Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Marketing - Essay Example This eventually resulted to creating a need for a good financial market for banking and finance in which the bottom line would be to stimulate needs for certain product or service offerings. This area has become so competitive in which the resulting activity leads to the creation of competitive rivalry. In short, it is important to consider that the presence of new market entrants, power of supplier and buyer and advancement in technology has significantly created an essential force leading to competitive rivalry (Ireland et al., 2007; Hitt et al., 2009). Porter therefore is right on specifying some factors that may essentially lead to the creation of competitive rivalry. Thus, he emphasised that there is a need to go for competitive strategies. This is what the financial market has essentially applied to the extent that there is a point to include economic policy measures just to minimise the presence of competition in the market (Lindbeck, 1973; Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005). The b uilding societies and banks The Building Societies Association (2011) presents some major differences between building societies and banks which include building societies as mutual institutions, are not companies run by their shareholders, and the issue on the limit of proportion of funds. These differences bring forward to some major advantages and even shown in some studies revealing that building societies have outperformed banks implying that mutual organisations may outweigh those stock organisations (Valnek, 1999). There are underlying reasons for this and one of the most significant is the inclusion of rights and privileges for members to receive the right information they deserve to have. The next most important thing about building societies is that they are not considered companies which are highly controlled by shareholders who are influential to maximise profits for increase amount of dividends. The point of this is that there will be low operating cost and other signif icant privileges that will ensure advantage on opportunity cost. In fact, it was found that building societies remain to have constant rates in deposit and mortgage (Heffeman, 2005). This emphasises that building societies are indeed not under pressure of its stakeholders which means further that the needs of consumers are greatly catered to the fullest. The limit of proportion of funds on the other hand would mean further that compared to banks, building societies are highly secured for investment and this is an opportunity for consumers or investors to go. Harpenden Building Society Harpenden’s company website revealed some of important information about its operation which leads to having a better view at its current trends in the market (Harpenden Building Society, 2010). Harpenden is known for its place in the UK building societies. It significantly belongs to the rank of 52 renowned UK building societies because of its 20,000 members having more than 25,000 accounts. As ide from this, Harpenden has no debt because it eliminates its chance for borrowings on the money market. Another good thing about the financial performance of Harpenden is the upward spiralling growth of its deposits and mortgages. Harpenden is also recognised by

Intellectual Disabilities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Intellectual Disabilities - Research Paper Example Moreover, intellectual disabilities affect individuals during aging. Understanding intellectual disability is critical in education to help students having this condition (Woodcock & Vialle, 2010). This paper will discuss the definition of intellectual, its characteristics and its impacts on intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Moreover, strategies to assist students in this disability category will be described. Defining Intellectual Disability World Health Organization describes intellectual disability as the significant reduction of the ability to comprehend new information and in learning and applying new skills. The American Association of Intellectual and Development Disability (AAIDD) explain that intellectual disability is not usually an isolated disorder. AAIDD offers a three dimensional definition of intellectual disability and this is the most widely acknowledged definition (Barrett, 2011). According to the AAIDD, intellectual disability is a disorder that begin s before one gets to the age of 18 years that is characterized by great limitation in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Intellectual functioning refers to various aspects of life such as learning, reasoning, problem solving (Barrett, 2011). On the other hand, adaptive behavior touches on a range of practical and social skills in areas of self-care, communication, self-direction, health, safety leisure and work. Intellectual disability has been introduced as a replacement to mental retardation that was previously used (Jellinek, Patel & Froehle, 2002). The prevalence of intellectual disability in America is relatively high with about one in every ten families affected. However, the estimated prevalence varies based on the criteria used in diagnosis, study design and ways of ascertaining (Barrett, 2011). For instance, when intelligent quotient (IQ) is used in diagnosis, the prevalence of intellectual disability is estimated at 3 percent but when applying the AAIDD defini tion, national prevalence stand at 1 percent. Prevalence of intellectual disability is higher among males and the male to female ration is about 1.5 to 1 (Barrett, 2011). Diagnosis and Assessment of ID Assessment of intellectual disability involves a multidisciplinary team comprising of psychiatrists, pediatricians, psychologists and clinical geneticists. The assessment is usually comprehensive where intellectual ability, adaptive behavior and medical and family history of the patient is assessed (Garbutt, 2010). DSM-IV-TR offers standardized criteria used in the diagnosis of the disorder and this is used among children and adults. Intellectual is characterized by below average intellectual functioning. The characteristics of intellectual disability include the fact that disorder begins before the age of 18. DSM-IV-TR requires that all the symptoms of intellectual disability must have begun before the age of 18 (Garbutt, 2010). However, this does not limit diagnosis after 18 years. Nevertheless, children who have not reached the age of two years should not be subjected to intellectual disability diagnosis. This may however be conducted in case a child demonstrates severe symptoms related to intellectual disability for instance Down syndrome (Garbutt, 2010). The other characteristic of intellectual disability is poor adaptive functioning. Adaptive functioning is described as the effectiveness of an individual to functioning in tandem with

Reading Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Reading Reflection - Essay Example Indeed, Gatsby is able to reinvent himself as an epitome of affluence and a typical American success story. However, the self reinvention secured by Gatsby is lacking in substance and integrity and he comes out as a love sick young lad who manages to somehow accumulate the patina of the great American dream, managing to shimmer monetarily on the surface of the social scene of the New York of the 20s, and then fading away unsung and least mourned. If evaluated within the scope of reinvention in the light of the American dream, the self reinvention wrought out by Gatsby comes out as being merely skin deep. It is an irony that the popular notions regarding the American Dream mostly tend to hover around pecuniary considerations, while in reality; American Dream is a concept that is too substantial in its scope and ramifications. In the light of this fact, Class does play an important role in the life of Gatsby, especially more so in his early life, when being an ordinary boy from a humbl e background; he falls in love with Daisy, a girl endowed with means and status. The tragedy of Gatsby was that instead of building his reinvention on integrity and substance, he chooses to opt for the easy way out, to seek a short cut promising an easy and early class shift. In that context the reinvention of Gatsby needs to be analyzed in the light of the times he is placed that is the early 20s. That era was an era of affluence when the social barriers and considerations had become quiet lax (Gross & Gross 23). Besides, the accompanying prohibition offered an easy chance to any daring and willing young man to be a millionaire through shady means. Placed amongst such times, Gatsby, a poor, hurt and dropped young man gets attracted to an idea of reinvention that happened to be purely materialistic, exhibitionist and questionable with regards to the means that it adhered to, to emerge as a success. The other thing that needs to be noticed regarding the reinvention of Gatsby is that till the very end he is evasive of his humble family background. No doubt, Gatsby affiliated to a poor family. In the light of this fact Daisy emerged in his life not only as an object of love, but also as symbol of affluence, status and riches, a kind of life that in a way mocked the humble family background of Gatsby (Bloom 140). Placed in such circumstances it was but quiet natural for a young man to evade his family background out of shame, to enamor his love with pretentions of richness and plenty out of passion, and to aspire to be rich out a belief in one’s potential and sense of daring. Yet, the war spoiled Gatsby’s chances with Daisy and stung by it he somehow felt that it was his humble background and limited means that were really responsible for this. So the young man somehow prepared himself to vehemently reinvent himself to appropriate all that the society of his times associated with status and class. The actual talent and potential of Gatsby eventually gets lost in the din of popular aspirations and pretentions as the writer reveals, â€Å"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. †¦ So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful till the end (Fitzgerald Chapter 6).†

Equity premium puzzle Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Equity premium puzzle - Assignment Example Financial markets analysis shows those equity premiums puzzle still remain a reality with modifications to the assumed preferences and imperfections in the model of risk aversion. There have been some difficulties in the calibration used in the analysis and existence of a substantial equity premium (Lucas 1429). Equity premium and risk free rate puzzles The value premium states that for possible qualities of the danger repugnance coefficient, the contrast of the needed rate of profit for money markets and the riskless rate of premium is too huge, given the watched minor fluctuation of the development rate of capitalization. This puzzle is resolved in the wider context of an economy with rational expectations once the separable time preference is relaxed to allow adjacent complementarities in consumption. On the other hand, given that a large equity premium implies that investors get a high risk; the standard models of preferences in turn imply that they do not like growth that much. Although treasury bills may offer low returns, individuals forgo the consumption at a sufficiently fast rate as they prefer it safe in order to generate the per capita consumption which is average. The risk free rate puzzle states that although individuals like consumption to be very smooth, and where the risk free rate is very low, they still save enough for the per capita consumption to grow rapidly (Lucas 1430). Equity premium and risk free rate puzzles are robust and are explained peculiarities of an individual behavior and asset market structure. Individuals have preferences which are attached and associated with the standard utility functions applied in macroeconomics. The preferences maximize the expected discounted value of utilities generated by the power utility function. In addition, asset markets are complete, where individuals can have insurance contracts for any emergent unforeseen event in the market. Asset trading also constitutes no cost, taxes and fees in brokerage are assumed to be insignificant for this purpose. Investors either find it highly reluctant for consumption risk or stocks trading, and more costly than trading of bonds. The risk free rate puzzle shows that people save even when the returns are low, with equity puzzle demonstrating why individuals are so averse to the risks associated with stock returns, proving the large gaps in understanding of macroeconomics (Lucas 1434). In an attempt to describe and resolve these puzzles in an economy, some scholars explain that it is useful to review the basics of asset pricing. Applying the famous Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAMP), it assumes a perfect correlation between stock returns and a consumption stream of typical investors. Applying this model in an attempt to resolve the puzzle, financial analysts are allowed to calculate and measure the financial security risk. With the use of CAPM, a security risk can be measured using the covariance of the return with the per capita consumption . The difference in the covariance of the returns and the consumption growth is large. This clearly explains the enigma of the equity premium where in a quantitative sense the stocks are not really riskier in comparison with the treasury bills

Zara Inc Success Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Zara Inc Success - Research Paper Example As the paper highlights the Fashion Retail world has evolved ahead of others with companies fighting for share in the market and the consumers demanding the next exotic collection every few months. The internationalization has enhanced the commercial aspect of these Fashion Titans who struggle to roll out new designs and trends every season with the hope of getting noticed in a crowd of thousands. The new global economic environment has provided Zara with an opportunity to improve its current brand perception and become the premium brand for European consumers. This can be achieved by creating a high end line for Zara. This would not only increase the potential target market for Zara but also allow Zara to charge premium prices. This study declares that in 1963-74 Amancio Ortega Gaona, chairman and founder of Inditex2, begins his business activities in the textile manufacturing sector. The business grows steadily throughout the decade to include several manufacturing centers distributing products to various European countries. The first ZARA shop opened its doors in 1975 in A Coruà ±a (Spain), the city that saw the Groups early beginnings and which is now home to its central offices. Its stores can now be found in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa which is indeed a remarkable achievement. Interesting as it may seem, its first store featured low-priced lookalike products of popular, higher-end clothing fashions. This was of course an instant success as it enabled the people to have copies of the more luxurious clothes at a reasonable price and so Mr. Ortega opened more stores all over Spain. â€Å"ZARA was a fashion imitator.  ZARAâ€⠄¢s strategy of low volume per style and changing products quickly in its stores helps it to down on the discounts as well. Of its 12,000 distinct items annually, only about 18% of its clothing does not work with customers and has to be discounted.