Managing the Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing the Economy - Research Paper Example Basic Income Tax Rate (% points) 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 Real Income Tax Allows (Index, 1995=100) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 VAT Rate (% points) 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 Employers NICs Rate (% points) 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 Interest Rates (% points) 6.2 6.0 6.0 5.4 4.1 Real Unemp. Benefits (Index 1995=100) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 DM / Exchange Rate 2.67 2.63 2.58 2.55 2.55 SETTING OF MAIN POLICY INSTRUMENTS IN THE REVISED FORECAST 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Govt Capital Expdt ( bn,1995 prices) 10.1 11.2 12.7 14.4 15.0 Govt Current Expdt ( bn,1995 prices) 149.7 152.4 155.8 159.4 162.0 Basic Income Tax Rate (% points) 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 Real Income Tax Allows (Index, 1995=100) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 VAT Rate (% points) 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 Employers NICs Rate (% points) 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 Interest Rates (% points) 6.2 6.0 6.0 5.4 4.1 Real Unemp. Benefits (Index 1995=100) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 There is no change made in the Main policy instruments between the base forecast and the revised ones. This is the effect of the changes to the assumptions which has been made. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 GDP (growth, % pa) -1.1 -2.0 -1.1 -0.0...High growth rates and high inflation rates go together. All these are the result of the rise in Oil price which is almost three times in the first two years of reckoning and more than twice in the next three years. The effect of these interlinked parameters has an impact on the other economic performances. Analysis: The GDP growth shows a negative figure due to the steep increase in the world oil price and in the substantial decrease in the rate of growth of the World trade (0.8%) during 1999. The figures saw themselves stabilizing during the subsequent period in 2000 with a growth rate of 3% which made the GDP growth rate 0. With a lowered growth rate, during the 1999 and 2000 this can be seen as a period of recession and the rest of the period from 2000 to 2003, there is a slow regaining resulting in lowering of the unemployment by the end of 2003. Inflationary tendency in the market comes down over this regaining period beyond 2000 while the earnings go up as indicated by the earnings inflation figure which shows an increase towards the end of the period. Current account holding has come down while at the same time, the strengthening of the DM indicates an advantage trade situation for sterling towards export of commodities and services rather than import of these services. i) A negative GDP growth rate was noticed in the earlier cases.

The Comprehensive Insight into the Corporation BBC Case Study

The Comprehensive Insight into the Corporation BBC - Case Study Example British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) remains the leading broadcaster in the entire United Kingdom. The company engages in the running of various public global Television stations, digital and cable channels, and worldly radio networks. The BBC One channel is the biggest and provides a broad range of news and entertainment programming. The company broadcasts radio programming through the BBC World Service option in languages that exceed thirty around the globe. Dramas and comedies by the company come in other channels including the discovery channel that aim at reaching particular audiences. This report outlines the major strategic challenges faced by BBC at the stage describes in the case study provided. This results in likely options for future development and growth of the overall corporate strategy generating sustainable competitive advantage for BBC. Other features entail the cultural concepts following implementation of the new strategic approach developed by Greg Dyke. The pa per takes the initial step of assessing challenging factors for BBC covering capabilities, environment, and purpose. This will be crucial in comprehending detailed view of the strategic position taken by the corporation. This analysis leads to a more precise definition of the final future strategic development plan and concepts. The original aim of the British Broadcasting Corporation is to educate, inform, and entertain. It operates on the path line of being the most creative institution around the globe and strives to pursue the same vision through all available means. Values pursued by the company are impartiality and independence, internal collaborations and diversity, value for money, as well as delivery of quality services. These values remain central to the growth and development of BBC as a service company that remains dominant in the United Kingdom and a market leader in the world as well.

Issues and Challenges in Integrating Information Technology into the Essay

Issues and Challenges in Integrating Information Technology into the Curriculum - Essay Example As a result, ICT and its capability in improving student performance have been marginal as well. How then, should these new technologies be implemented by teachers in order to successfully integrate them into the curriculum As this essay will argue, the successful integration of information technology into the curriculum requires a paradigm shift from the teachers perspective, together with their acquisition of the technical skills required to use ICT, and a good support system from the school to create a contextually relevant environment that will make teachers more receptive in using new technologies and encourage learning from students. As Jonassen, Peck, and Wilson (2003) claim, ICT today is not simply a medium where information is transferred, but a tool that students learn with, assisting the learning process itself. At the very least, one could infer that ICT is changing the nature of education today - from the school, to its curriculum, each facet of education is being revised to cope with the fast development in ICT in an effort to effectively integrate such new technologies (Williams and Price, 12). However, it is imperative to note that the implementation of ICT is just a single aspect within the larger context of school reform. Thus, it is important to understand that school reform today, insofar as ICT is concerned, places emphasis not just on quantifiable outcomes, such as an increase in the amount of ACT available in schools, but on the quality of learning experiences for students - the degree that ICT enriches students' learning experiences (Godfrey, 2001, p.15). Unfortunately, most teachers do not fully comprehend such relationship between ICT and education. According to a study conducted in Australian schools, the purpose of ICT in the curriculum continues to be ill defined and poorly understood by teachers (Fifoot, 2000). An implication of such is that ICT causes frustration among teachers, which eventually forces them to abandon it altogether. If not, they just end up using it ineffectively, as a tool to substitute typewriters and calculators, for example. Using ICT in such ways do not only waste valuable investments made for the improvement of learning, but it can also have negative effects in the student's learning process because it leaves them incapable of integrating ICT effectively in their daily lives as well. Teachers, therefore, need to know how to use technology to successful use it in the classroom. However, it is imperative to differentiate between knowing how to use technology for its sake from knowing how to use technology for the sake of improving student learning (Fishman, et. al, 2001). As Tiene and Ingram (2001, p.xv), puts it, teachers "need to expand their awareness of ... educational technologies [and] the critical issues associated with the effective utilization of these technologies." Aside from understanding ICT implementation within the context of school reform, it is also imperative to understand the changes and trends surrounding ICT and school reform. Grabe and Grabe (2004, pp.35-39) outlined this shift in terms of changes in student and teacher roles,

US Ports and Cybersecurity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

US Ports and Cybersecurity - Research Paper Example Kevin Kelly1 (2011) asks this intriguing question, â€Å"What does technology want?† If certain aspects of the technium are preordained and certain aspects are contingent upon our choices, how do we know which are which? Systems theorist John Smart has suggested that we need a technological version of the Serenity Prayer.† The serenity prayer, written and popularized in the early 1930s by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, asks God to help in changing the things which are difficult to change or â€Å"courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.†2 According to Kelly, â€Å"Technology was invented from the time we were born†. But technology is under threat every second of the day. Individual files and organizational documents and secrets are under threat of losing with the click of a finger, if we are not careful. This essay is about the many problems of technology, specifically information technology (IT) infrastructures of US ports, and how it can survive amidst threats of viruses, worms, spams, malicious software and cyber criminality. Organizations must have installed technology and IT infrastructures in their systems, otherwise, they will lag behind in the stiff competition. Organizational information systems should also have anti-viruses and other necessary protection before they see themselves vulnerable to a new kind of attack, the virus attack. Ports are one of the busiest areas for businesses around the world. With an installed IT, tasks and activities are made easier. IT enables organizations to conduct multiple operations simultaneously, but the infrastructure must be secured because without s ecurity, viruses and the various risks will make the infrastructure a mess. Ports operate a network of businesses and firms, movement and distribution, processing and many activities, which must be applied and inputted to an effective software and IT. Function IT, as it is called in the literature, refers to information systems that help improve users’ functions and productivity in performing individual tasks. This important feature includes applications like computer-aided design (CAD) software, spreadsheet, word processors, and other e-learning tools and systems. In a port where ships dock and load and unload cargoes, where countless activities happen every minute and every second of the day, computers and softwares are a normal phenomenon. In a workplace where engineers constantly introduce product innovations and people depend on coordinated programs of activities, ports should have effective computer infrastructures. But there are people with criminal minds who, second b y second, devise plans to penetrate on other people’s computers, other people’s wealth, that they send viruses, worms, spam emails and malwares to the internet and destroy ports’ valued files. The role of the manager is significant to the attainment of the organization’s goals and objectives. Managers should have good and effective rapport with employees, but they have to understand what IT is and its role in the ever changing world of business. One of the important responsibilities of the manager is to manage the company’s information system. New business opportunities involving IT and the different functions of business are coming at a fast pace.3 Security awareness Studies have found that about 90% of organizations face information security investigation almost annually.4 Organizations have made moves to improve their information management systems and

A study of traffic noise affecting residential building along Essay

A study of traffic noise affecting residential building along expressways - Essay Example (Wiberg, Mardh, 2008). Hong Kong can be considered as one of the densest cities in the world facing traffic noises issues especially with the growth in the economy leading to the demand for housing and transportation. Different people react differently to the level of noise. However, at certain level, noise starts affecting everyone in the form of irritating and frustrating people (Environmental Protection Department (2006). Noises can also affect the daily activities of life like watching television, talking over the telephone and doing household chores. Just like any other metropolitan city; Hong Kong also faces noise issues and more than 1 million people have been affected by it in last few years. (Amundsen, Klaeboe, 2005) Excess traffic noises can be considered as the major reason behind the noise pollution that is mainly because of the poor planning leading to cramped development of residential properties alongside the highways (Crawshaw, 2008) Moreover, the growth and developme nt in 80s and 90s marked serious noise pollutions along with a rise in residential properties and constructions. ... With land paucity, constructors are forced to look for lands that are outside the city and next to expressways. However, living alongside the expressways has its own disadvantages in the form of being exposed to high level of traffic sounds at wee hours along with getting affected by heavy vehicles sounds. The government cannot stop the movement of vehicles on expressways and therefore is bound to look for other options that can help residents to bear with the increasing traffic sound on expressways (Wiberg, Mardh, 2008) The government can improve the quality of roads along but the numbers of cars, lorries and trucks increase during nights that affect the sleep pattern of people considering the sound created by moving vehicles. The concept of low noise road surfacing can be considered as an option to mitigate the level of noise pollution but the concept requires time and research to be implemented and more importantly it requires huge investment considering the number of highways in Hong Kong. As per the information collected from the website of HKSAR Government, it was found that a number of flyovers and expressways cut though the main district of the city and people living beside such flyovers and expressways have been greatly affected by the traffic noise in last few years. The government stated that because of the previously built flyovers and expressways and currently developed urban areas, there have been some serious concerns over the quality of life among residents. Despite the introduction of planning standards and the Environmental Impact Assessment, there cannot be done anything that will reduce the level of traffic noises instantly (HKSAR Government (2012) 2.0 BACKGROUND TO THE

Group Insurance Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Group Insurance Environment - Essay Example Some of the programs offered include preventive services, emergency services, alcohol and substance abuse, mental health services, pregnancy and maternity care, and emergency services. Dental care is provided through Delta Dental. This depends on the choice of network by the employee. In this case, the employee may visit any dentist of choice but the maximum benefits are available when the employee chooses Delta provider (AMB 6). Vision care benefits provide eye coverage. However, one is required to use Vision Service Plan (VSP) (AMB 7). 2) Identify the following benefits as either a form of â€Å"Group Insurance† or â€Å"Self-Funding† Benefits: Retirement Plans, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP), and Stock Grants. Apart from the security benefits of today, AMB assists employees to plan for their future by allowing employees to save toward their retirement. Employees contributions are automatically deducted their paycheck on a pretax basis (AMB 4). AMB also provides Employee-Assistance Program (EAP) to all eligible employees and their eligible dependants, free of charge. This includes confidential counseling and referral services for issues that may affect employees’ personal life or even job performance (AMB 5). They help in areas like marital problems, emotional or stress related issues, drug abuse, child and elder care, financial assistance, and legal matters. AMB also provides voluntary benefits in terms of education and training programs in support of professional development of employees. They provide employees with tuition fees, seminar reimbursement programs and conferences. AMB arranges for flexible spending accounts (FSAs). This allows employees to pay their care expenses with pretax dollars. When employees enroll in FAS, the amount they select is deducted from their paycheck on a pretax basis. Federally mandated benefits in AMB’s plan includes paying less in taxes

Examine the idea of games Essay Example for Free

Examine the idea of games Essay Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a play about the emptiness that comes with regarding a material lifestyle as a fulfilling one, and the cruelty associated with people who suffer from a lack of more spiritually rewarding pursuits. For example Martha and Georges inability to have children, and her corresponding harsh comments to George on the subject of their son, who could not tolerate the shabby failure his father had become. The games and rituals George and Martha are so obsessed with are in many ways an outlet for raw emotion they cannot vent in more meaningful ways, Martha simply a woman with too much time and George a bogged down History lecturer. However, the games George and Martha play often serve to reinforce the love in their marriage the ability to simply allow these comments to run off shows how comfortable they are with one another. These games mean clichi d demonstrations of cute affection are not required to show their love, which would in some ways romanticise the play, and cut through the true nature of their relationship. Albees customised Genre attempts to contradict the popular notion of faultless marriages and living happily ever after. A quote from Albee himself said he was trying to break away from the Broadway productions of the period, which were simply, A reaffirmation of the audiences values, for those who wanted reminding of the status quo. It appears Albee uses the games as a metaphor of the trivial pursuits that people wade through having overlooked the more valuable things in life. The games are a test of endurance, and in general are based around winning a contest fairly based on rules. Honey and Nick represent a sheltered section of society that when exposed to the relentlessness of the games discover things about themselves that were previously unknown to them. Its as if they see the how hollow these games really are, and search for what they truly represent. For example the symbolic bringing up baby game helps Honey realise that she really does want a child, when previously her illusions of the importance of keeping those slim hips threatened her purpose in life of procreation. In some ways Albees use of the games put the audience in Nick and Honeys position, and the games convey the sub-text of the play that arent immediately obvious. In playing these games with the audience he gets the people thinking of the other hidden symbolism that piece together to give the overall message of the play; Albee revelled in giving the audience an experience they would remember. For example the names George and Martha, those of the founding couple of the American Constitution: a solid moral base for a nation that slowly warped over the years. The consumer revolution of Albees time signified the loss of sight of the true importance of ones roll in society, and the reluctance to recognise such mistakes is the biggest blunder of all. In many respects, George and Martha failed to snip their obsession with games and rituals in the bud and face the prospect of years of torment. Yet the final exorcism suggests that a sacrifice of some kind could allow the purity to return, most likely a message to the audience that the material illusions that have so heavily affected their lifestyles are a hindrance to a more meaningful progression. But the bringing up baby game is one of the more ritualistic games, and highlights the difference of the two. While Albee uses games to build the tension, and subtly suggest underlying themes, the rituals are usually used to diffuse the tension. Due to the nature of the games, there is an unpredictability that relies on the people playing, a theme Albee made sure to include by showing segments of everyone playing off against each other, some more significant than each other. For example George and Nick, the old and the new, the professor of the future of science and the professor of history, have a reasonably long debate, a form of game. It has connotations of the knowledge learnt from the past overriding the more here and now approach, another concealed message that there are things to be learnt from the past. However the rituals are more solid and planned, as with the rituals associated with the church they have a purpose, a meaning theyre symbolic. Games keep you occupied momentarily, but the rituals have an affect on your attitude to life. The rituals that Albee presents are very much simply a more dramatic and emotive effect than any games do. They give deep insight to the true nature of the characters, that cannot be judged purely on face value. It is Marthas ritualistic, rehearsed account of her son that provokes Honeys reaction of, I want a baby! , which in some respects relieves previous anxiety she would have suffered from over her indecision i. e. the proposed abortions. The most moving and important ritual of the play, the final Requiem Mass, relives all of the tension caused by the bitter conflict. It finishes with a quite calm and sane approach to the situation they are in; it awakens Martha to the truth of her illusions; she has come to rely on what at first helped her cope, much like the world has come to rely on the material things in life. The play finishes with the prospect of hope. The rituals in the play come in two forms. There are the routine, habitual practices that come as second nature to George and Martha, such as the antagonistic references to Marthas braying and George being a bog, and customary insults. But then there is the darker notion of a more ceremonial practice, such as the apparently set service of Georges exorcism. The interspersion of light-hearted games and sinister rituals, serves to stress the devolution of Martha and Georges relationship as the lines between the two slowly faded. In the same way a couple can jokingly accept a frivolous jibe, George and Martha have come to deem poignant, offensive comments as rudimentary. Martha: Uh you make me puke. George: That wasnt a very nice thing to say Martha: I like your anger The tone of the play builds towards the end because the Games slowly develop to rituals. At the start of the play, Marthas comment of, you make me puke is quickly fixed when Martha tries to give George, A big sloppy kiss, and it is taken in jest. But as the play advances, their interaction becomes more ritualistic. At one point their argument diffuses into calling each other names in French, something they are obviously accustomed to as they have French insults at the ready. Martha and Georges arguments become increasingly ritualistic, leading up to the previously collaborated behaviour of their son. They accuse one another of having failed their son, A son that came to his father for advice that wasnt mixed with sickness to which Martha retorts, A son who was so ashamed of his father . These are clearly things that they have accused each other of before, over a son that doesnt even exist. The comments are those divorces are made of, over the illusion of a son that can in actual fact give no input, meaning they are left to make up the rest for themselves, entrapping themselves in a web of further deceit. The irregularity of George and Marthas relationship is really due to the collage of games and rituals that govern their life their sniping is a set routine, a series of games, some of which they have become so accustomed to that they have become rituals. For example Marthas accusation of Phrasemaker, an idea we see so often throughout the play, with finishing each others sentences,that they even do it to their guests; Nick: actually, shes very frail and George: Slim-hipped. A prime example of the poisoning affect of the Games Martha and Georges relationship revolves around is that they seem to forget others arent familiar with the barrage of insults, that often appear intentionally offensive, Nick: I try not to George: Get involved. The games and rituals serve the purpose of revealing things about characters we may have previously been unaware of, and build great amounts of tension that keep the audience enthralled. However, Albee has also used them to give structure to an otherwise talking-based play. The games add an erratic element, in the idea that it is a contest to be one. People arguing can just seem relentlessly stressful, which admittedly at times Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf is, but by presenting them in this way Albee turns it into a spectator sport. Albee achieves realistic conflict and tension, but simultaneously intersperses the human arguments with the more surreal and metaphorical sections of the play. The overall message created can be as awakening to the audience as it has been to some of the characters.