Overpopulation Unemployment and Possible Solutions Free Essays

To Thi Thu Huong Writing task 2 THE WOLD IS EXPERIENCING A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN POPULATION. THIS IS CAUSING PROBLEMS NOT ONLY FOR POOR, UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES, BUT ALSO FOR INDUSTRIALIZED AND DEVELOPING NATIONS. Portray SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT OVERPOPULATION CAUSES AND SUGGEST AT LEAST ONE POSSIBLE SOLUTION. We will compose a custom article test on Overpopulation: Unemployment and Possible Solutions or on the other hand any comparative theme just for you Request Now Because of ongoing improvement in social insurance framework just as the financial development, the populace is expanding quicker and quicker. This is laying an overwhelming weight on the economy, society and condition of both progressed and creating countries. In this exposition, I’m going to investigate the primary issues brought about by congestion and recommend some potential arrangements. In the first place, overpopulation keeps an eye on log jam the economy since it makes a deficiency of open products, for example, power and water gracefully, and so forth which rely upon the administration assignment. Thus, the specialists, particularly in poor nations need to apply for high-intrigue advances from abroad to fill in the spending shortage. Therefore, those nations are attempting to reimburse the drawn out outside obligations and unfit to get away from the endless loop of destitution. Second, there is a lot of difficulties for the general public with such a large number of individuals. For instance, the valuation for joblessness rates will cause awful effects on social government assistance; and the instruction and human services framework will be unable to address the issues of the general population. Likewise, the network will be experienced serious yearning, considerable crime percentages and insecure politic circumstance. In addition, when the planet becomes progressively busy, the earth is additionally undermined. Alongside the serious cultivating and industrialization to satisfy the shortage of the additional inhabitants, there will be more sewage, excess manure and pesticide, and fumes exhaust that contaminate the water the land the air. Likewise, the misuse of regular assets will deplete the earth’s store to the point that it can no longer gracefully for our life. In the end, what anticipates mankind is an eventual fate of self destruction. Luckily, there are some potential answers for those issues. The legislature can elevate open private arrangement to manage the requirements for open merchandise. An expansion in tax assessment and industry speculation will settle numerous social and economy inconveniences, for example, joblessness and spending insufficiency. We additionally need stricter guidelines on asset utilization and poison emanation. Simultaneously, an emphasis on early instruction will help loosen the bunch of overpopulation from the root. The more evolved countries and universal foundations should help the immature nations by giving more ODAs and FDIs just as setting up consultancy committees. To sum up, overpopulation is currently an overall wonder that is trailed by many negative financial, social and ecological effects. Be that as it may, those troubles can be overwhelmed with the endeavors of both the legislature and the person. Step by step instructions to refer to Overpopulation: Unemployment and Possible Solutions, Essay models

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 88

Contextual investigation Example The task will additionally result in the region’s framework create just as increment exchanging exercises. As indicated by the hypothesis of utilitarianism, a demonstration ought to be delegated indecent just if its outcomes are serious to the point that individuals would wish the specialist of that activity obliged to act in any case (Hinman 142). Notwithstanding its impacts on nature, the positive results of this undertaking exceed the negative outcomes for the most part because of its monetary hugeness to the locale. Notwithstanding the above large scale issues, a few small scale issues also ought to likewise be thought of. Putting resources into this undertaking includes both cash and time and getting comes back from these two ventures will be huge to individual satisfaction, as indicated by the hypothesis of eudemonia, which expresses that a definitive objective of human life is joy and acceptable life. This objective can be accomplished by rehearsing ideals in one’s day by day life and is characterized as a quality that permits an individual to prevail at a thought (Hinman 145). In this sense, the venture is suggested as long as it guarantees individual bliss. The speculation ought to consequently be actualized as the two hypotheses support

Lessons Learned in the First 12 Months of Being a Startup CEO

Lessons Learned in the First 12 Months of Being a Startup CEO “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” â€" Bill Gates © Shutterstock.com | lenetstanIn this article, we will look at 1) personal lessons, 2) product and marketing lessons, 3) operational lessons, and 4) hiring lessons.PERSONAL LESSONS LEARNED WHEN BEING A STARTUP CEOMike Evans, co-founder of the internet-based food ordering website Grubhub.com highlights his main misconceptions as a first-time entrepreneur. One of which is:1. Your Time Is Not Free.At the beginning of any new venture, the entrepreneur usually spends a lot of time doing most of the work herself. This often means product development and design, market analysis, selling, marketing and all the financials. Whatever needs to be done is done and this translates into long work hours. All this is done for no cost at all. More than money, the cost here is opportunity. When there is an attempt to complete everything with little or no prioritization, then there is the ever present danger of letting important, value-adding tasks slip through the cracks. Evans suggests looking at you r time a bit differently.“Because it is so hard to get a comprehensive prioritization of tasks in a startup company, I usually ask a few short cut questions. If my time cost me $500 per hour, would I be doing this task? Can I get that hour back in profit?”, says Evans.These questions can help a startup CEO spend her time where it matters most.Martina Iring, a small business marketing consultant also shares her top lessons from her first year as an entrepreneur. She says:   2. Be Prepared for Ups and Downs.Many first-time CEOS who are entrepreneurs look forward to the freedom that comes with being their own boss. This is not as easy a situation as it appears to be. There are many days full of downs when it is hard to stay motivated and where it becomes difficult to live with instability and insecurity. The fun and excitement of entrepreneurship takes a backseat and there can be a sense of being overwhelmed. This feeling is part of the package, however. Iring remains positive,“T here will be ups and downs in all things in life. It doesn’t mean you should give up or that you made the wrong decision. You probably just need  a little extra TLC. The upswing is right around the corner.”3. It Will Take Longer Than You Plan For.Another common mistake made by entrepreneurs is the assumption that once the business is set up, things will move quickly and the company will be ready to go. Often, the time assumption is downright naïve because setting up a business requires a lot of work, and a lot of unforeseen issues and problems can crop up unexpectedly. Something new always needs to be addressed and handled. There is no timeframe that can be applied generically, but every entrepreneur needs to make a realistic time estimation based on their industry and its peculiarities.4. Be Prepared to Spend More Money.As with the incorrect assumption of time, there is a tendency to overestimate when the cash will start flowing in. Even if the business is up and running and p roduct sales start picking up steam, there are expenses that will crop up and need to be managed. Most often however, it takes time for the product to become known and for sales to grow. Therefore, it is important for the entrepreneur to have contingency plans in place to manage finances in difficult times.5. It Will Require More Smarts Than You Anticipate.A new CEO is required to perform many different roles and wear as many different hats. There will be a need to think on your feet, learn on the go and acquire new skills every day. All sorts of new abilities will be picked up and more boundaries will be pushed than were ever thought possible. This learning process needs to be anticipated and embraced right off so all the necessary information is absorbed and used effectively.Another entrepreneur, Larry Kim, is the CTO and founder of WordStream. He shares his five reality checks as a founder. 6. You Are Not Really Your Own Boss.Kim says that if you take on investors, you will not r eally be as in control of your company as you want to be. Without investors, your customers are your ultimate boss. These customers may be a whole lot more demanding than a traditional boss ever can be. Ultimately, there may end up being less freedom and a lot more responsibility in a startup business as compared to traditional employment.7. You May Not Get to Do More of What You Are Good At.An entrepreneur may get into a business because of her passion and interest. But with the launch of the business, there is an influx of other activities that need to be done and there may be a need to find other people to do tasks better than she can. The most enjoyed hobby can become tedious when it becomes full-time work and a livelihood. Eventually, the entrepreneur needs to make herself redundant by building a strong team and helping them grow and develop.8. You Always Have Something to Lose.When an entrepreneur sets out to create a business, there is always the threat of failure, as somethi ng like 80 percent of all businesses fail in the first year. To reach success, the business has to make a splash and become known. This means that a possible failure will also be immensely public and can often bruise the entrepreneur’s pride. To avoid this feeling of shattered ego, it is important to stay as positive as possible and ignore those who are discouraging and looking for you to fail.9. Turning the Dream to Reality Is Indescribable.One positive lesson cited by Larry Kim is the feeling of watching your dream become a reality. He says,“I greatly underestimated just how awesome it really is to show up at work and watch your company grow over time, and to watch the dream become a reality.”The overwhelming experiences of a first office, the first team celebration for an achievement, an industry award or happy customers are difficult to anticipate.PRODUCT AND MARKETING LESSONS LEARNED WHEN BEING A STARTUP CEOMike Evans also has lessons for the product and marketing aspects of a startup. Some of these are:1. All Ideas Do Not Need to Be Kept Secret.Often, entrepreneurs are excessively paranoid about a new, seemingly unique idea being stolen by competitors while it is being developed. This paranoid mindset can continue well into a mature growth stage. However, if the concept is sound and the management team competent, it is better to focus on achieving success through competitive differentiation than a lot of secrecy. A product idea is only made better when it is closely scrutinized and studied, especially by those that make up the target market. So at the design stage, it is necessary to have the product go through a period of trial and error which cannot be done when secrecy is the foremost concern.2. Not everything is about Speed.With a new idea, entrepreneurs are often tempted to run with it to ensure that their customer base is secured before everyone else. This problem crops up every time a new opportunity is explored. The idea behind the urgency is that once the customer is in hand, they will be kept in hand. However, this is not always the case. True customer loyalty, the kind that is long-term, comes from the quality being offered rather than how fast a product was offered. It is the best that wins, not the first. So take the time to develop the right product tailored to directly serve a customer need, and you will be in a better position for long-term and sustainable success.Entrepreneur Nathan Beckord shares his experience as a first-time startup CEO. 3. Identifying Customer Needs Is Just the Beginning.Though the process of identifying customer needs and creating things that people want is imperative to a successful product, this element is just one part of the entire picture. The other big chunk is to eliminate the many possible barriers to adoption that may exist. As the product goes through the trial and error process as well as different iterations, these barriers are better identified and addressed, helping to crea te a product with the potential for long-term and sustainable success. This is not a one-time activity, but an ongoing process.4. No One Will Care in the Beginning.Beckord believes that an entire generation of entrepreneurs has the mistaken belief that a great product will market itself. This is not true in most cases, and is definitely not the norm. Even the best startups need to make the effort to create an interest and noise in the market to get the right attention. There may be an initial spike of interest, but this is often short lived and needs sustained effort to continue.5. Everyone Needs Early Evangelists.Brian Chesky of AirBnB says, “It is better to build something that 100 people love than 1 million kind of like.” This is why all startups benefit greatly from spending time and effort to create an initial group of super users or champions. These early adopters tend to be passionate about the product or service and are more likely to tell others and give necessary and v ital feedback on the product’s performance. An additional benefit is that their enthusiasm can act as a motivator for an entrepreneur who has been facing issues and negativity from other channels.6. Not Everyone Will Like What You Are Offering.There is every possibility that some people will never like what you are selling. These can often be those people that you really want on board but just will not see eye to eye. This rejection can take some time to accept. The need to win these people over can consume an entrepreneur and turn into an obsession. According to Beckord,“Ive now come to realize that although persistence is indeed a critical trait for entrepreneurs, at some point it’s time to recognize when a deals not going to happen. In short, don’t let ‘Deal OCD’ become a detriment to your overall business.”7. Sell More Than the Product; Sell What Users Can Do with It.A philosophy espoused by Steve Jobs is that it is important to highlight the benefits that can be p rovided by the product rather than the features that it has. People may not be able to relate to a list of features, and may not be able to recognize how these apply to their lives. But with benefits, everything offered can become relatable when pitched to the right segment of the market.8. Building Products Is Fun.Product development can be an extremely exciting and rewarding area, much more so than is often expected by those entrepreneurs who don’t usually work on the product exclusively. The entire process from the idea, prototype, feedback, design, build, launch, feedback to the final iteration is extremely rewarding and very gratifying. OPERATIONAL LESSONS LEARNED WHEN BEING A STARTUP CEO1. You Always Have Competition.Evans believes that it is a difficult practical task to identify individual companies that are in competition with your business. Direct competitors often seem less threatening because the customer base appears to be big enough for everyone to be able to functio n successfully. This is a narrow view of the competitive arena and can land the company into trouble. Instead, a more realistic competitor analysis will look at all companies and products in competition for the customer’s money.2. You Are Not Smarter Than Others.Often, an entrepreneur may have the mistaken notion that she is better than all the others out in the market. The customer however, will not automatically rank one company over the other based on assumed smartness. Instead, it is vision, organization, patience, passion, discipline and humility that are drivers of success.3. Online Knowledge Can Be Invaluable.It is never a good idea to assume that you have all the knowledge needed to become successful. Constant research and knowledge gathering can be an invaluable asset for the company and the CEO. The first source of this information can be the internet, where there is a variety of diverse resources available, both free and for a fee. A busy day and a crammed schedule can make this seem like a useless activity, but it is extremely important to fit this into the plan.4. Use Professional Help Where Possible.A small business startup is often cash strapped and the startup team or entrepreneur is usually trying to handle all aspects of the business themselves. This do-it-yourself attitude can also come at a price. In the long run, the additional costs of hiring an accountant or a marketing professional will be balanced by the time, effort and energy you save to be diverted into other key tasks. HIRING LESSONS LEARNED WHEN BEING A STARTUP CEOJenn Steele is the Head of Growth at RecruitLoop, an online recruitment marketplace. She shares her insight into hiring lessons for startups. 1. Co-Founders Often Disagree on Who and What Is Needed.The only way to achieve unanimous decisions is to operate in a situation where there is one founder. Any more than one and there is bound to be a difference of opinion. This is to be expected and the entrepreneurs should be prepared to take the time to work out differences and reach an agreement.2. The Perfect Person Is a Myth.Since there is no perfect employee that will fulfill all criteria set by all those who are involved in hiring, it is necessary to be prepared to compromise on some aspects. Requirements can be broken down into good-to-haves and must-haves. Priorities may also shift once interviews begin and actual people are across the table.3. The Right Person Will Work for What You Can Pay.If you find a person that you really want to work for you, it is worthwhile to spend some time negotiating with them and hoping that they are also flexible. This can help reach an agreeable set of terms where both parties are satisfied and eager to work together. But it is also important to know when to let the candidate walk if their expected salary is just not making business sense.4. You May Not Need Management at the Beginning.Depending on the nature of the business, the first hires may be developers rath er than managers, or support staff rather than specialists. Middle managers and people focused solely on their own careers have no place in a startup environment. High-level strategists that can get stuff done or people who are great at contributing individually are actually needed most.5. Nothing Is Forever.Though you may think you have hired just the right people, you may have to rethink your decisions at a later stage. Perhaps the most qualified candidate is unable to fit into the culture you want to foster. The first people you hire may need to be let go as early as the first month or two. Despite this uncertainty, you can work with the right person for as long as possible to build the company.

Essay - 754 Words

Time: A week later Everyone has moved into the new house. It has been some-what calm for the time being. Life is challenging in a white man’s neighborhood. Beneatha has been heavily considering to move to Africa with Jospeh Asagai. The scene starts with Ruth and Walter quietly talking in the kitchen. Mama is in her room and Travis is outside playing. Beneatha will soon disrupt the silence as she opens and comes through the front door. Ruth (Coming out of the kitchen with Walter at her side) And where have you been? Beneatha With Asagai. (She says while opening the door) Its nice to get out of this judging white neighborhood every once and a while. Why do you care? (Slamming the door closed) Walter Mama has been needin talk to you all†¦show more content†¦Walter comes in singing and dancing into the kitchen while Ruth shoos him out in a loving manner. Walter heads to the table and this is where the scene starts. Ruth Dinner is served! (Yelling so the whole neighborhood knows) Travis (Running towards the table) I’m here! Gaalee it smells good! (Beneatha and Mama sit down) Ruth It sure do! Its not any normal mash potat...(Interrupted) Beneatha I want to move to Africa and I thought you guys should know. Feel free to give any feedback. (She says this so fast everyone is wondering if they heard her correctly) Walter Now dont go on bout going to Africa with that boy. This was and always will be some silly idea of a child. Im telling you. George Murchison aint bad! (Beneatha rolls her eyes at his comment) Ruth Now I think that if you love him you should consider it. I sure dont want you to be in Africa though. We gunna miss you like crazy Bennie! Beneatha I know. Thats why were discussing it right now. I really want to. I do love him, very much. (Mama stays quiet eating her food in silence) Travis Are you going to be dressed like when I walked in on you dancing that time? Beneatha (Laughing) Yes, Travis. It is the normal attire in Africa. Walter (Interrupting) I dont like the idea you gone be all the way out there. Ima worry bout you. Mama If she wants to go, she can. She is an adult and can make her own decisions. I dont like having my child somewhereShow MoreRelatedWhat Is an Essay?1440 Words   |  6 PagesBuscemi Essay #3 Rough Draft An essay is a creative written piece in which the author uses different styles such as diction, tone, pathos, ethos or logos to communicate a message to the reader using either a personal experience, filled with morals and parables, or a informative text filled with educational terms. Educational terms could mean the usage of complicated and elevated words or simply information you would get in schools. Some authors, such as Cynthia Ozick, claim that an essay has noRead Morenarrative essay1321 Words   |  6 PagesNarrative Essay A Brief Guide to Writing Narrative Essays Narrative writing tells a story. In essays the narrative writing could also be considered reflection or an exploration of the author s values told as a story. The author may remember his or her past, or a memorable person or event from that past, or even observe the present. When you re writing a narrative essay, loosen up. After all, you re basically just telling a story to someone, something you probably do every day in casual conversationRead MoreApplication Essay : A Process Essay770 Words   |  4 Pagesassign an essay. The entire class lets out a groan that could be heard from miles away, however this doesn’t phase your professor. The essay is assigned: a process essay. Now what? What is a process essay? How do you go about writing one? How do you get the A you so desperately need? This paper will discuss everything one needs to know in order to write the perfect process essay such as the definition of a process essay, how to construct it, and how to use proper transitions to make the essay flow. Read MoreEssay763 Words   |  4 PagesCan’t be Built on Soccer Fever† and â€Å"Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye† In Jonathan Zimmerman’s essay â€Å"African National Identities Can’t Be Built on Soccer Fever† he describes how soccer brings the people of Africa together. He talks about the unity of Africans and how much soccer is a part of their lives. He also describes the underlying reason of why soccer is so heavily pushed. The perspective in the essay â€Å"Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye† Tim Bowling discusses his passion for hockey and his hate forRead MoreThe Colonel Essay1320 Words   |  6 PagesIn the essay, The Colonel, Michael Hogan illustrates the importance of the influential sport of tennis. Hogan writes about how tennis changed his life from an early age. When he was younger he saw tennis as a rich mans sport in which he had no interest. One of his much-respected neighbors, the colonel, approached Hogan’s father with the idea that his son might like to learn how to play tennis. After pondering the thought with his father, Hogan decided to take t he offer. The Colonel became his mentorRead MorePersuasive Essays : Persuasive Essay897 Words   |  4 Pagesbegan this class, I loved to write persuasive essays. I loved to write about my own opinions and I was quite good at convincing people to agree with my stand points. To convince others to agree on my point of view was an extraordinary feeling. I am very good at getting my point across and giving my reasons on why I feel the way I do about a certain situation. I loved writing persuasive essays because I love to read them as well. I love how persuasive essays have a call-to-action; giving the readers aRead MoreEnglish Composition One: To Be an Essay or Not to Be an Essay That Is the Question910 Words   |  4 Pages In the past, the mention to have to write a paper for an assignment caused me to break out in a sweat or my mouth instantly dries, well it does not have that kind of effect on me anymore. The key to successfully completing the essay on time is getting to researc h the topic at hand as soon as possible or before the process of writing begins. The next step for me would be to find the argument and take a side. Moreover, picking a thesis statement through brainstorming the information I gathered forRead More Flight Essay834 Words   |  4 Pages Essay on quot;Flightquot; amp;#9;It is always hard to get separated from someone you love and with whom you have shared every moment of his life until he decides to walk on a different path than yours. You dont know how to react and confusion dominates your mind. Should you be angry at him for leaving you, or should you support and respect his decision ? In her essay quot;Flight,quot; Doris Lessing illustrates the story of an old man who is learning to let go his granddaughter as she growsRead MoreEssay and Academic Life1117 Words   |  5 Pageslanguage learner? Discuss two or three problems with specific examples and details. Ex. 9 Analyzing students’ essays. Use the assignment and the Student Essays to answer the following questions. Assignment: Computers have become an important part of educational process. Write convincing illustration to this statement. Use specific and convincing examples and details. Student Essay 1 Computer as a multipurpose universal instrument of education. In our days computers have become an importantRead More Community Essay843 Words   |  4 Pagesan important effect on the shaping of a person’s character is key in both Pythia Peay’s essay, â€Å"Soul Searching† and Winona LaDuke’s interview transcribed in essay form entitled, â€Å"Reclaiming Culture and the Land: Motherhood and the Politics of Sustaining Community†. The two authors present ideas, similar and different, of what it means to live in and be a part of community. Through examining these two essays, summarizing and synthesizing, we can gain a better understanding of what community is and

What Is Communication and How to Use It Effectively

Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means, including speech, or oral communication; writing  and graphical representations (such as infographics, maps, and charts); and  signs,  signals, and behavior. More simply, communication is said to be the creation and exchange of meaning.   Media critic and theorist James Carey  defined communication as a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed in his 1992 book Communication as Culture, positing that we define our reality via sharing our experience with others. All creatures on earth have developed means in which to convey their emotions and thoughts to one another. However, its the ability of humans to use words and language to transfer specific  meanings that sets them apart from the animal kingdom. Components of Communication To break it down, in any communication there is a sender and a receiver, a message, and interpretations of meaning on both ends. The receiver gives feedback to the sender of the message, both during the messages conveyance and afterward. Feedback signals can be verbal or nonverbal, such as nodding in agreement or looking away and sighing or other myriad gestures. Theres also the context of the message, the environment its given in, and potential for interference during its sending or receipt.   If the receiver can see the sender, he or she can obtain not only the messages contents but also nonverbal communication that the sender is giving off, from confidence to nervousness, professionalism to flippancy. If the receiver can hear the sender, he or she can also pick up cues from the senders tone of voice, such as emphasis and emotion.   Rhetorical Communication—The Written Form Another thing that sets humans apart from their animal cohabiters is our use of writing as a means of communication, which has been a part of the human experience for more than  5,000 years. In fact, the first essay — coincidentally about speaking effectively — is estimated to be from around the year 3,000 B.C., originating in Egypt, though it wasnt until much later that the general population was considered literate. Still, James C. McCroskey notes in An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication that texts like these are significant because they establish the historical fact that interest in rhetorical communication is nearly 5,000 years old. In fact, McCroskey posits that most ancient texts were written as instructions for communicating effectively, further emphasizing early civilizations value of furthering the practice. Through time this reliance has only grown, especially in the Internet age. Now, written or rhetorical communication is one of the favored and primary means of talking to one another — be it an instant message or a text, a Facebook post or a tweet. As Daniel Boorstin observed in Democracy and Its Discontents, the most important single change in human consciousness in the last century, and especially in the American consciousness, has been the multiplying of the means and forms of what we call communication. This is especially true in modern times with the advent of texting, e-mail, and social media as forms of communicating with others around the world. With more means of communication,  there are also  now even more ways to be misunderstood than ever. If a message contains just the written word (such as a text or email), the sender needs to be confident in its clarity, that it cannot be misinterpreted. Emails can often come off cold or clipped without that being the intention of the sender, for example, yet its not considered professional to have emoticons in formal communication to help convey  the proper meaning and context.  Ã‚   Before You Open Your Mouth or Hit Send Before preparing your message, whether its going to be in person one-on-one, in front of an audience, over the phone, or done in writing, consider the audience wholl be receiving your information, the context, and your means to convey it. What way will be the most effective? What will you have to do to ensure its conveyed properly? What do you want to make sure that you dont convey? If its important and going to be relayed in a professional context, maybe youll practice beforehand, prepare slides and graphics, and pick out professional attire so that your appearance or mannerisms dont distract from your  message. If its a written message youre preparing, youll likely want to proofread, make sure the recipients name is spelled correctly and read it aloud to find dropped words or clunky phrasing before sending it.

Fin Understanding Free Essays

Understanding the Concepts Professor Ingrain P. Nelson Fin 100 Introduction to Finance December 1, 2012 1. Imagine you are a small business owner. We will write a custom essay sample on Fin Understanding or any similar topic only for you Order Now Determine the financial ratios that are important to the business. Compare your ratios with those that are important to a manager of a larger corporation. As a business owner, financial understanding is something that has to be studied before you decide that you are going to open or even start a new business. Small businesses in general run the finance operations of their business in a different way than the larger corporations. Most of the small businesses must rely on the personal investors or personal resources to access money needed to be a successful business. It does not matter if it is a small business or a corporation; being a successful business depends on having the capability to make more than what is being paid out. Now that we have a little understanding of what it will take to start the business; we must have knowledge of the different types of ratios that will help us with this. The main three ratios that are used in the business world are the current ratio, total debt ratio, and profit margin. The current Asia is a measure of the company ability to pay off its short-term debt as it comes due (Melcher Norton). This ratio is computed by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. Total debt ratio is Just what you think it is; the total amount of debt the company has. The total debt ratios are total debt or total liabilities of the business and divide it by the total assets. Profit margin is simply how much profits (money) is made during the operation or while the business was open if you had to close it down. Net income is divided by sales in order to show the profit. All of the three ratios are used to no matter how big or small your company seems to be. 2. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of debt financing and why an organization would choose to issue stocks rather than bonds to generate funds. If you run into the problem of the current ratio showing that you have the inability to cover the costs of the business then, debt financing may be the best solution for this problem. As we know with all financial options, there are some advantages and disadvantages of any company or business. The first advantage for debt financing is that it allows the menders or the owners of the company to maintain control and ownership of the company. A second advantage would be that the interest paid on the loan may be tax deductible depending on the type of loan. The best part is the lenders you borrow money from do not share in your profits. The main disadvantage is the risk of credit ratings getting ruined or filing for bankruptcy (Palaver, n. D. ) As an organization; they can choose to either issue stocks or bonds to help generate funds for the company. Most of the time they prefer to issue stocks over bonds. Stocks are a form of winnowers; they represent participation in a company’s growth (Investigated). A between investors and institutions that, in return for financing, will pay a premium for borrowing, known as a coupon (Investigated). When it comes to the obligation of repay the principle on the stocks you have none; now for the bond you must pay it on the date of maturity. The inertest of the bond has dividends, but the company only pays the dividends when the company makes a profit. The stocks have a fixed interest rate that has to be paid at a specific time. 3. Discuss how financial returns are related to risk. We know that how the returns work is the greater the risk the greater the returns. The more you invest the more you will get back in returns. The relationship between financial risk and return is the gain or the lost from investments or securities. Just because you have chosen to take a higher risk does not mean that your return will be as high as the risk you took. There are five factors of model investment risk shows risks in terms of credit risk, term risk, market risk, size risk, and price risk. The return on an investment can be measured by a real rate which is what is earned after inflation has been figured into the value. The market, size, and price factors are the link between risk and return (Risk and return are related – Wealth Foundations, n. D. ). Now the beta stock is one factor that will help to determine the risk. 4. Describe the concept of beta and how it is used. A stocks beta is the measure of an asset’s systematic risk and the relative risk (Melcher and Norton). Beta also measures the volatility or variability of an asset’s returns relative to the market portfolio (Melcher and Norton). The assets of the company are more volatile than the market. If the company has a greater systematic sis than the market then the betas are greater than 1. . Even though the total risk and the sum of systematic risks are all measured by beta, they are equal and they are all measured in different units. Total risk is measured in percentages and beta is unit less. The rules of how the beta works can be very easy to understand. The beta value will always be greater than 1 if a stocks price moves more than the stock market. If the value of the beta is less than 1, the stock market is moving more than the stocks price. Increased volatility of stock price equals higher risk for the investors ND a higher expected return, therefore betas over 1 are riskier. Betas under 1 are the exact opposite. These stocks have fewer risks, less volatility, and smaller overall returns. (Stock Beta and Volatility, n. D. ) 5. Contrast systematic and unsystematic risk. As mentioned in the above paragraphs, ownership of stock does not come without risks. The types of risks are categorized as systematic and unsystematic risks. The risks are very similar to each other; in that they are both affected by news and represent changes in a stocks return. The combination of these two risk types is noninsured the total risk. At this point is where the similarities between the two risks end. Systematic risks, also known as non-diversified risks, are common risks that affect all stock. This risk is the portion of an asset that can be linked to market factors that influence all firms (Marina, 2010). The market for the systematic risk is the news, such as hurricanes, war, or an increase in interest rates, that links with the investments of the company. When things like this happen the investors do not have control; and now this presents a higher risk for the stockholders. Now that the hysteretic risks cannot be mitigated through diversification, they require a risk reward for buying a risky stock. The risky premium is determined solely by the systematic risks of a security. In addition to the risk premium, stockholders expect high returns because of the high risks posed by systematic risks. (Weakened, Kismet, ; Skies, 2011) Unsystematic risks or diversified risks are independent risks that only affect a single company or industry. The risk indicates a portion of an asset that is related to random causes that are linked to firm-specific events (Marina, 2010). The types of unsystematic events are to be made by the company or the industry specific news. When a merger happens between two companies this is what falls into the unsystematic risk category. Also other industry factors and events such as labor unions, strikes, lawsuits, and marketing strategies are a unsystematic risk. The changes that happen resulting from the independent risks are unrelated across investments. If the company has one unsystematic event that may happen, this will not have an effect on the entire outcome of the portfolio. Since the risk was so low this meaner that the stock will not be able to receive a risk premium. They can, however, diversify their portfolio to eliminate unsystematic risks. The elimination of the risks lowers the return an investor can expect (Weakened, Kismet, ; Skies, 2011). 6. Imagine your manufacturing corporation has Just won a patent lawsuit. After attorney and other fees, your corporation will have about $1 million. Explain how you plan to invest the money in order to diversify the risk and receive a good return. Support your decisions with concepts learned in this course. If my manufacturing corporation has Just won a patent lawsuit, I would have to take advantage the financial concepts that I have learned in this class such as financial management, stock and bonds, and the financial risk. I would use these concepts in order to diversify the risk and receive a good return. I am not for sure as to how much was awarded before the attorney and other fees but, only about $1 million will remain. This money will be invested into different portfolios that would help to diversify the risks that I will be taken not that I have money to do that with. Taking about half of the money to invest in multiple companies that have the potential to row and I can see where it would grow. I would buy shares; this will give me the long term investments. How to cite Fin Understanding, Papers

Henri Toulouse Lautrec Example For Students

Henri Toulouse Lautrec Biography Biography Henri (Marie Raymond) de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) French painter and lithographer, born at Albi. Descended from an ancient family of southwest France, a fall from a horse broke his thighbones, and he was crippled. Left only 1.55 metres (61 inches) tall, he felt cut off from his family, sought refuge in art and went to Paris in 1882. There, in the cafà ©s and cabarets of Montmartre (e.g. the Moulin Rouge) he found the subjects for his pictures and drawings – dancers, singers and prostitutes – as well as circus and racecourse scenes. He shared the gay, grotesque, dissipated life of those he painted and developed a sympathetic insight into their character. The main influences on his style were Japanese woodcuts and the work of Degas. In the last decade of his life he mastered lithography and his work in that field had an important influence on the development of poster art.

The educated imagination Essay Example For Students

The educated imagination Essay What is the relevance of literature in the world of today? (Frye 27) Frye asks many rhetorical questions, such as this, throughout his essays to formulate a mutual connection with the reader. This connection that is between the author and the reader is a connection of the imagination. The part of the imagination that is being used my both parties are quiet different however. The authors imagination input is, as Frye puts it, the power to create. The readers imagination, then, is the power to understand, together forming the essentials of literature. This common link is achieved primarily by archetypes, being the fulfillment of the readers desire to associate and make connections with. As humans, we seek this connection to literature and being able to connect and belong to something soon becomes the ultimate goal of literature all together. In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, a group of English schoolboys living in an uninhabited island seek a connection to the outside, objective world. They find a need to build shelters to remind them of the world they lived in that they had already familiarized themselves with. We will write a custom essay on The educated imagination specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In addition, they feel the need to continue their everyday routines such as raising their hand when answering a question. Ralph, when addressing to the other boys with solution as to what they were going to do on the island mentions, we cant have everybody talking at once. Well have to have Hands up like at school. (Golding 44) This need to connect to the objective world is evident wherein there is a desire to connect, that soon becomes the need to belong. Literature fulfills this need through the extent of the imagination. Frye begins by saying, the world of literature is a world where there is no reality except that of the human imagination. (Frye 57) This is similar to our objective world, where we make reality what we believe to be reality. In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, the group of English schoolboys fear an imaginary beast that roams the island terrorizing the island. In reality, however, the beast is just an extent of the boys imaginations that has been brought into existence as a result of their behaviour. Simon, at a group gathering says, maybe there is a beast. maybe its only us. (Golding 80) The beast ultimately becomes suggested to be just a figure of the imagination, formed by the boys imaginations from being apart from their familiarized objective world. This imagined world then, has no reality within literature except for what the imagination perceives it to be. Elena has already mentioned conventionalism as being an evident factor distinguishing reality and literature wherein literature has no consistent connection with ordinary life. Instead, this vivid connection is made with the imagination. When reading a piece of literature, connections are fallaciously believed to be made within reality, when actually it is made with our imagination. Frye earlier defined the imagination to be the world we want to have. Therefore, this signifies that literature reflects a world that we desire, which doesnt necessarily mirror reality. Frye later defines imagination as the power of constructing possible models of human experiences. Therefore, it is through experiences that we enhance our imagination to create literature. Experience is a broad word including the experiences of the literary world. Frye agrees that it is the literary experiences that have a greater value than experience gained within life when he says no matter how much experience we may gather in life, we can never get the dimension of experience that the imagination gives us. (Frye 61) Frye provides the example of Shakespeare, the writer of numerous plays depicting different shades of human emotion- from comedies to tragedies to exemplify this concept. .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .postImageUrl , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:hover , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:visited , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:active { border:0!important; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:active , .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10 .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc6138dc5673b05843f40a7897bca9f10:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Road Not Taken EssayShakespeare couldnt possibly have experienced, in reality, the guilt of killing a king as in Macbeth nor could he have experienced the passionate love resulting in an untimely death, as in Romeo and Juliet. Despite this lack of realistic experience, Shakespeare manages to create literature; the reason for this being that his literature wasnt based on realistic experience, but rather literary experience. Literature, then, is a concrete world of immediate experience, where experience is made into reality. The limit of literature is imagination, which exceeds the capabilities of our objective world. Frye says, The real realities, so to speak, are things that dont remind us directly of our own experience but are such things which are bigger and more intense than anything we can reach, except in our imagination which is what were reaching with. Ideally, Frye is supporting his earlier point of literary experience having a greater influence on successive literature, and imagination being the idealistic tool to attain this literary experience. Relating back to Fryes overall essay statement, literature is an extent of the imagination going beyond our objective world, creating a work for our imagination to extend into. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Languages section.

Best Automotive Business Pract essays

Best Automotive Business Pract essays Survival of the Fittest in the Present Automotive Market How Slow and Steady Can Win the Race The automobile manufacturing trade presents an interesting and important microcosm of American business as a whole. The general public opinion is that American manufacturing in general is faltering-that decreases in worker productivity and product quality, stiff competition from foreign concerns, increasing domestic labor costs, a diminishing loyalty among consumers for U.S. made products, and other factors are causing a subtle shift in our entire economy. Americans just dont build the best products, or so says the current school of thought, and the future of the U.S. economy lies not in manufacturing, but service sectors. To the casual observer, nowhere is this opinion more valid than in the American automotive industry. It is common knowledge that domestic carmakers are struggling, and have been for decades. Buick Motor Division, and the General Motors conglomerate of which it is a part, once enjoyed unparalleled prestige and rosy prospects for the future. Then, competition and other outside forces reshaped the landscape of the U.S. auto market. Buick and other domestic car companies foundered for over three decades. A few American companies went out of business altogether during this tumultuous time, including Studebaker, American Motors and Eagle. Even more recently, the Oldsmobile and Plymouth divisions of General Motors and Chrysler, respectively, were dismantled by corporate edicts within months of their centennial celebrations. Many industry pundits now predict that General Motors Buick division will be next. However, Buick is implementing business strategies that could not only save the division, but enable it to thrive in the coming years. Presently, the centenarian company has a unique opportunity to grow in a stagnant segment, by continuing its tradition of quiet innovation, m aintaining ties with its core custome...

Ancient chinese civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Ancient chinese civilization - Essay Example From the novel The Three Kingdoms, we see that the Chinese society around that period greatly valued loyalty as a strong virtue that bounded together two or more people who had the same ambitions and mission. Loyalty was so important during this age such that there were vows which were cited either in secrecy or at a very serene place. The first instance when loyalty was displayed was when the three brothers came together in fraternity to bind themselves in a code of honor that greatly guided their future actions and also kept them strong even when they were on the brink of dying. The oath was a very important symbol of unity and loyalty to one another as their words suggested i.e. â€Å"we three Lui Pei, Kuan Yu and Chang Fei, though of separate birth, now bind ourselves in brotherhood, combining our strength and purpose to relive the present crisis (Lo Kuan-Chung & Moss Roberts, page 9)†. Loyalty was basically what the leadership in China was based on. Every leader throughout the novel, the three kingdoms, demanded that of all their subjects as there was always an imminent attack on them by those who were dissatisfied by the leadership. We see those loyal to the throne being treated well and showered with gifts so that they continue being loyal and expose those they suspected of disloyalty. Disloyalty was a serious offence not tolerable in the Chinese society during this period and any slight sign of disloyalty normally led to nothing less than execution. This punishment as if not severe enough, would be followed by the execution of the ‘traitor’s’ whole house hold. There are many cases where this was evident, for instance in the case where Ts’ao Ts’ao realized of the plot to kill him, he first apprehended Ping and tortured him for days. Thereafter he went on to arrest the other six conspirators, including Tung Cheng. They were all executed together with their household (women and children alike) bringing the

Participant observation (Race and Ethnicity - in & beyond US) Essay

Participant observation (Race and Ethnicity - in & beyond US) - Essay Example One will find hundreds of hard to find authentic ingredients, food, and groceries for Korean and all other Asian cuisines such as spicy Korean pepper bean paste, popular Japanese ramen noodles, Asian BBQ sauce, kim chi, other health enhancing herbal drinks, herbal cigarettes that help you kick the habit, Japanese miso, tempura, udon, many exotic condiments and canned goods to make preparing authentic Korean food and other Asian dishes easy. The owner is a man and wife of Korean descent. Most customers are Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and a few Americans. I had always surmised that this is a busy venue at this time of the day due to commuters rushing home from work. Majority of the people I observed were women making a hurried trip to this place to do some shopping for dinner. I see interspersed attendance from teenagers who just hang around, meet with friends, or were running errands. I do not see businessmen and professionals often except for some husbands accompanying their wives to do some marketing. At times, mothers come with their little children in tow. I sat on a chair beside the counter. I bought some snacks and opened a notebook. I saw people of different cultures and races coming in and out of the place. There were Asians (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos) and a few Americans who appear to recognize and acknowledge each others’ presence through a quick smile, a nod, and at times, for men – a hand shake. I observed that it is actually the women who initiate either verbal or non verbal interaction. Regular customers talk to cashiers and their favorite personnel from the market who were just so happy to be of service. This exemplifies reciprocity at work. I tried to do some non verbal interaction through smiling and acknowledging acquaintances and they responded favorably. I asked strangers what the time is and they responded cordially. I do not feel intimidated or compromised being alone in this

The Future Prospects Of Cloud Computing

The Future Prospects Of Cloud Computing Cloud computing involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are divided into three types: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name was inspired by the cloud symbol thats often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams. Cloud computing is used to describe both a platform and type of application. A cloud computing platform provisions, configures, reconfigures, and deprovisions servers as needed. Servers in the cloud can be physical or virtual machines. Cloud computing also describes applications that are accessible through the Internet. Anyone with a suitable Internet connection and a standard browser can access a cloud application. Characteristics of Cloud Figure 1: Cloud Structure Dynamic computing infrastructure Cloud computing demands a dynamic computing infrastructure. The foundation for the dynamic structure is a scalable, standardized, and secure physical infrastructure. There should be redundant levels to ensure high levels of availability, but mostly to extend as usage growth demands it, without requiring architectural rework. It must also be virtualized. These services require easy provisioning and de-provisioning via software automation. IT service-centric approach Cloud computing is IT service-centric. This is in contrast to system- or server- centric models. In most of the cases, users of the cloud would prefer to easily access a dedicated instance of an application or service. Service Centric approach enables user adoption and business agility, reducing costs or driving revenue. Self-service based usage model This model must provide an easy to use user interface that enables users to manage the service delivery lifecycle. The advantage of self service from the users perspective is empowerment and independence that yields significant business agility. One benefit often overlooked from the service providers perspective is that the more self service that can be delegated to users, the less administrative involvement is necessary. This saves both time and money. Minimally or self-managed platform In order for a service provider to efficiently provide a cloud for its clients, they must leverage a technology platform that is self managed. A provisioning engine for deploying services, recovering resources for high levels of reuse, mechanisms for scheduling and reserving resource capacity, and capabilities for configuring, managing, and reporting to ensure resources can be allocated, tools for controlling access to resources and policies. 2.5. Consumption-based billing Cloud computing is usage-driven and consumers pay for only the resources they use and therefore are charged or billed on a consumption-based model. Cloud computing must provide mechanisms to capture usage information that enables integration with billing systems. The value from a users perspective is the ability for them to pay only for the resources they use, helping them keep their costs down. From providers perspective, it allows them to track usage for charge back and billing purposes. Types of Clouds Figure 2: Cloud Types Public cloud Public cloud also referred to as external cloud describes cloud computing in the conventional sense. Here the resources are dynamically provisioned over the Internet, through web applications or web services, from an off-site third-party provider who shares resources and bills on a utility computing basis. Community cloud A community cloud can be established where many organizations have similar type of requirements and seek to share the infrastructure so as to realize some of the benefits of cloud computing. This option is comparatively expensive but offers a higher level of privacy, security and/or policy compliance. Example of community cloud includes Googles Gov Cloud. Hybrid cloud A hybrid cloud consisting of multiple internal and/or external providers is most common for enterprises. By combining numerous cloud services, users are able to ease and facilitate the transition to public cloud services. Another perspective on deploying a web application in the cloud is using Hybrid Hosting, where the hosting is a mix between Cloud Hosting for the web server, and Managed dedicated server for the database server. Private cloud For private cloud, implementing the cloud is controlled completely by the enterprise. They are hence also referred to as internal clouds. Private clouds are implemented in the companys data center and managed by internal resources. A private cloud maintains all corporate data in resources under the control of the legal umbrella of the organization. Architecture of Cloud Computing The architecture of cloud computing is rooted in hardware and software infrastructures that enable scaling and virtualization. Many data centers deploy these capabilities today. Figure 3: Cloud Architecture Virtualized Infrastructure Virtualization ensures that applications or business services are not directly dependent on the underlying hardware infrastructure such as storage, servers, or networks. This allows business services to move dynamically in a very efficient manner, based upon predefined policies. Virtualized Applications This component helps the application to decouple itself from the underlying operating system, storage, hardware, and network to enable flexibility in deployment. Virtualized Application servers can take advantage of grid computing along with SOA and ensures scalability to meet the business requirements. Development tools Development tools can facilitate clouds distributed computing capabilities. These tools not only facilitate service orchestration but also enable business processes to be developed that can leverage the parallel processing capabilities. The development tools must support dynamic provisioning. Enterprise Management Enterprise management provides the top-down, end-to-end management of the virtualized infrastructure. The enterprise management layer handles the full lifecycle of virtualized resources. Security and Identity Management Clouds must make use of a security infrastructure and unified identity to enable flexible provisioning. As clouds provision resources external to the enterprises legal boundaries, it becomes absolutely necessary to implement an Information Asset Management system to provide the requisite controls to meet compliance requirements. Current Benefits of Cloud Computing Decoupling and separation of business from infrastructure Elastic nature of the infrastructure to rapidly allocate and de-allocate massively scalable resources on a demand basis Reduced costs due to operational efficiencies Cloud makes it possible to launch Web 2.0 applications scale up applications as much as needed when needed supports traditional Javaà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) stack-based applications as well as new architectures such as MapReduce and the Google File System, which provide a means to scale applications across thousands of servers instantly Business Problem The main issues related to cloud computing in current situation revolves around: How does cloud computing alter the business model of ITeS? What are the economic and technical aspects of cloud implementation? How cloud computing will affect business? What are the potential drivers and barriers in cloud computing? Cloud computing can help users avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is billed similar to a utility (like electricity) or subscription (like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Another advantage of this time sharing style approach is low barrier to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead, and immediate access to a broad range of applications. Users can generally terminate the contract at any time and the services are often covered by SLAs with financial penalties. Other factors impacting the scale of any cost savings include the efficiency of a companys data center as compared to the cloud vendors, the companys existing operating costs, and the type of functionality being hosted in the cloud. Existing Scenario The Existing Cloud Computing Adoption Model The existing cloud computing adoption by enterprise is modelled on Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The Cloud Computing Adoption Model proposes five steps: Level 1: Virtualization as the Cloud adoption employs application virtualization technology for shared server infrastructure and seamless portability. Level 2: Cloud Experimentation since Virtualization occurs internally or externally, based on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to compute capacity and as a result of the reference architecture. Level 3: Cloud Foundations occurring due to procedures, policies, Governance, controls, and best practices begin to form around the deployment and development of cloud applications. These efforts always focus on non-mission critical, internal applications. Level 4: Cloud Advancement. Government foundations allow organizations to scale up the volume of cloud applications through broad-based deployments in the cloud. Level 5: Cloud Actualization as the Applications are distributed based on proximity to user, cloud capacity, cost. This Model outlines the readiness criteria, expected returns, risk factors, strategic goals, key investment requirements for graduating to the next step. Cloud Computing Alters ITeS Business Models The conventional value chain for IT services, extending from design, development, maintenance and support of IT infrastructures to the maintenance of the application and ITC landscape, is changing as a result of cloud computing concepts. The existing ITeS Business model as shown below is altered due to the impact of cloud computing and is explained below: Figure 4: ITeS Business Model Infrastructure Core Capabilities: The core capabilities required to deliver cloud services to the customers can be classified into 3 segments. These are: Service management and provisioning: This segment consists of Operations management, Service Provisioning, SLA management, Utilization Monitoring, Backup, Data Management. Security and Data Privacy: This segment consists of Authentication and Authorization, Data Network Security, Data Privacy, Auditing and Accounting Data Center Facilities: Under this part comes the Routers/Firewalls, LAN/WAN, Internet Access, Hosting Centers. Partners: If companies want SAAS to live up to its potential in a community-focused business model-centralizing communication, collaboration and business synchronicity across multiple, diverse companies-they need to augment technology implementation with a fresh approach to partner management. Key Processes: Cloud Services currently offers various services like Test and Development, Internet application Hosting, Disaster Recovery, File Storage, On-demand Storage, utility Computing, SaaS Applications, Log processing, Batch Computing, Jobs, Application Development. Offering Value Proposition: There are certain compelling benefits that the customers receive from Cloud Computing. These are: Reduce Cost: Reduction in total cost of ownership by optimally using the hardware and Software licenses Agility: The infrastructure can be provisioned quickly Global Scale: Massively scalable engines allow building highly scalable services for consumers Customers Customer Segments: The main target segment for the cloud services are the big enterprises, medium enterprises, small enterprises, independent software vendors, developers, etc. Customer Requirements: The main things that the customers require from cloud service providers are easy to use console, reliability, security, flexibility, low cost, green IT, etc. Finances Cost Structure: Cloud computing builds on established trends for driving the cost out of the delivery of services while increasing the speed and agility with which services are deployed. The cost of these environments is minimal because they can coexist on the same servers as production environments because they use few resources. Revenue: Cloud computing enables a shift in IT provision from direct purchase and payment for services to provision of services which are free at point of use and where revenue is derived from advertising. The largest component of the overall cloud services market is cloud-based advertising. Profit: Thus with reduction of cost in a great extent and a shift of revenue model to the advertisements, the profit for the Cloud Services is expected to be quite bright. The maturity model structure helps to classify and compare Cloud computing offerings Figure 5: Cloud Computing Maturity Model For Software as a Service (SaaS), there are business models based on pure SaaS solutions, with independent architectures. The Internet browser plays a key part and becomes part of the SaaS applications and acts as the user interface. A SaaS provider manages an application in their proprietary data center and makes it available to multiple users over the Web. Oracle CRM On Demand, Salesforce.com, and Netsuite are some of the well known SaaS examples For Platform as a Service (PaaS), the largest variant involves extensive middleware components. This platform comprises of infrastructure software, and typically includes a database, middleware and development tools. Creation of full-service platform solutions means that independent software vendors (ISVs) and IT departments of system integrators can develop and deliver applications online using third-party infrastructure services. For example, Google AppEngine is a PaaS offering where developers write in Python or Java. EngineYard is Ruby on Rails. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) business model comprises three different types: public, private and hybrid cloud models. It is the evolution of conventional hosting that doesnt need any commitment and at the same time ensures the users to the provision of resources on demand. Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Secure Storage Service (S3) are examples of IaaS offerings Economic Aspects of Cloud Implementation Due to recessionary impact as the demand for cost optimisation rises high, cloud computing is emerging as an option for large and small players, seemingly to the benefit of consulting companies in that domain. Cloud computing offers virtualized resources as a service over the internet, incorporating infrastructure, software and platform as services, without a user having to bear large costs by way of acquiring expensive assets in any of the three. It reduces capex into opex and enables computing at a fraction of the investment required to buy all the hardware and software. Technical Aspects of Cloud Implementation The three most important technical aspects of the cloud three items of the Cloud: 1) infinite computing resources 2) elimination of an up-front commitment and 3) pay for use of computing resources on a short-term basis as needed. The other important aspects are discusses below Server Compute Capacity The most important reason for leveraging cloud capabilities is to quickly gain access to hundreds or thousands of computers for compute capacity as and when required. Use of the cloud can be up to 90% faster than using servers in data centers. It is ideal for seasonal business load and traffic spikes. Storage Capacity There is so much structured and unstructured data on Enterprise storage servers that managing it requires a major cost. As building compute capacity in the Enterprise has become expensive, so has the building of storage capacity. The use of cloud computing for storage capacity can be ideal, especially for spikes in usage. Network Access Cloud computing services are generally accessed and delivered through and over the web. Compared to a traditional model, the use of a public network rather than a private network is a big change. The inherent routing delivery advantages of TCP-IP that gets messages to their destination even when multiple paths are down can be applied through cloud computing. Multiple Locations A cloud provider with multiple locations for delivery, fail-over and back-up. The technical capabilities enables load to be easily transferred from one location to another. Easy to use Cloud computing can be used as programming and technical conventions are similar enough to those of conventional computing, and leading cloud computing platforms have open APIs. How Cloud Computing will Change business New generation of products and services Cloud computing allows innovative companies offer products that are significantly less costly due to reduced capex and new business models Lightweight form of real-time partnerships and outsourcing with IT suppliers Cloud computing will provide agility and control that traditional outsourcing providers cannot match for the most part. Awareness and leverage of the greater Internet applications and Web 2.0 in particular A reconciliation of traditional SOA with the cloud and other emerging IT models Web-Oriented Architecture fits very well with cloud technologies which are heavily Web-based and its a natural way of building SOA at every level of the organization. Rise of new industry leaders and IT vendors Well-funded new cloud startups will bring new technologies, new sensibility (radical openness and transparency, and Web-focus) thats often needed with cloud computing More self-service IT from the business-side SaaS will require increasingly less and less involvement from the IT department. More tolerance for innovation and experimentation With lesser and lesser economic and technological barriers creating new ways to improve the business, cloud computing will enable prototyping and market validation of new approaches much faster Drivers Barriers of Cloud Computing Customer Perspective: Drivers economics Faster, simpler, cheaper to use cloud apps No upfront capital required for servers and storage No ongoing operational expenses for running datacenter Applications can be accessed from anywhere, anytime Customer Perspective: Barriers Data Security Many customers dont wish to trust their data to the cloud Data must be locally retained for regulatory reasons Latency The cloud can be many milliseconds away Not suitable for real-time applications Application Availability Cannot switch from existing legacy applications Equivalent cloud applications do not exist Vendor Perspective: Drivers economics Easier for application vendors to reach new customers Lowest cost way of delivering and supporting applications Ability to use commodity server and storage hardware Ability to drive down data center operational cots Vendor Perspective: Barriers Service Level Agreements What if something goes wrong? What is the true cost of providing SLAs? Business Models SaaS/PaaS models are challenging Much lower upfront revenue Customer Lock-in Customers want open/standard APIs Need to continuously add value Risks Security Issues in Cloud Computing Currently many companies are considering moving applications to the cloud but still there is doubt about the security of third party services. There are following risks security issues involved with cloud computing: No ownership of Hardware Companies who want to audit the providers and do their own testing need to consider the fact that they dont own the hardware. Conducting a penetration test requires the permission of the cloud-service provider .Otherwise; the client is illegally hacking into the providers systems. While some SLAs such as Amazons specify that testing of their software running on the providers systems can be done but getting explicit permission is key. Need of Strong policies and user education Cloud computing provides companies numerous benefits, to allow access to data from anywhere and removing maintenance headaches from the IT staff, but the phishing attacks that hit workers at home could threaten the company. Thus there is need for training the employees for the proper use of benefits especially to non technical users Risk related to machine instances There is always a risk during the use of virtual machine from a provider; companies should never trust the system. Companies should create their own images for internal use, and protect themselves legally from potentially malicious third-party developers. Privileged user access Sensitive data processing brings with it an inherent risk, because outsourcing services bypass the physical, logical and personnel controls IT shops exert over in-house programs. So it is advisable to fetch as much information as you can about the people who manage your data. Regulatory compliance Customers are finally responsible for the integrity and security of own data, even if it is held by a service provider. Traditional service providers are subjected to external audits and security certifications. Cloud computing providers who do not undergo this scrutiny are indicating that clients can only use them for the most trivial functions. Risk related to Data location Data can be located at any location and one might not even know where it will be stored like the name of the country also. So it may not be clear, whether the provider is obeying the local privacy requirements. Risks with Encryption Schemes Data in the cloud is in a shared environment along with data from other customers. Encryption is effective but isnt panacea. It is important to find out what can be done to segregate data at rest .The cloud provider should provide proof that encryption standards were designed and validated by experienced specialists. Recovery Risk On the one hand user does not know the location of data while on the other hand he doesnt know what will happen to his data and service in case of a disaster. Any absence of disaster recovery or offering that does not replicate the data across multiple sites is potentially vulnerable to a complete failure. Recommendations Future Prospects Lower costs of market entry Application deployment, faster payback on development costs, and superior return on investment will drive cloud-based platform adoption for both entrepreneurial and enterprise developers. Internal Clouds Most IT organizations will opt for internal clouds. These are cloudy environments that are implemented within a companys own data centers. The case for this perspective is that before IT orgs reach out to external cloud providers, theyll want to get better use out of the equipment they already have. Providers that Understand their target audience Ride the new wave of Virtualization solutions Migrations, business process automations, BPM,consultancies Chose to be an IaaS Appropriate visibility, analytics, OS, storage, DR, compute power, security, on demand billing, Fully integrated Platform as a Service IaaS, ERP, Databases, XML files, flat files, web services, API availability, DNS Niche specialists -Mobile or VoIP platforms

Urban Regeneration of London Docklands – A sustainable success?

During the late 18th century and early 19th century the London Docklands were a very important industrial centre and the busiest port in the world. Right into the early part of the 20th century, the docks provided employment for thousands of dockers. Trade was focused around maritime activities, for example shipbuilding and the import of goods, such as tobacco and sugar, stored in large warehouses encircling the docks. Traffic through the Royal Docks reached its peak in the 1950s and early 1960s. However after a turn of technological improvements, the docks became abandoned and derelict. The first change, in the 1950's, was an increase in the size of ships. The ships were so big that trade had to be moved down river to Tilbury docks, which was next to the sea and not crowded by poor roads and a large city. Unemployment, few amenities and poor living conditions followed this in 1970. Other changes included a rise in air travel, competition from other ports and the need for more space. All these factors resulted in the closure of the London Docklands in 1981creating an area of derelict and unused space. The conditions for the locals in 1981 were very poor, there were a lot of high density housing – cheap, but small and old fashioned. Over half of the Docklands was derelict, vacant or under-used with empty factories and other buildings. There was virtually no open space and only a few small shops and leisure facilities. Transport was poorly developed and the narrow roads were congested with lorries. The unemployment rate was 17.8% and the population of the Docklands had fallen by 20%. Something needed to change, so in July 1981 the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to improve the social, economic and environmental conditions of the area. The LDDC was an urban development corporation set up by an Act of Parliament it wanted to tackle the main problems of the area, and attract new people to live and work there. The LDDC wanted to undertake the issues of: * Transport * Utilities * The environment * Housing * Community infrastructure * Unemployment * Reclamation Example of Environmental Development Details Visual appearance * Refurbishment of docks allowing them public access. * Urban design, street furniture, public art. * Restoration of listed properties. * Reclamation of 7square km of derelict land. Environmental projects * Wildlife and nature parks created. * 160,000 trees planted. * 17 conservation areas. Example of Social Development Details Housing * 19,000 new homes built. * 2,000 new social housing units. * 770 council houses refurbished. Community infrastructure * 12 new primary schools. * 5 new health centres and 6 refurbished health centres. Utilities * Improvement in drainage. * Improvement in electricity supplies. Example of Economic Development Details Tourism * Increase in Tourism, with Docklands receiving 2.1 million visitors last year. Unemployment * Unemployment rates: 17.8% in 1981 and 7.2% in December 1997. * Population increased from 39,000 in 1981, to 68,000 in 1995. * 2,800 new jobs created. Transport à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½950million spent * New roads. * Docklands Light Railway. * London City Airport. * Pedestrian and cycle networks. Commercial Development * Many companies chose to move out and make the most of the cheap office rents and open space. * 16million mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ of commercial development completed. * 11.2 million sq. ft of completed new office space. * à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.7 billion of public centre investment and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½6.1 billion of private investment towards new businesses and office developments. * Large superstores and shopping complexes. However not every aspect of the regeneration was successful, some of the impacts that affected the local people and the area were not good ones: * The new jobs created did not solve unemployment as they were designed to attract rich, skilled workers, there were few jobs created for the unskilled inner city population. * Money was spent on expensive office blocks rather than local amenities and services. * Wealthy new people brought extra money and trade to the area, but this caused local shop prices to rise. * The new housing built is too expensive for the locals. This has lead to gentrification. * Poverty in social housing estates was outlined and inequality increased, when rich, skilled workers moved to the area. * The traditional ‘Eastenders' community was destroyed by the changes. * Transport schemes were seen as inadequate, although there has been some improvement with the Jubilee line extension in the 1990's, critics believe it should have been in place before. * The recession in the early 1990's saw work stopping on Canary Wharf and a sharp increase in unemployed and homeless people. Physically and environmentally, the London Docklands regeneration has been a success, however socially it has been a failure, especially for lower social classes. A survey taken in 1996 showed that 22% of people thought that life had got worse as a result of the regeneration. However other factors and mainly the visual appearance of the Docklands is much better than it would have been had the regeneration not taken place.

Report: High School and Attendance Essay

Introduction Like other schools around the nation, Beech Grove Intermediate School is experiencing a serious problem with attendance. This has been cited as a problem and something that needs to be addressed so that Beech Grove Intermediate can achieve the attendance rate they need to become a Four-Star status school. Currently, the attendance at Beech Grove Intermediate is averaging around 95 percent. The rate needs to increase to 97 percent for the school to achieve Four-Star status. Beech Grove Intermediate does have an attendance policy; however, other strategies could be implemented to increase the attendance. Attendance is an important part of children’s and parents’ everyday responsibilities, and poor attendance habits cause lifelong consequences. Many schools around the nation report low attendance and high tardiness rates. This problem needs to be addressed in order to help our children do well in school and become responsible adults. Children who are habitually late or chronically absent miss out on much that is learned in school. Even being 5 to 10 minutes late each day creates a situation where children can lose a considerable amount of time that is being spent on their schooling. Also, it is known that children with poor attendance rates in elementary and high school continue to show problems of tardiness and even proficiency later in life once they go to college or pursue a career. Changes in the attendance program at Beech Grove are needed, and the following report is intended to propose tactics for increasing the attendance rate at Beech Grove Intermediate School. Methodology For this report we surveyed teachers from six local elementary and secondary schools to get an idea of what other schools were doing to increase their attendance. We received 50 completed questionnaires. We also searched scholarly databases such as ERIC to find relevant articles on the problem of increasing attendance. These articles outline several solutions to increasing attendance in schools. Review of the Literature This review of recently published literature on attendance addresses causes, effective policies, parental contact, community involvement, teacher/student relationships, and rewards and incentives to increase student attendance. Causes of Absenteeism. All the literature agrees that absenteeism is an all too common problem for schools around the country. This can be traced to a range of causes from unsupportive school environment to poor health of the student. According to John Doughtery (1999), home dynamics play a key role in absenteeism. The parents are the key to how often a child attends class (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10). Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen (1996) agree with this and list parent influence on absenteeism as number two on their list for reasons for absence. They go on to state that lack of caring by the parents, or parents who are not home to see the child off to school are major reasons for students not to go to class, especially with younger students (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). Other than home life, illness of the child is also given as a common reason for absenteeism in the literature. Also, appointments and vacations are listed as top reasons in the literature as well. Doughtery attests to this in saying, â€Å"It is now common practice for students to miss school for general appointments to avoid tests and assignments† (1999, p.10). Two authors noted that homeless students or students who live in a family that move very frequently are more likely to be chronically absent from school (Epstien, Sheldon, 2002, p. 311). Some of the authors also agree that if a student is not succeeding in school then they are less likely to want to come to school. This also goes along with schools that do not give praise to students or interact with the students so that no one feels left out, and help to see that everyone succeeds (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10). In short, all of the authors agree that parental involvement and student-teacher interaction is very important in keeping absenteeism down. Effective Policies and Parental Contact As schools seek new programs and ideas for increasing student attendance, one of the two most frequently mentioned tactics in the literature are having an effective attendance policy and increasing communication with parents and guardians. According to Dan Vandivier (2003), a high school principal, attendance policies must be stringent and must also be persistently adhered to. He states that policies must be fair and also have â€Å"flexibility to accommodate mitigating circumstances† (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81). Vandivier’s new attendance policy no longer distinguished between excused and unexcused and allowed administration discretion in dealing with excessive absences for legitimate reasons (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81). Dougherty (1999) agrees that schools must produce a clear fair attendance policy that is up to date and standardized and communicate it. Many studies have also shown a correlation between increased parental contact and increased attendance (Smerka, 1993; Epstein & Sheldon, 2002). Smerka (1993) noted that after mailing notices to all parents informing them of the success of the attendance program and asking for their support, the perfect attendance rate increased to 13. 9 percent (p. 96. ) He claimed that the key to good attendance is promoting it everywhere to everyone (Smerka, 1993, p. 96). Another study also found that â€Å"the degree to which schools overcame the challenge of communicating effectively with families was related to gains in student attendance and declines in chronic absenteeism† (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p. 315). The study noted that providing families with someone to talk to at the school about attendance or other issues was effective in increasing attendance (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p. 315). In addition to simply having contact with parents, many authors agree that it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their student’s absenteeism (Dougherty, 1999; Ford & Sutphen,1996; Kube & Radgan,1992). Dougherty (1999) says that parents â€Å"must be responsible for their child’s daily attendance and promptly inform the school attendance office when the student is absent† (p.11). One study shows that increasing communication with parents and involving them in the student’s education are strategies for increasing attendance. This study also cited the use of a letter to parents informing them of the policy and encouraging them to discuss the importance of good attendance with their children (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). Another study also said that parents â€Å"must be responsible for the student’s daily attendance† and they must â€Å"stress the importance of daily attendance to their children† (Kube & Radgan, 1992). Creating effective attendance policies that are reviewed and renewed regularly and establishing parental contact are very important stepping stones for increasing attendance in schools. Community Involvement While it is not crucial to the success of an attendance program, many of our authors agree that solid community involvement can positively impact attendance rates. Many schools work with businesses in the community to offer incentives for students with good or perfect attendance (â€Å"Raising School Attendance,† 2002). John Daugherty (1999), an education professor at Linden-wood College, refers to programs which offer a series of incentives for attendance, ranging from fast-food coupons to entertainment centers which were offered at a discount from local businesses (p. 16). A different form of contribution is noted in Bob Maggi’s (1991) case study of a school in Missouri. A local company contributed $500 to fund their mentoring/ adoption program. Seeing how successful the project was, the company doubled the amount it contributes to the program. Another article suggests that schools work with law enforcement and local businesses. The author states, â€Å"With their support, children who should be in school will be in school† (â€Å"Raising School Attendance,† 2002). Joyce Epstein and Steven Sheldon from The Johns Hopkins University agree, saying, â€Å"Developing productive school-family-community connections has become one of the most commonly embraced policy initiatives in schools and school districts† (2002, p. 308). There are times when the community involvement takes a much more negative but still necessary angle. Often, students will be habitually absent and schools are now working to address that issue. Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen, social work professors at the University of Kentucky, mention that in some states or districts parents of students will face fines or even jail time if they fail to adhere to attendance laws (1996, p. 95). Dougherty suggests other tactics, such as â€Å"implementing police sweeps, involving local agencies and the media and notifying juvenile authorities† (1999). Of course, these tactics are usually implemented in only severe cases of absenteeism. Community involvement and support can be a wonderful addition to attendance policies if tailored to meet the school’s needs and the student’s desires. Teacher/Student Relationships While family and community involvement both play important roles in maintaining good student attendance, our sources all agree that student-teacher relationships are also very important. Several authors encourage one on one meetings, or mentoring students who have attendance problems. In fact, at least one study (Maggi, 1991) is devoted entirely to this practice and with great results, while others (â€Å"Raising school attendance,† 2001 and Vandiver, 2003) simply add it into their attendance programs. Authors agree that to curb poor attendance teachers should lecture students every day about the importance of attending school daily. Kube and Ratigan (1992) insist, â€Å"Teachers must let students know that they are missed when they have been absent. They must ensure that important learning experiences occur each day in their classes† (p. 3), while Dougherty (2003) concurs and adds, â€Å"And they must value and reward good attendance† (p. 76). According to the literature, the teachers are also responsible for coming up with new and creative ways to entice children into coming to school every day. These enticements run the gamut from Vandiver’s (2003) idea of being exempt from having to take the final exams if the student has perfect attendance to Ford and Sutphin’s (1996) strategy of giving tokens to students with good attendance so that they could cash them in on prizes at the end of the week (p. 98). In the end, authors agree that in order to keep attendance under control, educators need not only to regularly come up with new and innovative ideas to keep students coming to school but to consistently tell the students how important it is for them to be present every day. Rewards and Incentives Research has shown that attendance increases when schools incorporate incentive programs into their attendance policies. Bob Maggi (1998), principal at Jarrett High School, began a program which encouraged teachers to adopt a student. Maggi (1998) claimed that â€Å"A $500 grant from Southwestern Bell Foundation was distributed to the adopting teachers to be used to their discretion: for birthday or holiday gifts, for taking student out for dinner or a show, or to buy a sweatshirt or dance ticket† (p. 12). It only took one year for Jarrett High School to receive the results they were searching for. Terrance Smerke (1993, p. 95), principal of Aurora Middle School, along with other schools found it effective to reward the children with positive letters of their accomplishments (Best Practices for School Attendance, 1998). According to Janet Ford, PhD, and Richard Sutphen, PhD, both assistant professors, other types of incentives are posting student’s names in the hallway or reading them over the public address system (1996). One observation mentioned in the article â€Å"Raising School Attendance† (2002), was that Monday and Friday â€Å"are typically the days with the highest absenteeism. Planning special events for these days could improve attendance. † Vandivier (2003), principal of Twin Rivers High School, and John Dougherty (1999), professor of education at Linden-wood College, agree that rewards such as movie tickets, food coupons, and gift certificates will increase attendance. The article How do you improve student attendance, claims that one way to boost attendance is to put all the students’ names with perfect attendance into a drawing (2001, p. 26). Ann Kube, math teacher at North Scott High School, and Gary Radigan, principle at Ankeny High School, agree that incentives encourage students to attend school regularly (1992). As most of the authors stated, incentives have been proven to increase attendance. Punishments/Consequences All of our authors agree that absenteeism has negative consequences for students, schools and society. In the article â€Å"Early Intervention to Improve Attendance In Elementary School for At risk Children,† Janet Ford and Richard V. Sutphen discuss the effects on students. They say that non-attendees generally fall behind their peers in academic achievement and the development of social competence (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95). Consequences for parents include fines and jail time; consequences for schools are loss of funds, and for society higher rates of unemployment, poverty and lack of preparation to enter the work force (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95). Dougherty agrees that habits of absenteeism and tardiness affect work performance when youngsters become adults (1999, p. 7). In Dan Vandivier’s article entitled â€Å"Improving Attendance, A Formula that Worked† he discusses an attendance policy at Twin Rivers High School in Brosely, Montana. Policies stated that students that miss more than six days in a semester are not considered to have earned credit, and no distinction is made between excused and unexcused absences (2003, p. 81). As for students and specific punishments our authors disagreed with suspension. Dougherty states, â€Å"that suspending a student is giving them what he wants, a vacation† (1999, p. 9). As most of the authors conclude, there is some form of punishment given to a student that misses excessive days. Conclusion In conclusion, the above research findings all agree that attendance is a very important issue for students. The literature indicated that the following topics are important factors in increasing attendance: effective policies, parental contact, community involvement, teacher/student relationships, rewards and incentives, and punishments/consequences.