Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Advocates Act
THE ADVOCATES ACT, 1961 The legal profession as it exists today was created and developed during the British period. However, it is notable that in earlier days of the British period the legal profession was not paid due attention and it was not well organized. Actually the east India Company was not interested in organizing the legal profession. There was no uniform judicial system in the settlements of the east India Company.After introduction of so many charters by the company it enacted The Indian High Courts Act, 1861 (commonly known as the Charter Act) passed by the British Parliament enabled the Crown to establish High Courts in India by Letters Patent and these Letters Patent authorized and empowered the High Courts to make rules for advocates and attorneys (commonly known as Solicitors). The law relating to Legal Practitioners can be found in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 and the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926. Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 came into force with effect fro m 1st January, 1880.In 1879, the legal practitioners act was passed to consolidate and it amend the law relating to the legal practitioners. Under the legal practitioners act, 1979 the term â€Å"legal practitioner†has been used for advocate, vakil or attorney of a high court and pleader, Mukhtar or revenue agent. All these were brought under the jurisdiction of high court. A Person who is qualified to be pleader / vakil / muktas has to appear for examination and after obtaining the certificate he / she may apply under Sec. of the Legal Practitioners Act and Register their name in any Court or Revenue Office situated within the local limits of the Appellate Jurisdiction of the High Court. As Per Sec. 11 of this Act, the High Court may frame the rules declaring what shall be deemed to be the functions, powers and duties of pleaders / vakils / muktas. As per Sec. 13 of this Act, the High Court has Disciplinary control over Pleaders / Vakils / muktas by suspending / dismissal / by withdrawing the certificate granted by it. The Indian Bar Council Act 1926 came into force with effect from 9. . 1926. The main object of the act was to provide for the constitution and incorporation of bar councils for certain courts, to confer powers and impose duties on such councils and also to consolidate and amend the law relating to the legal practitioners of such courts. As per Sec. 4(1), every Bar Council shall consist of 15 Members, one shall be the Advocate General, 4 shall be persons nominated by High Court of whom not more than 2 may be judges of High Court and 10 shall be elected by the Advocates who are practicing at High Court.As per Sec. 8 of Indian Bar Council Act a person may enrol as an advocate in the High Court. After admission as an Advocate he/she has to undergo One year Apprentice training with any senior advocate and he has to issue certificate that training period is completed successfully. After Independence it was deeply felt that the Judicial Admini stration in India should be changed according to the needs of the time. The Law Commission was assigned the job of preparing a report on the Reform of Judicial Administration.In the mean while the All India Bar Committee went into detail of the matter and made its recommendations in 1953. To implement the recommendations of the All India Bar Committee and after taking into account the recommendations of the Law Commission on the subject of Reform of Judicial Administration in so far as the recommendation relate to the Bar and to legal education, a Comprehensive Bill was introduced in the Parliament. The Advocate Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament nd it received the assent of the President on 19the May,1961 and it become The Advocates Act,1961 (25 of 1961). The main salient features of this Bar Council is to enroll the candidates who have obtained law degree, disciplinary control over the advocates, to promote legal education to junior advocates and provide financial as sistance to the Advocates on medical ground and also the bereaved family of the Advocates. Objective of the ActThe establishment of an All India Bar Council and a common roll of advocates and advocate on the common roll having a right to practice in any part of the country and in any Court, including the Supreme Court; The integration of the bar into a single class of legal practitioners knows as advocates; The prescription of a uniform qualification for the admission of persons to be advocates; The division of advocates into senior advocates and other advocates based on merit; The creation of autonomous Bar Councils, one for the whole of India and on for each State.The Bill, being a comprehensive measure, repeals the Indian Bar Council Act, 1926, and all other laws on the subject.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
History and Song Essay
Amazing Grace is one of the most poignant song that was ever written whose appeal goes beyond its religious origins to encompass the human struggle and has evolved together with history. The song is based on I Chronicles 17:16 on the words of the Hebrew King David regarding his wonder at the selection of his house with God’s favor. Though there are significant theological content the song, its core themes of deliverance and fortitude have extended its appeal to the military, freedom movements, and social justice. The lyrics of the song are attributed to John Newton, a former slave trader who eventually became a minister in the United Kingdom in the 18th century. According to Newton’s accounts, he wrote the song during a violent storm at sea, he advertantly cried out â€Å"Lord, have mercy upon us†(Rogers). Upon reflection later on in his cabin Newton, who barely knew about religion, reflected upon the episode and realized how faith can be a core in an individual without that person being aware of it at all. It became a very popular hymn in Newton’s preaching work but was only published as Amazing Grace in an 1831 hymnal called Virginia Harmony (â€Å"Amazing Grace†). It had been included in the Olney Hymns used by Newton but had various titles given to it if any (Rogers). There were several tunes used for the hymn before it became popularized in the tune we know today. Some speculation regarding the original tune for the hymns have attributed it to African slave chants which Newton may have been familiar with because of his history with the slave trade. Others have cited that its pentatonic meter suggests that it may have had a melody played with bagpipes or Celtic music (â€Å"Amazing Grace†). There is also some suggestion that the modern version of the melody of the song, particularly in its dramatic qualities, can be traced back in the Cherokee adaptation of the song during the Native American removal (â€Å"Words to Amazing Grace†). The harsh trek to the West allowed little opportunity for them to follow traditional burial rights and the song was used instead because of its commonality with Native American theologies on death (â€Å"Trail of Tears†). The song has had several versions and has even become part of popular music with artists such as Judy Collins giving their own interpretation of the song. The song is often performed with one instrument or one type of instruments. The most popular renditions have been with wind instruments particularly bugle, horns, flute and the bagpipe. The instruments may have been chosen because of the ethereal quality of the melody and its message. Most performance of the song generally starts with a light melody that grows in strength and color as the song progresses. In the UK, the song is often played on bagpipes for military salutes that also has been adapted in America particularly for those who have Celtic ancestry (Rogers). The use of the bagpipes however, is actually a recent trend and was popularized through the 1969 film Alice’s Restaurant by Arthur Penn which in turn allowed it to figure in the counter culture issues. (â€Å"Amazing Grace†). During the American Civil War, the song was both used for military right by Union and confederate soldiers. The song’s popularity then was based on its support of the Protestant theology of â€Å"divine grace†. Many American presidents also The identification of the song with freedom and social justice began with its adoption as the Cherokee National Anthem to commemorate the Trail of Tears during the Native American removal. The song became also popular during both World Wars when allied soldiers with sing the song during the services for fallen soldiers. The popularity of the song during the sixties as social justice movements developed from their foundations in gospel movements. From being a song for memoriam, the use became to highlight the suffering from social injustice and became particularly popular with the Black Power Movement. Similar to the Native American use of the song, many black empowerment movements used the song as a thematic representation of the issues concerning social rights and equality. It was used both to express the motivations of the movement as well as provide its moral and religious basis. Some also attribute its significance to the Black Power Movement because of the association to the African Slave Trade through Newton and his subsequent abolitionist stands (â€Å"Amazing Grace†) The song can be expected to continue in its popularity because of its universal themes. The interpretation of the song ranges from deliverance to self-realization. These components allowed it to be adopted into active action as well as in devotional settings. The song has deep sense on enlightenment which is the reason it became popular with social movements. The line, â€Å"Was blind, but now, I see†is a popular theme in many human rights speeches that called fro social action and reform. The song repeatedly shows a dichotomy to how which affects a person. In saying that, â€Å"T’was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved,†the song is has a message that it is in recognizing our fears that one is truly delivered from them. Thus, it had an appeal to the military, the oppressed and the marginalized for the connotation of valor and courage. The song’s long popularity and various uses attest to its ability to resonate core human desires fro freedom, salvation and justice. The song’s greatest meaning lies not in its religious aspects but in its belief in the triumph of the human spirit. Works Cited â€Å"Amazing Grace†. Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia.14 March 2007. 15 March 2007. â€Å"Amazing Grace Lyrics†. Gospel Hut. 14 June 2006. 15 March 2007. â€Å"Trail of Tears†. Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. 13 March 2007. 15 March 2007. Rogers, Al. Amazing Grace: The Story of John Newton. 1996. 15 March 2007. â€Å"Words to Amazing Grace†. Littleleaf. 14 March 2007. 15 March 2007. http://www. littleleaf. com/amazinggrace. htm
How to Connect a Database and Add/Update/Delete/Record
How to Connect to a Database and Add/Update/Delete Record In this tutorial I will explain to you on how to connect to an Access database and allow you to Add/Update/Delete a record. To fully understand these tutorials please download the source code How to Add/Update/Delete Record using MS Access Database. This source code is part of the Hotel Reservation System that I am currently working. At the end of this tutorial you will learn the basic of database programming. I would like, however, to emphasize especially for beginners that one way to learn programming is to know how to debug a program and devote some of your time to reading.Don't be frightened on how short or long an article should be. The important is at the end of the tutorial you will learn something NEW! If you already know the topic, then don’t bother to study this again. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Let’s get started 3. Database Connection 4. Add and Update a Record 5. Delete a R ecord 6. Final Thoughts Introduction Before I started learning VB. NET one of the topic that I search for in the internet is on how to connect to the database and make some changes to the table. Although there’s a lot of results, but I cannot find one that suit to my needs.Most of the tutorial is using drag and drop features of vb. net editor. Well, this is okay in most cases but what if you’d like to manipulate the data by code? So, I created this tutorial so that beginner programmer will learn from this. Let’s get started It is very important that you use your common sense to understand the logic of database programming. There’s a lot of features built-in to Visual Basic Editor that most programmer especially beginner who overlook it. One of the favorite tools I usually used is the DEBUGGER. If you only knew how important a debugger is, then you do not even need to study this tutorial.Why? Because you can jump right away to the source code and start firing the F8 command from your keyboard and analyze every line as you step through the code. Anyway beginner is a beginner. You need to start from scratch. If you have already downloaded the source code, then open it in the visual basic . net editor by double clicking the â€Å"HowtoAddUpdateDeleteRecord. sln†. If you want to know what is the object that runs the first time you start the program (by pressing F5) then double click the â€Å"My Project†at the Solution Explorer. Look at the Startup Form.You will see that the value is â€Å"frmCustomersList†. Now, click this object in the Solution Explorer and click the View Code at the toolbar. Look for the Load event similar below: Private Sub frmCustomersList_Load(ByVal sender As System. Object, ByVal e As System. EventArgs)Handles MyBase. Load        sSql = â€Å"SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName, ContactName, ContactTitle, Address FROM Customers ORDER BY Cu stomerID ASC†        Call FillList() FillListView(lvList, GetData(sSql)) End Sub frmCustomersList_Load is the second procedure that runs when you hit the F5 Key from your keyboard.If you’d like to know how this code is executed then press F8. Believe it or not F8 is the answer to all your programming question. And I really mean it. When I started programming all I do is to search for free source code and start using the debugging tool. That’s why Visual Basic is being named as Rapid Application Development or RAD. If you follow the debugger the first line it executes is the Private Sub frmCustomersList_Resize(ByVal senderAs Object, ByVal e As System. EventArgs) then followed by frmCustomersList_Load which is actually the important procedure to note here.Another important debugging tool is â€Å"Toggle Breakpoint†. You will be prompted to your code if one of the line is marked by toggle brea k point. This can be done by pressing the F9 key or clicking the Debug menu then Toggle Breakpoint. This tool is important if the form is already loaded and you want to tract the execution of a code say within a command button. For example. Open the form frmCustomersList and double click the add button and move the up arrow key once and press F9. You willl have a picture as shown below: [inline:Toggle Breakpoint. jpg]Now, when you run the program and click the Add button you will be directed to the code editor window. This case you will see what is happening when you are executing the program. Isn’t it nice? Database Connection In order to connect to the database you need a connection string like this: Public Const cnString As String = â€Å"Provider=Microsoft. Jet. OLEDB. 4. 0;Persist Security Info=False;Data Source=.. /data/sample. mdb†Then open it by using this command: Dim cnHotel As OleDbConnection cnHotel = New OleDbConnect ion With cnHotel If . State = ConnectionState.Open Then . Close() .ConnectionString = cnString .Open() End With You need this whether you use OleDbDataReader, ExecuteNonQuery or OleDbCommandBuilder to read or write into the database table. To know more about this class just click this command and press F1 key to open the help files. Be sure you installed the MSDN. Since you have already open the connection to your database this is now the time to fill the ListView with data. This can be done by calling a function like: FillListView(lvList, GetData(sSql)) The line of code will then execute a function: Fill ListView control with data Public Sub FillListView(ByRef lvList As ListView, ByRef myData As OleDbDataReader)         Dim itmListItem As ListViewItem Dim strValue As String Do While myData. Read itmListItem = New ListViewItem() strValue = IIf(myData. IsDBNull(0), â€Å"†, myData. GetValue(0))            itmListItem. Text = strValue For shtCntr = 1 To myData. FieldCount() – 1                 If myData. IsDBNull(shtCntr) Then                    itmListItem. SubItems. Add(â€Å"†)                 Else itmListItem. SubItems. Add(myData. GetString(shtCntr))                 End IfNext shtCntr lvList. Items. Add(itmListItem) Loop End Sub Again in order to see how this code is being executed just run the program using the debugging tool (either F8 or F9). The rest of the procedure is executed only when they are called. For example, the code below is executed only when you click the Add button. Private Sub btnAdd_Click(ByVal sender As System. Object, ByVal e As S ystem. EventArgs) HandlesbtnAdd. Click         Dim CustomerID As String frmCustomers. State = gModule. FormState. adStateAddMode         For Each sItem As ListViewItem In lvList.SelectedItems            CustomerID = sItem. Text Next frmCustomers. CustomerID = CustomerID frmCustomers. ShowDialog() Call FillList() End Sub This code will open the form frmCustomers in add mode and will execute also its own Load Event. If you want to open the form frmCustomers in edit mode, then just double click the item in a ListView. The code being executed are: Private Sub lvList_DoubleClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System. EventArgs) HandleslvList. DoubleClick         Dim CustomerID As String For Each sItem As ListViewItem In lvList.SelectedItems            CustomerID = sItem. Text Next With frmCustomers .State = gModule. FormState. adStateEditMode            . CustomerID = CustomerID .ShowDialog() Call FillList() End With frmCustomers = Nothing End Sub The two procedure seems carry the same concept, by opening a form, except they vary on the button invoke for execution. The line frmCustomers. State = gModule. FormState. adStateAddMode will tell the target form to open the connection to the database in add mode and frmCustomers. State = gModule. FormState. adStateEditMode ill open the database in edit mode. Add and Update a Record Now, how to save the data in textboxes within the form? This can be done by calling a procedure calledbtnSave_Click. This procedure is fired when the Save button is clicked. Private Sub btnSave_Click(ByVal sender As System. Object, ByVal e As System. EventArgs) HandlesbtnSave. Click         Dim d t As DataTable = dsCustomers. Tables(â€Å"Customers†)         If txtCustomerID. Text = â€Å"† Or txtCompanyName. Text = â€Å"† Then            MsgBox(â€Å"Please fill up Customer ID or Company Name information. â€Å", MsgBoxStyle.Critical)             Exit Sub End If Try If State = gModule. FormState. adStateAddMode Then                 ‘ add a row Dim newRow As DataRow newRow = dt. NewRow() newRow(â€Å"CustomerID†) = txtCustomerID. Text                dt. Rows. Add(newRow) End If With dt .Rows(0)(â€Å"CustomerID†) = txtCustomerID. Text                . Rows(0)(â€Å"CompanyName†) = txtCompanyName. Text                . Rows(0)(â€Å"ContactName†) = IIf(txtContactName. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtContactName. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"ContactTitle†) = IIf(txtContactTitle. Text = â€Å"†, System.DBNull. Value, txtContactTitle. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"Address†) = IIf(txtAddress. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtAddress. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"City†) = IIf(txtCity. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtCity. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"Region†) = IIf(txtRegion. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtRegion. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"PostalCode†) = IIf(txtPostalCode. Text = â₠¬Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtPostalCode. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"Country†) = IIf(txtCountry. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtCountry.Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"Phone†) = IIf(txtPhone. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtPhone. Text)                . Rows(0)(â€Å"Fax†) = IIf(txtFax. Text = â€Å"†, System. DBNull. Value, txtFax. Text)                daCustomers. Update(dsCustomers, â€Å"Customers†)                MsgBox(â€Å"Record successfully saved. â€Å", MsgBoxStyle. Information)             End With Catch ex As OleDbException MsgBox(ex. ToString) End Try End Sub The code for adding and u pdating a table is the same except that if you are in add mode you just simply add this command: If State = gModule.FormState. adStateAddMode Then ‘ add a row Dim newRow As DataRow newRow = dt. NewRow() newRow(â€Å"CustomerID†) = txtCustomerID. Text dt. Rows. Add(newRow) End If This way you do not need to create a separate command to insert and update a table. Delete a Record Let us go back to frmCustomersList form and delete a record. The procedure before will be fired after clicking a Delete button: Private Sub btnDelete_Click(ByVal sender As System. Object, ByVal e As System. EventArgs) HandlesbtnDelete. Click         Dim CustomerID As String For Each sItem As ListViewItem In lvList.SelectedItems            CustomerID = sItem. Text Next If CustomerID ;; â€Å"† Then ‘Delete the selected record Dim strDeleted  As Boolean strDeleted = ExecNonQuery(â€Å"DELETE Customers. CustomerID FROM Customers WHERE CustomerID= ‘† & CustomerID & â€Å"‘†)             If strDeleted = â€Å"True† Then MsgBox(â€Å"Record's deleted. â€Å", MsgBoxStyle. Information)                 Call FillList() Else MsgBox(strDeleted) End If Else MsgBox(â€Å"Please select record to delete. â€Å", MsgBoxStyle. Critical)         End If End Sub The important line here is the strDeleted = ExecNonQuery(â€Å"DELETE Customers.CustomerID FROM Customers WHERE CustomerID= ‘† & CustomerID & â€Å"‘†) which call the function ExecNonQuery and deletes a record based on the SQL Statement. Final Thoughts The above tutorial will simply teach you on how to connect to a database and make some changes to the database table. It is very important that you read first some tutorials about programming before you dive into the source code if you’re just starting out. If you really wanted to learn faster, then I recommend a book which is my reference also with this article. This book is called Beginning VB 2008 Databases: From Novice to Professional (Beginning:
Monday, July 29, 2019
CHuman Performane Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
CHuman Performane Improvement - Essay Example HPT is a combination of three main processes. These processes are: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection. Performance analysis, which is the first stage of the HPT involves comparing the performance that the program wishes to create and the performance as it is at the moment. This can be summarized as the process through which the performance that is desired is compared to the performance that is being experienced at the moment. As a result the analysts are supposed to come up with the performance gap. During the process of analyzing the performance it is always important to consider the goals of an individual, group, or organization. There should also be consideration of the environmental context in which the job will be done. The most important aspects to be considered during the analysis are the work that is supposed to be performed, the environment in which it is supposed to be performed, and the individuals who are supposed to do the work. Despite the fact that there might be a slight difference in the terms used, there is a common agreement that the presence of performance gap can be attributed to the work, environment of working, and the individuals doing the work. Different individual usually has different characteristics, what needs to be improved in one individual might not be what should be improved in another. Therefore, the people involved in a Human Performance Technology are very important because they are the main contributors to the current performance. It is the collective attributes of workers in an organization or group that adds up to the performance of the organization or group. Workers are also of high importance to this process because they are the same people who are expected to bridge the performance gap. Their willingness to improve on their shortcomings and perfecting their strengths will be of high importance in improving their performance. The other
Sunday, July 28, 2019
To What Extent Does a Director's Duty Under Section 175 Companies Act Essay
To What Extent Does a Director's Duty Under Section 175 Companies Act 2006 Continue Post-Resignation - Essay Example The Company Act 2006 brought up a statutory code of general duties of directors; this introduction was appearing in the UK’s Company law for the first time. The main purpose of this legislation was to enhance the general understanding of the legal duties of directors. The duties of the directors established in the Act are based on certain equitable principles and common law rules. The interpretation of the statutory duties in the future is required to be according to the development of those principles of case law.2 The director’s duties are not owed to the shareholders but rather to the company. The Act stipulates the duty of each director to include: a duty to foster company’s success as the director deems it in good faith; a duty for the director to avoid any conflicts of interest; a duty of non-acceptance of benefits such as secret commissions and bribes; a duty to act within the terms of powers granted under the constitution of the company; a duty to exercis e reasonable diligence, skill, and care; a duty to declare any interests in the company’s transactions; and a duty to effect independent judgment.3 . In addition, the Act incorporates expressly long-standing equitable doctrines in order to provide remedies for director’s breach of duties, as noted for example in the case of Boardman v Phipps.4 Of most interest in this discussion is section 175 of Companies Act 2006. In reference to section 175 Companies Act 2006, this discussion will consider the extent to which a director’s duty will continue post-resignation. In particular, section 175 of the Companies Act 2006 deals with the director’s duties concerning conflict of interest (actual and potential). The main rationale of this provision is to codify the subsisting principles of case law and to develop parallel principles to the existing ones. Section 175 (1) state that a company director must avoid situations in which he has, or can have, conflicts of int erest either directly or indirectly, or this interest and that of the company may conflict. Section 175 (2) provides that the duty to avoid conflicts of interest applies particularly to the exploitation of any opportunity, information, or property.5 However, section 175(3) provides that this duty shall not apply to conflicts of interest arising from an arrangement or transaction with the company. Additionally, section 175(4) states that this duty will not be considered infringed if: the directors have authorised the matter or the circumstances cannot be reasonable considered as giving rise to conflicts of interest. In section 175(5), the Act provides that the directors may give the authorisation in the following situations: where the company is a public constitution and the provision enabling authorisation by the directors is contained in its constitution, or where the company is a private company and its constitution does not validate authorisation of matter. Besides, section 175(6 ) states that authorisation can be effective if: agreement to the matter was made without voting or its agreement could have
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Discuss the role of multinationals in the globalization of innovation Essay
Discuss the role of multinationals in the globalization of innovation - Essay Example They eventually stand as essential driving forces that trigger the need to change and pursue innovation. Globalization of innovation is a very important aspect in today’s global economy. Today, it has become the forefront of the success of every economy as it centers on exploitation of technology and technological collaboration (Archibugi and Iammarino 317; Nam and Barnett 1471). This is evident on how developing countries have positively adopted technological innovation from developed countries (Nam and Barnett 1471). Considering the point that developing countries are not hesitant to adopt technological innovations, they have become involved as the centre point of globalization of innovation. Multinationals therefore have great ideas on the versatility of developing countries to consider their technologies, which in the end has been moving forward to innovation as many key players compete for a global goal. For this reason, as multinationals try to expand, exporting, foreign ownership, outsourcing and community resilience have become crucial considerations of productivity (Zhang and Smith 310; Wilson 1218). In this case, wages for instance have strong link up with productivity, exporting and foreign ownership - the very important issues associated with foreign direct investment. This is the most basic from the start. The international firms would want to invest in production or business overseas for them to expand their territory and avail of some other economic advantages (Gomory and Baumol 540; Sato and Fukushige 62). Let us take the case of those companies trying to invest in China for them to avail of the country’s resources such as the work force and its associated lower cost. There are specific inputs that are necessary in the creation of product or service offerings. They have linked up costs. A company producing products that are too expensive because of the associated cost in the value chain may experience
Friday, July 26, 2019
News Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
News Assignment - Essay Example highlight his innovative leadership traits, paving the way to his appointment to the rank of the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (Beltran, 2009). Story on the appointment of Charles Beck can not be completed without conducting an interview with the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, who made the selection of Beck very judiciously. He will be inquired on his selection parameters while consulting various stakeholders of the Los Angeles society, including business, religious and community leaders who offered the Mayor their recommendations to select Beck as the next Police Chief, as the various communities in LA expected in their next Chief of Police. His discussion with high profile dignitaries will form part of the interview for the critical inputs given by them to justify the name of Beck to the highest post of LA Police Department (Beltran, 2009). Reading the message of Beck about three years later on the overall situation of LA, one feels satisfied that the Mayor has selected a right person to the highest post of the Police Department (Beck, 2012). Ewton, Z. (2007, Apr 14). How to write a news lead: craft a lead that will hook readers and wont let go. Yahoo! Contributor Network. Retrieved from
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Economic Analysis of Future Price Developments in the South West of Essay
Economic Analysis of Future Price Developments in the South West of England - Essay Example 2008, p. 3). The financial analysis takes account of the information that price expansions over those horizons are influenced mainly by the dealings of supply and demand in the goods, factor markets and services. GDP growth in the South West of England is likely to stay weak in the near term, before gradually intensification as households actual incomes recover, supported by sustained stimulus from monetary rule. â€Å"The South West Economic Profile is intended for all South West England partners working for the development of the regional economy. It provides a succinct, analytical account of the South West region in a way that can be related to the objectives and priorities set out in the Regional Economic Strategy†(South West Economic Profile n.d.). Following prices will be expected to increase in the near future; Domestic Price: â€Å"Domestic Pricing is a common but not necessarily accurate method of pricing exports. This type of pricing uses the domestic price of the product or service as a base and adds export costs, including packaging, shipping and insurance†(Basics of Exporting – Pricing, Quotations, Payment & Collections 2003). The considerable challenges of domestic price in South West of England faced by the euro area continue to pose an important risk to the domestic improvement. Domestic demand is prolonged relatively quickly in 2011. But much of that development was accounted for by unsustainably strong inventory accretion. But the drag on domestic expenses from tight credit situations and the economic consolidations are likely to persevere. The formidable threat posed to the euro continues as a challenge to the domestic recovery. The quantity of income saved by households remained significantly more than in the period leading up to the crisis. In the over all study, domestic price is expected to increase in high level. Market Price: Market price is the current price, as resolved by supply and demand, at which point of se rvices, goods etc., are perhaps sold or bought. â€Å"The UK power market, which has for several years lagged behind the large European markets in terms of traded volumes and churn, has seen a significant drop in churn and contraction in products traded in recent months, leading to concerns that new players are even less able to enter, and that the market is stagnating†(Broker 2012). The circumstances in London bank funding markets are better, but the costs of credit for companies and households have increased. Credit growth and financial structure remained weak. Since the present Inflation Report, the MPC has maintained bank rate about 0.5%, and market interest rates state that the expected timing of the future rise in bank rate had been increased. Oil Price: Presently, the oil prices of England are increasing slightly. â€Å"CPI inflation fell to 4.2% in December, down from 5.2% in September but still well above the 2% target. Inflation should continue to fall sharply at the start of 2012 as the impact of past rises in VAT and petrol prices drop out of the twelve-month comparison†(Overview of the Inflation Report February 2012 2012). Any major disturbance in oil and gas supply could cause an increase in energy prices. The way of price rises will depend on how firms set prices related to those expenses, and in particular the methods adopted by companies to re-establish their profit margins. The comparison of the past performance of oil price
Chinese Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words
Chinese Culture - Research Paper Example If in case any individual in a group is having opinion mismatch with that of the group, then the individual is expected to suppress the thoughts without disturbing the group's activities. (Pratt, D. D.1991) Such a practice could also be viewed as forcing a common thought upon everybody. But this is their culture and they have been practicing it for quite long years. We have to say that they got used to it. Now, in the recent past a TV show called "Super girls" has been commenced and succeeded as well. It is a talent reality show which brings out the talents of an individual to the sight of everybody by giving them a suitable platform. Another interesting fact about this show is that, it is the public who judge the show. They vote for their favorite star of the show and thus the winner is selected. But it is been condemned by the commentators that the Super girls show is kindling the individualistic feeling amidst the collectivism practitioners. Many have started protesting against the show fearing that the show may disturb the Chinese culture. But on the other hand the public started enjoying the entertainment. They are glad to vote for their stars. (Ding, Y. 2008) China is a country which always value team success. Simply speaking, they follow collectivism. They give much importance to group thoughts than the individual opinion. This practice is strictly followed by them in the name of culture. Chinese people have not practiced direct election. But recently the situation has changed because of the Super Girl show in China. It is condemned by the analysts that this show has initiated amidst people individualism. Let us discuss whether the show is really spreading individualism among the Chinese youths. The Chinese culture -A History Change - has been the most prominent factor characterizing the world of today. Every second of our life is changed as discoveries and inventions galore the place we live on. This kind of transformation is not new to the least. It has been a constant factor; right from man finding fire to the scientific revolution, travelling from bullock-carts to modern cars, from eating anything to standardizing the meal we take, the world has almost seen everything. Each change in turn was diversified among several groups of people based on their idealistic values, the ethical principles they followed and their welfare corresponding to their geographical region. These diversified changes slowly developed as cultural behavior of that particular group. Then there came a point where all the diversifications attained saturation. In the end, instead of these changes governing the cultural behavior, it turned out the direct opposite way where cultural behavior dominates the changes. (Songhua, F, n. d) For now, the cycle has turned again. It's almost a revolutionizing act if a person does the direct opposite of what their culture intends them to do. Chinese culture gives the Chinese people their basic identity. They have certain core values which are exclusive and consistent, and these are fashioned by a tradition of four thousand years of history and maintained by the same language as well. Considered to be one of the oldest cultures, the Chinese culture has a vast and traditional history. Several groups of p
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Disadvantage of social network and our new generation Essay
Disadvantage of social network and our new generation - Essay Example My main aim was to understand the disadvantages that are associated with its use and come up with solutions that might be helpful. Presently, a large percentage of people use social networking sites and this has increased the interactions between people all over the world. The social networking sites integrate numerous internet aspects like personal profiles, blogs, videos and photos as well as the most current news on different issues and much more (Vermaat 128). D. Preview Statement: Since all the disadvantages are numerous and cannot be covered extensively in a single sitting, we will consider a few of them. To begin with, we will look at how social media may make it easier for identity thieves to carry out their illegal actions and how this may be harmful to the people who use social media. Second, we will dwell on how social media may lead cyber bulling depending on the kind of photos that new generation posts on these sites. Finally, we will consider how social networking can b e addictive to the people who use it and how this may be counterproductive. A. Main Point: Social networks are supposed to improve communication while bringing people closer together and even though it was meant to be advantageous to the people who use it, the main disadvantage that might be associated with it is personal identity theft (Furht 265). 1. The Problem: So that a person can use a social networking site, he or she must avail personal information before getting permission to access the site. Some news and information that has emerged recently has revealed that some of the networking sites have compromised personal information that is associated with their users through allowing advertisers to evade the end user privacy (Sosinsky 398). b. Grounds: When teenagers spend too much time on social networking sites they will not get enough time to deal with his or her schoolwork and this will make them lag behind other students in the class.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Is rationalism best understood as a rational phenomenon Essay
Is rationalism best understood as a rational phenomenon - Essay Example tion of the earth and the stars (the earth is the centre of the universe; the stars are fixed to a crystalline sphere and are unchanging and eternal) went on for about one thousand years. Even though scientific quests existed, it was not till the 16th century that our worldview actually began to change. A host of new thinkers made radical changes in the world by ushering in rational and scientific investigation. Let us take a look at the important path breaking events in the development of modern and scientific and rational view of the world: Thus with the new dawn of Rationalism in the 16th century came a new spirit. The Rationalists held the view that one could arrive at knowledge, not by religious faith and revelation, but by reason. Their faith in the human reason brought in a new phenomenon in the thinking trends of the world. Their basic principle as given by Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason was that everything taking place in this world can be explained rationally and that knowledge (truth) can be gained by deduction. This new phenomenon is also evident in the Rationalists’ implicit faith in human intellect and understanding power, which can also be termed as intuition. If a man throws a ball into the air, what can we expect? The ball will come back to the earth. I know that this incident is only confirming the truth about the laws of the world. But there are two ways to come to this ultimate truth. The man can throw the ball a number of times and comes to a conclusion that the ball does not stay up but comes back to earth, or he can understand that some basic principle or law makes the ball come back to earth. The thinkers belonging to the first school of thought are called Empiricists, who believe that law of gravity can be established by observation. Throwing the ball up countless times will give the same result. So, we see that the empiricists’ point of view is dependent upon experience. If experience changes in this regard, the
Monday, July 22, 2019
The Withered Arm Essay Example for Free
The Withered Arm Essay Who do you think is to be blamed for the tragedies? In this essay I am going to try my best to answer the question Who do you think is to blame for the tragedy of The Withered Arm? I will attempt to include as much information and reasons to whom I think is to be blamed and why. I will try to justify these reasons with various quotes and descriptions by referring to the text. Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and died in 1825. He was a great novelist who wrote many famous novels such as Mayor of Casterbridge and Far From The Madding Crowd. These novels are now known for being classic literature. Most of the novels he wrote were depressing and ironic. The Withered Arm is one of many Thomas Hardy short novels, it is set in the late 1800s in a village called Holmstoke that has a small rural community of mostly milkmaids. There are three main characters in this novel they consist of: Farmer Lodge; a wealthy and respected man, who is well known for his good reputation. Also there is Rhoda Brook; a not so wealthy woman and less fortunate than Farmer Lodge with a reputation of being a witch. Lastly there is also Gertrude Lodge; she is Farmer Lodges new wife. .. They say shes rosy-cheeked, titsy-totsy little body enough. This indicates that she is a pretty woman with a perfect body. In opposition Rhoda isnt very popular with the other workers she is described as A thin, fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest. This emphasies that although she has been there for many years people still dont like her. The relationship between Farmer Lodge and Gertrude is that they are a newly married couple in the village that are madly in love with each other, Farmer Lodge literally worships Gertrude. All eyes were fixed upon her This quotation gives a vision of a new, young beauty walking through a public place and everybodys eyes follow her up the street. Farmer Lodge is always gloating and saying how beautiful she is: The well-to-do Farmer Lodge came nearly last; and his young wife, who accompanied him, walked up the aisle with the shyness natural to a modest woman who had appeared thus for the first time. This shows us that Farmer Lodge did this on purpose so heand Gertrude would become centre of attention because they are the most popular and talked about couple, also this would make everyone notice how pretty Gertrude is. Rhoda Brook and Farmer Lodge had a relationship in the past, which then ends when Rhoda falls pregnant. Rhoda would have become an outcast of the society having brought some shame and embarrassment not only for her, but for Farmer Lodge as well for having a baby outside of marriage. Also Farmer Lodge could not take the humiliation of him having a relationship with a lower class lady, who is just a milkmaid. A while after their relationship Farmer Lodge meets Gertrude; they fall madly in love and get married but does poor Gertrude know what shes got herself into? Farmer Lodge has been lying to Gertrude and has kept a secret about his past relationship and the fact that he has a son. The basic gist of the story is that Rhoda Brook becomes extremely jealous of Gertrude and her beauty; she is always thinking about her as a result Rhoda starts to envy Gertrude and hatred is caused. Rhoda has a dream, in which she saw Gertrude as an old ugly woman: .. with features shockingly distorted, and wrinkled as by age.. I think this reflects Rhodas feelings about Gertrude very well because, as we already know she is jealous of her beauty and she has created Gertrude to look like this to calm and reassure herself because Rhoda knows she is losing her looks. This dream causes Gertrudes arm some terrible pain the morning after the reason for this being is that Rhoda dreamt of her grabbing Gertrudes arm and swinging her .. Swung out her right hand, seized the confronting spectre by its obtrusive left arm, and whirled it backwards to the floor.. The arm becomes worse and it comes to a point when Gertrude is desperate for a cure but cannot find one. In the meantime, Farmer Lodges love slowly drifts as her arm withers towards the end and she discovers that the only cure is to put her arm onto a hanged mans neck as told by Conjurer Trendle. In The Withered Arm there are many tragedies but the main one is of course, Gertrudes withered arm. It was the one that was shocking and disturbing especially towards Rhoda and Gertrude. With Rhodas witchcraft powers she wonders if it was actually her who caused the withered arm. There was a supernatural force to this tragedy and it was unavoidable to Rhoda. Rhoda only had the dream because she envied Gertrude If the sweet and kindly Gertrude Lodge only knew of the dream-scene in the bed-chamber, what would she think? This quote emphasises that Rhoda was feeling guilty about having such an evil dream and that after meeting Gertrude she realised that she is a good person. Tragedy is the main theme of the novel and it symbolises an event that is usually bad, which ends in a dramatic way, which is often unexpected. Tragedies can be caused by peoples actions or decisions, which can have unpleasant effects, and it could have been avoided if people took more care and consideration in one anothers actions. A tragedy can lead to an un-happy life. Blame is also a keyword in this novel because it provokes guilt and regret, which is exactly the feeling of Farmer Lodge especially, towards the end of the novel but also towards Rhoda. Blame means to be held responsible or being the cause of something. To be blamed means holding someone guilty for something theyve done wrong, or in some cases theyve done nothing wrong. However, sometimes things can go wrong and someone needs to blame a person, even if it is not their fault, just to rest their minds. To be blamed for something can give someone a bad reputation. I believe that Farmer Lodge is to be held responsible for the tragedy; firstly because he left Rhoda whilst she was pregnant with his child. Secondly; He married Gertrude and finally; Farmer Lodges love for Gertrude fading. If he had never left Rhoda then I think she would never have put some kind of a curse on Farmer Lodge and Gertrude would not have been affected by it. I do not feel sympathetic for Farmer Lodge because he was the main cause of the tragedy and he started all the troubles before realising the consequences. I think Farmer Lodge should have told Gertrude about his past relationship because I think Gertrude would understand and she wouldnt be worried about his past relationship because she is convinced that Farmer Lodge is in love with her. Also she would be happy of the fact that Farmer Lodge hasnt been keeping any lies from her and that he is being truthful. In my opinion Farmer Lodge to me is a cold hearted man towards Gertrude and his son Oh no. He hant spoke to Rhoda Brook for years. This expresses that he hadnt only spoken to them for a long time but he also did not care for Rhoda and their son. Farmer Lodge loved Gertrude for her looks and that she was younger than he was. The woman whom he had wooed for her grace and beauty . Having a beautiful younger wife made Farmer Lodge feel good and look good about himself; he wanted to show the community that he is still capable of attracting a pretty woman no matter what the past. Farmer Lodge is a vein man, appearance and reputation is very important to him. When Gertrudes arm started to wither it became obvious that Farmer Lodge started to dislike her because he thought she was losing her beauty it also made Gertrude depressed because she realised that her arm was making her less attractive and that Farmer Lodge was not showering her with love as he usually did .. Mr and Mrs Lodges married experience sank into prosiness, and worse. The farmer was usually gloomy and silent Six years of marriage and only a few months of love Towards the end of the novel, we discover two more tragedies that have a disturbing impact on all three characters. By this time we know that Gertrude has become desperate and very impatient of finding a cure for her arm. When she goes to visit Conjurer Trendle, he tells her the only cure is to place her arm on a hanged mans neck, although she is a bit hesitant as to what she has to do, Gertrude is still determined to give it a try She started a little at the image he had raised.. Little did innocent Gertrude know that the person she is using to cure her disfigment is Rhodas son who was hung because he was accused of arson. Soon after Gertrude realised who it was she could not take the stress and she became ill; physically and mentally. The shock of everything that had happened to her caused her to die. When Gertrude and Rhodas son both died, I think thats when Farmer Lodge became softer and sensitive. He felt guilty for everything he did to Rhoda and how he treated both Rhoda and Gertrude. He left his money to a boys charity and gave some to Rhoda so that she could manage on her own. Burdened at first with moodiness and remorse, he eventually changed for the better, and appeared as a chastened and thoughtful man. To conclude this essay I have decided that Farmer Lodge is responsible for all the tragedies that occurred within The Withered Arm. He should not have left Rhoda bringing up their child on her own without any support. Farmer Lodge leaving Rhoda made her become curious and jealous when he re-married to Gertrude, as a result this feeling caused Rhoda to have a dream. Gertrude was affected because it caused her arm to gradually wither until it came to a point when the arm was cureless by any ointment or medication. If Farmer Lodge had been a good father and frequently helped his son and Rhoda out with financial difficulties maybe no tragedies would occur and everything would have been normal. Gertrude died of not having the satisfaction of a cured arm and being loved and feeling beautiful again. I think Gertrude did not deserve to have a difficult and miserable life. She was an innocent and kindhearted woman who was just madly in love with her newly wed husband.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Motivations of an arsonist
Motivations of an arsonist Arsonist Arsonist is a person who sets anything on fire intentionally. This intentional act is called the arson. Generally a home or another type of structure has been targeted by the Arsonist. Arson is committed for a number of reasons, and the crime is strictly punished throughout the world because arsonist sets property and lives at risk. In certain parts of the globe, if somebody expires in an arson fire, it is deemed to be a murder, instead of neglectful homicide or manslaughter because arsonist is considered such a reprehensible criminal. In all cases, an arsonist holds a prison term. (Holmes Holmes, 2008, pp. 3) In the majority of states, arson has been extended to comprise burning arrangements in addition to dwellings, burning the own assets for unlawful purposes, and destruction caused by an explosion or a fire. Currently if someone arson his/her house to avail the insurance benefits because the amount of insurance is higher than the actual real value of property that would be linked to arsonist (Stewart, 2006, 15-16). Other motives for arsonist would be to bomb or burn a religious place in a hate crime, or burn the property in vengeance for a denial to sell it. If an arsonist burns down his building as a figure of cheap destruction and unintentionally sets half the neighborhood on fire that may or maybe not an arsonist, depending on the legislation of the state. Fire by an arsonist includes the induction of a heat source that can be as unadorned as a match or as compound like dangerous chemicals with very low explosion temperatures. By the rule of legislation a fire is thought to be an arson fire when all other unintended causes have not been met. We can say that reason of a fire was arson and consequently intentional, the detective must have adequate proof the one of the issues in the arson triangle was interfered with. Motives for Arson The motives of that motivate arsonist vary from situation to situation and much research has been established to determine the motives of arsonists, which has allowed the Neighborhood Fire Team, to compile a list of ten broad groups of motives, drawn from current study and from the experience of group members. Such motives contain: Vandalism: This group covers intentional and willful fire setting that is just for the sake of it (Stewart, 2006, 18). It also contains fire setting due to dare and colleague group pressure. Vandalism motivated arson is usually spontaneous and impulsive and engages manifold executors. Schools are often the target of vandalism motivated arson, as are abandoned or empty properties and, in the experience of this project, abandoned vehicles. Unfriendly behavior fires are also often motivated by vandalism. Curiosity/ Fire Play: This group is usually utilized when the fire has been set by young kids who do not realize the hazards of fire and were playing with, for instance, discarded cigarette lighter or matches. The people concerned are generally taken onto the fire setters intersession program. Excitement: This group contains those who set fires for thrills, attention seeking, identification and sexual perversion. It can be seen already that none of these groups are clear-cut and one may lead to another: for instance vandalism may lead to the arsonist setting fires for the thrill of it; and childhood fire play may lead to setting fires intentionally for the amount of concentration it generates from adults. Revenge: This group contains fires set for individual retaliation (against a spouse, partner or other family member); retaliation against regime or other institutions: and fires which are set as retribution against rival gangs or groups or in order to intimidate. In fact, much arson has a component of retaliation (aware or unaware) as part of the motive. Arsons of this category are often much greater planned and carried out than other types, and may be one-off events. Crime-concealment: This is used to explain arson fires which are set in order to hide another offense or vital proof. For instance, a room that a murder had taken place might be fired by the executors in order to destroy the body and destroy the crime scene. Stolen vehicles are often set alight after being abandoned in order to try and destroy any forensic proof. (Schulz, 2007, pp. 55) Profit: This type contains insurance fraud and arson executed against a competitor to try to put them out of business. Extremist: This type contains arson perpetrated by terrorists or other extremists (animal rights activists) and also arson which happens during or as part of disturbances or other civil riot. Racial: This type is fairly self-explanatory and covers all fires which are set for reasons of ethnic tension or intolerance. Psychological illness: Neighborhood Fire Team employees have attended many incidents, both within housing units and in the wider society, where fire setting has been due to psychological illness. Serial Arson: This is where one person working alone sets a series of fires, often over a long period of time. Serial arsonists may have one or more of the other causes also involving to their fire setting behavior. (Pawson, 2006, pp. 91) Although the causes for arson are sometimes difficult, the law is generally crystal clear: anybody who intentionally sets fire to something will be punished for it. In some areas, a fire that is caused by great negligence or disregard will also be classified as arson. The punishment for committing arson depends on the degree of the offense: how much property was damaged the total cost of the damages, and whether or not people were trapped in the fire. The intent also performs a role: whether the fire was set to defraud an insurance agency, cover up an offense, was part of a retaliation offense, or was intended to amuse or entertain the arsonist, for instance. Most parts of the world have arson researchers, who examine the sites of suspicious fires to decide the cause of the fire and whether or not it was arson. This job can sometimes be quite complex, particularly when proof is obscured by the efforts of those attempting to put out or clean up the fire. Arson examiners use a range of methods to inspect the sites of fires containing chemical analysis of proof, the use of sniffer dogs, and simple powers of surveillance. References Holmes, Ronald M. Holmes, Stephen T. (2008). Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool. New York: Sage Publications, pp. 1-5. Stewart, Gail. (2006). Crime Scene Investigations Arson. New York: Lucent Books, pp. 15-25. Pawson, Stuart. (2006). Some by Fire. Washington: Allison Busby, 92. Schulz, Karen K. (2007). Crime Scene Detective: Arson. New York: Prufrock Press, Inc, pp. 54-60.
The Front Office Function Of A Hotel Tourism Essay
The Front Office Function Of A Hotel Tourism Essay The Front Office function of a Hotel is to act as the public face of the hotel, primarily by greeting hotel patrons and checking in guests. It also provides assistance to guests during their stay, completes their accommodation, food and beverage, accounts and receives payment from guests. FRONT OFFICE is the nerve center in the entire hotel operations. All the transaction passes through within this department. The Front Office Department comprise of the Reception, Guest Service Offices, Bell Services, Reservation, Operators, Executive Club, Health and Recreation Center and Business Center. The purpose of the Front Office Department is to provide guests assistance with luggage, transportation, information concerning the hotel and the city, and any other service arrangements needed during their stay. Employees of the Front Office Department often provide the first and last impression of the hotel to our guests. It is therefore vitally important that employees display a prompt and courteous attitude to all guests and demonstrate the excellence in service. The Front Office Manager who comes under the direct supervision of the director of rooms and supervises the Front Office Department. Important of Front Office Department to the Hotel Hospitality, warm welcome. Often provide first and last impression. Often have longest contact with guest. Continuity long term service, recognition of repeat guests, remember names, guest histories. Acquaint guest with hotel. Sell hotel food and beverage outlets. 1.0 Question 1 1) Front Office or Front desk (reception) is the first impression for lodging establishment. Explain in detail about the task and responsibility of the following: Front Office Manager, Assistant Front Office manager Front Desk Representative Night Auditor Cashier Reservationist Telephone Operator Support your answer by giving a Front Office organization chart adapted from a small Hotel, mid size Hotel and large Hotel. 1.2 THE TASK AND RESPONSIBILITY: 1.2.1 FRONT OFFICE MANAGER JOB SUMMARY: To manage front of the house operations of the hotel ensuring that the highest standard of service and the best possible guest experience is maintained. Be responsible of establishing and maintaining professional relationship with hotel guests and patrons. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Manage operation of the Front desk including Cashier. Besides that, ensure that policies and procedures are complied with the highest standard of service and guest satisfaction. Review room availability status, room blockage and special requests on a daily basis through working closely with Reservations Manager and liase on all groups and FIT movements. Monitor open and close on day status to maximize room revenue and demonstrate the concept of yield management. Ensure that budget and cost effectiveness at the Front Desk is achieved. Other than that, work with Housekeeping and Engineering on daily operations regards to guestroom status. Handle guest complaints and review compliments. Review Front Desk Logbook daily to monitor all activities. Review all VIP room blocking. Supervise and train all Front Desk staff to ensure that the best guest experience is provided. Familiarize with Front Office policies and procedures and special rate programs. Participate morning briefing, or organi ze afternoon hand-over briefing daily and disseminate information to Reception team as soon as possible. Greet guests as time permits at lobby and assists Receptionist during busy period. Chair monthly Reception meeting to review performance discuss existing problems for improvement. Approve duty roster prepared by Chief Receptionist and revise if necessary. Always conduct your job with concern for the environment and its resources. Where practical and possible, REDUCE use of items, RE-USE whenever possible, and RECYCLE those items that can be. Perform all duties, other than the above as requested by the hotel policies and/or his/her direct supervisor. 1.2.2 ASSISTANT FRONT OFFICE MANAGER JOB SUMMARY: Job purpose of Assistant Front Office Manager is to provide guidance and leadership as the Asst. Front Office Manager, ensuring the delivery of consistent quality customer service. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Assist in the day-to-day operation of the hotel front office. Supervise the operational activities of the hotel front desk within hotel guidelines to provide the highest standard of courteous service while permitting acceptable profit levels. Assign, coordinate, and supervise work activities of Front Desk Agents. Ensure work is completed to include, shift closings, room deposits, refunds and rebates. They also must train and develop Front Desk Agents. Prepare staffing schedules, complete payroll, and monitor labor costs to budget figures. Prepare and conduct Front Desk meetings and resolve issues. Besides that, perform house counts and review daily arrivals, identify potential problems with rooms ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ activity and take appropriate action. Provide information and direction to staff to achieve 100% occupancy. Review and resolve dispute accounts and Housekeeping discrepancies and prepare a shift briefing to communicate activities, short take training, and any problems and/or special information to the next shift. Perform check-in and ou t procedures. Lastly, take personal responsibility for correcting customer service problems. 1.2.3 FRONT DESK REPRESENTATIVE JOB SUMMARY: Job purpose of Front Desk Agent is to perform all desk related functions including but not limited to checking guests in and out, making room reservations, giving recommendations, and providing directions DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Provide quotes for room rates and up-sell the guest when possible and assist in coordinating the Front Desk and the Housekeeping Department. Verify that the correct charges and credits are posted to the corresponding guest folio and collect payment for charges on the guest folio. Besides that, ensure all cash and cash equivalents are accounted for and balanced at the beginning and end of each work shift. Responds to guest inquiries. Provide administrative, reception and program support to management and staff .Manage phone activity including providing general knowledge to callers. Manage walk-in traffic. Sign in guests as needed. Smile and greet customers in a welcoming manner. Lastly, they also must register and assign rooms to guest and resolve guest complaints within scope of authority; otherwise refer the matter to the management. 1.2.4 NIGHT AUDITOR JOB SUMMARY: Responsible for reconciling hotel paperwork, posting to guest accounts, closing the day, greeting all guests in a pleasant, courteous and enthusiastic manner while registering guest information and settling guest accounts for the Hotel. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Audit hotel paperwork to ensure the day has balanced Posts room charges and taxes to guest accounts. Then they must, verify all account postings and balances. Verifies all hotel paperwork is correct and balanced. Runs preliminary reports. Processes no shows and close of day. Stocks the front desk with daily supplies. Besides that, register arriving guests while implementing TRC service standards. Settle guest accounts with the ability to make good business decisions regarding discounts. Must be knowledgeable in making reservations. Greet guests and provide door service and bell/valet service when needed. Ability to operate multi-line phone. Provide guests with information on local attractions. Resolves or refers to Management all guest concerns, complaints or suggestions in a continuous effort to provide superior guest service. Remains current on room rates, room availability and emergency procedures. Remains current on groups and property events. Direct workflow of Guest Service Attendants regarding guest luggage and amenity needs. Furthermore, ensures management is aware of guest special requests or needs. Ensures guests ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ profiles are properly noted in the Micros Property Management System for action by the appropriate hotel department prior to check-in. Maintain appearance standards as outlined in departmental and TRC policies. Provide information and explain Players Club benefits, property amenities marketing programs to our guests. Provide courteous service to our guests and be cordial to all Team Members. Lastly Communicate effectively both orally and in writing and. Maintain a good attendance record. 1.2.5 CASHIER JOB SUMMARY: Receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. Usually involves use of electronic scanners, cash registers, or related equipment. Often involved in processing credit or debit card transactions and validating checks. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.. Compile and maintain non-monetary reports and records.. Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately. Post charges against guests ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ or patients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ accounts. Offer customers carry-out service at the completion of transactions. Answer customers ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. Cash checks for customers. Weigh items sold by weight in order to determine prices bag, box, wrap, or gift-wrap merchandise, and prepare packages for shipment. Sort, count, and wrap currency and coins. Process merchandise returns and exchanges. Pay company bills by cash, vouchers, or checks and request information or assistance using paging systems. Stock shelves, and mark prices on shelves and items. Calculate total payments received during a time period, and reconcile this with total sales. Compute and record totals of transactions. Sell tickets and other items to customers. Keep periodic balance sheets of amounts and numbers of transactions. Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers lastly, count money in cash drawers at the beginning of shifts to ensure that amounts are correct and that there is adequate change. 1.2.6 RESERVATIONIST JOB SUMMARY: A reservation agent serves an important role in providing information to customers by use of telephone and other communication media. Reservation agents can be employed by various agencies involved in reserving travel places for travelers. The information that agencies provide relates to fare details, tours, schedules, meals, and other important issues that affect clients. Reservation agents can book places for the client through online transactions. As such, they must be well equipped with computer skills. Reservation agents can contact clients through telephone conversation and back them up with a variety of reservation software on computers. The agents work on schedules that vary greatly with shifts that ensure that the agency ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s offices are open 24 hours a day. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: Giving answers to enquiries by clients and advising them accordingly regarding bookings and reservations. Assisting customers who encounter problems in obtaining booking or operating self service equipment and walking around with clients and ensuring that they secure whatever services they are in need of. Ensuring that clients have access to various services without a hitch. Getting information about areas of interest in order to target more clients in particular seasons. Lastly making arrangements for clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ travel programs. Helping clients to fill in reservation forms. 1.2.7 TELEPHONE OPERATOR JOB SUMMARY: Telephone operator job is to answer telephone calls, greeting callers with a positive, clear voice, answering general questions about the hotel and transferring callers to other departments. DUTIES RESPONSIBILLTIES: This individual will create relationships with the guests that lead to Renaissance and property loyalty. This individual serves as the main point of contact for all guest requests and needs. The individual is responsible for answering calls, recording the guest requests and then pursuing the issue to a resolution and then, .the individual must exhibit courteous hospitality at all times and fully own each guest issue. When in communication with the guest, the individual must be proactive in every area, including offering additional services. Lastly, most importantly, the individual must coordinate the response to the guest issue and then follow-up with the guest to ensure satisfaction with the result. 1.3 CONCLUSION As conclusion, this assignment to know different organizational structures in hotels, update and develop procedures necessary to practice in all aspects of fire, health and safety in the hotel workplace, providing effective leadership in the role of receptionist, inform and instruct trainee receptionist in a positive attitude to the responsibilities and duties of front office, an overview of job opportunities and progression, interpret job descriptions and process applications. Small hotel Medium hotel Large hotel 2.0 QUESTION 2 2) Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations. 2.1 INTRODUCTION The Front Office Department comprise of the Reception, Guest Service Offices, Bell Services, Reservation, Operators, Executive Club, Health and Recreation Center and Business Center. The purpose of the Front Office Department is to provide guests assistance with luggage, transportation, information concerning the hotel and the city, and any other service arrangements needed during their stay. Employees of the Front Office Department often provide the first and last impression of the hotel to our guests. It is therefore vitally important that employees display a prompt and courteous attitude to all guests and demonstrate the excellence in service. 2.2 FRONT OFFICE STAFF SKILL: Firstly, the front office staff should have a good personality, well dressed and neat. Individuals who well dress suggest power and status; therefore, the first impression is only part of creating a positive relationship between the hotel and the customers. According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (1998 1994) presented that the front office staff must present an impeccable outward appearance to customers. Secondly, the staff should be competent. They should know basic product knowledge, type of rooms and hotel facilities in the hotel. As Binham; Lampola; Murray (1982: 17) suggested that front office staff should know many types of rooms and explain each type of rooms which are single rooms, double rooms, twin rooms, suites, connecting rooms and adjoining rooms. Thirdly, the guests may have different accents in English and some words are difficult for front office staff to understand due to the different countries, particularly, for the reservations or the operators who deal with customers by phone. White and Beckley (1988) mentioned that front office staff should use alphabetic system which is similar to the system that used by travel agents and airlines. Tanpipat (1994) suggested an alphabet to be used, for example, M for Mike, N for Nancy, P for Peter. Moreover, White and Beckley (1988: 51) pointed out that when telephone operators answer the telephone, they should identify themselves, announce the name of the hotel, with the addition of  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Good morning ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ or  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Good evening ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ with the appropriate intonation. The additional words,  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½May I help you? ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ will give the impression of willingness to serve, which is all important in hotel. Conclusion In conclusion, front office staff should make their guests happy and satisfied. As keys to the guest satisfaction driver, the front office staffs are critical to the continued success of the hotel. They offer constant guest interaction, with the most diverse operating exposure in the hotel. The important thing, the front office staff will also reflect the image of the hotel to the customers and they have a keen sense to anticipate the guests, needs and exceed their expectations.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Essay examples --
Problem Statement With changing social trends the way information and news is generated, distributed, and consumed is shifting towards digital media due its ability to offer access to the most up-to-date information. Companies such as The New York Times, whose business it built on print-media, will need to embrace this new form of media and deliver its content in a way that relates to the how their current, as well as new consumers wish to access their news. Analysis (External) The external environment that The New York Times operates within includes the encompassing culture and demographics, as well as the changing social trends, technology advances, and changes in the political, economic, and legal environments. The external culture surrounding the newspaper is a recently changing landscape, where the consumer is able to search for and find information quickly and from a number of sources. The consumer is also able to generate their own content easily through online blogs, which adds to the information load that an interested news consumer must sift through in order to obtain an accurate representation of facts. (Peters, Wright, and Witschge, 2012) Social trends and technology advances are a large source of concern with regards to the newspaper’s revenue. More readers are consuming news online, which is changing the landscape of news consumption. The immediacy of news availability through the internet can be more appealing to the casual consumer. Social media sites are also able to be leveraged to share articles and encourage new readers. These social sites can also be used to allow the consumer to take an active role in the conversation through comment fields, which open a new forum between journalist and reader that has p... ...sites on which it is expected to be distributed (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) should be monitored closely for feedback, given the platforms’ excellent resources to do so. The place of delivery is appropriate, due to the previous integration with the consumers’ lives, and the created network that is able to be leveraged to distribute the service most effectively to the target market segment. The price to the consumer is only time viewing the advertisement, which given that they were already visiting a social media site they are likely willing to spend. The product should be appropriately represented in these ads, and the ad itself is the promotional material. The responsibility for running the advertisements would likely fall on a marketing executive, but could also be outsourced to a successful creative studio with experience creating such marketing videos.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Seeking a Self Satisfying Career Essay -- Teaching Teachers Education
Seeking a Self Satisfying Career Teachers are not normally viewed as being professionals. I do not believe that the teaching profession receives enough respect. I believe that teachers have one of the most important jobs because they have the future of the world in their hands. Before I decided that I wanted to teach, I knew how important being a teacher really is. Some of the most memorable people that have made a difference in my life were teachers. They listened when I had a problem, they taught me how to be a better person and they helped me through many difficult academic subjects. I hope to have a positive impact on the lives of my future students just like the special teachers I had in my own life. In my opinion, this is why the teaching profession is as important as or more important than any other profession. The purpose of an education is to make one self sufficient, responsible and be able to support themselves in the world. I attend college part time and work full time. There are some days that the stress of having so much to do and not enough time to do everything makes me feel like quitting. Then, I remember the goal that I am working toward and it inspires me to continue, because an education is a very important thing to have. The job that I have now is not self satisfying. It does not challenge me to use the knowledge that I have acquired in my classes. Everyday that I am at work, I think to myself â€Å"I will not be here forever†, that if I keep working hard and keep myself motivated to continue on it will be worth it in the end, one day I will be able to teach. When I become a teacher, there are several things I hope to accomplish. The biggest accomplishment is becoming a teach... ... If they work hard and follow their dreams, they can accomplish anything. When I finish at Concord College and receive my degree, I hope to start teaching as soon as possible. I will probably have to do some substitute teaching before I am lucky enough to receive a full time position. After I receive a full time position, I plan to receive a Master’s Degree. If everything goes as I have planned, I will take night classes during the school year and full time during the summer. I know that the more I better myself through school, the more money I will earn. I do not plan of getting rich from teaching that is not the reason I want to teach. I want to be able to live comfortably, but being a teacher is more important that money. People have always told me if I set my mind to something, I can do it. I hope this is true, because I truly hope to become a teacher.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
History of Punjab: State of Sikh Religion :: World History
History of Punjab: State of Sikh Religion Punjab, state in northwestern India,bordered on the north by Jammu and Kashmir state and Himachal Pradesh state, on the east and south by Haryana state, on the south and southwest by Rajasthan state, and on the west by Pakistan. Punjab state lies between the great systems of the Indus and Ganges river. Punjab had a population of 20,281,969. Chandà ®garh is the state capital. The population of Punjab consists mainly of Punjabis, Jats, and Rajputs. The official language is Punjabi. The majority of the population is Sikh, the largest minority is Hindu, and a very small percentage is Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, or Jain. 59% of Punjab population is literate. Universities located in the state include Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, and Punjabi University in Patiala. More than 80 percent of Punjab is cultivated, and farming is the leading occupation. The major crops are wheat, maize, rice, pulses, sugarcane, and cotton.The industries include the manufacture of textiles, sewing machines, sporting goods, starch, fertilizers, bicycles, scientific instruments, electrical goods, and machine tools, and the processing of sugar and pine oil. I am proud to be Punjabi because of pure and rich culture of that state. Punjabis' are famous all around the world and can be easily found in any corner of the world. ANCIENT CIVILIZATION: Punjab is the birth place of Indus Valley Civilization, which is more than 4000 years old. Harappa and Mohenjodaro civilization, along the banks of the Indus in Punjab is also the most ancient and famous civilization in the world history. Punjab is also the birth place of many Saints belong to Sikh and Hindu religion. Aryan Migration: During ancient Punjab takes small scale migrations by the Aryans from the North-West (1500-100 BC). The next thousand year they live in Punjab, they settled never Indus Basin where the oldest books of human history called the Rig-Vedas are supposed to have been written. The language of Aryans was Sanskrit. Persian Rule: Punjab shared lot of history with great Persian empires. Punjab came under their control from time to time. Darius the great, the Persian king attacked Punjab and occupied many parts of Punjab. At last the Punjab was full invaded by the Persian King Gustasp in 516 BC. Punjab became the wealthiest Satrapy i.e., the province in the Persian kingdom. Punjab became the heart of the Persian Empire.
Deutche Bank
9-205-059 REV: APRIL 26, 2005 GEORGE CHACKO PETER HECHT VINCENT DESSAIN ANDERS SJOMAN Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades It was the third week of August 2003, and Jamil Baz, head of Deutsche Bank’s Fixed Income Research Group, gathered his research group for a morning meeting. â€Å"So, what are the markets telling us today? †he asked the group. â€Å"Are there any trends or news for new trade ideas? †The Fixed Income Research Group that Baz led was Deutsche Bank’s internal research and development (R&D) department for fixed income instruments.Their mandate was to look for untapped value across bond markets and interest rate derivatives. Long-term-oriented research findings were presented to clients, whereas immediate opportunities were suggested as trades to internal traders as well as clients. The success of the group was in part measured by how many of their trade suggestions actually turned into successful trades. So far, they had achieved an impressive 75% success rate. A natural place to start looking for new trades was the latest prices on various U.S. Treasury bonds (see Exhibit 1 for data from August 15, 2003). The group’s members consistently went through that data set, looking for possible trades to recommend. Typically relative-value trades took both long and short positions across different parts of the yield curve. Baz’s standard weekly question just emphasized what they all knew: that it was time to scour through the numbers one more time to see if any such positions were available. The Deutsche Bank Fixed Income Research GroupHeadquartered in Deutsche Bank’s London office, the company’s Fixed Income Research Group consisted of about 50 analysts and strategists. (An additional 10 were located in the bank’s New York offices. ) Global head of Fixed Income Research and in charge of the group was Baz, a managing director with Deutsche Bank since 2001. Previously at Lehman Brot hers in London, Baz also held an M. S. in management from MIT and a Ph. D. in business economics from Harvard University. As a part of a large financial institution, the research group was under constant pressure to monetize the ideas that they generated.The group presented its findings both internally to the ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professors George Chacko and Peter Hecht, Executive Director of the HBS Europe Research Center Vincent Dessain, and Research Associate Anders Sjoman prepared this case. This case deals with trade-specific advice activities of a research department and draws heavily from â€Å"Deutsche Bank: Discussing the Equity Risk Premium,â€Å" HBS Case No. 205-040, by the same authors. Case No. 205-040 deals with macro-level advice from the same research department.Some names and data have been disguised for confidentiality. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for clas s discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. This case is not intended as financial advice, and it should not be used as the basis for any investment decision, in whole or in part. Copyright  © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. bsp. harvard. edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâ€â€electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwiseâ€â€without the permission of Harvard Business School. 205-059 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades Deutsche Bank traders, as well as externally to Deutsche Bank clients at the CEO, CFO, and Treasury level. Baz explained how the ideas were pitched: The final goal is to create a franchise with fixed income clients.So, for clients on the asset side, such as mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension plans, we help them generate high returns on their assets. We give specific ideas to be executed by the clientsâ€â€hopefully with us, although that is never certain. However, even if we don’t get a trade out of our recommendation, it is important enough that we maintain Deutsche Bank’s presence at the client. Sometimes we also do bespokeâ€â€or customizedâ€â€work, where we analyze their balance sheet and asset-liability mismatches for them, almost like technical financial consulting.In general, research alone will not give us clients, but research combined with pricing are the keys to building long-lasting relationships with external clients. Overall, we strive to push the frontiers of analytical finance when it comes to modeling interest rates, volatilities, and spreads. Owing to data avail ability and an intimate exposure to institutional market realities, we are often pushed to reach results ahead of academic finance journals. On a group level, Deutsche Bank organized its fixed income activities in the global markets around three main pillars: investor coverage, issuer coverage, and research.The trading desks dealing in these areas were in turn divided into two groups: credit (with credit trading/credit derivatives, new issue syndicate, asset securitization, and emerging markets) and rates (with foreign exchange, money markets, fixed income, and interest rate derivatives). The research efforts of the group were set up to match these organizational divisions. The Fixed Income Research Group was one of several research groups (as shown in Exhibit 2). All these groups were run under the banner of Global Markets Research.Research as a whole was headed by David Folkerts-Landau. Demand for direct meetings with Deutsche Bank’s research groups had grown over the past few years, taken internally as a sign of increased respect for the bank’s research output. In the last year, Baz’s group alone had logged over 1,500 client meetings. All clients had access to the Deutsche Bank research in papers and newsletters that were available online. Internal traders also benefited from the research, which was a major influence behind much of the bank’s proprietaryâ€â€or â€Å"prop†â€â€trading.Most members of the research group shared their time between external clients and traders, with more senior staff members working more with external clients and less with the trading floor. In the end, measuring the research group’s value to the organization was still difficult. Said Baz: Putting a value on the work we do, and the effect we have on the bank, is very hard. In fact, if you were to really measure it by attributing sales and trades back to us, the trading floor would be more reluctant to work with us. Instead, we are mostly evaluated by top management on three other factors.Firstly, overall market direction, which is how much of rate and spread moves did we catch in our advice. Secondly, the relative-value trades we originated. Thirdly, any customized business we have brought in from our client meetings. Compensation to the members of the group was tied to the evaluation of the group as a whole. Individual bonuses were then given at the discretion of Baz as the group’s manager, based on his qualitative impression of each member’s contribution. 2 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades 205-059 Strategic Advice and Relative-Value ActivitiesThe group’s activities were normally broken down into strategic advice on macro trends and relative value. The strategic advice activities built on long-term discussions with clients, where the group presented Deutsche Bank’s view on macroeconomic trends to external clients. In these discussions, George Cooper, the group’ s global fixed income strategist, typically did not expect a quick monetary return. Cooper, a Ph. D. graduate in engineering at Durham University with experience from both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, explained: This type of activity does not generate a lot of money from a trade perspective.It generates brand value, though, and is especially appealing to insurance companies or asset-liability people, who appreciate the long-term view. We believe it serves more of an educational purpose. It gets the fund managers thinking. They are not looking for prescriptive research, where we tell them to â€Å"do this trade,†but they look for interesting ideas. Of course, they then weigh our ideas against whatever Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley are saying. Our role is to come up with hopefully insightful but also informative new ways to look at things.By contrast, the relative-value activities looked for more immediate opportunities by comparing different instruments and then recommendin g various trading strategies to clients and internal traders. Head of Relative Value Research for Europe was Jean Dumas, an engineer from ESME SUDRIA in France with a specialization in finance, who had worked with Relative Value Research for Deutsche Bank in Paris, Frankfurt, and Sydney before moving to London. Dumas explained his work: We come up with different types of trades all the time.The trade opportunities may be there for a week or two, sometimes longer. I look at different spreadsheets, listen to what traders are saying, watch the news, study different models. . . . Then I try to put everything togetherâ€â€and suddenly there is a trade opportunity. Our job is really grabbing things that don’t seem to be related at first and see if there is a trade to be done. The trade opportunities that the research group identified were published weekly in the newsletter â€Å"Deutsche Bank Fixed Income Weekly,†which was distributed to Deutsche Bank traders as well as to clients.A frequent contributor to the newsletter was Dr. Nikan B. Firoozye, head of Global Quantitative Strategies and a Ph. D. graduate in mathematics from Courant Institute at New York University with experience from Alliance Capital, Sanford C. Bernstein, and Lehman Brothers. Firoozye explained: I write a piece on Euroland strategy every week where we suggest trades. Some of these are big trades that we don’t change very often, such as curve-steepening trades. We can have the same trade off and on for a full year. We also summarize economic data as it impacts the bond markets.For instance, how structured trades could be influenced by the move in dollar versus yen, and how you should position for that. In his role as head of Euroland Strategy, Firoozye also oversaw all strategic investments in Euroland bond markets. He was also involved in all modeling issues and wrote stand-alone papers on quantitative strategy. Looking for a Relative-Value Trade For the research group, one way to find relative-value trades was to compare the prices of traded securities against the prices that the group thought the securities should trade at. This subjective view 205-059 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades was based on a proprietary model developed at Deutsche Bank. (Most banks used proprietary models as a base from which to evaluate the prices of traded securities. ) The models were built on the fact that the returns offered by fixed income instruments could be characterized by the yields that they offered. The yield was roughly seen as compensation for the risk borne by the holder of that security. There were many sources of risk in fixed income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment risk.Also, the yield of an instrument could be broken down into components. The components could be thought of as compensation for the different sources of risk. So, for example, the yield on a corporate bond could be thought of as being compose d of a risk-free yield plus a credit spread. The risk-free yield represented compensation for interest rate risk in the bond, while the credit spread represented compensation for default risk in the bond. 1 To understand the compensation for the interest rate risk alone, banks typically constructed â€Å"yield-curve models. These were models for the yields on zero-coupon Treasury securities, since Treasury instruments typically contained only interest rate risk. Models for the yield curve could be then used to compare the current and expected prices of U. S. Treasury instruments. 2 The research group at Deutsche Bank had developed their own proprietary yield-curve model, a so-called three-factor affine model (see Exhibit 3 for a conceptual description of the model). Firoozye explained the fundaments of the model: We have three factors driving the yield curve that we see as analogous to the economy.In an economy, there is inflation, output gaps, and short rates. So first among our f actors is a long rate, which is analogous to inflation. It is the slowest mean reverting of our three factors. In the fifties inflation was low, in the seventies it was extremely high, and now it is back down again. It takes 20 years to go through its cycle. It is very slow, very persistent, whereas the business cycle is much, much faster. You go through a business cycle in about seven years. So slope, our second factor, is then the measure of output gap. Slope mean reverts much more quickly than inflation.The third factor is the short rate, which mean reverts the fastest. After estimating the variables of the three-factor model, the team calibrated the model to price the one-month, two-year, and 10-year zero-coupon bond. After Baz’s request at the weekly meeting, the analysts now used the latest numbers on various U. S. Treasury bonds to update and calibrate the model (see Exhibit 4 for the resulting output from Deutsche Bank’s model). The idea was to then compare the actual zero-coupon yield curve against the predicted ones coming out of the model and see if any trade ideas presented themselves.In fact, several trades seemed to come out of that comparison. Baz and the team now had to pick the trades with the highest profit potential. 1 It should be noted that the notion of compensation here is approximate. The yield on a zero-coupon corporate bond is not the expected return of that bond. It is simply the promised return of that bond, or the return an investor would get if the bond did not default. Starting with this promised return and then factoring in the probability of default and a default risk premium leads to the expected return for that bond. More generally, yield-curve models could be used to price any interest rate-sensitive security. For example, the pricing of interest rate options starts with a yield-curve model. 4 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades 205-059 Exhibit 1 Prices and Coupon Rates of Various U. S. Treasury Bonds on August 15, 2003 Coupon Rate (%) 3 2. 125 1. 5 6. 5 5. 625 2. 375 6. 25 3. 25 3 3. 25 5. 5 6 6. 5 5. 75 5 5 4. 875 4. 375 3. 875 4. 25 13. 25 12. 5 11. 25 10. 625 9. 25 7. 5 8. 75 8. 875 9. 125 9 8. 875 8. 125 8. 5 8. 75 7. 875 8. 25 8 7. 25 7. 125 6. 25 7. 5 7. 5 7. 625 6. 875 6 6. 75 6. 625 6. 375 6. 125 5. 5 5. 25 6. 125 Maturity Date 2/15/2004 8/15/2004 2/15/2005 8/15/2005 2/15/2006 8/15/2006 2/15/2007 8/15/2007 2/15/2008 8/15/2008 2/15/2009 8/15/2009 2/15/2010 8/15/2010 2/15/2011 8/15/2011 2/15/2012 8/15/2012 2/15/2013 8/15/2013 2/15/2014 8/15/2014 2/15/2015 8/15/2015 2/15/2016 8/15/2016 2/15/2017 8/15/2017 2/15/2018 8/15/2018 2/15/2019 8/15/2019 2/15/2020 8/15/2020 2/15/2021 8/15/2021 2/15/2022 8/15/2022 2/15/2023 8/15/2023 2/15/2024 8/15/2024 2/15/2025 /15/2025 2/15/2026 8/15/2026 2/15/2027 8/15/2027 2/15/2028 8/15/2028 2/15/2029 8/15/2029 Current Price 101. 0544 100. 9254 99. 8942 109. 0934 108. 438 99. 7848 111. 7184 101. 0841 99. 1692 99. 271 109. 7707 112. 145 114. 9084 110. 3894 105. 2934 104. 7607 103. 4391 99. 2806 95. 0288 97. 7693 174. 3251 168. 9389 157. 0552 152. 4222 140. 0135 123. 3044 136. 0598 137. 504 140. 792 139. 9079 138. 7431 130. 7162 135. 2938 138. 3466 128. 4995 131. 7341 130. 4736 121. 58 120. 1744 109. 4538 125. 46 125. 4466 127. 1477 117. 5509 106. 3626 116. 1986 114. 7086 111. 036 108. 0391 99. 633 96. 2876 108. 4062 Source: Adapted by casewriter from Datastream. 5 205-059 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades Exhibit 2 Deutsche Bank Global Markets Research Organization Global Head COO and Co-Head Global Economics Global Strategist Foreign Exchange Securitization Index Development Regional Heads – Asia/ Pacific – Germany Strategy – Fixed Income/ Relative Value Research – Emerging Markets – Credit Credit (High Grade Credit Research) Economics – Global – US – Europe – Emerging Markets Source: Deutsche Bank. Exhibit 3 †¢ †¢ †¢Deutsche Bank†™s Zero-Coupon Yield Model Key variables: Short rate, slope, and long rate (or short rate, output gap, and inflation) Model specified by a system of equations (in Q measure) Long rate mean reverts slowly (possibly to nonzero mean) dX t= (  µ X ? k X X t) dt + ? X dWt X †¢ Slope mean reverts faster (to zero) dYt = ? kY Yt dt + ? Y dWt Y †¢ X t + Yt ? rt = 0 †¢ In equilibrium short rate, rt, follows the target Xt+Yt (an analogue of the Taylor rule) Short rate mean reverts fast in order to restore the equilibrium drt = k r ( X t + Yt ? rt ) dt + ? r dWt rSource: Adapted by casewriter from â€Å"Quantitative Models for Fixed Income,†Deutsche Bank presentation, October 2003. 6 Deutsche Bank: Finding Relative-Value Trades 205-059 Exhibit 4 Output from Deutsche Bank’s Zero-Coupon Yield Model Model Prediction (BEY) 1. 2443% 1. 8727% 2. 4110% 2. 9665% 3. 4454% 3. 8557% 4. 1996% 4. 4677% 4. 6528% 4. 7107% 5. 7160% 5. 9517% 5. 9315% Maturity (years) 1y 2y 3y 4 y 5y 6y 7y 8y 9y 10y 15y 20y 25y Source: Note: Adapted by casewriters from Deutsche Bank information. The yields in this table are bond equivalent yields (BEY), that is, the semiannual yield multiplied by two. 7
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