor. Accor hotel has a rich history started its first hotel in 1967 and now managing more than 4000 hotels world wide with different brand names. Sofitel: Sofitel hotel operates worlds leading business in the upper scale market. The Sofitel hotels consist of 185 hotels worldwide with leading competitors for the 5 star rating hotels in the market. Novotel: The Novotel hotels comes under mid scale rating brand in the market with 398 hotels world wide and mostly business depends on the business travelers. Mercure: The Mercure hotel includes several other brands such as Libertel, Parthenon, Orbis hotels. The Mercure brand consists of 736 hotels worldwide. Suite hotels: Suite hotels were introduced in the year 1999 with a very new concept of attracting price conscious customers with better services. Currently, the Suite hotels consist of 30 properties with in France, Germany. Ibis: The Ibis hotels comprise of 720 properties world wide providing excellent services to their customers and most of the Ibis hotels are located in the centre of the city. Redroof: The Redroof consists of 344 properties with in the United States and have the economy rating image in the market in terms of excellence in services in the hospitality market. Motel 6: Motel 6 offers the best price of any national chain .In the year 1962, the Motel 6 were offering there accommodation at a very low price of $6 per night and now a days have a great image in the budget segment in the hospitality sector. The Motel 6 operates 862 hotels in the United states and Canada ( www. motel6.com) Etap: The Etap brand operates 331 hotels worldwide. Etap hotels are basically known for there economy accommodations (www.accor.com). Accor focuses repeatedly on a specific vision for growth, and believes in sustainable, profitable growth through three pillars: A geographically and structurally balanced business portfolio. A disciplined, result oriented management of resources and assets. A set of powerful aligned brands. These pillars stood throughout Accors network expansion and continue to guide Accors growth. Accor also adjusted its strategy for moving into India in late 2002. While entering into the Indian market they decided to focus on the brands such as Ibis, Formule 1 and Etap brands in the markets through a joint venture. The basic rationale for introducing small brands into India was to see the response of the people in Indian market that whether they prefer budget hotels or they would like to go with big brands such as Sofitel, Novotel and then depending on these tests Accor determined to fully enter the Indian market (www.accorcompanyhistory.mht.com). MAIN BODY History of the chosen brand (Sofitel) Accor Group:- The first Sofitel hotel was opened in France in 1964. In 1974 Sofitel did grand opening of their hotel in U.S.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Till the year 1995 it included 100 hotels with, 12,500 employees throughout 40 countries worldwide. In 2002 it did major International expansion, Sofitel opens its doors in Europe (London, Marseille, Cologne) Africa (Marrakech) North America (Chicago, Washington, Montreal)South America (Quito) and Asia (Shanghai, Bangkok) (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.shtml). The company undertook extensive renovation work at several establishments, in 2006 including Los Angeles the signature Sofitel hotel in the United States, and Polynesia and continued expanding in Europe. Sofitel brand awareness of continually increasing 10 of its hotels made the Gold list of the prestigious Condà © Nast Traveller magazine, and it was voted Best Hotel Chain in Europe by the readers of Business Traveller Magazine. Sofitel became an independent business unit last year (2008) w ithin the Accor group and implemented its new luxury strategy on its network. With a network comprised of 161 hotels in 2008, Sofitel has received 23 awards since January. By the end of the year, 70 properties were brought in line with the brands new prestige image. In 2009 Sofitel launched its two sister brands, Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.shtml). Rationale for selected country: As Emerging Markets turn into the growth engines of the 21st century, slower growth at home has led investors and hotel companies to pursue aggressive expansion abroad as they look to capture new customers and grow winning global brands. At time when most companies are trading carefully, Accor Hospitality is showing confidence in the Indian market by its continued investments in Indian projects whereas freezing those in China until 2011. As Jean-Michel Casse, VP India Operations for the group talked about its assured investments and developments in India. India market is unpredictable, yet there is a strong hope of demand increases this year because in 2010 the Commonwealth games are taking place in Indian in New Delhi. Accor hotels group is investing in India through a joint venture with Inter Globe Hotels, for Ibis hotel brand in India. The products developing in India are much more advanced than its existing European properties and the Accor group is putting best efforts in devel oping them. The short term target for the company is to have 30 hotels under its operations, under different brands by 2011. Accor has also successfully bid for two sites at Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) proposed hotel district development, for which market feasibility study is being carried out to identify the right brand positioning. The company is opening Sofitel Mumbai (which is the main business hub of the country as well as house of the Bollywood or Indian film industry) Juhu Beach. This will be third property in the country, after Novotel Hyderabad Airport and Novotel Hyderabad. On the other hand, the group is also progressing with its budget brand Formule1. The group committed to open nine Formule1 developments in cities including one in Thiruvananthapuram (most tourist visited city in Kerala) and targeting to add 10 new deals each year for this brand as the business will grow. The first Formule1 brand will be operational by the second half of 2010 in Pune (the famous city for best engineering colleges), Bangalore (garden city of India) and Ahmedabad. Accor Hospitality also brought its mid scale Mercure brand to India.. (http://www.expresshospitality.com/20090630/market07.shtml) On managing its properties in India, Accor has taken a decision to train managers for top positions from within to address the groups stringent brand philosophy and strategy need in India, looking at future demand for manpower. Their different brands have different approach. They look at empowering skills to remove layers, for example, in Ibis and for Novotel, Mercure and Formule1, just cannot take anybody who doesnt understand their brand structure. To inculcate that understanding, the group plan to conduct training for employees of the hotels so that they can be trained to manage properties as they expand, in future. The group has already planned for a training university Accor Academy, to be opened in 2010 and would be established with possible partnership along with an Indian hotel management institute. The group is taking this step to get more Indians for the management level by first getting them trained, positioning them in the European market and bring them back to manage pro perties in India. The Accor Academy will be established in Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Delhi, depending on the volume of employees (http://www.expresshospitality.com/20090630/market07.shtml) According to the (Keegan1995) global marketing is the process of focusing on the resources (people, management and physical assets) and the objectives of an organization on its global markets opportunities and threats. Today global marketing is essential not only for the realization of the full success potential of the business, but even more critically for the survival of the business. Key drivers for the global marketing:- Market needs: According to Keegan (1995) this is the factor that generally focuses the company to operate globally by seeing overall marketing needs like what customer demands. Every human has its own preferences and due to which demand for everyone differs. Company before going globally should first target the market needs as to see what kind of product will be useful to the customer. According to the selected company (Sofitel) and the chosen country (India) should introduce the product which is affordable to everyone in the market so as to capture the good market share. For this company should first target that what kind of customers it is going to provide the services. Market needs in context to hospitality industry means that what kind of facilities the hotel is providing. Accor group of hotels have different brands operating under it. So every brand has its own target market and different strategies. Generally, customer demands when they travel a good comfortable place to stay, quality food and leisure activities or facilities. So the hotel should first analyse its target market, that what kind of customers, it is going to provide its facilities and services. Doing analyses on the market needs helps the company to compete globally with its other competitors. Some basic segment needs can be met with a global approach in selected product markets. The advertising campaign for a global product may be a good appeal for a company to introduce its product all over the world and also meeting the market needs (Keegan 1995). Technology: It is a universal, uniform, consistent factor across national and cultural boundaries. If a company knows how to manage the technology in one country it becomes easier for the company to manage globally. There are no cultural boundaries limiting the application of technology. Once, technology develops it becomes available everywhere in the world. For the chosen company for this report it is necessary to develop its technology accordingly by considering both the markets UK as well as India. It should do so, to make its product familiar everywhere (Jobber, 2001 Anderson, 1994). Cost: The pressure for globalisation is intense as new products involve major investments and long period of development. Uniformity can drive down research, engineering, design and production cost across business functions. The large cost incurred on new products and risk of product development may be recovered in the global market place as no single market is enough to support investment of the size. Quality: The quality of the product reflects the intended function and performance of the product in the market. Quality of the product which a global company offers to the market is the main driver which forces the company to operate globally. If, the response of the product quality is good in one country, than company may seek to open or become global by providing the same level of product quality to other global markets, so as to sustain in the global market. As Sofitel, which in high category is the most preferred brand of the Accor group of hotels for the customers, is due to its product similarity and quality which it provides to the guest (Hennesey1995 Keegan 1995). Brands Global Competitors: As Sofitel hotel comes under upscale star category so the competitors of this brand in hospitality industry are mainly Grand Hyatt (Hyatt group), Taj hotels, the Oberois, Radisson, Crown plaza, Shangri-la. Due to such high range of competitors Sofitel is providing good services to its guests so as to get good revenue from its customers. In order to compete in the market it is opening its 5 new hotels in India (Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Jaipur Pink City, and New Delhi). Keeping in mind the current scenario of business environment that is recession the hotel should also keep an eye on its price .Due to recession, customers now seek quality service at low price(e.g.: Holiday Inn brand has been relaunched with upgrading its services and this is done in time of recession so that it gets attraction from the customers to get good business) so in order to get in stand with their competitors it should introduce some good price to the market and try to provide good level of services as it is already providing but at a affordable rate. Sofitel believes it is essential to contribute to their development and well-being, which includes employment and training, contributing to health, local purchasing and, in general, any measure that contributes to local social and economic development. The quality of their local roots also depends on the ability to protect the natural environment. So the employees look for new ways every day to use less water and less energy, to reduce waste. Since, from the opening of the first Sofitel in France in 1964, team members have been driven by a pioneering spirit of conquest. A key to their success, this attitude has over the years shaped the brands culture, which is the cement that binds their team members while respecting difference in their ages, cultures and positions within the organization (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.html). Cultural issues which may affect the companys operation: Language differences: this is problem concerning towards the different languages spoken in different countries. So, company operating globally should take care and respect the languages of different countries. The trade names, brands slogans, sales presentation material and advertising content used by companies in their domestic market may have to be changed when used in other foreign market. A slogan or advertising material which is effective in one language may mean offensive in other language. Companies while advertising or marketing their brand should see that translation is accurate and must convey similar meaning (Kotler and Armstrong (2004). Cultural differences: as stated by Chee and Harris (1993) dimensions of culture (e.g. religion, beliefs and attitudes, education) also play important role in the communication process. Cultures also affect the likes and dislikes of the customers, their attitudes towards things and preferences for particular product and services. Keeping in mind the Indian market, company needs to take care of the cultural values and should know cultural likes and dislikes in order to get success in the future as company is going to introduce new products and properties in the market. Economic differences: economic condition also affects the communication process. Literacy level and the degree of urbanization have a significant influence on communication. The discretionary income of individuals and families directly affect their attitudes towards products. Necessities in one country can be luxurious in other country (Kotler and Armstrong (2004). Pricing for the brand and its strategies: One of the major elements of the marketing mix is price. As stated by Anderson (1994), Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. But according to Jobber (2001) price is a vital part of whole marketing process. It may also be a factor in determining the sales of the product. Every company should fix it price according to the demand of the product, high price may result in less demand in highly competitive market. If company wants to sell the product at higher price, then it should add more value to its existing product as to compete in the market with other similar products. Before deciding the price, company should set a target of what it actually wants to achieve in the marketplace. Setting the price which is affordable to everyone can help the company to increase the sales of the product and also helps to capture a large m arket share. While there is no single definition to determine pricing, the following is a general sequence that might be followed for developing the pricing of a new product as Sofitel is deciding to open its more hotels in India. Develop marketing strategy perform marketing analysis to ensure that what kind of customers they are going to target and positioning of the older products so as to see what was the response of customers towards it and also to set the price according the target market which help in increasing demand. Make marketing mix decisions define the product through advertising so that the customers are known about the upcoming product in the market as Indian customers are very easily attracted towards new products by seeing its more and more advertising, distribution of the product in the target market by marketing professionals in that area, and by adopting several promotional techniques such as using media (television, newspapers, magazines and broachers(www.hospitalitybusiness.com Jobber(2001). Estimate the demand curve understand how quantity demanded varies with price. Because there is a relationship between price and quantity demanded, it is important to understand the impact of pricing on sales by estimating the demand curve for the product. As during this time in the UK market recession has affected very badly so hotel group should reduce the price of its rooms but shouldnt cut down the level of service it is providing currently to its customers. Where as Indian economy is increasing at good rate so it can increase its price little bit by increasing some added facilities to its products. If in future the company sees increase in demand then it can increase the price accordingly. Calculate cost -as discussed by Hennesy (1995) include fixed and variable costs associated with the product. If the firm has decided to launch the product, there likely is at least a basic understanding of the costs involved otherwise, there might be no profit to be made. The production cost of the product sets the lower limit of what the firm might charge, and determines the profit margin at higher prices. The total unit cost of a producing a product is composed of the variable cost of producing each additional unit and fixed costs that are incurred regardless of the quantity produced. The pricing policy should consider both types of costs. Understand environmental factors evaluate competitor actions to compete in the market and should see that what strategies are used by others competitors in the market in order to get good business, understand legal constraints towards the environment, to save it and to become environment friendly. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment in which the company operates, Anderson (1994). From a competitive standpoint, the firm must consider the implications of its pricing on the pricing decisions of competitors. For example, setting the price too low may risk a price war that may not be in the best interest of either side. Setting the price too high may attract a large number of competitors who want to share in the profits. Determine pricing using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing method, develop the pricing structure, and define discounts (Jobber, 2001).For new products, the pricing objective often is either to maximize profit margin or to maximize quantity (market share). To meet these objectives, there are two main strategies which company can use. Skimming price attempts to skim the cream off the top of the market by setting a high price and selling to those customers who are less price sensitive. Skimming is a strategy used to pursue the objective of profit margin maximization. As in regard to Sofitel hotels they can charge high price in Indian market at present because the economy is developing at a good rate by which people have now started to prefer good quality of products and services by not keeping in mind the price which they have to pay for their product. And also keeping in mind the Common wealth games which are going to take place in 2010 in New Delhi, company can increase its price for the product as many tourist and different people will be visiting the country to enjoy the games so its nice time to do a good business, and that too by charging products at some high price, also keeping an eye on the competitors in the market or near by area. Penetration pricing as stated by Dobson and Anderson (1994) this strategy aims to achieve highest possible sales volume by fixing the price aimed to achieve the target sales. This is done so that sales level is high and enough for the achievement of sales in production and distribution of the product thus leading to high level of long term profits. The pricing objective depends on many factors including production cost, existence of economies of scale, product differentiation, rate of product diffusion, the firms resources, and the products anticipated price elasticity of demand (Kotler Armstrong (2004). Marketing Strategy: According to Fill (2004) before the product is developed, the marketing strategy is formulated, including target market selection and product positioning. As stated by Keegan (1995) marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segment, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. Marketing strategy is a powerful process that gives an organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace. A marketing strategy also serves as the foundation of a marketing plan. In 2005, Sofitel focused on customer relaxation and wellness, variety of food service offering country by country and introducing the employee training programs for excellence service and reception quality (www.sofitel.com/gb/history.html). As part of Accors new business model announced in October, the company is repositioning its Sofitel brand to stand for luxury, while simultaneously launching two sub-brands (Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel) and a sister brand (Pullman Hotels and Resorts), all with the goal of increasing average room rates and meeting more fragmented demand from a growing international clientele. The brand already is working to redefine itself, focusing specifically on implementing new luxury service standards through significant investment in staff training. To help solidify Sofitels new identity, the brand has a new logo (the link, which means that human relations are at the heart of luxury), and a new advertising campaign is set to launch in June. Overall, Acco r for its brand has invested some à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬35 million for marketing the new Sofitel and its sub- and sister-brands (Ref: http://www.hotelsmag.com/article). Relationship marketing strategies: Relationship marketing strategies helps to motivate their employees to maintain a good relationship with there customers for the repeat business. To retain customers, the company have to offers various best deals, package discounts, complimentary gifts. Various loyalty and incentive programs have been organized by the Accor group of hotels to motivate distribution channels. Loyalty Cards Loyalty programs The Accor hospitality group facilitates their customer with various loyalty cards such as Mouvango loyalty cards. In 2007, the Accor Mouvango loyalty card generated 320,000 room nights in Accor hotels, compared with 250,000 in 2006, an increase of 28% (http: //www. accor.com). In 2007, Accor loyalty programs were further enhanced: New discounts were offered to holders of the Accor Favorite Guest card. Holders of the Accor Favorite Guest and Accor American Express cards can now earn points. Corporate Payment Cards Accor hotels have done partnership with American Express to create corporate payment cards: The Corporate Card: The corporate cards are created by Accor group which enables their cardholders customer to pay for their expenses direct to their card and enjoy various beneficial reductions in the payment of their bills. The Corporate American Business Cards: The Corporate American Cards allows members companies to benefit from an annual retroactive reduction on expenditure at Accor properties. (http: //www.accorhotels.com). The Six foundations of Accors strategy: Stepping up the transformation process A growth and innovation dynamic Powerful, complementary, recognised brands Unique skills to support the brands People, the companys most important asset. Growth that creates opportunities for everyone. (http://www.accor.com/en/group.html) Brand Advertising:- According to Hennessy (1995) brand can be defined as an identifying symbol, words, or mark that distinguishes a product or company from its competitors. Usually brands are registered (trademarked) with a regulatory authority and so cannot be used freely by other parties. For many products and companies, branding is an essential part of marketing. But on the other hand, as stated by Jobber (2001) its all about getting noticed. A quality, well thought through brand concept is essential for making your product different from others in the market, doing publicity of the product under the brand and using effective promotion techniques to make the product known to the customers. Promotion: According to Walters and Toyne (1993) promotion is the most visible and probably the most controversial marketing activity undertaken by the firm. Basically, the company involved in foreign marketing generally faces two main steps for promotion. Firstly, the company has to develop a customized or modified promotion strategy for each foreign market to take into account differences in some things such as product offerings, brands distribution activities and sales goal. Secondly, the promotion strategy may also have to be adjusted because of local differences in socio cultural, educational and economic attributes of the targeted buyers. The main purpose of promotion for a company is to inform, educate persuade and timed response from a particular market or market segment. Brand Promotion in India:- Use of vehicle: in this the brand is promoted by putting the location of the website on the personal vehicle and business vehicle. It is very effective when it comes to the promotion of a new launched product of the brand. This is considered as the most appropriate method for promotion because when at any times if people are struck in traffic how many people will see the advertising of the brand and website of the company at one time and also does not require much high cost to advertise by this method(Fill 2004). Use word of mouth: Word of mouth is one of the very effective promotion strategies. The main reason is because it passes on a message of trust. When someone has already used your product and services they passed a favorable word to someone else it is great because the recipient of the information is already listening to someone they trust. In India this things matters a lot for a brand to get familiar in the public and customers are also attracted towards your product when they listen the goodwill of the product from others mouth (http://marketing.about.com). Promoting through public transportation:- in this , the brand can be promoted by putting logos , posters , broachers in the public transport means such as in India it can be done by pasting adds of the brand in metro(Delhi) , in Mumbai it can be done through Mumbai local trains and taxis. This helps in making the brand known to the general public easy and in a faster way. As lots people travel daily for their workplace through local transport so its become easy to advertise the brand. And also everyday if people are seeing the same advertisement everyday they tend to buy or use the product once. Brands global promotion techniques: Global Promotion Strategies as stated by Kotler and Armstrong (2004) deal with the way a business advertises when it expands to a global market and sells to a consumer base in a different country and culture. Global promotion strategies deal with delivery of marketing concept that does not always translate into the language of the target consumer nation. If global promotion strategies are done poorly by a business it could kill any chances of gaining market share in a target nation economy. Here are some global promotion strategies. Use the right translator: This global promotion strategy will include designing marketing and communications materials that are written in the native language of the foreign country or of the target consumer culture. This is an obvious strategy however one must use the right translator to do this. According to this report the Sofitel should promote its brand in (Hindi language) which is known as native language of India. Remember that translators only translate into a target language. So, company should select the translator who is having good knowledge of the language so that the brand is promoted through right message in the foreign country and the customers should also understand it. Unless a translators target language (what the communication is getting translated to) is also that persons native language, it is highly unlikely that company will get the proper translation for their marketing materials (http://www.marketwire.com Fill (2004). Be culturally sensitive: as said by Anderson (1995) this is obvious for each brand to do a cultural study of targeted market in which they are going to provide the services. For the chosen brand Sofitel its necessary to study the culture and ethics of Indian customers so that the brand is able to provide the

Distinguishing the Difference in News Coverage among International and

Distinguishing the Difference in News Coverage among International and Domestic Images Not Included Identifying a Variance in News Coverage It became evident throughout our investigation that separating domestic news source sites from international news source sites would be beneficial in addressing our question of the variance in coverage among these news sources when identifying natural disasters throughout the world. With the objective of properly addressing this inquiry, we decided upon a proposition in order to accurately identify whether a difference in news source coverage truly exists. Therefore, we propose that world reports provide more specifications about international involvement in natural disasters rather than reports from the United States alone. This as a result insinuates that U.S. reports will have present information about U.S. aid and involvement. In turn, to properly address this proposal, we have further dissected the topic of discussion into five segments that will equally address the above mentioned proposal and discuss how the global culture manifests as it comes into being. Consequently, the di scussion of domestic rebuilding; foreign aid; poverty stricken areas; displaced families and populations; and, environmental cause and effect will be the five subtopics identifying the variance among news sources in alignment with our proposal. Before diverging into subtopics regarding natural disasters, it will be important to discuss more technical aspects of the research in order to visualize the research we were presented with. First, a total of 26 stories were tagged throughout the two month span for our group to further research. Once tagging articles was completed, it became clear that there were not ... ...h 2007 . â€Å"Queensland to Drink Waste Water.† BBC UK 29 January 2007. 29 January 2007 . â€Å"Rains Worsen Indonesia’s Flooding.† CNN World 09 February 2007. 09 February 2007 . â€Å"Rescue Efforts Intensify After Quake.† CNN 07 March 2007. 07 March 2007 . â€Å"Rescue Efforts Intensify After Quake.† CNN World 07 March 2007. 07 March 2007 . â€Å"Thousands Ill, as Jakarta Cleans up After Flood† CNN 12 February 2007. 12 February 2007 .

Analysis of Much Ado About Nothing Essay -- William Shakespeare Plays

Analysis of Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing illustrates a kind of deliberately puzzling title that seems to have been popular in the late 1590s (ex "As You Like It"). Indeed, the play is about nothing; it follows the relationships of Claudio and Hero (which is constantly hampered by plots to disrupt it), and in the end, the play culminates in the two other main characters falling in love (Beatrice and Bena*censored*), which, because it was an event that was quite predictable, proves to be "much ado about nothing". The pronunciation of the word "nothing" would, in the late 16th Century, have been "noting," and so the title also apparently suggests a pun on the word, "noting," and on the use of the word "note" as an expression of music. In Act two, scene two ,Balthasar is encouraged to sing, but declines, saying, "note this before my notes; there’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting." (53-54) However, Don Pedro retorts, "Note notes, forsooth, and nothing," playing on Balthasar’s words, and also demanding that he pay attention to his music and nothing else. In addition, much of the play is dedicated to people "noting" (or observing) the actions of others (such as the trick played on Beatrice and Bene*censored* by Leonato, Hero and Claudio); they often observe and overhear one another, and consequently make a great deal out of very little. Author The political and cultural events of the 15 century had a large influence on Shakespeare’s work. In Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon, Don John, his brother, Borachio his servant, Bene*censored*, a young lord, and Claudio his best friend are all returning from war, and have been invited to stay with Leonato for a month. Shakespeare's antagonist Don John, bears much resemblance to Don John of Austria, the illegitimate son of Charles V, half-brother to the King of Aragon who defeated the Turks at Lepanto and returned to Messina after his victory in October of 1571. Don Jo hn of Austria had many of the qualities that Shakespeare's Don John did, he was not on good terms with his brother, and although he tried with much effort to gain status, he was frequently humiliated in attempts to bring himself fame. Shakespeare was known to draw parallels between his characters and actual historical figures, in an attempt to produce a sort abstract history of the times (ex... ... if he does see Hero in another man’s arms, that he will publicly shame her at their wedding tomorrow. Later that evening, Claudio witnesses the encounter between "Hero" (who is really Margret and Borachio. The day after, Claudio publicly accuses Hero in adultery and refuses to marry her. Hero is shocked so much that she faints during that scene. So, "the love from the first sight", between Claudio and Hero has been destroyed so easily; only by a scene set up by Don John. Only selfishness is seen in this speech. Claudio publicly accuses Hero in cheating on him without trying to talk to her first. And even if she did cheat on him, why would he want to hurt her so much? This aspect presents the fact that he probably loves himself, but not Hero. It’s easy then, to doubt whether the love was ever real between the two characters characters. Why did it take so little effort to influence them? Bibliography Sources Buckler, John; Hill, Bennet D.; McKay, John P.; A History of Western Society; pgs 485-562; Houghton Miffin Company; 1999 Hieatt, A. Kent; William Shakespeare; Encarta 98; 1998 Shakespeare, William; Much Ado About Nothing; Bantam Books; New York, New York; 1993

Human Gene Therapy :: Science Genetics Papers

Human Gene Therapy Gene therapy is the use of genes to treat disease. It represents a quantum leap in our approach to the treatment of human disease and will have a significant effect on medicine over the next ten years. William French Anderson, Michael Biase, and Ken Culver performed the first successful gene therapy on a human in 1990. They developed a protocol for treating Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, severe combined immune deficiency, also known as the" Boy in the Bubble disease". ADA deficiency is a result of inheriting two copies of the defective ADA gene (in other words it is a recessive disease). Possession of a normal gene leads to the continuous, regular production of ADA in cells throughout the body. Without at least one properly functioning gene, children have no way of converting deoxyadenosine (a waste product) into inosine. This leads to the rapid build up deoxyadenosine in the system, which becomes phosphoralysed into a toxic triphosphate which kills T-cell. The result is an al most complete failure of the immune system and early death. Concept of Gene Therapy The term gene therapy originally referred to proposed treatments of genetic disorders that would involve replacing a defective gene with its normal counterpart Current usage of the term now extends to include all treatments in which there is an introduction of genetic material into body cells to treat a variety of diseases. Gene therapy utilizes two theoretically possible approaches: 1) Somatic gene therapy entails the transfer of a gene or genes into body cells other than germ (egg or sperm) cells with effect only on the patient. The new genetic material cannot be passed on to offspring. Examples of Somatic gene therapy have already proven to be clinically effective. The first successful treatments of adenosine deaminase deficiency took place in 1990 in 1991 with two patients aged 4 and 11. Both are thriving with continuing treatment. The first successful treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition, which affects the livers regulation of cholestrols in the blood, took place in 1992 of a 29-year-old woman. Her improvement was stable for the 18 months of the study and liver biopsy demonstrated activity of the inserted gene and no discernible abnormalities. Five patients have been treated as of 1994.Current research involving Somatic gene therapy is focusing on a number of areas. Clinical trials are being performed on a treatment for cystic fibr osis, a chronic genetic disorder.

Capital Markets and Market Efficiency

Part 1 The Efficient market hypothesis states that all financial markets are efficient in their use of information to determine prices. This means that investors cannot expect to achieve excess profits that are more than the average market profits with similar risk factors, given all available information at the current time of investment, aside from through some form of luck. In part 1 of this report we will discuss the three different forms of market efficiency that Eugene Fama identified in her 1970 report. These can be explained as follows: 1) Weak form efficiency Fama (1970) observes that a market is efficient in weak form if past returns cannot be used to predict current stock price changes. It also assumes that prices on assets that are traded publicly already have and use all available information on the stock at any moment in time. It therefore stands to reason that the weak form of the market efficiency hypothesis means that past returns on stock are uncorrelated with future returns on the same stock. Future prices cannot be predicted by studying carefully the past prices of the stock. Excess returns cannot be earned over an extended period of time by using investment strategies that are based only upon the historical prices of shares or differing forms of historical analysis. This means that this style of technical analysis will not be able to produce high levels of returns on a consistent basis for investors. Overall one cannot expect future price changes to be predicted by using the past stock prices. Simply put weak form efficiency a ssumes that historical analysis on past stock data is of no use in predicting future price changes on stocks. 2) Semi-strong efficiency The semi-strong market efficiency form progresses from the aforementioned weak form market efficiency by stating that markets can adjust easily and very quickly to new information that is provided about various stocks. Fama (1970: 383) cites semi- strong efficiency as â€Å"whether prices efficiently adjust to other information that is publicly available. e.g. announcements of stock splits, etc†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Here it is assumed that asset prices fully reflect all of the publicly available information on the stocks meaning that only those investors who manage to possess additional unique information about the stocks could have an advantage over the market to make large gains. This form also asserts that any price outliers are found quickly and on this basis the stock market manages to adjust. In a semi-strong form efficiency share prices are able to react quickly to new information made available publicly in a quick manner so that no large returns can be gained from using the recent information. This leads us to imply that neither fundamental analysis or technical analysis will be able to produce consistent excess returns. Strong-form efficiency Strong-form efficiency assumes that prices reflect completely any type of new information about the market be that public or private information. Fama (1970: 383) says that strong form tests are concerned with â€Å"whether given investors or groups have monopolistic access to any information relevant for formation†, however Fama claims that the efficient hypothesis model still stands up well. The strong form claims the market price also includes different forms of insider information and not solely public information, and this is how it differs from the semi-strong form. The implications of this is that no one at all can therefore have any kind of advantage over the market in prediction of the stock prices as no possible additional data exists which would provide additional value to any investor. However, if any legal barriers exist which prevents the spread of useful information, such as insider trading laws for example, then this form of market efficiency is not possible. Part 2 The Efficient Markets Hypothesis was introduced by Eugene Fama in 1970. The main idea of the Efficient Market Hypothesis is predominantly that market prices must take into account all available information at any given point. Therefore meaning that no one can outperform the market by using readily available public information aside from through luck. A market is said to be efficient if the price fully reflects information about that market, for example if the price of the stock would be unaffected if all information surrounding it was revealed to all stakeholders in that market. Part two of this report will be critically discussing the evidence for and against the Efficient Market Hypothesis and whether it is possible to exploit market inefficiencies. The implications for investors and companies of the Efficient Markey Hypothesis will also be considered. Arguments For the Efficient Market Hypothesis To begin with following the birth of the efficient market hypothesis the theory was widely accepted, and it was widely assumed that the markets were very efficient in taking this information into account (Malkiel, 2003). It was accepted that when information came to the fore this would spread rapidly and would then be incorporated almost instantaneously into the share prices without hesitation. This meant that technical analysis, study of prior stock prices, nor any analysis of relevent information of a financial sense would lead an investment to achieve more successful returns than holding random stocks which have a comparable risk factor. Dimson and Mussavian (1998) observe that the evidence accumulated during the 1960s and 1970s was consistent with the Efficient Market Hypothesis view. There was a substantial backing for the weak and semi strong Efficient Market Hypothesis forms. Even though more recent times have seen an attack against the Efficient Market Hypothesis, Roll (1994) still observes that it remains incredibly difficult to make a high level of profit on a consistent basis even with the wildest variants of stock market efficiency. These violations of market efficiency are often sporadic events that do not last for a period of time. This can be seen by looking at the fact that on the whole profitable investment successes are referred to on a consistent basis as outliers (Dimson and Mussavian, 1998). Malkiel (2005: 2) says that: the strongest evidence suggesting that markets are generally quite efficient is that professional investors do not beat the market. Indeed, the evidence accumulated over the past 30-plus years makes me more convinced than ever that our stock markets are remarkably efficient at adjusting correctly to new information. This is showing that the markets must be efficient due to the fact that professional investors do not on the whole beat the market, and therefore all available information must be taken into account by the market prices and thus there is no gain to be had by any investors by using past prices, or publicly or privately readily available information. Arguments against the Efficient Market Hypothesis Malkiel (2003: 60) observes that by the beginning of the twenty first century â€Å"the intellectual dominance of the efficient market hypothesis had become far less universal† and academics were starting to question the premise and were not accepting it as they had done previously. Shiller (2003 ; 83) states that, â€Å"[contained in the EMH is] the idea that speculative asset prices such as stock prices always incorporate the best information about fundamental values and that prices change only because of good, sensible information.† However he then moves on to discuss how not all information is sensible and not all actors are rational, this would conflict with the efficient market hypothesis which relies on information having a large impact on the prices of stock. As well as this several recent reports have shown a range of empirical evidence which suggests that stock returns can actually possess components of a predictable nature, therefore also rejecting parts of the efficient market hypothesis which profess that looking at past trends do not allow for excess gains when investing on the stocks against the market. Keim and Stambaugh (1986) state that using forecasts based on a number of factors can find statistically significant predictability in a range of different stock prices. Lo and MacKinlay (1988) reject the random walk hypothesis, which is so often considered with the efficient market hypothesis theory, and show that it is not at all consistent with the stochastic nature of weekly returns. Empirical evidence of return behaviour which has been anomalous in the form of variables such as price to earnings ratio (Fama and French, 1992) has defied any kind of usual rational explanation and has resulted in a great number of researchers cons idering their views and opinions of market efficiency. Evaluation and Implications for Investors In conclusion, it is clear to see that market prices are not always predictable and that the markets have made large errors at certain points in time, for example at the recent dotcom internet bubble. Here it was obviously possible to exploit the market inefficiency to make money for investors. In the short run it may be possible to exploit these sporadic inefficiencies, but in the long term true value will always come to the fore. As long as these markets do exist, due to it being reliant on the judgement of investors, there will occasionally be errors made and some participants In the market are likely to behave in a less than rational manner, as is inherent in human nature. As well as this all information will not necessarily be sensible and investors are not likely to necessarily use it rationally. Thus irregular pricing or predictable patterns on stocks can appear and be exploited from time to time. In terms of the implications for investors in terms of the efficient market hypothesis, it is plain to see that all markets cannot be one hundred percent efficient all of the time or there would not be an incentive for people who are professionals in the field to discover different facets of information that is often quickly reflected by market prices (Grossman and Stiglitz, 1980). However, things such as the 1999 dot com bubble are exceptions rather than the rule to providing investors with extraordinary returns on their investments to exploit market inefficiencies. Therefore one could assume that the markets are efficient more often than not, and Fama (1970) is on the whole correct. This could lead to the conclusion in agreeing with Ellis (1998) and the overall idea that active equity management is indeed a ‘loser’s game’. Malkiel (2005) further advises on Ellis’ claim and professes that indexing is likely to produce higher rates of return than active por tfolio management. This is becoming more and more likely to impact investors as markets become more and more efficient, as Toth and Kertesz (2006) show in their examination of an increase in efficiency of the New York stock exchange. Therefore investors are required to question if it is indeed possible or feasible to exploit market inefficiencies using strategies the efficient market hypothesis calls into question. Bibliography Dimson, E. and Mussavian, M. (1998). ‘A Brief History of Market Efficiency’. European Financial Management. 4(1): 91-103. Ellis, C. (1998). Winning the Loser’s Game, McGraw-Hill: New York. Fama. E.G, (1970). ‘Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work’. The Journal of Finance. 25(2): 383-417 Fama, E. and French, K. (1988) ‘Dividend yields and expected stock returns’. Journal of Financial Economics.(22): 3-25. Fama, E. and French, K. (1992). ‘Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds’. Journal of Financial Economics. (33): 3-56. Grossman, S. and J, Stiglitz. (1980). ‘On the Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets.’ American Economic Review. 70(3). 393-408. Keim and Stambaugh (1986). ‘Predicting returns In the Stock and Bond Markets’. Journal of Financial Economics. 357-290. Lo and MacKinlay. (1988) ‘Stock Market prices do not follow random walks : Evidence from a simple specification test’. Review of Financial Studies. (1): 41-66. Malkiel, B. (2003). ‘The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Critics Authors’. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(1): 59-82 Malkiel, B. (2005). ‘Reflections on the Efficient Market Hypothesis: 30 Years Later’. The Financial Review (40):1-9 Shiller, R. (2003). ‘From Efficient Markets Theory to Behavioral Finance’. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 17(1) : 83-104. Toth, B. and Kertesz, J. (2006). ‘Increasing market efficiency: Evolution of cross-correlations of stock returns’. Physica 360(2): 505–515.