Thursday, October 31, 2019

Is Online Privacy Dead Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Is Online Privacy Dead - Research Paper Example Despite being a digital world where every kind of transaction, application or interaction requires the disclosure of personal information, the privacy rules have become less relevant (Jose, 2013). No one seems to care about the advertising of personal, private and confidential information on the internet. No one seems to be bothered by the fact that personal information belonging to uninformed individuals are traded on the internet like mere business commodities.Purpose StatementThe question that begs, therefore, is who is to carry the blame for all this. Who should be held responsible? Should it be the individuals who fearlessly and un cautiously discloses all their personal information online or are we to blame those who are in custody of the same private information. The purpose of this research is, therefore, to delve deeper into this issue and find the root of the problem and suggest the possible cure to the same. The paper discusses whether online privacy is still in operation and how far it goes to secure personal information. Simply put, the paper discusses whether or not online privacy is dead. This has been a controversial issue that has left many in endless debates (House, 2014). While some argue that the current level of technology is not sufficient to safeguard private information online, some are of the opinion that those charged with the safeguarding duty have terribly failed at it. In addition, the paper discusses the real motive behind the revealing of such information.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The High Blood Pressure Essay Example for Free

The High Blood Pressure Essay The double whammy for people with hypertension is that the extra adrenalin required by being overweight or obese: constricts our arteries and blood vessels to raise our blood pressure and give us an energy boost ready to defend ourselves or to escape a dangerous situation; and it could also lead to type 2 diabetes! The good news is that losing weight need not be difficult or involve unappetizing diets. Losing weight is a natural way to reduce our high blood pressure. Here are my tips on how to lose weight healthily: # 1. Exercise: Take regular moderate cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking. Just 30 minutes brisk walking each day will improve our general health. Our heart and lungs will be strengthened; and, we will lose weight if we are burning more calories than we consume. We will also lower our high blood pressure. # 2. Diet: Adopt a healthy, calorie controlled diet that is rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, and is low in fat and salt. Avoid adding salt to your food at the table. Try to eat five different fruits and vegetables each day, of which at least one should be a green vegetable. Choose lean cuts of meat and try to have two portions of oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, each a week. Some of the most successful weight loss diet plans advocate having six small healthy meals a day in stead of the usual two or three large meals. Try out the principles of food combining which lends itself to having several small meals a day. # 3. Drink plenty of water: Try to drink at least two litres of water a day; not all at once, of course, but aim to have eight glasses of water spread out through the day. Doing this will help you feel fuller for longer, reducing the temptation for us to cheat on our healthy calorie controlled diet. Our bodies will also be properly hydrated. Dehydration can cause high blood pressure.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Innovative Financial Instruments

Innovative Financial Instruments Methodology Collection of secondary data: Historical data from sites of NSE, BSE, SEBI etc Getting Data from newspapers Getting data from the Various Research papers published. Collecting data from various Books available on the topic. Review of Previous Management Research Reports Getting Access to Instruments available in India from SEBI websites. Findings and Conclusions In India financial market majorly denotes equity markets. Indian debt market is not well developed and still 80% of market is under Government securities. Securitization has to be done on assets held by Banks. Bond market needs a great consideration in terms of junk bonds An effort can be made to develop Carbon Emission and National growth index. Commodities Options should be developed in India. Credit derivatives should be developed with consideration of all the possible types of Credit derivatives. In a country with major income from Agriculture, Weather derivatives should be introduced to protect the interest of various involved parties. To mitigate the Catastrophe hazards new technique for risk management should be introduced. Financial development Index to measure the developments in various parameters to conclude growth in real terms. Conclusion Despite the accelerated industrial growth experienced this decade from recent economic reforms, most major investors around the globe do not yet see India as an ideal country for foreign investment. The competition for global capital will only get tougher in the years to come, and unless the political, judicial and economic environments are right, India will lag behind many other emerging nations. More importantly, the rising expectations of the middle-class, widening income and wealth inequalities between the haves and have-nots, require efficient initiatives from Government and corporate to attract and accommodate the funds available. Variety of financial products like mutual funds, insurance, shares, debentures, derivative instruments, etc. are available in India. However, the reach of these products is very limited and the features of many of these products are very basic in nature. Further development and innovation in these products would be faster if they are accessed by all classes of investors in urban as well as rural areas. The thrust lies mainly on the development of new financial products to deepen the improvements in the product distribution itself. The responsibility of ensuring these improvements vests with all the stakeholders in the financial services industry. ABSTRACT The Indian financial market has been primarily divided into three categories namely: Equity; Debt; Derivatives. Every category has its own importance in the development of financial markets. In most of the developed nations after the development of Equity now the major focus is on Debt and Derivatives market. The reason for this focus can be many supportive benefits which accrue to a market by development of double D market. Surprisingly in financial market is used as a synonym for equity market which has completely under deployed Debt and derivative markets. The importance and potentials of debt market are still under a doubtful impression in India and no major revolution has been brought to this effect in the recent periods. Focus of more and more to just equity markets has created saturation in Indian stock market. So willingly or unwillingly now the focus has to be shifted towards other possible avenues. Some of the possible avenues have been categorized during this research conducted on various instruments which are globally available but cannot find place in Indian markets. Now these instruments are also categorized in the various forms and accrue to a specific market. Firstly the focus is laid on so called Backbone of Indian Financial system Vis the Indian equity market, which has incorporated every possible instrument which can be accommodated in Indian family of Equity instruments. Few instruments has been recognized which can be absorbed in Indian market, which can be Indian Depository Receipt (IDR), Non-Voting Shares, Cumulative convertible preference shares (CCPS), Debt-equity swap. Secondly it comes the most awaited Debt market which needs great development especially in case of corporate bonds. In India 80% of bonds are Govt. issued and 80% of remaining by institutional investors. So there has to happen lot of work by GOI (Government of India). In this few instruments which can be of utmost importance for Indian environment can be Inflation linked bonds (ILB), junk bonds, Specialized debt fund for infrastructure funding, securitization of debt. Thirdly it comes to the funds of masses i.e. pension funds and retirement schemes which are always backed by government and also has gained support from the government. In this case one of the major innovative works can be on New Pension Scheme. Fourthly, it comes to mutual funds which has the role of UTI, SEBI, RBI, AMFI and other such authorities which are regulating the workings of mutual funds in India. One of New Direction in mutual funds can be Investment funds in international Markets. Fifthly it comes to the derivatives market, which can be divided in two major forms futures and options. In future major development can be in the newly arrived concepts which can become, Instruments of masses. These include Futures on the Index of Industrial and Economy growth and Index and futures for Carbon Emission in the country. Further option market again has a lot of scope for improvements in the fields of Weather derivatives, Commodity Options, Credit derivatives. Last but not the least there is an open category which also has few innovative instruments to be captured. These can be Index for Natural Disaster and risk Management and Financial development Index. Important consideration to be noticed here is that India is a great Economy with tremendous growth opportunities has to cater with ongoing global competition in terms of capital and Money markets developments. Another important issue here is that India has to balance its Financial market with the equitable share of debt and equity. It should be open for latest and innovative types of instruments suitable for the growth and development of financial system. New concepts like Carbon Emission index should be a given a proper research and find out the ways to develop and implement it. INTRODUCTION INTEGRATION OF GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKETS In this age of globalization and liberalization domestic markets alone cannot cater to the growing needs of corporate and individuals. As a result of which there is a need of finance from various new sources which has led to the integration of world markets. As a result we have seen development of various financial products in past few years. Financial globalization has brought considerable benefits to economies and to investors and has also changed the structure of markets, creating new risks and challenges for market participants and policymakers. Globalization has also increased the scope of many new financial products. Two decades ago, someone building a new factory would probably have been restricted to borrow from a domestic bank. Today it has many more options to choose from. It can also shop around the world for loan with lower interest rate and can borrow in foreign currency if foreign-currency loans offer more attractive terms than domestic-currency loans; it can issue stocks or bonds in either domestic or international capital markets. The evolution of new financial products has increased the size of global capital markets considerably over the years. Market capitalization and year to date turnover of twenty major stock exchanges is given below : THE INDIAN CAPITAL MARKET A capital market is a place where both government and companies raise long term funds to trade securities on the bond and the stock market. It consists of both the primary market where new securities are issued among investors, and the secondary markets where already existent securities are traded. In the capital market, commodities, bonds, equities and other such investment funds are traded. There are 22 stock exchanges in India, first being the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which began formal trading in 1875. Over the past few years, there has been a swift change in the Indian capital markets, especially in the secondary market. In terms of the number of companies and total market capitalization in share market, the Indian equity market is considered large relative to the countrys stage of economic development. CONVENTIONAL PRODUCTS IN INDIAN CAPITAL MARKETS EQUITY Equity shares are issued by the companies in primary market to raise capital from public and corporate houses. It provides a share in the earnings of the company and the equity shareholder can participate in decision making of the company also. There are three basic types of equity: Common stock or ordinary shares [1] Common stock, as it is known in the United States, or ordinary shares, according to British terminology, is the most important form of equity investment. An owner of common stock is part owner of the enterprise and is entitled to vote on certain important matters, including the selection of directors. Common stock holders benefit most from improvement in the firms business prospects. But they have a claim on the firms income and assets only after all creditors and all preferred stock holders receive payment. Some firms have more than one class of common stock, in which case the stock of one class may be entitled to greater voting rights, or to larger dividends, than stock of another class. This is often the case with family owned firms which sell stock to the public in a way that enables the family to maintain control through its ownership of stock with superior voting rights. Preferred stock [2] Also called preference shares, preferred stock is more akin to bonds than to common stock. Like bonds, preferred stock offers specified payments on specified dates. Preferred stock appeals to issuers because the dividend remains constant for as long as the stock is outstanding, which may be in perpetuity. Some investors favor preferred stock over bonds because the periodic payments are formally considered dividends rather than interest payments, and may therefore offer tax advantages. The issuer is obliged to pay dividends to preferred stock holders before paying dividends to common shareholders. If the preferred stock is cumulative, unpaid dividends may accrue until preferred stock holders have received full payment. In the case of non cumulative preferred stock, preferred stock holders may be able to impose significant restrictions on the firm in the event of a missed dividend. Warrants [3] Warrants offer the holder the opportunity to purchase a firms common stock during a specified time period in future, at a predetermined price, known as the exercise price or strike price. The tangible value of a warrant is the market price of the stock less the strike price. If the tangible value when the warrants are exercisable is zero or less the warrants have no value, as the stock can be acquired more cheaply in the open market. A firm may sell warrants directly, but more often they are incorporated into other securities, such as preferred stock or bonds. Warrants are created and sold by the firm that issues the underlying stock. In a rights offering, warrants are allotted to existing stock holders in proportion to their current holdings. If all shareholders subscribe to the offering the firms total capital will increase, but each stock holders proportionate ownership will not change. The stock holder is free not to subscribe to the offering or to pass the rights to others. In t he UK a stock holder chooses not to subscribe by filing a letter of renunciation with the issuer. RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN EQUITY MARKET Free pricing- The abolition of office of the controller of capital issue resulted in the emergence of new era in primary markets. All controls on designing, pricing and tenure were abolished. The investors were given the freedom to price an instrument. Entry Norms- Hitherto no restrictions for a company to tap the capital markets. This resulted in massive surge of small cap issues. The need for transparent free entry was felt by SEBI. Disclosures- the quality of disclosure in the offer document was really poor. A lot of vital adverse information was not disclosed. SEBI stringent discloser norms were introduced. Book Building- It is the process of price discovery. One of the drawbacks of free pricing was price mechanism. The issue price has to be decided around 60-70 days before the opening at issue. Introduction to price building has overcome the limitation of price mechanism. Streamlining the procedures- all the procedures was streamlined. Many aspects of the operations have been made transparent. SCOPE OF FURTHER EQUITY INSTRUMENTS INDIAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS (IDR) After the success of American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts the Indian regulatory body, SEBI also allowed foreign companies to raise capital in India through INDIAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS (IDRs). IDRs can be understood as a mirror image of well-known ADRs/GDRs. In an IDR, foreign companies issue the shares to an Indian Depository, which would, issue Depository Receipts to investors in India. The Depository Receipts would be listed in Indian stock exchanges and would be freely transferable. The actual shares of the IDRs would be held by an Overseas Custodian, who shall authorize the Indian Depository to issue the IDRs. The Overseas Custodian must be a foreign bank having business in India and needs approval from the Finance Ministry for acting as a custodian while the Indian Depository needs to be registered with the SEBI. Following rules were established by SEBI for listing through IDR: ISSUERS ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: [4] Must have an average; turnover of US$ 500 million during the previous 3 financial years. Must have capital and free reserves which must aggregate to at least US$100 million. Must be making a profit for the previous 5 years and must have declared a dividend of 10% in each such year. The pre issue debt-equity ratio must be not more than 2:1. Must be listed in its home country. Must not be prohibited by any regulatory body to issue securities Must have a good track record with compliance with securities market regulations. Must comply with any additional criteria set by SEBI REASONS FOR DORMANCY IN ISSUE OF IDR: Stringent rules set by SEBI made foreign companies stay away from Indian market. The rules were made more stringent after the Global economic crisis. Availability of easy funds in foreign markets. Rate of interest in foreign banks is also less which made them prime source of funds for companies. Uncertainty of subscription in Indian markets. Indian companies have been highly active in foreign markets by raising funds through ADR and GDR but till date no foreign company has raised money through IDRs. Standard Chartered is the first company to allow its plan to issue IDR and has received the clearance from RBI also. The bank has yet to announce the size of the IDR issue, though the figures are expected to vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 crore. Non -Voting Shares A non- voting share is more or less similar to the ordinary equity shares except the voting rights. It is different from a preference share in the sense that in case of a possible winding up of the company, the preference shareholders get their shares of dividends repaid before the owners of the non-voting shareholders. The companies with the constant track record and a strong dividend history can issue these kinds of instruments. They are basically focused to small investors who are normally not interested in the management of the firm. Hence non promoting share are a good tool for the promoters of the company to increase the share capital without diluting the control. However if the company does not fulfill the commitment of higher dividend then these shares are automatically converted to shares with voting rights. Hence it is very important for the companies to assess the characteristics of future cash flow and determine whether paying a higher rate of dividend is practicable for them or not. Debt for equity and equity for debt swaps Adebt for equity swapis not an instrument but a situation where a company offers its shareholders and creditors debt in exchange for equity or stock. The value of the stock is determined on current market rates. The company may, however, offer a higher value to attract more shareholders and debt holders to participate in the swap. Equity for debt swapis the opposite of the above process. In this swap, the creditors to the company agree to exchange the debt for equity in the business. How do creditors benefit Creditors such as banks and other financial institutions provide capital to large businesses. If the business gets into financial trouble, it may sometimes not be a good idea to allow the company to close down and go bankrupt. In these situations, these creditors find it easier to allow the business to take the form of going concern and become the shareholders in this business. The debt or the assets of the company may be so big that there would be no any profit or advantage to the banks in seeking its closure. At times, the company may also be seeking a restructuring of its capital for certain reasons. These include meeting contractual obligations, taking advantage of current stock valuation in the market or to avoid making coupon and face value payments. How debt for equity swap takes place Let us assume that a shareholder or investor of some company has $1000 worth of stock. The company offers the option to swap equity withdebtat a rate of 1:1. This means that for $1000 worth of stock, the investor would get $1000 worth of debt or bonds in the company. At times, the company may offer a ratio of 1:2 to attract more stock for its debt. This could mean an additional gain in the form of $1000 worth of stock for the investor. But it is also important to note that the investor would lose their rights as a shareholder, the moment he swaps his stock orequity for debt. Original shareholders often find themselves deprived of their voting rights when such swaps take place. DEBT MARKET Traditionally, the Indian capital markets are more synonymous with the equity markets both on account of the common investors preferences and the huge capital gains it offered no matter what the risks involved are. On the other hand, the investors preference for debt market has been relatively a recent phenomenon an outcome of the shift in the economic policy, whereby the market forces have been accorded a greater leeway in influencing the resource allocation. If we talk about the Indian debt market bond market has formed its own place in the financial systems. All the recent developments are accrued to bonds market in India. Size of debt market If we look at worldwide scenario, debt markets are three to four times larger than equity markets. However, the debt market in India is very small in comparison to the equity market. This is because the domestic debt market has been deregulated and liberalized only recently and is at a relatively nascent stage of development. Interest rate deregulation The last two decades witnessed a gradual maturing of Indias financial markets. Since 1991, key steps were taken to reform the Indian financial markets. With the introduction of auction systems for rising Government debt in the 1990s, along with the decision to put an end to the monetization of Government deficits, started the gradual process of deregulation of interest rates. While the immediate effect of deregulation of interest rates was associated with rising interest rates, deft debt management policy by the RBI and the improvements in the market micro structure saw a gradual decline in the interest rates. Abolition of tax deduction at source Tax deduction at source (TDS) used to be major barrier to the development of the government securities market in India. Recognizing this, the RBI convinced the Government to abolish it. The removal of TDS on Government securities was apparently a small but a major reform in removing pricing distortions for Government securities. Introduction of auctions For Auctions a major policy shift from administered interest rate regime to a market based regime, the choice of auction system needed to be carefully drawn, in order to give a comfort level to the government as a borrower as also to moderate the risks that might be faced by the uninitiated market participants. Accordingly, it was decided to begin with the sealed bid auction system with a post bid reserve price (since the RBI as an agent to government participates in the auctions as a non-competitive bidder.) Banks investments in Government securities valuation/accounting norms Concomitantly, regulatory initiatives in introducing international best practices in valuation/accounting norms for the banks investment portfolios (comprising mainly government securities) also necessitated the banks to mark to market their investment portfolios and forced them to actively trade. This gave an added impetus to the incipient trading activity. Consolidation of stocks Primary issuance strategy was further fine tuned towards issuance of benchmark securities to improve liquidity. Alignment of coupon payment dates for the new issuances has been consciously attempted to promote stripping of government securities (STRIPS), which if once materializes, can facilitate the establishment of zero coupon yield curve and also can take care of the segmental needs in terms of asset liability matching. Zero coupon curve for pricing[5] To bring further improvements in the pricing mechanism in debt market, a need was felt to promote a zero coupon yield curve (ZCYC). As indicated earlier, STRIPS (Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities) can facilitate a ZCYC. This curve is being used for pricing NSEs interest rate futures transactions. FIMMDA/PDAI, publishes a monthly ZCYC for the market participants to value their government securities portfolios. However, the ZCYC based pricing has not been popular with the Indian market participants. SCOPE OF INNOVATIONS IN BOND MARKET Inflation linked bonds (ILB)[6] The recent Monetary Policy released by RBI laid its thrust on controlling the spiraling inflation, especially the food price inflation. One of the reasons behind the CRR hike was to curtail the rising inflationary expectations (higher expected price trends) In the past RBI has been concerned about the fact that a common man does not have any protection against rising prices, Vis No Inflation Hedge. The common man has to rely on traditional but inefficient methods to hedge the real inflation risks, such as Gold and real assets such as commodities or real estate or even excessive stocking of goods In developed markets like US, the government has issues Treasury Inflation Protected Securities known as TIPS. Globally more than USD 1 trillion worth inflation linked bonds must be outstanding. Inflation linked bonds (ILB) securities give an opportunity to market participants and investors to hedge against inflation. The coupon (interest rate) of ILB is fixed but the underlying principal would move in tandem with the inflation levels in the country. At redemption of the securities the higher of the value (adding inflation) thus arrived or face value is paid off. Banks and Financial Institutions usually buy wholesale and create retail market for such securities. With right access retail investor can easily buy such securities to protect himself from inflation and this could have following advantage to investors and the government. The inflation linked bonds can make the governments accountable for higher inflation since the cost of borrowings will be linked to inflation (if coupon paid is inflation hedged). Rising inflation will also raise the repayment of inflation linked bonds. It will help government to broaden the investor base by offering inflation linked bonds at the retail level, where the participation now is minimal. Government can diversify the debt service costs in a deflationary (falling prices) scenario. It is very likely that the existence of inflation linked bonds might reduce the inflation risk premium embedded in government bonds. For the inflation linked bonds to be an effective hedge GOI should ensure that the underlying inflation index is representative of real or actual inflation on the streets. RBI can precisely quantify control the inflationary expectations embedded in the economy as well as in the markets. RBI can use inferences from trading in such bonds in formulating its monetary policy stance The onus on monetary policy tools such as interest rates, to contain inflation will reduce if RBI can guide or influence the inflationary expectations through the demand/supply of inflation linked bonds and with an excellent communication policy. For Investors in general, inflation linked bonds would provide distinct advantages: It allows investors to hedge the purchasing power (inflation) risk. The capital is inflation risk protected and the income (coupon) can be structured that way too. Inflation linked bonds universally are regarded as a separate asset class would provide diversification benefits to a portfolio due to its negative co relation with returns from traditional asset classes. Such bonds provide positive risk reward relationship too. Inflation linked bonds are effective vehicle for hedging risks for institutional investors, where the long term liabilities are inflation linked or linked to future wage levels or banks who face the inflation risk on their assets side due to their GOI Bond holdings. Access of FIIs to the inflation linked bonds can allow them to hedge their inflation risks in India which are currently expressed in the currency markets. The USD/INR (currency) volatility can hence come down hence. Junk bonds Sharp movements in the Indian equity market may be par for the course. But when it comes to the market for corporate bonds, its constantly stagnant. The reason is, we dont have a corporate bond market. But this is overwhelmingly dominated by government securities (about 80% of the total). Of the remaining, close to 80% again comprises privately placed debt of public financial institutions. An efficient bond market helps corporate reduce their financing costs. It enables companies to borrow directly from investors, bypassing the major intermediary role of a commercial bank. One of the important instruments in corporate market is Junk Bonds which could be great source of financing for countries like India where markets are not much regulated. A speculative bond rated BB or below. Junk bonds are generally issued by corporations of questionable financial strength or without proven track records. They tend to be more volatile and higher yielding than bonds with superior quality ratings.Junk bond funds emphasize diversified investments in these low-rated, high-yielding debt issues. Thus, these are high-yielding, high-risk securities issued by companies with less robust finances.[7] Need for Junk Bonds in India The major issue amongst Indian bond markets has been how companies with poorer ratings can raise funds. At times the banks and FIs are reluctant to invest in even the AAA-rated companies. In fact for progress of a developing nation like India, this would give a wonderful opportunity for the smaller companies to get funds and implement their ideas. However, a proper regulatory mechanism also needs to be set-up to avoid high risk of default in the case of junk bonds. Currently, there are only two instruments that FIIs can invest in India, i.e., equity and debt. The cap on FII debt investment varies from time to time between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. The Asset Reconstruction Company of India Ltd. (ARCIL), Indias first asset reconstruction company, has vied for permitting FIIs to invest in a new instrument in India distressed assets. ARCIL has recommended SEBI, RBI and the Finance Ministry to allow FII investment in a new category, which is neither equity nor debt but a separate lucrative instrument security receipts with underlying distressed assets. Proposed Junk Bond Market in India Scenario (Optimistic Realistic) Anoptimistic scenariowould be having junk bonds in the market ideally for funding by FIIs and Institutions for financing the small Indian companies. However, considering the risk associated with these bonds it might not be possible in near future because economy is still in its nascent phase and on a fast development track.So any move which is risky and can affect future inflows of foreign funds and investor confidence would not be ideal. The only way an investor should invest in junk bonds is by diversifying. A selection of at least half a dozen issues will afford the investor some protection. High risk is inherent in high yield bonds. Nevertheless, your portfolio may well have a place for some of these securities if you are not risk-averse. By having junk bond markets, it would in fact signify deepening and maturing of Indian debt markets. In India, companies are hamstrung by the fact that investment relaxations may come in only when the debt markets get deeper, so that insurance companies can increase their portfolio yield without exposing themselves to risk for long tenures by investing in junk bonds. Impact of Junk Bonds on Indian Economy[8] A well-functioning corporate bond market allows firms to tailor their assets and liability profiles. If companies fear they will not be able to raise long-term resources, they are likely to stay away from long-term investments or entrepreneurial ventures that have a long-term payoff. In the long run, this can affect economic growth. The corporate bond and the junk bond market could fill this vacuum. In the absence of a corporate bond market, a large part of debt funding comes from banks. In the process, banks assume a significant amount of risk due to maturity mismatch between short-term deposits that can be readily withdrawn and relatively long-term illiquid loan assets resulting in high NPAs. An active and efficient bond market gives companies an alternative means of raising debt capital in the event of a credit crunch. It also leads to better pricing of credit risk (since expectations of all market participants are incorporated into bond prices). FIIs are major players in the equities market. However, thanks to the ceiling on their investment in the debt market (currently, there is a cumulative sub-ceiling of $0.5 bn on investment in corporate debt), they are present only in a limited way in the bond market. Pension funds and the insurance sector could be another constituency, but the absence of pension funds and low insurance penetration has meant limited demand for lon Innovative Financial Instruments Innovative Financial Instruments Methodology Collection of secondary data: Historical data from sites of NSE, BSE, SEBI etc Getting Data from newspapers Getting data from the Various Research papers published. Collecting data from various Books available on the topic. Review of Previous Management Research Reports Getting Access to Instruments available in India from SEBI websites. Findings and Conclusions In India financial market majorly denotes equity markets. Indian debt market is not well developed and still 80% of market is under Government securities. Securitization has to be done on assets held by Banks. Bond market needs a great consideration in terms of junk bonds An effort can be made to develop Carbon Emission and National growth index. Commodities Options should be developed in India. Credit derivatives should be developed with consideration of all the possible types of Credit derivatives. In a country with major income from Agriculture, Weather derivatives should be introduced to protect the interest of various involved parties. To mitigate the Catastrophe hazards new technique for risk management should be introduced. Financial development Index to measure the developments in various parameters to conclude growth in real terms. Conclusion Despite the accelerated industrial growth experienced this decade from recent economic reforms, most major investors around the globe do not yet see India as an ideal country for foreign investment. The competition for global capital will only get tougher in the years to come, and unless the political, judicial and economic environments are right, India will lag behind many other emerging nations. More importantly, the rising expectations of the middle-class, widening income and wealth inequalities between the haves and have-nots, require efficient initiatives from Government and corporate to attract and accommodate the funds available. Variety of financial products like mutual funds, insurance, shares, debentures, derivative instruments, etc. are available in India. However, the reach of these products is very limited and the features of many of these products are very basic in nature. Further development and innovation in these products would be faster if they are accessed by all classes of investors in urban as well as rural areas. The thrust lies mainly on the development of new financial products to deepen the improvements in the product distribution itself. The responsibility of ensuring these improvements vests with all the stakeholders in the financial services industry. ABSTRACT The Indian financial market has been primarily divided into three categories namely: Equity; Debt; Derivatives. Every category has its own importance in the development of financial markets. In most of the developed nations after the development of Equity now the major focus is on Debt and Derivatives market. The reason for this focus can be many supportive benefits which accrue to a market by development of double D market. Surprisingly in financial market is used as a synonym for equity market which has completely under deployed Debt and derivative markets. The importance and potentials of debt market are still under a doubtful impression in India and no major revolution has been brought to this effect in the recent periods. Focus of more and more to just equity markets has created saturation in Indian stock market. So willingly or unwillingly now the focus has to be shifted towards other possible avenues. Some of the possible avenues have been categorized during this research conducted on various instruments which are globally available but cannot find place in Indian markets. Now these instruments are also categorized in the various forms and accrue to a specific market. Firstly the focus is laid on so called Backbone of Indian Financial system Vis the Indian equity market, which has incorporated every possible instrument which can be accommodated in Indian family of Equity instruments. Few instruments has been recognized which can be absorbed in Indian market, which can be Indian Depository Receipt (IDR), Non-Voting Shares, Cumulative convertible preference shares (CCPS), Debt-equity swap. Secondly it comes the most awaited Debt market which needs great development especially in case of corporate bonds. In India 80% of bonds are Govt. issued and 80% of remaining by institutional investors. So there has to happen lot of work by GOI (Government of India). In this few instruments which can be of utmost importance for Indian environment can be Inflation linked bonds (ILB), junk bonds, Specialized debt fund for infrastructure funding, securitization of debt. Thirdly it comes to the funds of masses i.e. pension funds and retirement schemes which are always backed by government and also has gained support from the government. In this case one of the major innovative works can be on New Pension Scheme. Fourthly, it comes to mutual funds which has the role of UTI, SEBI, RBI, AMFI and other such authorities which are regulating the workings of mutual funds in India. One of New Direction in mutual funds can be Investment funds in international Markets. Fifthly it comes to the derivatives market, which can be divided in two major forms futures and options. In future major development can be in the newly arrived concepts which can become, Instruments of masses. These include Futures on the Index of Industrial and Economy growth and Index and futures for Carbon Emission in the country. Further option market again has a lot of scope for improvements in the fields of Weather derivatives, Commodity Options, Credit derivatives. Last but not the least there is an open category which also has few innovative instruments to be captured. These can be Index for Natural Disaster and risk Management and Financial development Index. Important consideration to be noticed here is that India is a great Economy with tremendous growth opportunities has to cater with ongoing global competition in terms of capital and Money markets developments. Another important issue here is that India has to balance its Financial market with the equitable share of debt and equity. It should be open for latest and innovative types of instruments suitable for the growth and development of financial system. New concepts like Carbon Emission index should be a given a proper research and find out the ways to develop and implement it. INTRODUCTION INTEGRATION OF GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKETS In this age of globalization and liberalization domestic markets alone cannot cater to the growing needs of corporate and individuals. As a result of which there is a need of finance from various new sources which has led to the integration of world markets. As a result we have seen development of various financial products in past few years. Financial globalization has brought considerable benefits to economies and to investors and has also changed the structure of markets, creating new risks and challenges for market participants and policymakers. Globalization has also increased the scope of many new financial products. Two decades ago, someone building a new factory would probably have been restricted to borrow from a domestic bank. Today it has many more options to choose from. It can also shop around the world for loan with lower interest rate and can borrow in foreign currency if foreign-currency loans offer more attractive terms than domestic-currency loans; it can issue stocks or bonds in either domestic or international capital markets. The evolution of new financial products has increased the size of global capital markets considerably over the years. Market capitalization and year to date turnover of twenty major stock exchanges is given below : THE INDIAN CAPITAL MARKET A capital market is a place where both government and companies raise long term funds to trade securities on the bond and the stock market. It consists of both the primary market where new securities are issued among investors, and the secondary markets where already existent securities are traded. In the capital market, commodities, bonds, equities and other such investment funds are traded. There are 22 stock exchanges in India, first being the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which began formal trading in 1875. Over the past few years, there has been a swift change in the Indian capital markets, especially in the secondary market. In terms of the number of companies and total market capitalization in share market, the Indian equity market is considered large relative to the countrys stage of economic development. CONVENTIONAL PRODUCTS IN INDIAN CAPITAL MARKETS EQUITY Equity shares are issued by the companies in primary market to raise capital from public and corporate houses. It provides a share in the earnings of the company and the equity shareholder can participate in decision making of the company also. There are three basic types of equity: Common stock or ordinary shares [1] Common stock, as it is known in the United States, or ordinary shares, according to British terminology, is the most important form of equity investment. An owner of common stock is part owner of the enterprise and is entitled to vote on certain important matters, including the selection of directors. Common stock holders benefit most from improvement in the firms business prospects. But they have a claim on the firms income and assets only after all creditors and all preferred stock holders receive payment. Some firms have more than one class of common stock, in which case the stock of one class may be entitled to greater voting rights, or to larger dividends, than stock of another class. This is often the case with family owned firms which sell stock to the public in a way that enables the family to maintain control through its ownership of stock with superior voting rights. Preferred stock [2] Also called preference shares, preferred stock is more akin to bonds than to common stock. Like bonds, preferred stock offers specified payments on specified dates. Preferred stock appeals to issuers because the dividend remains constant for as long as the stock is outstanding, which may be in perpetuity. Some investors favor preferred stock over bonds because the periodic payments are formally considered dividends rather than interest payments, and may therefore offer tax advantages. The issuer is obliged to pay dividends to preferred stock holders before paying dividends to common shareholders. If the preferred stock is cumulative, unpaid dividends may accrue until preferred stock holders have received full payment. In the case of non cumulative preferred stock, preferred stock holders may be able to impose significant restrictions on the firm in the event of a missed dividend. Warrants [3] Warrants offer the holder the opportunity to purchase a firms common stock during a specified time period in future, at a predetermined price, known as the exercise price or strike price. The tangible value of a warrant is the market price of the stock less the strike price. If the tangible value when the warrants are exercisable is zero or less the warrants have no value, as the stock can be acquired more cheaply in the open market. A firm may sell warrants directly, but more often they are incorporated into other securities, such as preferred stock or bonds. Warrants are created and sold by the firm that issues the underlying stock. In a rights offering, warrants are allotted to existing stock holders in proportion to their current holdings. If all shareholders subscribe to the offering the firms total capital will increase, but each stock holders proportionate ownership will not change. The stock holder is free not to subscribe to the offering or to pass the rights to others. In t he UK a stock holder chooses not to subscribe by filing a letter of renunciation with the issuer. RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN EQUITY MARKET Free pricing- The abolition of office of the controller of capital issue resulted in the emergence of new era in primary markets. All controls on designing, pricing and tenure were abolished. The investors were given the freedom to price an instrument. Entry Norms- Hitherto no restrictions for a company to tap the capital markets. This resulted in massive surge of small cap issues. The need for transparent free entry was felt by SEBI. Disclosures- the quality of disclosure in the offer document was really poor. A lot of vital adverse information was not disclosed. SEBI stringent discloser norms were introduced. Book Building- It is the process of price discovery. One of the drawbacks of free pricing was price mechanism. The issue price has to be decided around 60-70 days before the opening at issue. Introduction to price building has overcome the limitation of price mechanism. Streamlining the procedures- all the procedures was streamlined. Many aspects of the operations have been made transparent. SCOPE OF FURTHER EQUITY INSTRUMENTS INDIAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS (IDR) After the success of American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts the Indian regulatory body, SEBI also allowed foreign companies to raise capital in India through INDIAN DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS (IDRs). IDRs can be understood as a mirror image of well-known ADRs/GDRs. In an IDR, foreign companies issue the shares to an Indian Depository, which would, issue Depository Receipts to investors in India. The Depository Receipts would be listed in Indian stock exchanges and would be freely transferable. The actual shares of the IDRs would be held by an Overseas Custodian, who shall authorize the Indian Depository to issue the IDRs. The Overseas Custodian must be a foreign bank having business in India and needs approval from the Finance Ministry for acting as a custodian while the Indian Depository needs to be registered with the SEBI. Following rules were established by SEBI for listing through IDR: ISSUERS ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: [4] Must have an average; turnover of US$ 500 million during the previous 3 financial years. Must have capital and free reserves which must aggregate to at least US$100 million. Must be making a profit for the previous 5 years and must have declared a dividend of 10% in each such year. The pre issue debt-equity ratio must be not more than 2:1. Must be listed in its home country. Must not be prohibited by any regulatory body to issue securities Must have a good track record with compliance with securities market regulations. Must comply with any additional criteria set by SEBI REASONS FOR DORMANCY IN ISSUE OF IDR: Stringent rules set by SEBI made foreign companies stay away from Indian market. The rules were made more stringent after the Global economic crisis. Availability of easy funds in foreign markets. Rate of interest in foreign banks is also less which made them prime source of funds for companies. Uncertainty of subscription in Indian markets. Indian companies have been highly active in foreign markets by raising funds through ADR and GDR but till date no foreign company has raised money through IDRs. Standard Chartered is the first company to allow its plan to issue IDR and has received the clearance from RBI also. The bank has yet to announce the size of the IDR issue, though the figures are expected to vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 crore. Non -Voting Shares A non- voting share is more or less similar to the ordinary equity shares except the voting rights. It is different from a preference share in the sense that in case of a possible winding up of the company, the preference shareholders get their shares of dividends repaid before the owners of the non-voting shareholders. The companies with the constant track record and a strong dividend history can issue these kinds of instruments. They are basically focused to small investors who are normally not interested in the management of the firm. Hence non promoting share are a good tool for the promoters of the company to increase the share capital without diluting the control. However if the company does not fulfill the commitment of higher dividend then these shares are automatically converted to shares with voting rights. Hence it is very important for the companies to assess the characteristics of future cash flow and determine whether paying a higher rate of dividend is practicable for them or not. Debt for equity and equity for debt swaps Adebt for equity swapis not an instrument but a situation where a company offers its shareholders and creditors debt in exchange for equity or stock. The value of the stock is determined on current market rates. The company may, however, offer a higher value to attract more shareholders and debt holders to participate in the swap. Equity for debt swapis the opposite of the above process. In this swap, the creditors to the company agree to exchange the debt for equity in the business. How do creditors benefit Creditors such as banks and other financial institutions provide capital to large businesses. If the business gets into financial trouble, it may sometimes not be a good idea to allow the company to close down and go bankrupt. In these situations, these creditors find it easier to allow the business to take the form of going concern and become the shareholders in this business. The debt or the assets of the company may be so big that there would be no any profit or advantage to the banks in seeking its closure. At times, the company may also be seeking a restructuring of its capital for certain reasons. These include meeting contractual obligations, taking advantage of current stock valuation in the market or to avoid making coupon and face value payments. How debt for equity swap takes place Let us assume that a shareholder or investor of some company has $1000 worth of stock. The company offers the option to swap equity withdebtat a rate of 1:1. This means that for $1000 worth of stock, the investor would get $1000 worth of debt or bonds in the company. At times, the company may offer a ratio of 1:2 to attract more stock for its debt. This could mean an additional gain in the form of $1000 worth of stock for the investor. But it is also important to note that the investor would lose their rights as a shareholder, the moment he swaps his stock orequity for debt. Original shareholders often find themselves deprived of their voting rights when such swaps take place. DEBT MARKET Traditionally, the Indian capital markets are more synonymous with the equity markets both on account of the common investors preferences and the huge capital gains it offered no matter what the risks involved are. On the other hand, the investors preference for debt market has been relatively a recent phenomenon an outcome of the shift in the economic policy, whereby the market forces have been accorded a greater leeway in influencing the resource allocation. If we talk about the Indian debt market bond market has formed its own place in the financial systems. All the recent developments are accrued to bonds market in India. Size of debt market If we look at worldwide scenario, debt markets are three to four times larger than equity markets. However, the debt market in India is very small in comparison to the equity market. This is because the domestic debt market has been deregulated and liberalized only recently and is at a relatively nascent stage of development. Interest rate deregulation The last two decades witnessed a gradual maturing of Indias financial markets. Since 1991, key steps were taken to reform the Indian financial markets. With the introduction of auction systems for rising Government debt in the 1990s, along with the decision to put an end to the monetization of Government deficits, started the gradual process of deregulation of interest rates. While the immediate effect of deregulation of interest rates was associated with rising interest rates, deft debt management policy by the RBI and the improvements in the market micro structure saw a gradual decline in the interest rates. Abolition of tax deduction at source Tax deduction at source (TDS) used to be major barrier to the development of the government securities market in India. Recognizing this, the RBI convinced the Government to abolish it. The removal of TDS on Government securities was apparently a small but a major reform in removing pricing distortions for Government securities. Introduction of auctions For Auctions a major policy shift from administered interest rate regime to a market based regime, the choice of auction system needed to be carefully drawn, in order to give a comfort level to the government as a borrower as also to moderate the risks that might be faced by the uninitiated market participants. Accordingly, it was decided to begin with the sealed bid auction system with a post bid reserve price (since the RBI as an agent to government participates in the auctions as a non-competitive bidder.) Banks investments in Government securities valuation/accounting norms Concomitantly, regulatory initiatives in introducing international best practices in valuation/accounting norms for the banks investment portfolios (comprising mainly government securities) also necessitated the banks to mark to market their investment portfolios and forced them to actively trade. This gave an added impetus to the incipient trading activity. Consolidation of stocks Primary issuance strategy was further fine tuned towards issuance of benchmark securities to improve liquidity. Alignment of coupon payment dates for the new issuances has been consciously attempted to promote stripping of government securities (STRIPS), which if once materializes, can facilitate the establishment of zero coupon yield curve and also can take care of the segmental needs in terms of asset liability matching. Zero coupon curve for pricing[5] To bring further improvements in the pricing mechanism in debt market, a need was felt to promote a zero coupon yield curve (ZCYC). As indicated earlier, STRIPS (Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities) can facilitate a ZCYC. This curve is being used for pricing NSEs interest rate futures transactions. FIMMDA/PDAI, publishes a monthly ZCYC for the market participants to value their government securities portfolios. However, the ZCYC based pricing has not been popular with the Indian market participants. SCOPE OF INNOVATIONS IN BOND MARKET Inflation linked bonds (ILB)[6] The recent Monetary Policy released by RBI laid its thrust on controlling the spiraling inflation, especially the food price inflation. One of the reasons behind the CRR hike was to curtail the rising inflationary expectations (higher expected price trends) In the past RBI has been concerned about the fact that a common man does not have any protection against rising prices, Vis No Inflation Hedge. The common man has to rely on traditional but inefficient methods to hedge the real inflation risks, such as Gold and real assets such as commodities or real estate or even excessive stocking of goods In developed markets like US, the government has issues Treasury Inflation Protected Securities known as TIPS. Globally more than USD 1 trillion worth inflation linked bonds must be outstanding. Inflation linked bonds (ILB) securities give an opportunity to market participants and investors to hedge against inflation. The coupon (interest rate) of ILB is fixed but the underlying principal would move in tandem with the inflation levels in the country. At redemption of the securities the higher of the value (adding inflation) thus arrived or face value is paid off. Banks and Financial Institutions usually buy wholesale and create retail market for such securities. With right access retail investor can easily buy such securities to protect himself from inflation and this could have following advantage to investors and the government. The inflation linked bonds can make the governments accountable for higher inflation since the cost of borrowings will be linked to inflation (if coupon paid is inflation hedged). Rising inflation will also raise the repayment of inflation linked bonds. It will help government to broaden the investor base by offering inflation linked bonds at the retail level, where the participation now is minimal. Government can diversify the debt service costs in a deflationary (falling prices) scenario. It is very likely that the existence of inflation linked bonds might reduce the inflation risk premium embedded in government bonds. For the inflation linked bonds to be an effective hedge GOI should ensure that the underlying inflation index is representative of real or actual inflation on the streets. RBI can precisely quantify control the inflationary expectations embedded in the economy as well as in the markets. RBI can use inferences from trading in such bonds in formulating its monetary policy stance The onus on monetary policy tools such as interest rates, to contain inflation will reduce if RBI can guide or influence the inflationary expectations through the demand/supply of inflation linked bonds and with an excellent communication policy. For Investors in general, inflation linked bonds would provide distinct advantages: It allows investors to hedge the purchasing power (inflation) risk. The capital is inflation risk protected and the income (coupon) can be structured that way too. Inflation linked bonds universally are regarded as a separate asset class would provide diversification benefits to a portfolio due to its negative co relation with returns from traditional asset classes. Such bonds provide positive risk reward relationship too. Inflation linked bonds are effective vehicle for hedging risks for institutional investors, where the long term liabilities are inflation linked or linked to future wage levels or banks who face the inflation risk on their assets side due to their GOI Bond holdings. Access of FIIs to the inflation linked bonds can allow them to hedge their inflation risks in India which are currently expressed in the currency markets. The USD/INR (currency) volatility can hence come down hence. Junk bonds Sharp movements in the Indian equity market may be par for the course. But when it comes to the market for corporate bonds, its constantly stagnant. The reason is, we dont have a corporate bond market. But this is overwhelmingly dominated by government securities (about 80% of the total). Of the remaining, close to 80% again comprises privately placed debt of public financial institutions. An efficient bond market helps corporate reduce their financing costs. It enables companies to borrow directly from investors, bypassing the major intermediary role of a commercial bank. One of the important instruments in corporate market is Junk Bonds which could be great source of financing for countries like India where markets are not much regulated. A speculative bond rated BB or below. Junk bonds are generally issued by corporations of questionable financial strength or without proven track records. They tend to be more volatile and higher yielding than bonds with superior quality ratings.Junk bond funds emphasize diversified investments in these low-rated, high-yielding debt issues. Thus, these are high-yielding, high-risk securities issued by companies with less robust finances.[7] Need for Junk Bonds in India The major issue amongst Indian bond markets has been how companies with poorer ratings can raise funds. At times the banks and FIs are reluctant to invest in even the AAA-rated companies. In fact for progress of a developing nation like India, this would give a wonderful opportunity for the smaller companies to get funds and implement their ideas. However, a proper regulatory mechanism also needs to be set-up to avoid high risk of default in the case of junk bonds. Currently, there are only two instruments that FIIs can invest in India, i.e., equity and debt. The cap on FII debt investment varies from time to time between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. The Asset Reconstruction Company of India Ltd. (ARCIL), Indias first asset reconstruction company, has vied for permitting FIIs to invest in a new instrument in India distressed assets. ARCIL has recommended SEBI, RBI and the Finance Ministry to allow FII investment in a new category, which is neither equity nor debt but a separate lucrative instrument security receipts with underlying distressed assets. Proposed Junk Bond Market in India Scenario (Optimistic Realistic) Anoptimistic scenariowould be having junk bonds in the market ideally for funding by FIIs and Institutions for financing the small Indian companies. However, considering the risk associated with these bonds it might not be possible in near future because economy is still in its nascent phase and on a fast development track.So any move which is risky and can affect future inflows of foreign funds and investor confidence would not be ideal. The only way an investor should invest in junk bonds is by diversifying. A selection of at least half a dozen issues will afford the investor some protection. High risk is inherent in high yield bonds. Nevertheless, your portfolio may well have a place for some of these securities if you are not risk-averse. By having junk bond markets, it would in fact signify deepening and maturing of Indian debt markets. In India, companies are hamstrung by the fact that investment relaxations may come in only when the debt markets get deeper, so that insurance companies can increase their portfolio yield without exposing themselves to risk for long tenures by investing in junk bonds. Impact of Junk Bonds on Indian Economy[8] A well-functioning corporate bond market allows firms to tailor their assets and liability profiles. If companies fear they will not be able to raise long-term resources, they are likely to stay away from long-term investments or entrepreneurial ventures that have a long-term payoff. In the long run, this can affect economic growth. The corporate bond and the junk bond market could fill this vacuum. In the absence of a corporate bond market, a large part of debt funding comes from banks. In the process, banks assume a significant amount of risk due to maturity mismatch between short-term deposits that can be readily withdrawn and relatively long-term illiquid loan assets resulting in high NPAs. An active and efficient bond market gives companies an alternative means of raising debt capital in the event of a credit crunch. It also leads to better pricing of credit risk (since expectations of all market participants are incorporated into bond prices). FIIs are major players in the equities market. However, thanks to the ceiling on their investment in the debt market (currently, there is a cumulative sub-ceiling of $0.5 bn on investment in corporate debt), they are present only in a limited way in the bond market. Pension funds and the insurance sector could be another constituency, but the absence of pension funds and low insurance penetration has meant limited demand for lon

Friday, October 25, 2019

Bond between Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club Essay

Bond between Mothers and Daughters Explored in The Joy Luck Club      Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the novel, The Joy Luck Club, author Amy Tan explores the issues of   tradition and change and the impact they have on the bond between mothers and daughters. The theme is developed through eight women that tell their separate stories, which meld into four pairs of mother-daughter relationships.    The Chinese mothers, so concentrated on the cultures of their own, don't want to realize what is going on around them. They don't want to accept the fact that their daughters are growing up in a culture so different from their own. Lindo Jong, says to her daughter, Waverly- "I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promise. This means nothing to you because to you, promises mean nothing. A daughter can promise to come to dinner, but if she has a headache, a traffic jam, if she wants to watch a favorite movie on T.V., she no longer has a promise."(Tan 42) Ying Ying St.Clair remarks- "...because I remained quiet for so long, now my daughter does not hear me. She sits by her fancy swimming pool and hears only her Sony Walkman, her cordless phone, her big, important husband asking her why they have charcoal and no lighter fluid."(Tan 64)    The American daughters, on the other hand, the other half of the inseparable pair, tell stories of how their mothers tradition, culture, and beliefs, helped them come to many realizations about themselves. These realizations are both positive and negative. Jing-Mei Woo tells the story of how her mother wanted her to be the next Shirley Temple. "My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant...You could become instantly famous.    'Of course... ... Heung, Marina. "Daughter-Text/Mother-Text: Matrilineage in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." Feminist Studies (Fall 1993): 597-616. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books, 1989. Huntley, E. D. Amy Tan: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood P, 1998. Ling, Amy. Between Worlds: Women Writers of Chinese Ancestry. New York: Pergamon, 1990. Maynard, Joyce. "The Almost All-American Girls." Rev. of The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan and The Temple of my Familiar, by Alice Walker. Mademoiselle July 1989: 70, 72, 180. Miner, Valerie. "The Joy Luck Club" The-Nation. Apr. 24 '89 p. 566-9 Schell, Orville. "Your Mother is in Your Bones." Rev. of The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. The New York Times Book Review. Mar. 19 1989: 3, 28. Wang, Dorothy. "A Game of Show and Not Tell." Rev of The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. Newsweek April 17, 1989: 68-69.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

TTR Period

They took control of the production of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and mace. Due to this, the Dutch profits skyrocketed and they had a strong centralized control over the Indonesian islands, and were also strategically laced near China for trade purport nineties. Jamestown, Virginia being est.. In America; Thirty Years War used starting in late 16th century when slaves were Of use in the Atlantic region plantation complex The social set up of the way slaves were treated in society is known as the plantation complex.The complex was the agricultural system based in Brazil, North America, and the Caribbean. The system had slaves working under their masters, usually to harvest crops and bring in more profits for their master at free labor. Conflict between Ottoman and Safaris Empires; McHugh empire under Kafka Politically) 6181648 Thirty Years War This war between Rise of Catholic and Protestantism protestant states completely split Europe apart, as well as it being one of the most devasta ting European conflicts in history. 6005 Outage unites Japan The once feudal State Of Japan was united by Outage around this time. Some people say that this saved Japan from being taken over as other small island states had been. China got screwed over by silver trade 1500516005 Colonization of the Americas Americas lead to a mass dying out of peoples and paved the way for European do menace Atlantic slave trade in the continent.More Political(Ally) 16801760 King unification of China The unification during the King dynasty was an eighty year military effort to solidify China into an empire. The reason for this was largely security precautions to prevent another Mongol cone guest of China. Second Ottoman Empire siege of Vienna; High point of Slave Trade: European enlightenment; Wars of Islamic Renewal in West Africa 1 598 The Edict of Antes Henry IV issued the Edict of Antes to alleviate some of the tension between the Catholics and the Protestants.The purpose of this was to stop the brutal massacres and battles. It offered mom leniency for the French Protestants in hope that they would return to the Catholic Church and end this religious â€Å"war'. Jamestown is established as the first English settlement in North America; French colony in Quebec established; missionaries expelled from Japan Map: represents fur trade Interaction w/ the Environment(Ally) ca 1500 1600 Fur Trade The â€Å"World Hunt† was an economical and ecological turning point in the Americas.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Struggle To Survive

Struggle to Survive The early settlers of America spent arduous hours creating a national document which would hopefully spell out the basic ingredients necessary to sustain a unified democracy within this land. From the beginning, these pioneers wanted to establish a worthy place free of restrictions which would not subvert or obstruct the basic foundations of a viable democratic society. Educational, political, social, and religious freedoms were some of the known necessities for the real American way of life in this new country. But in the midst of building this democratic society, something strange happened. Out of a desperate need for laborers, the American economic system resolved to the use of indentured servants and slaves. Labor intensive jobs were soaring as the colonies grew into the Thirteen Original Colonies. Soon the freed indentured servants left only the slaves as permanent laborers. Slaves from the African continent made up the bulk of the labor intensive crew. Growing up in Eastern Europe at that time, you can find yourself very confused. On television I saw a different America, one full of action movies, and fast food also powerful and rich. Something I never noticed was the struggle for equal treatment of people of color. I learned about that when I came here and seen it with my own eyes. I believe the media causes a lot of that confusion that I experienced in Poland. Parts of me can conquer with the struggle that the Black union workers experienced. It was something to take notice of. At that time the Country struggled. I wasn’t aware of the funkadelic experience brought upon by the citizens of the state. Simple explanation; I wasn’t born yet. Just like many of my friends. On top of everything I seen the world from a different spectrum; compared to typical American. I was part of an organization that heavily depended on union steel workers. Our product was industrial blowers; they were... Free Essays on Struggle To Survive Free Essays on Struggle To Survive Struggle to Survive The early settlers of America spent arduous hours creating a national document which would hopefully spell out the basic ingredients necessary to sustain a unified democracy within this land. From the beginning, these pioneers wanted to establish a worthy place free of restrictions which would not subvert or obstruct the basic foundations of a viable democratic society. Educational, political, social, and religious freedoms were some of the known necessities for the real American way of life in this new country. But in the midst of building this democratic society, something strange happened. Out of a desperate need for laborers, the American economic system resolved to the use of indentured servants and slaves. Labor intensive jobs were soaring as the colonies grew into the Thirteen Original Colonies. Soon the freed indentured servants left only the slaves as permanent laborers. Slaves from the African continent made up the bulk of the labor intensive crew. Growing up in Eastern Europe at that time, you can find yourself very confused. On television I saw a different America, one full of action movies, and fast food also powerful and rich. Something I never noticed was the struggle for equal treatment of people of color. I learned about that when I came here and seen it with my own eyes. I believe the media causes a lot of that confusion that I experienced in Poland. Parts of me can conquer with the struggle that the Black union workers experienced. It was something to take notice of. At that time the Country struggled. I wasn’t aware of the funkadelic experience brought upon by the citizens of the state. Simple explanation; I wasn’t born yet. Just like many of my friends. On top of everything I seen the world from a different spectrum; compared to typical American. I was part of an organization that heavily depended on union steel workers. Our product was industrial blowers; they were...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Social Learning Theory Essay Example

Social Learning Theory Essay Example Social Learning Theory Essay Social Learning Theory Essay This research by Bandura shows that there IS a difference between learning and actual performance. Children imitate behaviour under certain circumstances but always seem to learn it. Differences were apparent between Bandura and Walters study in 1963 and Banduras study in 1965 because only rewards were given to the children producing any type of behaviour. This shows inconsistency in research findings making it difficult to be able to draw conclusions. However, the differences between the 2 experiments show that children observing punishment has a larger effect on behaviour than if they see rewards suggesting that production of behaviour depends on how the observed behaviour is responded to by others. It is found that children are more likely to replicate observed behaviour if model was rewarded, whether other adults approved, whether other children imitated the behaviour, and whether the observer can relate to the model. There are also other factors to account for the findings from Banduras experiments especially to do with the family backgrounds the children were from. Hollins and Howells found that children raised by aggressive parents were also likely to be aggressive themselves. This suggests that children have learned the aggression from their family home and repeated it in different social contexts i. e. took aggression out on the Bobo doll. This therefore supports Social Learning Theory. Furthermore, Patterson et al (1989) found that in homes where there was at least one aggressive child, the common factor was a home environment where physical punishment and shouting were often used. This would increase aggression in people as they have learned it from their family and evidently would repeat it in the outside world because thats how theyve been brought up. Similarly, if children in a family were brought up in a caring background where you look after one other then you would find that these children are the least aggressive in society. Social Learning Theory has been largely supported by psychologists which has been shown through Banduras research. However his research was based solely on young childrens perception and learning of behaviour and doesnt account for adults therefore findings cannot be generalised to all of society. Phillips (1986) investigated Social Learning Theory in adults and found that homicide rate in adults was higher following the broadcast of a boxing match suggesting that observing this aggressive behaviour led more people to inflict harm on others. This therefore shows that social learning is present in adults providing empirical support for Social Learning Theory. Another strength is that Social Learning Theory accounts for a lack of consistency in aggressive behaviour. i. e. aggression in front of peers is different to behaviour shown around parents because behaviour is reinforced differently (context-dependent learning). Social Learning Theory also accounts for cultural differences in aggressive behaviour, i. e. individualistic cultures are more aggressive than collectivistic cultures because individuals learn from others how to look after themselves and how to survive. However, Bandura was criticised on the grounds that the television programmes he used in his experiments were not representative of the programmes at the time therefore again lacks ecological validity. It is also highly unethical to manipulate childs behaviour as they probably did not give informed consent even though parents allowed them to participate. Social Learning Theory has also been largely criticised by biological researchers. They argue that the theory completely ignores individuals biological state. they state that the social learning theory rejects the differences of individuals due to genetic, brain, and learning differences (Jeffrey, 1985: p. 238) The effect of the media on aggression has also been widely researched. Aggression ideas shown by the media, influences people to observe, learn and imitate the behaviour. However, evidence for this is inconclusive. Media may simply be a contributing factor, all the other factors like family background and individual differences could account for peoples levels of aggression. In conclusion, Social Learning Theory as an explanation of aggression ignores that aggression can be innate and the amount of arousal within the person at the time can affect behaviour largely. However, the theory is largely supported in psychology as is demonstrated through Banduras work with the Bobo dolls. These experiments demonstrate conclusively that the acquisition and production of aggression is socially mediated. (Cardwell and Flanagan, 2004: p. 37). References Bandura, A. (1962). Social Learning through Imitation. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE. Bandura, 1973. cited on criminology. fsu. edu/crimtheory/bandura. htm. Accessed on 1st November 2005. Website used for various information. Bandura, A. , Walters, R. H. (1959). Adolescent Aggression. Ronald Press: New York: http://mentalhelp.net.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Honduras Culture Essay essays

Honduras Culture Essay essays The Honduran lifestyle much like our own is based on family ties. Family ties go out beyond the traditional family. You can commonly find Parents, Grandparents, Children, Aunts Like in our own country the father is the head of the household, but the mother is the one with the greatest responsibilities and influences in everyday life. Most young people dont leave home until they are married. Even when they are married the couple either move in with one of the parents or move by really close. The family has sit down dinners every night. The common dinner plate would have rice, beans, corn tortillas and cheese as the staple foods. Pork is also considered a special treat, usually resevered for holidays and specials occasion. Bananas, mangos, citrus fruits, and coconuts avocados are the most common fruits and veggies at any meal. Coca-Cola, Fresca, water, coffee, tea, and beer are common drinks. The family also celebrates many holidays that we also celebrate such as New Years, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Armed Forces Day. One of the must popular holidays in Honduras is Independence Day. There are family activities and parades all day long. Another one of the most popular holiday times is the Easter Holy Week. Celebrations and parades will fill the streets on Good Friday. Easter Sunday may go by almost unnoticed. In addition they also have celebrations honoring patron saints and regional festas. In marriages like in most Spanish countries, they carry both their paternal and maternal surnames. The fathers surname is the individual's family name, but the mothers surname appears at the ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Sustainability and Innovation in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sustainability and Innovation in Business - Essay Example In order to lead in the competition, the company needs to keep on innovating through sustainability (Nidumolu & Et. Al., â€Å"Why Sustainability Is Now The Key Driver Of Innovation†). Firstly, the company should comply with the specifications of the industry by abiding the governmental rules as well as regulations. The company needs to take heed of the emissions in their manufacturing plants and the usage of water. They should invest in new and advanced technological equipments in order to reduce the effect of their manufacturing activities on the environment. Ford needs to adopt measures to trim down the carbon emissions as well as cut down on the usage of water in order to conserve it with the introduction of advanced technological facilities. The company also needs to take care of its value chains in order to make them sustainable. Abiding by the regulations would assist the company to be environmentally conscious which would therefore make them take a notice on their resource consumption activities. They should take steps in order to trim down wastages and consumptions in their internal operations and in their workplace surroundings. After this a proper look should be provided in their arrangement of supply chain so that efficiency is escalated with the help of every individual association that forms a part of their supply chain. This would help the company to get familiar with advanced and new technologies which would pave the way for further innovation in terms of fresh product designs as well as in their business. This step would surely help them to attain sustainability (Ford, â€Å"Sustainability†; Nidumolu & Et. Al., â€Å"Why Sustainability Is Now The Key Driver Of Innovation†). The amplified emphasis on competence and freshly attained familiarity with technologies and expertise would help them to consider redesigning their offered products and take advantage of the increasing

Friday, October 18, 2019

System Safety Application to control chemical accidents in the Work Case Study

System Safety Application to control chemical accidents in the Work Environment - Case Study Example In this project paper, we look at potential risk to system safety and the techniques we can use to strengthen the system safety. Some of the areas will discuss is a maintenance project design, industrial accidents, the principles and techniques and how we can use them in a real world situation. System safety is crucial to every organization as it facilitates efficiency and effectiveness. It also ensures that the correct procedure is followed at each stage to avoid any accidents and adhere to the policies and regulations put in place by the state. Process system management ensures that highly hazardous substances are not released to the environment. This is accomplished by use of an outlined process to manage the energy sources and chemicals produced in the industries to reduce the occurrence of accidents. For this process to be effective there are several elements that are integrated, and they include training, prestart up safety review, mechanical integrity, process hazardous analysis, emergency planning mechanism and the most important employee participation among other elements. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established in 1910 is an organization set to help regulate the release of energy sources and hazardous chemicals in industries by use of standard procedure set in place. Standard procedure comprises of the audit program, operational procedures as well as design guidance (Australian Global Maritime Distress and Safety 2004). These methods ensure that the desired outcome to minimize incidents is achieved in industries. The process safety management is broken down into different 14 elements which include: The elements listed above are interdependent to mean that one element contributes to the outcome of another. They provide information to others elements and in return receive information from other elements to complete the process. All elements

Bispecific antibodies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Bispecific antibodies - Research Paper Example In recent years, antibody therapy has become a new treatment modality for tumor patients, although the majority of responses are only partial and not long lasting. Based on evidence that effecter- cell-mediated mechanisms significantly contribute to antibody efficacy in vivo, several approaches are currently perused to improve the interaction between Fc receptor-expressing effecter cells and tumor target antigens. With this purpose the invention of monoclonal antibodies in vivo started. In the initial phase the results were not satisfactory and these antibodies in trial in vivo showed a only 20% clearance of the tumor cells but after letting it go through different formatting processes it went up to achieving 80% clearance. Bispecific antibodies have got 2 hinging sites which are specific for getting attached to immune recruiting cells and also to target antigens which are mostly transformed cells. "Bispecific antibodies (BsAb) can, by virtue of combining two binding specificities, i mprove the selectivity and efficacy of antibody-based treatment of human disease. Recent studies underline the importance of both the 'anti-trigger' and 'anti-target' modalities of BsAb for therapeutic efficacy". (Spriel, A.B., Ojik, H.H.V, & Winkel, J.G.J. 2000). There has always been an issue of side effects when it comes to cancer therapy and a lot of patients would not even go for therapies due the bad side effects. In the past few decades things have started improving an the standard mode of ontological therapies which were chemotherapy and radiation it is now switching more towards treatment of cancer with more of antibiotic and immunoglobulin. This has brought a lot of hope for future success in getting a strong hold of cancer with fewer emergences of side effects. Bispecific antibodies do not occur in nature and they need to be synthesized in vivo, through either recombinant DNA, or cell fusion technique. "Bispecific antibodies have been manufactured by fusing the DNA encodi ng a single chain antibody (ScFv) after the C terminus (CH3-ScFv) or after the hinge (Hinge-ScFv) with an antibody of a different specificity. The fusion protein is expressed by gene transfection in the context of a murine variable region. Transfectomas secrete a homogeneous population of the recombinant antibody with two different specificities, one at the N terminus (anti-dextran) and one at the C terminus (anti-dansyl). The CH3-ScFv antibody, which maintains the constant region of human lgG3, has some of the associated effectors functions such as long half-life and Fc receptor binding. The Hinge-ScFv antibody which lacks the CH2 and CH3 domains has no known effectors functions". (Coloma, M.J. &'Morrison, S.L. 1997). Production of Bispecific antibodies has been a challenging task but has still been encouraged because of the advantages it has towards treating cancer with less side effects. There are still some disadvantaged of cost and failure rate, and future challenges and tasks are also to be taken in consideration. We will have an overview of the rational of producing Bispecific antibo

Short Exegesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Short Exegesis - Essay Example His idea that followed is contrary to what he mentioned that was popularly known and accepted- not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but that if an evildoer strikes someone on the right cheek, he should turn the other. Jesus was not trying to make another commandment contrary to what was given in the Old Testament, but as he claimed in Matthew 5:17, he came to fulfill the law. Jeremiah confirms Jesus’ words in Lamentations 3:30 saying, â€Å"Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him.† The concept Jesus was offering was not new however, it was lesser known than the justifiable concept of retaliation mentioned earlier. Jesus was advocating non-violent reactions in contrast to the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth reaction. Moreover, he encourages people to give their cloaks as well when someone sues them and tries to take their coat. The coat is the inner garment used by the Israelites while the cloak is an outer garment (Attridge, 1677) which they also use for sleeping. Exodus 22:26-27 and Deuteronomy 24:12-13 shows that a cloak used as a pledge by borrowers should be returned before the sun sets because it is essential for him during the night. Furthermore, Jesus advises to go an extra mile if one is forced to go one mile. Those who are in position oftentimes asked too much from their subordinates and rebellion could be an easy reaction for most but, Jesus recommended doing more than what is asked, instead. Similarly, Jesus counseled giving to everyone who begs and not to deny borrowers. Beggars seemed common during the time of Jesus and these were usually the sick and incapacitated like the beggar at the gate called Beautiful (Acts 3:1-10) or the widows and orphans. Jesus told the people to do what he was about to exemplify during his crucifixion. As he told them to turn the other cheek to those

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Week 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 4 - Assignment Example 7), are increasingly becoming aware of code of ethics, ethical practices and their relation to the community as a whole that it works in. This piece of research work presents a brief explanation of moral and ethical issues faced by managers in relation to the termination of employees from their jobs. This paper outlines the relation between ethical managerial practices and social issues related to termination with case analysis ethical dilemma that an organization and management faced due to termination. When a person’s job is involuntarily terminated for any reason, the loss of job causes significant distress, regret, bitterness and financial loss as well. All employees are rightful not to be unfairly or unjustifiably dismissed from his job (Davenpor, Crotty and Torres, 2000, p. 7). When an employee is terminated from his job for no apparent reason, or for a reason which cannot be justified, it is more likely to cause ethical and moral issues. A manager’s most important duty and responsibility is that he should bring good people to the organization in such a way that those good people will stay long and satisfy with their jobs (Trevino and Nelson, 2007, p. 155). The social set up and legal systems, though it can be different from country to country, have specific views regarding what is right and what is wrong both morally and ethically. For instance, Kleinig and Smith (2001) described that the United States and many other countries are founded on a strong belief in and commitment to the individual rights and their freedom and therefore these rights are moral acclaims as well as forces of law (p. 205). As there are specific views regarding ethical and moral practices, it is more likely that an employer’s act of terminating an employee can cause moral and ethical dilemma if employer’s act cannot be justified according to the general social and legal perspectives. Workers are right to be treated fairly in the

Management Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Management Research Paper - Essay Example Organizations are found to be successful even with large scale change initiatives and have also failed to undertake even small changes. It is the complexity of the change process which results in failures in managing the change initiatives (Yaeger, â€Å"The Complexities of Large-Scale Change†). Successful change organisations have realized the importance of inter-relationship between components and how changes in one component can impact on another. Strong rigor and methodology is identified as the prerequisite for a process which leads to well aligned decisions and possesses the required flexibility to meet the changing market needs (Yaeger, â€Å"The Complexities of Large-Scale Change†). The last decade has demonstrated an increasing flow in the extent of research on organizational change. This essay is a search for the general commonalities and differences on change management efforts in different organizations focusing on the extent of failure of such attempts and the reasons for the same. Apart from concentrating on the different sets of changes such as barriers and common mistakes while implementing certain types of changes, the main interest of the essay is focusing on the inhibitors and enablers of change, drivers of decisions for undertaking large scale change management programs and evaluation of the same. The study aims to find a link between the enablers and inhibitors causing the success or failures of change initiatives in organizations (CEP, â€Å"Why Change Fails or Succeeds†). The study provides a crucial literature on the subject highlighting on the arguments and views presented by researchers and authors. The analysis is done in the light of various organizational behavioural theories and their applications in real life organizational settings. Rate of failure of change in organizations As mentioned, given the numerous criteria for successful changes in organizations, all changes are not found to be successful. The rate of failure of change programs can be very high. According to Maurer (1997), technological changes demonstrate a failure rate of 20%, while 29% of all mergers and acquisitions fail. 30% of the attempts of business process re-engineering are found to fail while 50% of the initiatives to improve quality end in failures (Cook, Macaulay & Coldicott, â€Å"The rate of failure of change†). Kotter has identified some of the pitfalls in change management, such as lack of compelling reasons or issues for the change, unclear objectives or goals for the change, inadequate planning, unrealistic time scales, inadequate participation etc. Too much allowance for complacency, lack of short term whims, insufficient guidelines or instructions for the change have been identified as some of the other pitfalls in the management of changes in organizations (Cook, Macaulay & Coldicott, â€Å"The rate of failure of change†). Critical analysis of why some change programs are more effective than others Previous research reveals that much of the change initiatives

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Short Exegesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Short Exegesis - Essay Example His idea that followed is contrary to what he mentioned that was popularly known and accepted- not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but that if an evildoer strikes someone on the right cheek, he should turn the other. Jesus was not trying to make another commandment contrary to what was given in the Old Testament, but as he claimed in Matthew 5:17, he came to fulfill the law. Jeremiah confirms Jesus’ words in Lamentations 3:30 saying, â€Å"Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him.† The concept Jesus was offering was not new however, it was lesser known than the justifiable concept of retaliation mentioned earlier. Jesus was advocating non-violent reactions in contrast to the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth reaction. Moreover, he encourages people to give their cloaks as well when someone sues them and tries to take their coat. The coat is the inner garment used by the Israelites while the cloak is an outer garment (Attridge, 1677) which they also use for sleeping. Exodus 22:26-27 and Deuteronomy 24:12-13 shows that a cloak used as a pledge by borrowers should be returned before the sun sets because it is essential for him during the night. Furthermore, Jesus advises to go an extra mile if one is forced to go one mile. Those who are in position oftentimes asked too much from their subordinates and rebellion could be an easy reaction for most but, Jesus recommended doing more than what is asked, instead. Similarly, Jesus counseled giving to everyone who begs and not to deny borrowers. Beggars seemed common during the time of Jesus and these were usually the sick and incapacitated like the beggar at the gate called Beautiful (Acts 3:1-10) or the widows and orphans. Jesus told the people to do what he was about to exemplify during his crucifixion. As he told them to turn the other cheek to those

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Management Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Management Research Paper - Essay Example Organizations are found to be successful even with large scale change initiatives and have also failed to undertake even small changes. It is the complexity of the change process which results in failures in managing the change initiatives (Yaeger, â€Å"The Complexities of Large-Scale Change†). Successful change organisations have realized the importance of inter-relationship between components and how changes in one component can impact on another. Strong rigor and methodology is identified as the prerequisite for a process which leads to well aligned decisions and possesses the required flexibility to meet the changing market needs (Yaeger, â€Å"The Complexities of Large-Scale Change†). The last decade has demonstrated an increasing flow in the extent of research on organizational change. This essay is a search for the general commonalities and differences on change management efforts in different organizations focusing on the extent of failure of such attempts and the reasons for the same. Apart from concentrating on the different sets of changes such as barriers and common mistakes while implementing certain types of changes, the main interest of the essay is focusing on the inhibitors and enablers of change, drivers of decisions for undertaking large scale change management programs and evaluation of the same. The study aims to find a link between the enablers and inhibitors causing the success or failures of change initiatives in organizations (CEP, â€Å"Why Change Fails or Succeeds†). The study provides a crucial literature on the subject highlighting on the arguments and views presented by researchers and authors. The analysis is done in the light of various organizational behavioural theories and their applications in real life organizational settings. Rate of failure of change in organizations As mentioned, given the numerous criteria for successful changes in organizations, all changes are not found to be successful. The rate of failure of change programs can be very high. According to Maurer (1997), technological changes demonstrate a failure rate of 20%, while 29% of all mergers and acquisitions fail. 30% of the attempts of business process re-engineering are found to fail while 50% of the initiatives to improve quality end in failures (Cook, Macaulay & Coldicott, â€Å"The rate of failure of change†). Kotter has identified some of the pitfalls in change management, such as lack of compelling reasons or issues for the change, unclear objectives or goals for the change, inadequate planning, unrealistic time scales, inadequate participation etc. Too much allowance for complacency, lack of short term whims, insufficient guidelines or instructions for the change have been identified as some of the other pitfalls in the management of changes in organizations (Cook, Macaulay & Coldicott, â€Å"The rate of failure of change†). Critical analysis of why some change programs are more effective than others Previous research reveals that much of the change initiatives