A key issue that was faced by the New Testament Church Essay

Examine a key issue that was faced by the New Testament Church (Prostitution). Could these arguments used in the first century be used by the Church of today for this problem? Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts solely for the purpose of material gain. Persons prostitute themselves when they grant favours to others in exchange for money, gifts or other payments and in so doing; use their bodies as commodities. In legal terms, the word prostitute refers only to those who engage overtly in such sexual-economic transactions, usually for a specific sum of money. Prostitutes may be of either sex, but throughout history, the majority have been women, reflecting both the traditional socio-economic dependence of women and the tendency to exploit female sexuality. Although prostitution has often been characterised as the â€Å"worlds oldest profession,† the concept of women as property, which prevailed in most centuries until the end of the nineteenth century, meant that the profits of the profession most often ended up in the hands of the men who controlled it. Men have traditionally been characterised as procurers and customers, but during the latter half of the twentieth century, they are increasingly being identified as prostitutes themselves, who generally serve male customers and sometimes impersonate women. The Torah (Law) had little to say on the subject of secular prostitution. It prohibited parents from dedicating their children as sacred prostitutes, but there is nothing to tell us whether its authors would have objected equally to the ideas of a master making his slave-woman a secular prostitute or even a father doing so with his daughter. There are two references to secular prostitution in the Old Testament, which offer any details as to how it was regarded. In both cases, an unmarried women is understood to have chosen this course of action on her own and thereby brought disgrace on her father. In one passage, a priests daughter â€Å"who plays the harlot† is condemned to be burned for having â€Å"profaned† her father (Leviticus 21:9). One may think that she is part of her father’s household, either as not yet married or as a divorced or widowed woman. Her activity threatens the state of purity vital to the household, since its food comes largely from the altar of the temple. In Deuteronomy (22:13-21) a man charges that his wife was not found to be a virgin on her wedding night. If this were true, she would be stoned for having â€Å"played the harlot in her father’s house.† In other words, she has engaged in sexual intercourse when she ought to have been guarding her virginity carefully in order to be a suitable bride. In the process, she has exposed her father to shame of having misrepresented her state in negotiating her marriage. It is not clear from the passage that she actually receives payment for her services; the point seems to be, rather, that she has deprived her father and her prospective husband of their rights in her. What was wrong with prostitution, from the perspective of ancient Israel, was not so much the giving or receiving of payment for sexual intercourse as it was the removal of sexual intercourse from the framework of property and hierarchy which normally contained it and ensured that it was placed at the service of the family. Such an interpretation is made explicit in a more extensive critique of prostitution found in Proverbs. After warning the reader against the wiles of the loose woman, the author contrasts the positive ideal of possessing a wife with a negative prospect of wasting one’s resources on a courtesan (Proverbs 5:15-23). Having said that, one cannot treat wisdom literature as if it were the same genre as legislation. It is clear that Proverbs agrees with the Torah in understanding prostitution, as violation to Gods will, not merely as something to be avoided for prudential reasons. Still, the justification offered for the prohibition is intrusive as to the ethical framework in which the prohibition itself belonged. Prostitution was wrong because it stood outside the normal patriarchal system in which the male head of the household owned one or more women as sexual partners. As such, it threatened the interests of the family. The man might feel that he had received full value for his expense, but the family gained nothing at all from his patronising of the prostitute. His action, therefore was a betrayal of his responsibilities, since he existed not to gratify his own desires but to maintain and enhance the fortunes of his â€Å"father’s house.† What the Torah and Proverbs agree upon then is the condemnation of those who place personal gratification ahead of family duty. The Torah condemns the unmarried woman who prefers sexual pleasure above her obligations as a good daughter of the household who must preserve her marriageability, which is, indeed the family’s investment in her. Proverbs condemns the man who spends family resources on private pleasure. He should marry a woman and be content with the sexual pleasure he receives from her. Proverbs was concerned to make the prostitute sound as unscrupulous and unattractive as possible. The Torah was speaking to the woman who was trying to behave as an unattached individual in pursuit of pleasure while still remaining under the protection of her father. According to the Torah, prostitution, though a slightly less serious crime than adultery, was wrong insofar as it represented the triumph of individual gratification over against the principle of subordination to the fami ly. The matter of prostitution receives very little attention from the Gospel writers, but it appears in a significant pronouncement of Jesus. The tax collectors and the prostitutes, he said, were entering the Kingdom of God ahead of respectable religious leaders (chief priests and elders) because they believed the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt 21:23-32). Since John preached repentance (Matt 3:2) one may suspect that prostitutes ceased to be such when they came to believe the message. It proves difficult, however, to be certain. The tax collectors presumably did not cease to be tax collectors (In Luke 19:1-10, the tax collector Zacchaeus, upon his conversion, gave half of his property to the poor and made amends to those he has defrauded). A prostitute would have found it singularly difficult to emerge from her low place in the community. We know little about them in Jewish times. In the contemporary Gentile world, however, most of them were slaves, who could not legally abandon their status. Even free prostitutes, if poor, would have had only the most limited of options, since they would not have been acceptable as wives. Our own presuppositions, then, may perhaps dictate whether we think of these women as giving up prostitution or not. Luke 7:36-50 sees Jesus anointed by a public sinner. While she is not labelled as a prostitute, it is one conclusion that could be possibly said about her. Jesus accepts her intentions, contrasts them favourably with those of her host, the Pharisee, and finally says, â€Å"Her sins, many as they are, are forgiven because she has loved much† (7:47). This does not tell us what Jesus preferred prostitutes to do, but it does suggest that he did not make grace conditional on prostitutes escaping her place in society. The most significant thing is that Jesus held them up to the religious leadership as a model of repentance for them to follow, thus implying that the respectable are not unlike the prostitutes in respect to sin. Since Jesus held them up as a religious example, we may guess that although he took prostitution to be ethically wrong, he followed the example of Proverbs in appointing blame to the man who visited the prostitute more than to the prostitute herself. Paul has little to say about sexual ethics in his main doctrinal statement, the Epistle to the Romans, except the forceful identification of sexual immorality with humanities alienation from God (Romans 1:24-27). However, in his letters to the other churches he is forced to address the topic because of the behaviour of certain individuals in those churches, particularly at Corinth. The Christians at Corinth produced highly divergent interpretations of what the Gospel demanded in the way of sexual ethics, ranging from libertinism to a complete rejection of both marriage and sexual intercourse. It is probable that the libertine party at Corinth had adopted slogans such as â€Å"All things are permitted† and â€Å"Food is for the belly and the belly for food† (implying that sexual intercourse is as uncomplicated an expression of natural desire as eating is). Paul argues that the body of a Christian belongs to Christ. Therefore, all sexual expression, then, must take Christ’s ownership into account. Sex with a prostitute might seem to establish no relationship at all beyond the brief one required for the sanctification of desire. Paul claims that every sexual act between man and woman established a union of flesh, like that of marriage. In other words, the prostitute and the man, who has used her, actually belong to each other for the duration of their sexual intercourse, though not beyond. In Paul’s own terminology, the relationship thus established is â€Å"one body;† but in the terminology of Genesis, it is a relationship of â€Å"one flesh.† Paul insisted that the man who had intercourse with the prostitute was not unchanged by that act. However, it was destructive of one’s spirit; the relation to Christ and to God: â€Å"Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the man who uses harlots is sinning against his own body.† (1 Corinthians 18-20) It is evident that where Proverbs discourages a man from using prostitutes because he belonged to his family, Paul discouraged it because he belonged to God. The body, the person as a whole, is the spirit’s temple, into which other forms of worship must not be introduced. â€Å"One might well ask, then, whether the implication of this line of reasoning is not, finally, to forbid sexual intercourse altogether.†1 From whichever interpretation or opinion one adopts, as a Christian, or more to the point, as human beings, it should be understood that the use of prostitutes or the actual act of prostitution is both morally and ethically wrong. It is a sin against God, in that it undervalues the gift of love, through intercourse, given to us by God, and moreover, it shows a lack of respect for the body and minds of others. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cave, S ‘The Christian Way,’ Nisbet and Company Limited, 1963 Countryman, L.W ‘Dirt, Greed and Sex,’ Fortress Press, 1988 Hays, R.B ‘The Moral Vision of the New Testament,’ Harper Collins Publishers, 1996 Manson, T.W ‘Ethics and the Gospel,’ SCM Press Limited, 1960 1 Countryman, L ‘Dirt, Greed and Sex’ p205

Colony Textile Mills Essay

History Colony Group is one of the leading and oldest Textile Manufacturing group in Pakistan. The 1st industrial venture of the group was in cotton ginning sector back in 1881. Gradually the group diversified in to flour milling in the early 1900s. First textile spinning plant was put up in 1946 under the name of Colony Textile Mills Limited. The Group further ventured in to Banking, Insurance, Cement, and Power Generation & Distribution. By 1952 Colony Textile Mills Limited was a composite textile plant with a 120,000 spindles, 1,500 looms, and fabric finishing capacity in excess of 150,000 meters per day. Nationalization of 1972 took most of the business away, leaving Textile and Insurance in the Group. Presently, there are two companies in the group, namely, Colony Textile Mills Limited (CTM) with about 195,000 Spindles, and Colony Industries (Pvt. ) Limited (CIL), consisting of 35,000 Spindles and 418 Air Jet Looms. Width | Looms| | 190cm| 180| 176 Cam +12 Dobby + 12 Crank (20 Looms with Batchers)|210cm| 24| 24 Cam Looms (4 Looms with Batchers)| 280cm| 26| 20 Cam + 6 Dobby| 340cm| 188| 174 Cam + 14 Dobby| Competitive Dimensions CIL is a very strong and only group that has 418 Looms in same place. This helps in fulfilment of large orders at high speed. If the looms are installed at different locations large orders cannot be processed because of factors like communication barrier and increased cost of transportation etc. Another unique thing CIL has is the Automatic Drawing in machine. When order of new quality is received it needs to be designed for the loom to work on. If manually this process is done the time required to feed the new design in the loom would be around 16 hours. The time CIL takes to do the same task is just 2 hours with better efficiency. This automated machine is only available at CIL and increases order fulfilment speed. The power requirement for the setup of 418 looms, compressor fleets and other support functions is 8MW. The cost of power i. e. electricity is reduced to a greater extent by manufacturing through its own power generation system which produces 10MW through Natural gas. Moreover for an uninterrupted supply of electricity CIL has its own grid station. Similarly CIL’s own compressors fleet decreases the cost of raw material i. e. compressed air which prevents the machinery from heating up and maintain humidity and temperatures. Capacity Capacity or the production of looms greatly depends upon the quality of fabric. If fabric is of high quality production will be less. The reason behind this is high quality fabric uses fine threads. Production also depends upon the number of threads used in manufacturing. 6 million meters per month approx production has been recorded by CIL. Initially there were 120 looms at CIL. Capacity addition was done in March 2005 and 154 looms were added. Capacity addition for the 2nd time was done at the end of 3rd quarter by adding 144 looms making production capacity of 6. 0 million meters fabric per month. Core Services and Value Added Services The core service of CIL is grey fabric manufacturing. They don’t provide internal information of accounts, operations etc. to external people. However they provide samples to their clients which are sales support. Field support is also not easy in this weaving business but they do rectify the error within the specified time. Fail Safing techniques Automated motion sensors Automated motion sensors stop the process of creeling, sizing and weaving whenever a thread breaks down or any error appears in the process. This prevents errors from increasing. Online Inspection System Online Inspection system is a manual system by which errors can be checked by mills manager. The data is fed to the system by operators and is evaluated by mills manager for removal of errors. During Production Checks Technicians and operators are responsible for checking and removing the errors during production. After Production Checks Inspection and folding department rectifies error if it still exists before packing. After packing the order is randomly checked so that client gets error free order. Process Selection The type of processes they are using at the most basic level is Fabrication rocess that means Colony Industry converts their raw material i. e. raw yarn to grey fabric. Grey fabric is the form of fabric before printing or dying. This process of fabrication is termed as Weaving in the terminology of Textile business. Yarn flow is organized in the factory by process technology known as batch shop. Yarn is retrieved from yarn procurement department as the order is receive d for the production of grey fabric and then it is processed in the form of batches or order. Mill consists of 3 Units each having 2 Sheds which are control units. Hierarchy of authority is in Appendix. Each Unit is headed by Mills manger and so on. Production in charge are responsible for 60, senior technicians for 16 and Operators for 4-6 looms. Warping Creeling Quality Check Yarn High Spinning Mill Low Sizing Head Stock Warper Beams Drawing In Sizing Roll Inspection Bales Packaging Weaving Approve Pallets Disapprove Storage Treatable Treat Yes No Waste No Flow Chart Marketing department receives order and transfer production order to the mill. Mill staff plans the order and tells yarn procurement department for yarn purchase. This department purchases yarn from colony’s spinning mill and other spinning mills. The yarn is not stored at the mill but it is received from the source when needed. Once yarn is received by the mill it is sent to quality check department for inspection where yarn is weighed and tested for hair and tension. If the yarn is not approved, it is sent back to the source otherwise it is transferred to the next department. This yarn is in the form of spindles which is loaded on creeling machine manually. Then the process of warping starts in which these spindles are unrolled and rolled on the warping beams which are then transferred for sizing. In the process of sizing, starch and polyvinyl along with some other chemicals and water are cooked and applied to the yarn. This process makes yarn able to go through the next steps by increasing its strength and elasticity. After drying the yarn, ends are separated in a manner that they do not stick to each other. This dried yarn is rolled on temporary storage which has the size according to the width of the cloth known as sizing head stock. After the process of drawing in as explained previously, it is injected to the loom for the process of weaving. The temperature is controlled by a special system of compressor fleet. Once weaving is done, inspection of each inch of cloth is done for quality assurance where decision is made regarding acceptance, rejection and mending of cloth. After approval, it is sent for packing as mentioned in production order and if fabric is not approved, it is mended otherwise it is sent to the waste. Back Process: In Warping, the whole set-up is of Ben-Direct Benninger V 1080/2400. Colony Ind. has 6 Warping machines with the Creel Capacity of 1080 each. Each machine is with the electronic sensors for the tracing of broken ends. In Sizing, Colony has the Ben-Sizetech Zell KVE, Creel 32 WW/4000 machines. Colony has 4 Sizing machines, 3 with the Head Stock size of 4 meters. Total Creel Capacity ranges from 16 (1 m/c) to 28 (1 m/c) till 32 (2 m/c’s). The Sizing machine is with pre-wet technology with double dip sow-box. Colony has an additional facility of Beam Stacker which is not found anywhere else in Pakistan. Colony is equipped with 2 Beam Stacker from Formia Nova of Italy with total of 65 bars holding the capacity of 195 no of beams for Narrow & 130 no of beams for Wider. DRAWING-IN Colony has the state of the art 2 Automatic Drawing-In machine which is found rare in Pakistan. One machine is from Staubli (Delta 110-4) which has the capacity of 150,000 ends/day filling with the speed of 140 threads/min. The 2nd machine is from EL&M S. P. A (Super Vega) which has the 80 threads/min filling speed. Weaving Colony has the total production of 6. 00 million meters fabric/month with 418 looms all of Toyota JAT 710 in production. In the 190 cm section (Narrow looms), they have 180 looms, 24 with the batching motions. Folding machines has the total capacity of 25k/shift/machine. Rolling machine is with the production of 10000 meters fabric/shift/machine Quality Inspection/folding is the process for quality checks. In this process each inch of fabric is inspected. The quality of fabric depends upon the discretion of client and is checked according to the efficiency of loom stated in Production Order. Price also increases with the fineness of the fabric. During the process if any defect is found than it is decided according to the nature of the defect whether to allow it or treat the fabric. Then fabric is categorized into three grades A, B and C. A is finest category and is considered to be of export quality, while B and C are of lower quality. They follow 4 point system which allows maximum of 4 errors and is world wide accepted. Colony has fully equipped Quality Lab with all kind of testing equipments including the Uster Tester 4 for yarn checking. Quality Lab make sure that there is no compromise in the quality of the yarn used & the fabric produced. The whole set-up has the check points from Quality Department from Back Process to Article, from Inspection to packing, thus resulting in the production of 1st class A-Grade fabric as committed. Colony has the Wrapping Reel from Mesdan Italy with the Model # S-389 A used for the making of lea. It follows the ASTM standard ofD-1907-01. Auto Sorter is from Uster Switzerland with the Model PR 503 DR. Most Important machine in the Lab of colony is Uster UT -4 with the Model SE 400101-02100. Make of UT-4 is from Uster Switzerland for the checking of IPI’s in the yarn. For the checking of Hairiness in the yarn, colony has the Hairiness Tester from Zweigle Germany with the Model G-567. To check the Tear Strength of the fabric, colony has the Tear Strength Tester from Zweigle Germany with the model FX-3750. Their primary focus is quality because CIL is export based company. If quality is not up to the mark clients move to Bangladesh and China because they provide cheap products with low quality. Pakistani fabric is famous for its high quality and perfection. Recommendations: 1. Sales of local sector are dependent on few companies. The proportion of sales should be changed so that colony’s risk is minimized. This will also help in improving performance as it will result in sale increase. 2. Sale per order should be considered and goal should be â€Å"the more worth of order, higher should be the frequency of order. 3. Monitoring systems that allows online communication and control of looms should be installed to manage the system more accurately. 4. Employees should be decreased by bringing in automated creeling machine which reduces the time by automatically removing the spindles once the thread is removed from them. 5. Operations focus should be on wide looms as they have said that these wide looms have generated greater inflows. 6. Capacity addition should be kept in view as it has been around 3 years now before the last addition was made. 7. Training of employees by sending them to technical institutes abroad should be done as fail safing technique to reduce the chance of defect in the fabric. 8. Colony has fewer inflows in exports and greater in local therefore sales efforts should be engaged to increase local orders and increase inflows from exports. 9. Colony should use ingredient branding like they can market their cloth by informing clients about the brand of Looms Company have installed. 10. Operations policy should be made and reviewed continuously. Every employee should be involved in designing the policy. Appendix

Banking in the Present Day

When going to banks or other financial institutions, people often make deposits, withdrawals, and deals. In fact, behind it there is a very complex and interesting process. Some people think that everything is done on paper and is mailed from one place to another. This is no longer applicable. Most banking operations are currently taking place electronically. Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions currently utilize technological advances to store and process customer data, which affects customer service, data security, transactions and the way financial institutions operate . I will deposit the bank. This group includes the largest bank of the day, the so-called savings account (mainly receiving deposits and providing credit). They are the foundation of the UK banking system. They are often called retail banks. Banks in at least two countries of the Union Bank have capital of the Consortium Bank and no one has a controlling interest. With the expansion of the euro mark et, these banks will develop rapidly. They are mainly represented by specialized banks of multinational and multinational industry issues. From the date of introduction, the banking business in India has developed rapidly. Originally founded in 1770 the bank of the 18th century failed to maintain its stability, leading to the liquidation of the bank. The first bank established was still one of the famous banks, it was the National Bank of India since its inception in 1806. The Indian banking industry has not been stable for decades after its establishment, but it is still one of India's major sectors in terms of consumption and profitability. Rapid development, the dynamic evolution of Indian banking industry can be divided into three stages as follows.

Parent Involvement in schools Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parent Involvement in schools - Research Paper Example It is because of this that children whose parent participates actively in their children’s education have a high level of academic achievement due to this motivation (Hornby and Lafaele, 2011). In addition, parental involvement should be encouraged due to its impact on the working relationships found in schools, especially between and amongst different school parties. With this in mind, parents get an opportunity to improve the socialization skills of their children with their teachers and other members of staff, as well as amongst themselves, which is crucial for academic networking. Parental involvement therefore should be active as it also boosts the morale of teachers in imparting education on children, as teachers perceive the interest of parents as motivation to have their children moulded into responsible citizens and members of society, where the teacher is the key. School responsibilities in ensuring parental participation lies in different factors that entail both the school’s interests and those of the parent, as well as those of the child (Sitton, n.d). It is because of this that the school has the largest responsibility in ensuring that parental cooperation and involvement in a child’s education in that schools spend large amounts of time with children. Putting this into perspective means that schools should put in more effort in drawing the parents to the school to understand that which their children go through in learning. In addition to this, teachers in in spending more time with children should know the interest of the children, which is information to be shared with parents for the best interests of children. This makes the school the guardian of the children, where it is up to the school to come with strategies to meet the parent and create forums in which to foster a healthy relationship between

Individual portfolio on global enterprise Essay

Individual portfolio on global enterprise - Essay Example This progressive change provided the impetus for the formation of a global economy. To augment these efforts from the national governments, a side by side evolution in internet technology also facilitated the formation of a globalized world. This new internet technology enabled previously nation companies to expand their operations to new undiscovered markets. Thereby bring the concept of global demand into the business arena. Previously national companies started becoming global companies catering to the global demand of consumers. This led to the erosion of national sovereignty because in this situation national governments had little say in the countries trade and foreign policies. It was these global institutes which started to make or take extra interest in the countries economic, foreign and trade policies. Those countries who tried to resist the dominance of these global institutions, found themselves isolated from the international world. The most profound impact of this was on the exports of the country, which were not allowed to enter foreign land. This in turn had a drastic impact on the revenues of the country which heavily depend upon exports earnings. Having faced these problems, countries started to open their borders for international trade, liberalized their foreign and economic policies and started to avoid posturing. Literature Review: Introduction: Globalization is that phenomenon which has shifted individual economies towards a more integrated, independent and evolving world economy (Bhagwati, 2004),. Over the past several decades, the individual economies of the world have become increasingly linked together through an expansion in international trade services along with primary and manufactured goods, through portfolio investments directed towards international loans and purchases of stocks, and through foreign direct investment which is the medium used by multinational companies to make investment in foreign land (Stark, and Bloom, 1985) . During this period private capital has reduced the flow of foreign aid in the developing world. These linkages have a profound impact on the developing countries. Due to these linkages developing countries are importing and exporting more from each other. These countries have also started to import from and export to developed countries. Investment is being poured into these economies from the developed countries (Clayton, 2004). The term globalization is most frequently used when discussions about development, trade and international political economy is underway. As can be inferred from the word that globalization is a process by which economies of the world become more and more integrated. This economic integration in turn leads to global economic policy making, which is the domain area of global institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Global Culture: Globalization has also given rise to a global culture. This culture is characterized by people consuming goods and services which are similar across countries. English has become an internationally acclaimed language for business. These changes promote economic integration and fuel its continuous evolution (IMF Team., 2000). However, in its economic sense globalization refers to increased openness of

Organizational Behavior Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Behavior - Case Study Example Secondly Turner found that the activities of the concern lacked due organizing elements which made the organization suffer from financial and strategic crisis. Thirdly the President felt reluctant to enhance the communication activities amongst the people working in the management groups thereby restricting teamwork and sharing of resources. Fourthly owing to lack of proper communication the President failed to learn the right potential of his managerial team which thereby rendered in reducing motivation and productivity. Fifthly, Cardullo reflected a sense of adamant and destructive attitude in his dealings with subordinate team members. In addition to being rough with people, Cardullo declined to understand the potential of the advices and suggestions rend from the subordinates thus reflecting a total disregard to such. Sixthly, Cardullo owing to his shortsightedness declined to understand the advantages that the firm would receive in incorporating the new strategies produced by Tu rner but continued focusing only on the outcomes-dropping margins and financial health. Thus the President of Modern Lighting Incorporation reflected a continuing sense of being reluctant to the problems and issues faced in by the people both at the managerial and subordinate level. The President hooked on to his own ideas only and disregarded any form of communication in regards to formulating strategic decisions in regards to gaining on in margins and markets. Ineffective organization and decision making activities coupled with lack of communication and teamwork worked to enhance the failure of the corporation in regards to falling margins. Behaviors and Activities of Individuals Illustrating an Impact on the Issues An effective leader requires effective communication with the people employed in the different levels of the concern pertaining to managerial and subordinating ranks to gain potential feedbacks and suggestions. Such level of interaction would help the manager gain pote ntial information to formulate strategic decisions (Singla, 2010, p.453-454). In regards to the case Pat Cardullo is found to avoid having any form of potential communication with managerial members like Jamie Turner and other subordinate members like Tim Kelly and Ernie Dennis. Lack of proper communication thereby tends to create a rift between the people employed in different levels thereby jeopardizing productivity and motivation. Further Pat Cardullo focused on independent working rather than working based on rationalistic argumentation between people working in parallel positions or between managers and subordinates. Working based on rationalistic arguments tends to increase productivity rather than working in an independent fashion (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2008, p.359). Again Pat Cardullo is found to work on setting a managerial objective of gaining on in margins without rendering possible insights to his team about the process in accomplishing such. He is also observed to be in flexible to the ideas rendered in by subordinates and managerial team to gain on margins and dependable on short run objectives (Koontz and Weihrich, 2006, p.93). Finally Pat Cardullo is observed to promote groupism in the company through using Julie Chin in gaining information about activities of Janie Turner. The extent of groupism tends to create distortion in organizational relationships

Functions of Management at Ska-Arabia Oil Company Essay

Functions of Management at Ska-Arabia Oil Company - Essay Example Planning Planning is the first function of management that has been fundamental to the success of SKA-ARABIA. Cole (2003) observes that all the aspects of management depend on planning to a large extent. It involves conducting an analysis of the present situation of an organization, as well as its future. After this analysis, the managers set the strategies for accomplishment of the organizational goals that are based on where the management would like the organization to be in future. Planning is a continuous process through out the company’s life especially due to the fact that changes may be necessary so that an organization can cope with the dynamics of the operating environment. In other words, planning helps Basrah managers to strategize and to develop solutions to emerging issues. It has been significant to the managers in dealing with challenges facing the business as well as the utilization of opportunities for the success of the organization. I am involved in the pla nning process through provision of fuel consumption forecast to the management to maintain proper level quantities of fuel at SKA-ARABIA. I am also involved in scheduling any preventative maintenance beyond our responsibilities within the Fuels Department and forwarding to the Maintenance Department of the company. I assisted in planning the establishment and administration of a bulk fuel storage site with 660cbm in Jet A-1 and 26k in JP-8 Aviation fuel in line with stockage objectives. Bradford (2000 p 58) observes that strategic planning is the practice whereby an organization changes its course of action to accomplish upcoming objectives. The managers in SKA-ARABIAÂ  are in charge of constantly evaluating the operating environment and the internal factors that affect business through strategic planning to ensure that the organizational goals are accomplished. This involves conducting a SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis to ensure that the business rem ains on track. The analysis is conducted quarterly and recommendations implemented immediately. This flexibility in planning has maintained profitability and constant growth since the company’s inception. Organizing Organizing is the second function in which the managers prepare for implementation of the plan. This is accomplished through evaluating and allocating the available resources to facilitate the accomplishment of organizational goals. Shen (2005) observes that without proper organization, a company may face the problem of insufficiency of resources in some departments while others may be operating with a surplus of resources. Such a situation may hamper the realization of organizational goals. Resources are significant for accomplishment of organizational goals. The organization requires diverse resources to maintain competitiveness in the market. The management of SKA-ARABIAÂ  Oil Company ensures consistency in regard to the availability of resources to avoid shor tages of inputs. These resources include assets such as premises, employees, equipment and finances among other resources that facilitate production and the organization’s competitive advantage. Through organization, managers in the company are able to establish working teams and assign tasks to the workers. Departments are assigned roles and the organizational hierarchy is distinct in the organization. I am in charge of liaison with the Ministry of Oil, local and international airports

Inflation in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Inflation in the United States - Essay Example Inflation in the United States Inflation affects the lives of all citizens in the US economy yet not everyone has the same purchasing power and income. It is therefore important for us to understand the causes of inflation, its effects and some actions taken by the government to regulate it. There has been a wide range of literature on the causes of inflation in history. There are different schools of thought on the causes of inflation. They are commonly divided into quantity theories of inflation and quality theories of inflation (Cate 96). The quantity theory of inflation is based on the quantity of money equation. On the other hand, the quality theory of is based on the sellers expectations to exchange currency at a later date. Presently, the quantity of the theory money theory is widely accepted as the inflation model in the long- run. This paper shall explore the causes of inflation based on three major theories, the Keynesian view, the rational expectations theory and the monetarist theory. The Keynesian vie w asserts that changes in money supply in the economy do not directly affect the prices of goods and services, inflation results from economic pressures that are manifested in the increases prices of goods and services. According to Robert J. Gordon’s triangle model, there are three main types of inflation: demand- pull inflation, monetary expansion and cost-push inflation. (Cate 141). Demand- pull inflation is the most common and it describes a situation where the demand of goods increases over and above the supply. Sellers increase the prices of goods, as they know that they have the liberty to do so. There are numerous circumstances resulting to demand pull inflation the most important being an expanding economy. This type of inflation could lead to economic growth as long as it is within the right limits. Since people expect increasing inflation rates, they make increasing purchases to avoid price increases in future. Cost-push inflation is caused by a drop in the aggrega te supply. This may have been as a result of an increase in the prices of inputs and natural disasters. Finally, built in inflation is caused by adaptive spirals that are relate to shifts in prices or wages. An important concept in this theory is the relationship between unemployment and inflation that is commonly referred to as the Phillips curve (Cate 141). This concept suggests that there is a tradeoff between the stability of prices and employment. This model was used to describe the status of the US economy in the 1960s however; it failed to explain the connection between economic stagnation and increasing inflation. It can be stated that the Philips curve explains the demand- pull aspect of the triangle model. The rational expectations theory states that economic actors act rationally to maximize their well being in future. They do not act solely depending on opportunity cots and pressures. This view states that future expectations and strategies play a key role in inflation ( Gillman 67). A key assumption in this theory is that economic actors will act to keep up with rising inflation rates. This means that the central bank must play a key role in ensuring that they regulate the insurance rates. The monetarist view is based on the fact that the major factor affecting deflation or inflation is the velocity of money. In other words, inflation is affected by how quick the supply of

Analysis of the Book Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Essay

Analysis of the Book Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya - Essay Example The essay "Analysis of the Book Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya" analyses the actions of the main character Antonio of the book "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya. In his search for identity, Antonio struggles to find his personal belief and value system. The paper investigates Antonio’s religious quest and discusses the juxtaposition of Catholicism, paganism, magic, mythology, and superstition in the novel. Antonio has a somewhat conflicting childhood, with his mother belonging to the Luna family who are mostly farmers and priests and who wants him to become a priest as well. Whereas his father belongs to the MÃ ¡rez clan, a family where roaming the earth and the freedom it gives are encouraged. Antonio is raised as a Catholic, which he adapts to so unquestioningly that at the small age of six he already decides to become a priest when he grows up. However, despite being Catholic, both his parents not only love but also reverse the curandera Ultima. Thus, she is someone w ho holds fast to the traditions of the people and is a healer, though not a witch, albeit she is accused of being so. Most of the people do not know how to react to her, as she has really good healing powers, almost to the point of people suspecting witchcraft. The first time doubts are raised in Antonio’s mind about his Catholic faith is when his friend tells him about the golden carp, a pagan god. The first thought that comes to his mind is if the God the Catholics pray to is the true God or not.

Constitutional Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Constitutional Law - Essay Example â€Å"†¦courts to grapple with justifications for rights and freedoms, taking a more philosophical approach to legal reasoning as they attempt to resolve conflicts between individual rights and competing societal and individual interests.†2 While the Human Rights Act 1998 did not officially implement a UK Bill of Rights it did indorse Convention Rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.3 By the time the Human Rights Act 1998 came into effect in October 2000 the UK judiciary had already become accustomed to the application of Convention Rights as a Member State to the European Community.4 However as Fenwick, Phillipson and Masterman observe: â€Å"†¦at the same time they were proud of their long-established common law and constitutional traditions, including deference to parliament and to the executive in judicial review cases, as manifested in the Wednesbury doctrine.†5 The Wednesbury doctrine is the approach adapted by the courts in respect of judicial review in Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v.Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223. In this case it was held that the applicant for judicial review is required to satisfy the court that no reasonable public official would have reached the conclusion that the official under review came to.6 Moreover, the court went on to state that it will not stand in an appellate position to overrule an official decision it will only stand as a judicial authority to determine whether or not the public official offended the law in its abuse of authority.7 While the judiciary maintains that the Wednesbury doctrine remains a guiding principle the courts have displayed a willingness to depart from this strict doctrine and to loosen the grip of judicial deference. This deference has never been more significant than it has in recent years with respect to legislative changes calculated to counter modern threats of terrorism.

Credit appraisel literature review Essay Example for Free

Credit appraisel literature review Essay This chapter is an elucidation of literature relating to the flow of credit from various organised and unorganised sources of housing and real estate finance. The aim of such a perusal is to have a birds eye view of the concurrent and corresponding issues and problems related to the present study. The first part deals with the flow of credit from organised institutions to various sectors like manufacturing industry, private corporate sector and various other industrial concerns. Studies on the institutional flow of credit in Kerala are also discussed. The unorganised sector consisting of indigenous financial agencies is enumerated in the next part. Understanding the operation of and the potential for housing finance is important, since in many developing countries housing policy is about establishing new and more innovative finance policies. 4. 1. 1 The banking system in India comprises of the Reserve Bank of India, Commercial banks and cooperative banks and credit societies. The commercial banks are the premier institutional structure of the 104 banking system. The principal function of these institutions is to satisfy simultaneously the portfolio preferences of the borrowers on one side and the lenders on the other. They mobilise resources from the savers in the form of deposits and extend credit facilities to borrowers in the form of loans, advances and securities. Loans and advances provided by these institutions can be categorised into short-term funds and long-term funds. The latter are advanced for purchase of plant and machinery while the former are provided for purchase of raw materials, stores, spare parts and the like. However following the traditional British banking practice, commercial banks provide more short term funds to the investors in industry and trade than long term loans. The pattern of credit disbursement has undergone substantial changes since 1950. 4. 1. 2 Commercial banks extended credit to commerce and trade to a larger extend than to manufacturing industry until 1958. Since the commencement of the second five Year Plan, which laid emphasis on rapid industrialisation, the pattern of credit flow took a new turn in favour of medium and large industry. As a result, the share of industry, in public and private sectors in total bank credit increased from 34. 8% to 67. 5% during the period 1954 to 1968. Since nationalisation of 14 major commercial banks in July 1969, the Government of India assigned new priorities to commercial banks with regard to the flow of credit to hitherto neglected sectors, called 105 priority sectors. The emphasis thus shifted from industry to the priority sectors. Further the supply of credit was controlled through statutory regulations and monetary regulations. On the other hand the demand for bank credit has also  undergone substantial increase. Factors such as, large growth in the number of industrial units, diversification of existing units, increase in industrial and agricultural production, increasing needs of short and long-term funds to maintain the increased levels of production, pushed up the demand for bank credit. 4. 1. 4 ~ u ~ t and ~ m b e ~ e o k aobserved that the use of funds from a r* banks by the private corporate sector had exceeded its inventory formation. Gupta, has argued that a small portion of such finance should have gone to meet fixed investment. Further, he found the growth rate of physical assets to be more directly and closely related to security issues than bank credit. Hence, he argued that the fast growing firms relied heavily on security issues than the use of bank credit. Arnbegeokar found that the rate of rise in bank credit exceeded that of inventory, sales and output. Further he observed 1 L . S . Gupta (1969). Changing Structure of Industrial Finance in India, The Impoct ojlnstitutional Finance, Clarendon Press: Oxford. 2 N. Ambegaokar (1969). Working Capital Requirement and Availability o f Bank Credit: Indian Processing and Manufacturing Industries, Reserve Bank of India Bulletin Vol XXIII. No:lO. 106 that its dependence on banks for working capital had increased, accompanied by a decline in reliance on other financial institutions. 4. 2 shetty3 assessed the dimensional changes in credit deployment during the first five years of nationalisation in relation to changes in output and prices. The rationale for his analysis was the fact that, in any accepted model of demand for money, one common variable is the gross national product or some other  variant of it in real terms. Consequently, he hypothesised that credit for any sector or industry over a period has to have some relationship with its performance in real terms, particularly output. He observed a declining trend in the credit extended by banks to industries since nationalisation, though it was higher than other sectors. On finding that the share of manufacturing sector in bank credit is higher than its share in Net Domestic Product (NDP) he concludes that increase in bank credit has occurred far in excess of increase in output during the years 1968169 to 1973174. In his other paper, shetty4 observed that the share of medium and large industry in total bank credit had declined due to priority S . L . Shetty (1976). Deployment of Commercial Bank and other lnstitutio~lalCredit: A note on Structure changes. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XI No: 11, M a y 8th . pp. 696-705. S L Shetty (1978). Performance of Con~mercial Banks since N a t ~ o n a l ~ s a t ~ofn Major Banks: Promises and Realty. Economic and Political o Weekly, Vol. XI1 No. 31, 32 34, August, pp. 1407-1451. sector lending. Another observation in line with his earlier finding was that growth in bank credit had always been disproportionate to growth of their physical output, especially in industries like cotton textiles. His observation particularly for the years 1975-76 and 1976-77 revealed: (a) Increase in average bank credit had been higher than the growth of NDP originating in registered manufacturing sector even at current prices (b) An appreciable increase in the rate of short-term bank credit to inventories; and (c) Relatively higher reliance on trade credit. In line with these observations, he suggested policies to scrutinise credit claims vigorously and relate credit to the genuine production requirements so that funds are not tied up with these large borrowers. 4. 2. 2 K. S. R. ~ a o carried out an econometric exercise on the determinants of demand for bank credit of some selected industries for the period between 1970-71 and 1984-85. He observed that output of these industries was the most important factor in determining its demand for bank credit whereas, interest rate of K S . R . Rao (1988). Demand for Commercial Bank Credit 1970-71 t o A Study Thiruvananthapuram 1984-85: of Selected Indian Industries. M. Phil Thesis, CDS 108 banks and relative rate of interest of other sources of borrowing played only a secondary role. Price of output was also found to have affected the demand for credit significantly. The relative interest rate variable was significant with respect to industries like textiles, engineering and total manufacturing, while it was not significant for industries like sugar and other food products and chemicals. Divatia and shankar6 in their paper discussed the role of  internal and external sources of funds and their components in financing capital formation of the private corporate sector. The study was based on the RBI company finance studies relating to medium and large public and private limited companies and covered the period 1961-76. They also discussed the trends and patterns of financing for four individual industries, viz, cotton textiles, jute, sugar and cement. 4. 4 S. ~ d v e had some interesting findings in his article Financial Practices in Indian Corporate Sector, based on the RBI company finance data. He underlined the rising dependence on borrowed capital in relation to the total capital employed in the 6 V. V. Divat~a a1 (1979). Capital Formation and its Financing in the et Private Corporate Sector 1961-62 t o 1975-76. The Journal of Income ; Wealth, April 118-152. 7 S. Adve (1980). Financial Practices in Indian Corporate Sector, Inter-Group and Inter-Size Differences, Economic and Political Weekly, Feb. 23. 109 Indian corporate sector. Trade credit was pointed out to be important sources of capital when the bank credit was squeezed. Making an industry-wise analysis, the author came to  the conclusion that the industries with large profit margins and those with large depreciation and development rebate reserves had a relatively lower order of overall indebtedness and many of them also had a lower order of bank borrowings in relation to overall indebtedness. Industries with high profit margin such as silk and rayon textiles, aluminium, basic industrial chemicals and medicine and pharmaceutical preparations had lower proportion of borrowed funds as compared to the average of the medium and large public Ltd. companies. The extensive study viewed that the growth  from of institutional finance emerged in lndia due to structural change for industrial financing system with wide change of socio-political situations in lndia. He attempted to measure overall impact of financial institutions on capital formation in the organised private sector as also the allocative efficiency of financial system. He observed that during the first pla? financial assistance rendered by special institutions represented only 4. 1 per cent of gross fixed investment in private industry, which rose to 7. 9 per cent in the second plan and further to 18.1% in the third plan period. He also 8 L . S . Gupta ( 1 9 6 9 ) . Changing Structure of Industrial Finance in Indra, The Impacr ~flnstrtutronalFinance, Clarendon Press: Oxford. 110 found that commercial banks remained the most important single agency for financing the private corporate industry and LIC was the single largest purchaser of industrial securities and the underwriter of new issues of large and established companies. 4. 6 M. S. ~ o s h examined the role of financial intermediaries in i~ providing finance to large-scale industries in the private sector. After analysing the contribution of each important intermediary towards industrial development in India, he estimated that these intermediaries have participated with 17% of investment in various industries against 39% in share capital of public Ltd. companies. 4. 7 Studies on Institutional Credit in Kerala Among the studies on the state of Kerala, few have looked at the inter regional development of banking. The study conducted by the Travancore-Cochin banking enquiry c ~ r n m i t t e ewas the first of ~ its kind in the post-Independence era. The report traced the development of banking in the two regions of Travancore and Cochin. It noted that in terms of the average number of people per bank office, they had the smallest figure in the whole of lndia. It was noted that the expansion of commercial banks in the rural areas is more pronounced than in any other state. 9 M. S. Joshi (1965). Financial Intermediaries in India. Makhanlal ; Sons Pvt. Ltd, Bombay. 10 Gok (Various Years) Kerala Economic Review, Thimvananthapuram. 111 4. 7. 1 M. A. Oornrnenl historically reviewed the expansion of commercial banking in the Travancore-Cochin region prior to the period of planning. He noted some of the salient features of banking in Kerala: their community or sectarian origin and ownership, the rural areas bias, over extension of credit and predominance of small accounts. He noted the presence of a special concentration of banking in Tiruvalla and Trichur. 4. 7. 2 The Kerala Planning Board (1982) too made an effort to understand the performance of commercial banks in Kerala after nationalisation. This study was confined only to a quantitative assessment of the performance of nationalised banks and looked at the mobilisation of deposits, trend in credit expansion and the sectoral distribution of bank advances. Even though the number of bank offices in the state is more than that of other states, some districts like Malappuram and ldukki lacked banking infrastructure. Ernakulam was found to be the best-banked district in the state followed closely by Trivandrum. It accounted for 22 per cent of the deposits and 30 per cent of the credit disbursed in the state. Idukki, Malapuram and Palghat were way behind. ~-. II M A . Oommen (1976). Rise and Growth of Banking In Kerala. Social . Scieflt~. sl. Vol 5 . 8 0 3 112 4. 7. 3 Among the more recent studies, Sunandas study of institutional agricultural credit in Kerala highlights the inter district disparity. She reviews the socio-economic background for the origin and growth of banks in Kerala (performance of commercial banks and co-operatives only) and concentrates on the agricultural credit disbursed by them. In credit per hectare, Ernakulam and Trichur stood highest while Palghat ranked the lowest. Regional disparity of agricultural credit from commercial banks decreased between 1974175 and 1985186 while that of co-operatives increased. She has used Principal Component Analysis to explain the variation. Three sets of variables are used for explaining the variation of credit co-operatives viz, per hectare from commercial banks and Banking variables, Asset variables and Productivity variables. 4. 7. 4 The book Reminiscences, written by Shri. K. C. Mammen ~ a ~ ~ i throws ~ l a i some light on the banking developments that took place in Kerala prior to independence and also the role played by the Christian community in developing the banking system in the state. It also contains the history of the National Quilon Bank, which was the premier bank at that time and explains the reasons for its failure. S. Sunanda (1991). Institutional Credit for Agriculture in Kerala-A Disaggregated Analysis, M. Phil dissertation, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram. K. C. Mammen Mappilai (1959). Reminiscences, Malayala Manorama Printing and Publishing Co. Kottayam, Kerala. 113 4. 7. 5 Shri. A. K. Seshadris A Swadeshi Bank from South lndial4 gives an account of the banking crisis that occurred in the state in 1930 due to the failure of the National Quilon Bank and that in 1960 consequent upon the liquidation of the Palai central Bank, Palai. 4. 7. 6 The Indian Banks ~ s s o c i a t i o n ~ , Bombay published a book Keralas Banking Profile in 1987. This book contains a quick review on the banking and the economic scenario in Kerala from 1969 to 1987 and also has dealt with the impact of the non-banking private financial institutions on the banking system in the state. It also contains a quick analysis of the role of the NRI sector in the growth of the commercial banks in Kerala. Though the book contains information regarding deposits, advances, number of branches, net state domestic product, per capita income, per capita deposits etc, it does not make any attempt to analyse these factors and to find out whether any relation exists between these factors. In 1992 Canara Bank, the convener of State Level Bankers Committee Kerala had brought out a brochure on Keralas banking profile. This book contains a review of the district and state wise performance of the commercial banks during the 3 year period from 1989 to 1992. But this does not contain certain vital information like I4 AK Seshadrl (1982). A Swadeshi Bank,from South India, Indian Bank, Madras. I I n d ~ a nBanks Association (1987). Kerala: A Banking Profile, Bombay. 114 classification of deposits and advances according to population group wise, a review on the productivity of banks in Kerala etc. Indigenous Financial Agencies The availability of literature on indigenous financial system is scarce. The Central and Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee Reports give comprehensive information regarding the working of the agencies. But even such information appears to have become outdated in many respects as the enquiry was conducted more than 55 years ago. The Rural credit survey and Central banking Enquiry Committee attempted to obtain quantitative information, including capital invested in the business from the agencies but failed in their task. Hence as far as the quantitative aspect is concerned, i t is impossible to collect correct information from these agencies as their nature of business is selective and also as their exact number is not known. 4. 8. 1 G. ~ a r k a l brings out some of the problems of indigenous banking in India in the present context of economic development. He attempts a scientific definition of the term agencies and points out how the earlier definitions were defective. Karkals book estimates the magnitude of capital involved in the unorganised G Karkal ( 1 967). Unorganised Money Market in India. Lalvani Publishing House Bombay. 115 market through the help of data regarding Hundi sales. With the help of available data the study points out the nature of the interest rate in the various rural-urban regions. It indicates the trend of and effect of the contact between the two markets viz. , the organised money market and unorganised financial sector. Again the study discusses the methods of strengthening the Agencies. Here it pleads for the recognition of the hundi as a liquid asset at least in the case of trusted indigenous bankers, thereby giving an impetus to the unorganised sector to encourage the bill business. Provides an interesting account of the functioning of private financing firms in Kerala. The study based on a survey of the private financing firms in Trichur town seeks to examine the factors, which contributed to the emergence of these institutions, the method of their functioning and their importance as a parallel banking system. However he is silent on questions such as types of borrowers, total amount of uncounted money generated by the private financing firms, safety of depositors money and so on. 4. 8. 3 D. ~ a j a s e k h a r based on a survey of 8 private financing  firms in Bellary town in Karnataka tries to probe the factors B A Prakash (1984). Private Financing firms in Kerala, Economic and Political Weekly. Vol X I X . Dec. 15. D Rajasckhar (1988). Private Financing Firms in Karnataka: A boom for tax dodgcrs W o r k ~ n g Paper No: 228. CDS, Thil-uvananthapuram. 116 responsible for the growth of private financing firms. It also documents and analyses the functioning of private financing firms and critically examines the type of borrowers, the use pattern of the borrowings and also tries to estimate the black money generated by the private financing firms. 4. 9 H o u s i n g Finance A strong relationship between levels of urbanisation and wealth has been demonstrated both theoretically and empirically in numerous s t u d i e ~ . Traditionally, faced with other development ~,~~ priorities, governments and international agencies have been reluctant to encourage investment in housing, which has often been seen as an item of consumption (UNCHS 1991). ~Moreover, many of the first waves of housing finance institutions were poorly managed and contributed to macro-economic disruption. Even by the late 1980s en and^^ was able to observe that few aspects S . Malpezz~ (1990). Urban Housing and financial markets: Some ~nternationnlCo~iiparisons,(Jrhnn Studies, 27, 6 : 971-1022. World Bank (1993). Housing: Enabling Markets t o Work, W o r l d Bank iolic), Pnper Washtngton D C : World Bank. U n ~ t e d Nations Centrc for Human Settlements (1991). Integrating Housing Finance into the National Finance Systems of Developing Countries: Exploring the Potentials and the Problems, Nairobi: UNCHS. R. M. Buckley er a / . (1989). Housi~ig policy in developing economies: evaluating thc macroeconomic impacts, Review uf Urban ; Regional llevelopmenr Studies. 2: 27-47. B. Renand (1987). Financing Shelter in L. Rodwin (ed) Shelter, Settlement nnd I l e v e i o p m e n f Boston: Allen and Unwin. 117 of economic development remain as unexplored and poorly analysed as the potential to induce financial development and ways to improve the financing of housing. These practical and conceptual difficulties notwithstanding, during the 1990s housing finance moved to the top of the urban agenda. Under pressure to reform urban management, governments have made important legislative and institutional reforms to enable private institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOS) to have a greater role in the provision of housing finance. The lead of the World Bank has been especially important in making the shift from housing projects towards the delivery of housing financez4 from 1983 to 1988. Bank lending for housing finance exceeded the total for sites and services from 1972 to 1988, and by 1989 almost one-half of all Bank urban lending was for housing finance programmes. z5This reorientation went beyond the need to deliver more and better housing, to make urban policy compatible with macro-economic management, particularly in the context of structural adjustment programmes in which control of foreign exchange risks and fiscal policy have been paramount. World Bank (1993). The Housing Indicators program: Preliminary Result, Washington, DC World Bank. R. M. Buckley el a ! . (1989). Housing policy in developing economies: evaluating the macroeconomic impacts, Review of Urban d; Regional llevelopment S t u d i e . ~2: 2 7 4 7 . . 4. 9. 1 S. chantz6;K. ~ a t t a and ~ i r a f f a b argue that formal finance ~ institutions are rarely willing to assist with the purchase of land, especially where the tenure, is insecure, to provide assistance with improvements to the rental housing stock or to support nonconventional household arrangements such as sharing of multiplefamily  compounds. These limitations have implicit gendered consequences, as rental and shared housing are of particular importance to low income women who often lack the means to become homeowners. 4. 9. 2 M. M. valeneaZ9summarizes the conditions of Brazils housing finance system by the 1980s as one of crisis, chaos and apathy. Notoriously inadequate fund collection and loan enforcement rates exemplified housing these finance conditions. This condition of public-sector institutions accentuated by was political manipulations that passed these institutions from one ministry to another at short intervals. Valenea points out that as the economic crisis of the 1980s deepened, the fall in the real value of payroll S Chant ( 1997). Women headed Households: Diversity and Dynamics in [he l l e v e l o p i n ~ i+orld. Basingstoke: Macmillan. K. ~ a t t a (1995). Strategies for urban survival? ; Women landlords in Gabocomc Bots ana, Habitat International, 19,1: 1 12. 2X F. Miraftab (1994). Housing Preferences of Female headed Households of Low Income Families in Guadalajara, Mexico: paper presented a t the International semlnar on Gender, Urbanisation and the Environment, Nairobi. The inevitable crisis of the Brazilian housing finance s!. stem. IJrhan Sttrdies, 29,1:39-56. 119 deductions with rising unemployment, the diversion of revenue sources to fund higher priority areas of the government budget and the withdrawal of savings from negative interest rate bearing accounts left many public sector housing finance institutions short of capital. 4. 9. 3 David lsaac3 provides an introduction to property finance, bringing together the professional disciplines related to finance and property investment and development. The book establishes the basic concept of finance, examines the applications of these concepts in practice and gives an overview of the market, its history and position as of 1993. 4. 9. 4 R . M . ~ u c k l e ~ ~ ; ~ i m and N. ~ u n j e have pointed out K. H. ~ e ~ ~ that the declining effectiveness of housing finance institutions coupled with economic and fiscal crises, have made governments more aware of the need to promote savings, reduce subsidies and mobilize domestic resources and motivate the involvement of 3, David Isaac (1994): Property Finance, Macmillan Press Ltd. , London. R . M . Buckley (1996). Housing Finance in Developing Countries. Bas~ngstokc. Macmillan. K. H. Kim (1997). Housing finance and urban infrastructure finance, Urban . stl~d~r. s. 10: 1597-620. 34, 11 N Munjec (1994). Housing finance in development: is there an cmerglng paradigm for developing countries in Asia: Housing Finance I n t e r n a t i o n n l . 8. 4 6-10 11 120 private financial institutions. Many of the most restrictive practices operating in housing finance markets, such as institutional entry requirements and liquidity limits, have been lowered, loanlvalue ratio made more flexible and a wider definition given to the terms of collateral. The optimistic view was that private institutions would be able to deliver larger quantities of finance more efficiently and with a greater chance of sustainability. 4. 9. 5 T. H. ~ a l i argues that even though new private finance c ~ ~ companies have been set up, a few lower-income households qualify for loans because the eligibility criteria require proof of five years full employment, imposing a start-up fee equivalent to three months salary and taxes to approximately 25% of the loan value. Similarly US AID^^ points out that in Eastern Europe despite the establishment of DIMS i n Poland, building certificates in Russia and indexed credit systems in Bulgaria, the bottom 80 per cent of the income profile has not been reached. T. H. Malik (1994). Recent development in housing finance policy in Pakistan paper presented at 2nd symposium Housing for the Urban Poor, Birmingham. Ull~tcd States Agency for International Development (USAID) (1997). Building on progress: The Future of Housing Finance in Poland. Warsaw: USAID. 121 4. 9. 6 Thomas Klak and Marlen Economy explore Housing of the Formal Sector organisation Trust in their article. The Political (NHT), the and Housing Finance performance  states main of in Jamaica the National housing agency in distributing finance in the context of the struggle for basic needs such as shelter, state socio-economic interventions. By examining the NHTs funding base, expenditures and beneficiaries they outline the scale of the financial resource diversions that effectively restrict low-income households from obtaining NHT housing assistance. They point out that a greater share of NHTs massive financial assets could be directed towards serving the housing needs of lowincome people if the Trust were organised differently.

Walmart analysis Essay Example for Free

Walmart analysis Essay Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart in 1962. He was a businessman who started working in retail in 1940 at a J. C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1945, he ran a retail store in Newport, Arkansas, part of a chain of variety stores named Ben Franklin. Instead of renewing his lease, however, he decided to open a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas and called it â€Å"Walton’s Five and Dime. † He succeeded by selling at a discount. Wal-Mart’s purpose best exemplifies what the company still stands for today: â€Å"Saving People Money So They Can Live Better† (Walmartstores. com) Within five years, the company had grown to 24 stores throughout Arkansas, reaching sales of $12. 6 million. The company officially incorporated on October 31, 1969 as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In 1970, it opened its first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Arkansas. By this time, it had 1,500 associates working out of 38 stores. Its sales were $44. 2 million. In this same year, it began to trade its stock as a publicly held company and was soon listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1971, it had stores in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma. It expanded into Texas in 1973, and Kentucky and Mississippi by 1974, and Texas in 1975. By this time, it had 125 stores and 7,500 associates, with sales of $340. 3 million. By its 25th anniversary in 1987, it had 200,000 associates working out of 1,198 stores. Sales were $15. 9 billion. It also completed a satellite network that linked all operating units with its Bentonville home office via two-way voice and data transmission and one-way video communication. It helped its home office to track inventory and sales and communicate instantly with its stores. In 1988, Sam Walton turned over the CEO role to David Glass. However, he remained the Chairman of the Board. In this same year, the company opened its first Wal-Mart Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. In 1995 it entered South America, beginning with Argentina and Brazil. In 1998, the company introduced the â€Å"Neighborhood Market† with three stores in Arkansas. In 2000, H. Lee Scott became Wal-Mart’s President and CEO. Sales increased to $165 billion. By 2002 it had been listed at America’s largest corporation on Fortune 500 list, with profits of $6. 7 billion. By 2005, it had sales of $312. 4 billion, 6,200 facilities worldwide and 1. 6 million associates. Back Ground and Purpose of the Study Wal-Mart is known as a store where you can go shop and save a buck. They are friendly to the average consumer of moderate income, and in this market they have thrived. The purpose of the study is to analyze why Wal-Mart stores Inc. has their own internal issue. This report will provide a back ground of the study and focus on the methodology, provide findings, recommendations and implementation plans for the root causes of internal issue. . Findings and recommendations Decision Making- RESOURCES A. Planning Findings They are a highly competitive company in an industry and economic time where lower prices are exactly what consumers are looking for. Wal-Mart has found that the reason they are so competitive is through their cheaper prices as compared to most of their competitors. This can create an effect so that many suppliers fight over their business. This in return gives Wal-Mart great bargaining power over whom they buy products from, and they can basically manipulate the original system/relationship of suppliers and retailers. They can almost in a sense control what price suppliers offer. Wal-Mart has great deals, and those deals can bring almost anyone into their store. Wal-Mart has a vast array of customers, most of which at some point or another probably were loyal customers of another company who opposed the idea of Wal-Mart entering in their community. At some point or another most of these same people have gone into Wal-Mart to see what all the hype is about and they found it in the low prices. Within this section is discussed Wal-Mart’s internal analysis of the value brought to and perceived by the consumers through the value and rarity of their products, limitability of their practices, and organization. By evaluating these four categories within their company it is easier to appraise which areas are strong and which are weak and, subsequently, need revision. To begin the main resources and capabilities of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must be identified. As with many companies a major resource of Wal-Mart’s is their human capital; another is their image – concerning their layout of their stores, product quality, and satisfaction of their employees; Wal-Mart’s products and brands are a valuable resource; and Wal-Mart’s geographic locations are an important resource. B. Direction As we have reviewed and studied the strategy, culture, finances and the challenges and successes at Wal-Mart, there are many strategies we see that the company must undertake to hold its dominate position and drive further growth. Herein, we define our top four. These core strategies include: rebuild and recreate its reputation in the face of recent challenges; continue to show price leadership; improve the customer experience; and drive international growth. The financial performance of Wal-Mart continues to be strong. It delivered another record year in 2008 as total net sales increased 8. 6 percent to $375 billion. Yet, earnings growth rates and same store sales have slowed. And, the company faces a number of challenges to its operating procedures, reputation and growth prospects. Given the company’s stated objectives of â€Å"growing operating income faster than sales† and increasing shareholder value, the strategies we recommend will directly affect the company’s ability to overcome present challenges and meet these primary financial objectives. Reputation and Brand A key strategic objective, perhaps the most critical for the company going forward, is to rebuild and recreate its reputation. While brand and reputation are closely interlinked, author and business consultant, John Foley, differentiates the two attributes in this manner: â€Å"Brand is inside out. Reputation is outside in† (Foley 3). Wal-Mart’s reputation has waned in the past several years and, according to Foley, â€Å"the company’s reputation problems are dragging down its brand and business performance† (Foley). This conclusion seems to be shared by a number of analysts. Further validation can be found in a recent report (written in May 2007) by the company’s former advertising agency, GSDM. This report plainly states â€Å"Wal-Mart’s #1 overall business challenge is reputation. † Among the conclusions, the report states â€Å"(a) Wal-Mart’s consumer ratings as a â€Å"company I trust and respect† have steadily declined over the last two years, and (b) Shopping at Wal-Mart used to mean saving money and being patriotic, being a member of the community, being a part of the â€Å"American Dream. † Today, it just means saving money. All value no values† (Kofinis). So, with this challenge facing the company, there are several areas where the company can apply focus and action to help recreate and strengthen its reputation. Our recommendations for this strategic objective are: Ensure that â€Å"associates† are compensated fairly and receive proper benefits. Put programs in place to improve healthcare coverage for the workers in the stores and throughout the distribution network. Sam Walton’s insistence at the formation of the company on treating employees as partners, or associates, was heralded for years. This approach to managing must be reinforced through new benefits and compensation programs. Demonstrate leadership in societal issues including the environment, energy and healthcare. Wal-Mart’s power and influence are awesome and these forces can each be used to positively impact a broad number of initiatives around improving the environment, reducing carbon footprints and making healthcare more accessible and affordable to consumers. The company has started programs such as â€Å"Sustainability 360† in which it focuses on selling environmentally conscious goods. In 2007, US Stores â€Å"sold 145 million energy efficient light bulbs – enough to eliminate the need for three new coal-fired power plants in the United States. † In healthcare, Wal-Mart initiated a $4 prescription program to help consumers save money on critical prescription drugs. We recommend that programs like these be expanded in scale and that marketing and public relations dollars be increased to improve visibility to this work. Companies possessing a strong brand can easily topple without the support of a strong reputation. Given this and our strong belief that brand and reputation are primary building blocks to company growth and customer loyalty, we absolutely believe that this is the #1 priority the company must address. Price Leadership The greatest area of emphasis in Wal-Mart’s brand and company history has always been â€Å"Low Prices – Always. † And, while this emphasis continues today, we believe the company must continue to demonstrate leadership in this area. Value shoppers still represent the largest consumer base at Wal-Mart stores. Fulfilling this strategy will involve continued â€Å"early adoption† of innovative technologies, such as RFID and a new work scheduling system to support increasing efficiencies that lead to lower consumer prices. Customer Experience The next strategic area for the company is the enhancement of the customer experience. Also playing a factor in strengthening reputation, the company must find new ways to make the customer experience more enjoyable and impactful. This suggests new ways to reach expanded customer segments beyond â€Å"low price shoppers. † Besides the obvious merchandising strategies of optimizing product mix and bringing in new products that attract these customers, Wal-Mart must consider changes to store layouts, expanding aisles, installing better lighting and improving checkout procedures. During last year’s shareholder meeting, CEO Lee Scott addressed this area of their business saying, â€Å"†¦we have to improve in our merchandising areas†¦And we have to get better at consistently executing store standards and customer service, especially around the checkout. † (Forbes) International Growth In fiscal year 2008, Wal-Mart opened its 3000th International unit and grew sales by 17. 5%, representing $90. 6 billion of its total revenues. (Annual Report) An existing priority for the company, Wal-Mart’s ambition for higher growth rates will most likely be found overseas. Thus, we recommend continued investment in and focus on international markets be the fourth of our key strategies. International growth should be pursued through organic means and acquisition, both of which Wal-Mart has executed successfully since first expanding overseas in the early 1990’s. Regardless of the means of entry into markets, the company must understand and adapt to local consumer preferences, customs, attitudes and expectations. A great example of this comes from Wal-Mart’s foray into China. Among many adaptations, â€Å"the company had to accept that most Chinese tend to buy in small quantities, and that language differences required tailoring marketing approaches for product labeling and brand names† (Govindarajin). The sheer size of populations in markets throughout Asia and other untapped markets make this a â€Å"must pursue† strategy for the world’s largest retailer. Organizing Organizing is defined as the assembly and coordination of the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 20) This function is also referred to as the function used to build a dynamic organization. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 20) When looking at the organization process Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart made sure from the very beginning to keep up with his competitors. In 1972 Kmart expanded and at that time there were 15 Wal-Mart stores and Sam Walton could not afford to expand by building so he offered Wal-Mart stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Due to the large profit that occurred because of the sales of stock Wal-Mart could expand and by the 1980s they had 276 stores. Organizing is comprised of several organizational resources: physical assets, knowledge, money, and human resources. Resources are organized effectively by the use of tools such as charts and or graphs. These tools will present the various functions of management for instance human resources activities and responsibilities, employee duties and responsibilities, recording relationships amongst upper and lower management. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 290) Within each department there are specific method being used which helps them in managing the resources provided to them. For example accounting and finance departments commonly use Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets and software such as QuickBooks. The management and maintaining of the human resources department is vital when evaluating the effectiveness of the organizing function. â€Å"People are assets not commodities†. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 337) Managers as well as their companies must work together to hire the right individuals for the job. Human resource management is responsible for staffing, training, performance appraisals, rewards, labor relations, wages, and benefits. (Bateman Snell, 2009, pg. 354) Worldwide Wal-Mart employs about 2. 1 million associates, and depending on the size of the store there can be about 225 to 350 more associates in each store. According to Fortune Magazine 2010 reported that Wal-Mart ranked first on their list of most admired companies. This favorable rating is due to their sustainability leadership, corporate compassion, and employment opportunity. Wal-Mart’s staff practices the three basic beliefs and values established by Sam Walton in 1962. They are respect for individuals, services to our customers, and striving for excellence. Micromanaging is kept to a minimum and teamwork is highly encouraged by a style of leadership implemented back in the days of Mr. Walton called â€Å"servant leadership† where leaders work together with their employees. Wal-Mart also has an open door policy any issues which are questionable whether they ethical or immoral are brought to the attention of the store manager, market manager, and or the human resources department. In the past years Wal-Mart has faced several lawsuits in which their ethics has been questioned. Their policies of hiring, promoting, and equality have all been questioned in cases like the sexual discrimination of women in June 2001. Wal-Mart business practices article of 2010 reported that a survey conducted by Wal-Mart indicated a rapid turnover of 70 % of employees that leave the company within the first year of employment and stated that it is attributed to the lack of recognition and inadequate pay of the employees. (Business Practices, para. 5) Despite these various issues that Wal-Mart has been faced with and the speculation that the human resources department does a poor job is just that. Wal-Mart in fact aims to take very good care of their employees. They claim that their organization is one of the best to workplaces, which offers various health and wellness benefits. Wal-Mart offers 80 % coverage on to its eligible employees. Health care benefits such as doctor’s visits and annual checkups, pharmacy benefits, dental, business travel accident insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment coverage (Walmartstores. com, 2010) Wal-Mart like many other organizations is affected by many factors such as competitive pressures, insurance costs, market trends, economic conditions, cost of goods and services, and unemployment. (Walmartstores. com, 2010) Yet another issue they are constantly faced with is their wages. Average Wal-Mart employees make anywhere from $ 12,000 to $ 17,000 which causes them to have to turn to the state for public assistance. Further reports show that employees on average take home less than $250 a week. (Business Practices, 2010) Full time employees make between $6 and $7. 50 an hour and work from 28-40 hour weeks. According to Business Practices 2010 this pay scale indicates that employees of Wal-Mart with dependents are below the poverty line. As mentioned previously the foreign exchange rate is a factor that Wal-Mart as a large retailer must beware of when maintaining their monetary and financial resources. Wal-Mart reported that fiscal year 2009 foreign exchange rates had a negative effect on international net sales by 2. 3 billion. (Walmartstores. com, 2010) When compared to overall company net sales there was still a slight increase indicated despite the negative effect. Wal-Mart also offer its employees various financial benefits to compensate stock option plans, employee’s discounts, profit sharing (401k plan), retirement accounts, and holiday and when determining the success of an organization. Being mindful and utilizing the organizing function will help not only determine and maintain current success but will aid in future and in preventing failure.

Quality of Nursing and Diversity

Quality of Nursing and Diversity Critically discuss how an understanding and application of the concepts of diversity, cultural competence and equality can help to improve the quality of nursing care in today’s diverse healthcare settings for a diverse service-user population The Office of National Statistics (2014) displays how the population of Britain is becoming increasingly diverse due to migration, with 560,000 people migrating to Britain between March 2013 and March 2014; a significant increase from 492,000 people in the previous 12 months. Globalisation; which is the increasing integration of economies and societies has a profound effect on migration and health. For example the ease of accessibility of borders for services and trade removes the boundaries for migration and increases the production and marketing of products such as tobacco which have an adverse effect on health (Wamala and Kawachi 2007). The increasing movement of countries into the European Union (EU) also removes the boundaries to migration as the European commission state that individuals who hold European citizenship have rights to free movement and residency within the EU(EU 2014). The acceleration of globalisation and the growth in migration means the NHS have to care for an increasingly diverse service-user population who have a range of health needs which presents many issues and challenges for nursing care. Blakemore (2013) recognised how research by Macmillan cancer support found that patients from Black minority ethnic (BME) groups experience increased challenges and poor treatment compared to white British cancer patients; such as lack of compassion and poor and ineffective communication. This is an example of how diverse groups can receive poor quality care and highlights the need for nurses to understand and apply the concepts of diversity, cultural competence and equality to evade this diminished care. This essay will explore, discuss and critique these concepts when looking at how they can improve the quality of nursing care in today’s diverse healthcare settings for a diverse service-user population. Diversity is defined by Dayer-berenson (2014) as the ‘individual differences of the human race’ which should be ‘accepted, respected, embraced and celebrated by society’. The differences encompass many factors such age, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation, all which shape an individual to be unique. This definition however fails to acknowledge that differences exist within each unique factor. For example in ethnic groups; where although common characteristics such as language and origin are shared, differences within the ethnic group still do exist such the extent to which the individual practices their religion, and the culture to which the individual identifies to (Henley and Schott 1999). The National Health Service (NHS)(2011) expand on this definition by recognising that diversity includes ‘visible and non-visible’ differences. Recognition of this is important in clinical practice as non –visible differences such as values and beliefs will not be established unless nurses effectively communicate and assess there patients values, needs and prefences. This will prevent the assumption that all members of one ethnicity act as another as mentioned previously, and therefore avoid stereotyping. Henley and Schott (1999) recognise how stereotyping will result in inadequate nursing care as people distance themselves from those they see as different, causing them to have a lack of consideration and respect for the individual, thus diminishing care. Furthermore, when assessing the values and beliefs of diverse patients, nurses must avoid holding an ethnocentric attitude. Ethnocentrism is when people identify their own cultural ways as superior to others, creating an attitude that any other beliefs and values are wrong. This leads to inadequate care as other diverse beliefs, values and therefore needs; will be rendered as insignificant and may be ignored (Royal college of Nursing (RCN) 2014). Ethnocentric behaviour however is not always recognised by the individual and is therefore difficult to challenge, as through socialisation into their own cultural values and beliefs a viewpoint of what is ‘normal’ and ‘appropriate’ is created. This viewpoint is then used to often negatively judge diverse cultures that the individual comes across (Henley and Schott 1999). On the other hand Sharif (2012) views ethnocentrism as having a positive influence on healthcare in the United Kingdom. When looking at BME groups, South Asians are a high risk group for public health diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Sharif recognises the need for ethnocentric interventions to educate South Asian communities and to distinguish them as a group to further investigate the differences in epidemiology, pathophysiology and health outcomes. This view is opposed by The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)(2010) who state in their standards for pre-registration nurses that nurses must strive for culturally diverse nursing care by practicing as holistic, non-judgemental and sensitive nurses, avoiding assumption, recognising individual choice and acknowledging diversity. Therefore nurses must adhere to this code by avoiding stereotypical and ethnocentric attitudes which can be done through assessing and recognising patients as individuals. This will result in high quality care which is essential for a diverse service user population. Respecting individual patient diversity results in respecting equality which is the elimination of discrimination and disadvantage through respecting the rights of individuals and promoting equal opportunity for all. Nurses working within an organisation must comply to the Equality Act 2010 which protects 12 diverse characteristics such as age, disability and religon from discrimation and disadvantage (Equality and Human Rights Commison 2014). In healthcare this is done through the implementation of policies and guideance, however Talbot and Verrinder (2010) highlight how equality policies can express the need for patients to receive equal care regardless of characteristics and background. This ignores personal choice and therefore disregardards individuality and diversity; producing poor quality care. When looking at equality further nurses can promote equality through ensuring everyone has equal and full access to health care. It is recognised that BME patients have a poor uptake of healthcare services compared to white British patients for several reasons such as; language barriers, negative experiences and inadequate information (Henley and Schott 1999,Washington and Bowles et al 2008). Dayer-berenson (2014) however identifies that barriers to healthcare are not just due to racial factors but also socio-economic factors. Nimakok and Gunapala et al (2013) expand on this further by recognising that individuals from BME communities are more likely to be of poor socio-economic status than their white counterparts ; due to factors such as low income and poor housing quality. Nurses must therefore be in the position to promote equality through endorsing equal access to healthcare and complying to equality policies. This must be done whilist respecting individual patients and their di versity which produces culturally competenet nurses and thus high quality care for the diverse service user population. Cultural competence is defined by Papadopolus and Tilki et al. (2003) as the act of respecting the cultural differences of patients in order to provide effective and appropriate care. This is a brief definition which fails to include all aspects of being a culturally competent practicioner, which arguably involves more than respecting cultural differences which will later be explored (McClimens and Brewster et al. 2014). Leininger (1997) states that cultural competence is the goal of providing culturaly congruent, compent and compassionate care through holisticly looking at culture, health and illness patterns and respecting the similarities and differences in cultural values and beliefs.This definition fails to recognise that cultural competence Is never a completed goal but an ongoing process (Dean 2010), however it recognises the importance of looking at the similarties within cultures. This increases the nurses ability to understand and meet the patients full range of needs thus producing culturally competent care (Henley and Schott 1999). Cultural competent nursing care is essential for enusuring high quality care in the increasingly diverse service user population, with The NHS stating that it provides a comprenhesive service for all regardless of background and characteristcs and In consideration of each individuals human rights. Respect for equality and diversity are two important aspects of The NHS`s vison and values as highlighted in this statement; and through culturally competent care these values can be achieved (McClimens and Brewster et al. 2014, NHS 2014). Educating health care professionals on culturally competent care is therefore important with Hovat and Horey et al. (2014) looking at the effects of educational cultural competence interventions for healthcare proffesionals on healthcare outcomes. The review found that health behaviour such as concordance to treatment was improved however they also acknowledged that there quality of evidence was poor and that cultural competence is still a developing stratergy, therefore further research is needed to establish its effectiveness on healthcare outcomes. Dayer-Berenson (2014) however, states how culturally competent care does produce positive healthcare outcomes and therefore high quality care as through culturally competent practice, cultural sensitivity can be developed. This will bridge the gap between the healthcare professional and the patient which allows the patient to feel understood, respected and supported. There are various models which offer an understanding of cultural competence and a process for developing cultural competence to allow for high quality care. Campinha-Bacote developed the `The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services model’ in 1998 which looks at how the healthcare professional must work within the cultural context of the patient and ‘become’ culturally competent rather than ‘be’ culturally competent. Campinha-Bacote sees becoming culturally competent as an ongoing process which involves the constructs of cultural awareness, knowledge, skill, encounters and desire Campinha-Bacote (2002). When looking at cultural awareness; which is the process of the nurse exploring there own cultural and professional background and any bias towards other cultures, Dayer-Berenson (2014) agrees nurses need to be aware of there own culture so that they can step outside of it when necessary and care for patients only in terms of their needs. This will reduce misunderstandings and misjudgements and therefore failures in care, allowing for high quality care for the diverse service user population. On the other hand this model has some weaknesses. When looking at the construct of cultural skill which Campinha-Bacote (2002) defines as the collection of relevant cultural data through cultural assessment in regards to the patients presenting problem, Leishman (2004) identifies some issues. Her study on perspectives of cultural competence in healthcare found that nurses do not agree that the personal beliefs and values of patients should be impinged upon as Camphinha-Bacote suggests in her model. Leishmans study found that this may impact the patients overall impression on the care they receive and that individual patient needs irrespective of culture should be the focus of care. This view argues that patient centered care is favourable over cultural competence when caring for a diverse patient population . Patient centered care describes care which is centred around the individual and their needs with inclusion of families and carers in decisions about treatment and care (Manley and Hills et al. 2011). It is a philiosphy which is embedded at the forefront of all patient care, with a recent inquiry comminsed by the Royal College of General Practicioners (2014) emphasising the importance of patient centred care in the 21st century to meet the challenging and changing needs of patients; such as the increase in the diverse patient population. Kleinmans explanatory model of illness offers an alternative approach for looking at cultural competence as it supports the delivery of person centred care. The model contains steps that the healthcare professional can use to communicate with their patients. The steps look at several issues such as; establishment of the patients ethnic identity and what It means to them, how an episode of illness can effect the patient and their family, what the illness means to the patient, and how a cultural competent approach may help or hinder the patients care (NHS Flying Start 2014 , Kleinman and Benson 2006). By eliciting the patients and their families views and explanations of their illness the model allows for patient centred care. Also the cross cultural communication and recognition of any conflicts in values and beliefs which need negotiating produces culturally competent care (Hark and DeLisser 2009, Misra-Herbert 2003). The model has further strengths which also allow for high quality care as recognised by Kleinman and Benson (2006) who state that the model allows practicioners to set there knowledge alongside the patients own views and explanations which avoids an ethnocentric attitude. On the other hand the model is focused on the interaction between doctors and patients so it is therefore questionable as to wether this model can be applied to the nursing care of a diverse service user population (Misra-Hebert 2003). The acceleration of globalisation and therefore increase in migration means that the NHS have to care for an increasingly diverse service user population. To give high quality nursing care to their patients nurses must understand apply the concepts of diversity, equality and cultural competence. This essay has shown how this can be done by ensuring their practice is underpinned by legal and ethical principles and through respecting the diversity of all through treating patients as individuals and avoiding stereotypical and ethnocentric attitudes. Respecting diversity can also endorse equality which nurses can also encourage through promoting equal access to healthcare for all. Finally nurses must be culturally competenet practicioners by respecting diversity and equality and through the implication of models although further research is needed as cultural competence is a developing concept with other principles such as patient centered care also being seen as essential in nursing pra ctice. 2,180 1