Table with emergency situations

Explain the visitors' procedures and wait for a member of management to attend. Depending on the circumstances management will call the police to report the incident. However should the intruder become agitated they will gain the attention of another staff member who will contact the police. Should the person leaves prior to the police arrival staff will take note of the direction and means of transport which will then be passed on to the reporting officer. Verbally ask the person not to return the school again whilst in the presence of the police.Review security immediately Log incident and actions as soon as possible. Missing child or young person Upon Discovering a child is Missing Notify immediately the class teacher. If the teacher is not available for whatever reason they must inform the classroom support staff if there is one, or, if there is not, the nearest available teacher. They should state the name of the child (if known) or a description of the child (if the child's nam e is not known to them), what the child was last seen doing and where, and how long since they last saw the child.Thereafter they should assist with any organized reach for the child as directed by the class teacher or the Head teacher. Conduct a search of the immediate surroundings, I. E. Indoors, in the classroom (looking under tables, work surfaces and other possible hiding places such as cupboards), adjacent work areas and classrooms, nearby cloakrooms and toilets. Outdoors – in the immediate area where the child was last seen including looking under bushes and up trees etc.The teacher should quickly arrange for another adult (e. G. Support staff or neighboring teacher) to supervise their class while they conduct any search away from the lass for which they are responsible. If this initial search does not find the child the teacher shall begin a wider search of the school buildings and grounds including searching public areas in other parts of the school e. G. Library are as, toilet and cloakroom areas, corridors, hall etc.If this search does not discover the missing child within a reasonable time the teacher must inform the Head teacher (directly or via the school office) Of the missing child and the facts surrounding the child's disappearance. The Headaches will: Take charge of the situation. If satisfied that the class is adequately supervised the Head teacher will join the teacher (and support staff if applicable) in searching the school premises for the missing child directing the teacher (and others) where to search (e. G. Hill he searches externally, the teacher searches internally) Alternatively, the Head teacher may direct the teacher (or support staff) to return to their class in order to continue supervising the class and to be a familiar adult should the missing child return to their classroom. In this situation the Head teacher will continue the search alone or with other available adults. When the Head teacher is satisfied that the chil d is not on the premises he will instruct the office staff to contact the child's parents and inform them of the situation and to enquire if the child has returned home.

A Comparison between British and Indian Political Party Systems Essay

It is a cardinal truth that party system has now become an inseparable part of the political tradition of any country. But due to the differences in perception, values, outlook, beliefs, culture, party system varies from country to country. Thus, some countries are dominated by a single party, some others have developed a two-party system, but still others have evolved a multi-party one. Of course a comparison between India and Britain will make the issue crystal clear. India had been under the British rule of nearly two centuries and, hence, it was legitimately expected that they would have some basic similarities in political system and structure. But, as a matter of fact, their political system has engendered queer dissimilarities in practical politics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First, British tradition has taught the politicians the value of tolerance and cooperation. So the Opposition agrees that the Government, due to its majority support, rules the nation and the Government, in its turn, admit that the Opposition has the inherent right to criticize it. This inter-play between the Government and the Opposition is the life-blood of the British politics. â€Å"If the Opposition constantly obstructed and the Government consistently voted it down, the dictatorship of the majority would soon be established† (Jennings, 88). In this sense, he writes that the Opposition is an essential part of the political system. Sir William Harcourt had, however, pointed out that â€Å"The function of the Opposition is to oppose the Government† (p. 78). But Sir Jennings has aptly shown the folly of such contention. According to him, the real function of the opposition is to oppose the wrong policy of the Government and to support its beneficial actions. This is why often the Prime Minister and the opposition leader meet together and discuss the matters of public importance. They even try to formulate common policy and draft the Bills on the basis of an agreement. In this connection, Sir Jennings observes, â€Å"Many proposals of the Government are not opposed, because there is general agreement† (p. 89). During two World Wars, two major parties sunk their differences and worked together through the War-Cabinet. Even during the peace time, they come nearer in order to fight out national crisis. Thus, when in 1931, the Labor Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, â€Å"†¦intended to resign due to a split in his party, the cabinet was saved by the Conservative Party which joined it in order to avert a constitutional crisis (Majumder, p. 375). This ‘National Government’ functioned till 1936 without any internal crisis and it clearly indicates that the political culture of Britain has taught the leaders to unite together during any national crisis. Sometimes, the point of view of two different political parties was opposite. But the Prime Minister allowed the Conservative Ministers to express their own view. This is known as ‘Agreement to Differ’.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But political system in India is quite different. The Government hardly listens to the Opposition and the later, in its turn, is never friendly to it. While the former depends upon it brute majority, the later is depended upon a policy of obstruction. The discussions in the Parliament, thus, often become a â€Å"worse than a primary-school debate† (Sikri, p. 184). The opposition leaders are sometimes arrested or abused or humiliated in an unseemly manner. In fact, politics of power in India has thrown the Government and the opposition to two hostile camps and nothing seems to be unjust in such tussle. For example, in 1999, the Central Government was ousted by one vote in an ugly manner. But the parties in the opposition which united together in order to topple the Cabinet, could not tie up for forming a new one. Similarly, the Central Government of every political color has lavishly used Art 356 of the constitution with a view to dismissing the state governments formed by the opponents. Thus, between 1950 and 1996, such President’s Rule was promulgated 93 times for political reasons (Source: Lok-Sabha Secretariat, India). In this sense, it can be held that the central weapon has been more abused than used. In other words, a constitutional, lacuna has often been exploited by the power mongers at the Center in order to let the opponents down. Secondly, the British political system has also convinced the leaders to give more importance to public service than to party interest or personal gains. Thus, in 1923, Bonar Law, the Prime Minister, resigned on grounds of health. But in India, the leaders are more concerned with power – they are prepared to retain or snatch it by means, foul or fair. If they can capture power, they try to stick to it till death or defeat. It is to be remembered that in 1834, Lord Melbourne, the British Prime Minister suffered a setback due to a split in his party. He then asked the King, William IV, whether or not he would remain in his office. Acting upon the royal advice, he actually stepped down. But in India, neither a Prime Minister nor a Chief Minister quits his office in this way. It too suggests that political system in India is quite different. Thirdly, Britain has a two-party system. However, Ogg admits that, â€Å"†¦besides the Conservative party and the Labor Party, there are also the Liberals† (p. 552). But, in fact, the liberals faded out during the nineteen thirties. But, in India is a multi-party system. In 1991, 445 parties registered their names with the Election Commission. True that, at the beginning, the Congress dominated the political scene and, consequently G. Austin held that, â€Å"The Congress was India and India was the Congress† (p. 8). Truly, India had â€Å"one-dominant party-system† (Morris-Jones, p. 174). But gradually, various parties based on religion, region, localism, language, caste, creed and personal ambition came up in rapid progress. In fact, the â€Å"†¦diversities of population have now created a pluralistic society and this mushroom growth of political parties has affected Indian unity in an alarming way† (Rout, p. 200). Fourthly, it is true that on occasions, the British leaders like Robert Peel, J. Chamberlain and W. Churchill defected from their party. But such defection was motivated by lofty idealism and not by personal ambition and party integrity. But in India, defection has become a highly profitable business. Between March and April of 1969 as many as 550 legislators crossed the floor and as some of them did it on several occasions, the number of such defection finally reached to more than one thousand. Some of them even changed their loyalties from times within a month. So Dr. Kashyap has rightly observed that such â€Å"large-scale defection has often resulted in the ups and downs of the Cabinets† (p. 6). Sixthly, while public involvement in the election in Britain has made it a popular democracy, India is, in this respect, lagging far behind. In Britain, 80-90 percent people cast their votes, because they know that voting is the basis of indirect democracy. But political system in India is pathetically otherwise. In 1984, the percentage of popular participation in election in India rose to 64, but normally it remains below 62 and in 1962, it came down to 55 percent. Moreover, this percentage is based upon huge number of false votes. â€Å"While British polls reflect honesty and purity of purpose, elections in India have become a costly furze. Capturing of booths, use of armed criminals and dacoits, manipulation in the voter-list, looting of ballot papers and so on have become essential parts of election† (Kapur, p. 425). Seventhly, India has also failed to accept the idea of neutral speaker-ship which is an important aspect of British political tradition. â€Å"He is, as near as a human being can be, impartial† (Finer, p. 475). So, as soon as he takes the chair, he cuts off all relationships with his party and acts as the non-partisan chairman of the House of Commons. But, the speakers in India remain party-men and they often give their rulings in their political interests. So, Dr. Dash has rightly remarked, â€Å"We have not been able to reach the standard of aloofness prevailing in this matter in England† (Dash, p. 262). Last, but not the least, the British political system does not, by any means, admit corruption or turpitude on the part of Ministers or Leaders. Strong public opinion has always condemned such affairs and, on occasions, Mr. Profumo and Mr. Parkinson have to resign from the Cabinet. But in India, a person with nearly a dozen criminal charges can be and remain in the Cabinet. Most strangely, even the people of the country do not bother much with such ugly affairs. Party, Government and the People In modern times, the party system is an essential part of political life. However, in the dictatorial system, a particular political party monopolizes all political power, because it is essentially a one-party rule (Neumann, p. 244).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But, in a democratic system like India and Britain, the government is formed by the people and it is keyed to public opinion. So, the political parties keep up a link between the government and the electorate. In fact, they keep the national life politically (Agarwal, p. 386). Democracy means the rule of the people and as they are guided by the political parties, political life veers around the party system. â€Å"It is the electorate who determines the form of Government and chooses who guide and dictate its affairs† (Garner, p. 495)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But in realistic considerations, people hardly become unanimous – there are conflicting ideas and interests. â€Å"It happens, as in the case of the slavery question in the United States or the Free-trade problem in England, that some paramount issues divide the community† (Leacock, p. 313). Different political parties mould the opinion of different groups and the elections are actually fought on the basis of such issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But ultimately, the bi-party system is far better than the multi party system in linking up the government and the people. In a multi party structure, people’s votes are divided among different political parties, and thus, often popular opinion is hardly reflected in the formation of the government. Often coalition governments come up without the popular intention. But in a bi-party system, the people choose either of the two parties and, hence, the election brings out a better coordination between the party and the Government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this analysis, it would perhaps be amply clear that at least in a democracy, political life is determined by the party system. Particularly, a bi-party system like that of England creates a close link between the people and the government. References Austin, G. The Indian Constitution, World Press, New Delhi, 1978, p. 8 Agarwal, R.G. Political Theory, S. Chandra Books, Allahabad, 1996, p. 386 Dash, S.C. The Constitution of India, Modern Books, Mumbai, 1984, p. 262 Finer, H. Theory and Practice of Modern Government, Royal Press, New Delhi, 1976, p. 475 Garner, J.W. Political Science and Government, World Press, New Delhi, 1991, p. 495 Jennings, I. The Queen’s Government, Pelican Books, London, 1964, p. 88 Jennings, I. ibid, pp. 88-89 Kapur, A.C. The Indian Political System, New Press Hall, New Delhi, 11th ed. p. 425 Kashyap, S.C. Politics of Defection, Old House Publishers, Chennai, 1979, p. 6 Leacock, S. Elements of Political Science, Constable & Co. London, 1939, p. 313 Majumder, B.B. Rise and Development of the English Constitution, Book Land, Calcutta, 1968, p. 375 Morris-Jones, W.H. Government and Politics in India, Prince Town Publications, Calcutta, 1978, p. 172 Ogg, A. English Government and Politics, The MacMillan Company, London, 1929, p. 552 Rout, B.C. Democratic Constitution of India, New Book Hall, New Delhi, 1979, p. 200 Sikri, S.L. Indian Government and Politics, Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, 1963, p. 184 The President’s Rule in the States and Union Territories, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Vol. 1, Issue 4, March 1993.

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business strategy - Essay Example Additionally, Microsoft has launched a program of developing tools of advancing productivity (Hachman 20). The objectives of these tools include improving the development, design, and debugging as well as testing software. An ambitious project of bringing graphics to life is aimed at creating pictures in real time and that look real to the natural environment. The R&D of Microsoft seems to be consistent with the core foundation and aims of the company to remain as the world’s leading software company provider. Technology has become a key component to the performance of Microsoft. Technology is defined as the making and usage of tools, systems, crafts, and techniques in order to solve a given problem. Through technology, the performance of a corporate can be measured by using various tools and devices. For instance, a decision support system is useful in collecting data from various internal sources such as data ware houses, databases, and data marts to model possible characteristics. Additionally, technology has enabled the formation of tools that enhances Microsoft to plan effectively in terms of resources (Hachman 21). An enterprise resources system in particular, is effective in helping corporate managers to have a consolidated view of all is taking place in their organizations. As part of the mission and strategy of Microsoft, the mix of basic, applied, and engineering research proves to a resourceful model. Basic research has become the foundation upon which Microsoft has based its decisions on what to do next. Consistent with bring a valuable technology to its customers; the company has consistently utilized applied research in order to prove the efficacy of its invention. On the other hand, engineering research has become valuable in inventing some of the latest technologies that have put Microsoft ahead of other companies in the market. Competitive advantage of a company is gained through a

What factors contributed in the stuggle against the Mafia in Sicily Essay

What factors contributed in the stuggle against the Mafia in Sicily - Essay Example Cosa Nostra (Mafia) criminal syndicate emerged in mid 19th century and all cosca aimed at controlling a particular territory (Blok 2001). In 1870s, Romans officials invited Sicilian Mafia clans to help in fighting dangerous independent criminal organisations and protect the land owners (Blok 2001). The Mafia and state had entered in to partnership that allowed the Cosa Nostra to perform the functions that state could inefficiently perform. Factors that contributed to struggle against Sicilian Mafia The mafia and state enjoyed cordial relationships with the Mafia without any disruptions for several years. However, the relationships started tumbling in 1960s after Mafia acquired wealth and threatened the balance of power between the state and Mafia (Blok 2001). Accordingly, the methods of Mafia in acquiring power changed to threatening, extortion and criminal activities thus threatening the State power (Blok 2001). Mafia acquired considerable financial resources through ensuring close working ties with Christian Democratic Party and obtaining guarantees on construction contracts (Allum and Renate2003). In recognition of Mafia’s growing influence, the state decided to withdraw from the relationship with Cosa Nostra (Seindal 1998). Again, Mafia criminal empire expanded in 1970s to become a key network in inter-continent crimes such as money laundering and drug-trafficking. Mafia was initially used to define Sicilian phenomenon, but it is currently used to define any organised criminal organisation especially in Italia (Seindal 1998). In the recent past, Sicilian mafia has expanded to European and international level and has committed other crimes such as money laundering and drug trafficking in countries like Middle East, Latin-America and Switzerland. According to Italian anti-Mafia law of 1982, mafia organisations use intimidation powers and have organised criminal structure that plan its criminal activities. Sicilian mafia has a long history of corruption , murder and extortion (Blok 2001). In early 1980s, Mafia violence was directed at assassination of judges, prosecutors and political authorities. Corleonesi assisted in instigating the Second Mafia war and led a brutal Luciana Leggio against the state authorities in the ‘First Mafia War’. After the Mafia Trials of 1960s, few individuals were convicted of criminal activities and Mafia resumed back to illicit business activities. Control for family dominance within the Mafia organisation resulted to the Second Mafia wars since Corleonesi believed that some families had benefited more from the illicit drug profits and desired to dominate the Mafia through use of violence. Several Mafia families regrouped and started killing specific state figures such as Colonel Giuseppe Russo and several police chiefs (Seindal 1998). Organisations that struggled against the Sicilian Mafia Magistrates Giovanni and Paolo Borsellino The climax of Mafia brutality highlighted the need of the state to curb the organisations criminal activities and several individuals within the state started fighting against the impunity of Mafia (Scheider and Peter1998). In late 1980s and early 1990s, Sicilian prosecutors like Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone work unearthed the hierarchical structure of Sicilian Mafia organisations. The two prosecutors asserted that they would

Ideal Society in the Eyes of Locke and Swift Essay

Ideal Society in the Eyes of Locke and Swift - Essay Example It also states that, essentially, the natural state of mankind is anarchic. Anarchy exists anywhere and everywhere, whereever no legitimate government is found. In Chapter 4 ("Of Slavery") Locke justifies slavery, very much like More's Utopia, where slaves are allowed upto a maximum of two per household and they are allowed freedom based on their good behaviour. Thus the concept of an ideal society is comparatively varied in all the works analysed and ironically contain shortcomings that challenge the inherent ideological bias of their authors and the ages to which they belong. Locke's Second Treatise gives the vision of a free community, where all individuals are equal, and most importantly, possessed of natural rights. The notion of property is linked to this concept too. He maintains that men will inevitably want to acquire goods and will come into inevitable conflict. Locke's etymological explanation of "property," lies in his dervation of its meaning that is life, liberty and estate, including one's self. Thus he proposes that a natural law of morality should come to govern them before they enter into a social arena. Here the irony is underlined since Locke realizes that the natural rights must be compromised so as to enter into a social structure. ... But the tricky business is with abiding by these very standards of behavior. The civil society is formed for the rights of the property, and Locke asserts that there is a non-political interest within its members for the state's function is protection and keeping intact the property that belongs to one. If the purpose of government is the protection of property, the latter must exist independently of the former. Thus society must allow this property to become a private property. The people entrust this body of standards or laws with the members of the protectors or the State. But if there is an abuse of power and this body of government ceases to act in the way the people expect, or do not represent the people's ideals, and instead just represent either their selfish needs or some other ideal, there is the possibility of a revolt or rebel. Locke suggests that not only should they rebel but overthrow that government and thereby replace it with people who will represent them better. Taken into fact that Locke was justifying his opposition to Charles II, all these concern seem fitting to his cause of an iconoclasm that he expected out of the people when the government ceases to be the mouthpiece of the people it seeks to protect. Locke's Second Treatise justifies the revolution of King William so as to explain the circumstances, under which the people of the state have ultimate right to raise concern and seek rebellion and replace one government with a better o ne. The idea of an unlimited property and that of a corrupt government are addressed in terms of Governmental intervention; since if the government comes to possess people's property then it

Trans Fat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trans Fat - Essay Example It is helpful in creating, firmness, texture, and longer shelf life for many products. Many companies and restaurants in western countries have started using palm oil and coconut oil instead of hydrogenated oils. But in reality, they are only slightly healthier than trans fat. Coconut and palm oils are rich in saturated fat which increases the chances of heart diseases and raises the level of cholesterol in the blood. Former president of the American Heart Association, Robert Eckel, says â€Å"getting rid of trans fat is important because strong evidence indicates that they contribute to higher levels of harmful cholesterol and heart diseases. But the idea that this is the most harmful type of fat is a matter of debate.† (Nanci Hellmich, USA Today). Regarding the readership of this article, it may be written for all those who have some knowledge about the unhealthy diet with a special focus on those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. People who suffer from obesity, heart diseases and those who exercise some control over diet are, obviously, interested in it. As regards the third question, what kind of appeals would be most appropriate, it can safely be said that by explaining the issue through logic would be most suitable because the targeted groups are adults who are not likely to move by emotions. After taking a stance on trans fats and diet, it is always better to prove the points through well argued views. It might create an impression in the minds of the reader that the author is honest, sincere, confident and. above all, well informed. The reader might also believe that the author understands his concerns and has answered all of them. The next question to be answered is what would be the most appropriate style to wr ite a persuasive article. Generally, there are several styles such as formal, academic, legal and middle styles to write an article. Middle style which uses images and illustrations well-known to the readers are the

Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Economic - Essay Example Some basic examples of underdeveloped regions are Asia, Africa and Latin America. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Somalia and Cambodia are some countries that fall into this category. (Gerard Chaliand, n.d) Different countries generally face different problems depending upon the level of development and progress made by the country. Naturally, the ones that are developed will face a lesser number of problems and also of a different kind. Underdeveloped countries are bound to face a mountain of difficulties and of a severe kind. The characteristics of an underdeveloped country are actually what its problems are. The basic challenges faced by people in underdeveloped countries are the unavailability of shelter, clothing, food, health services and even water for every person living. This is due to large populations and little resources. Educational standards are very low – lack of qualification means unemployment. Plus, there is a lack of funds with the government that can be spent on health services and other welfare of the people. Technologically speaking, these countries are almost close to nil. (Poverty in Underdeveloped Countries—The Poorest of the Poor - The Poor In Africa, n.d) Firstly, we have the problem of the lack of resources. Not only is there a lack but there is only a specific type of resource available. Most underdeveloped countries are agricultural economies; that is, they earn by selling primary goods such as tea, wheat, cotton etc. These goods, no doubt, have a huge market but they are not as helpful in progression a country as are industrial and manufacturing goods. Developed countries mainly depend on the export and import of manufacturing goods, also known as, capital goods – these are machineries that enhance the efficiency and production of consumer goods. The usage of these machines in a country helps augment living standards. It is clearly

Transparency and leadership in organisations Dissertation

Transparency and leadership in organisations - Dissertation Example ndful of the fact that the world’s national economies are inextricably linked and therefore the weakness of one is the weakness of all, global financial and economic alliances and unions called for greater transparency and regulatory compliance from all regional unions. The Middle East and North African (MENA) region is among the regions most cited for lack of transparency, with Somalia and Iraq identified as two of the worst-ranked countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. While the UAE is far removed from either of these two, it nevertheless is bound by many commonalities including regional economic, political, and trade agreements. Furthermore, the UAE has been one of the nations which had attracted public attention precisely on this issue. Dubai, more than the other emirates, has been under tighter scrutiny because of the Dubai World debt restructuring and the significant slow-down in development projects, even before the US subprime mar ket crisis hit (Afridi & Angell, 2010). The stigma of corruption and lack of transparency is a mark a country could not afford to obtain if it wishes to attract trade and investment from outside its borders. 1.3 Statement of aim and objectives The principal aim of this dissertation is to assess the degree to which transparency and good governance have been advanced by organizational leadership in the United Arab Emirates, as they impact upon the management of projects within the federation. In particular, the study seeks to fulfil the following objectives: (1) To trace the historical context of the UAE’s imperative for transparency and governance; (2) To understand the measures that have been instituted and are currently in place to enhance transparency and good governance in the UAE; (3) To... The intention of this study is transparency as capable of being seen through; without guile or concealment; open, frank, candid. It is also unavoidable to likewise discuss the concept of concealment. This is because the very concept of transparency is drawn from the absence of concealment. According to Kerfoot, concealment is at the heart of any dysfunctional relationship between the staff, its customers principally, and its other stakeholders. Concealment breeds distrust, and the lack of trust compromises the success of any attempt at a productive relationship. This can be a particularly disadvantageous relationship, particularly in industries where the organization works in close contact with the customer, such as health care services and hospital concerns. For the organization to discharge its function well, it cannot afford a situation wherein customers can find reason not to repose their full trust and reliance upon the firm. The avoidance of concealment, even the very appearanc e of it, is therefore to be avoided by a show of full disclosure and the conduct of an open enterprise. The various and divergent views on transparency is expected to be reflected in the specific application of transparency programmes within the different companies; likewise, the understanding of transparency within the cultural context of the UAE is also expected to differ from that of other countries. This material difference should be taken into consideration during the analysis of qualitative data to be undertaken in this dissertation, so that false conclusions may be avoided by careful qualification.

Juvenile Courts Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Juvenile Courts - Coursework Example Some juveniles lacked the cognitive capacity to judge between the â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad† calling for proper counselling and rehabilitation for a given duration. According to the article, the intent of juvenile court establishment has changed with time. Juvenile courts were not meant to punish juvenile offenders but to give guidance through rehabilitation and counselling programs (Soulier & Charles, 2010). Juveniles, as mentioned in the article, lack the cognitive capacity to commit an offense intentionally. This is because they are still in the developmental stage and through rehabilitation and counselling, they get to realise their mistakes or offenses. Today, some juvenile offenses are channelled to the adult courts and this is contrary to the initial juvenile court act as depicted by the article (Soulier & Charles, 2010). In the adult courts, criminals or offenders are subjected to harsh and weighty punishments that tend to be unbearable to the juvenile. A juvenile being in the developmental stage, should be advised and engaged in activities that boost their cognitive stamina or capacity. Many juveniles who have been incarcerated tend to repeat similar offenses due to lack of proper guidance. Some juveniles may also commit an offense due to psychological or mental problems. This makes it necessary to conduct medical examination on a juvenile and administer possible psychological or mental therapies. All these activities should be within the jurisdiction of a juvenile court. According to the author’s notion, abolishing juvenile courts is ideal and important to the society. Juveniles in the contemporary world are treated as adults and this makes it difficult to reduce juvenile delinquency. Jailing of juveniles destroy their future because of the stigma and lack of cognitive stamina growth to differentiate good and bad (Soulier & Charles, 2010). Counselling and rehabilitation creates both psychological and mental awareness of

Effects of Public Policies and Government Entities on Social Class Essay Example for Free

Effects of Public Policies and Government Entities on Social Class Essay As discussed earlier, there can be many aspects that may affect social classes and these changes and differences can be seen almost everywhere. In this society, starting from schools, workplaces, clothes, music and even the lives in which people live in are all affected in one way or the other by social class. When it comes to a school, teachers may favor students coming from higher classes, and consider them as more intelligent and smarter than the others But this is not absolutely true, since there is simply no evidence that children of lower classes have lower levels of intelligence. Having said this, it is quite obvious when it comes to answering the question of who has the most power in the Country, it would be those who have money. Public Policies and the governmental rules and regulations are enforced within a country in order to minimize threats and inequalities and maintain and equal, prosperous and rightful nation. Governments and public policies are not supposed to be bias and it is definitely not enforced in order to support the rich and suppress the poor. Plus all these rules and regulations are considered to be common to all people living in the country and not just to a certain segment of it. But in the current context, this is rarely the case. Even the government is buried under the soil of power, money and greed, forgetting about all the norms and values of creating equalization among the society. The Sri Lankan Government, for example differentiates its ways of treating and benefitting people according to their social classes and mostly with regard to power and money. Here, the higher your social class is, the higher privilege you will receive, and those with high power will have more benefits and consolation when it comes to establishing public policies. True, there are more than enough criminal laws, and various other rules established in the society, but none of these may seem the least bit important to those who are within the high power hierarchy. All the lower class people, the poor, and oppressed will be the only ones who are punished, and to whom against the government may take high legal action. It brings great curiosity to me, when thinking about, how long the government and politician will be able to fool the power people of the country into thinking that law is the same for everyone! For example, if you take into consideration the Sri Lankan court system, we can see thousands of people flocking in courts, just to get to their hearing. Poor eople, with very minor faults and accused faults are kept in prison for ages, since they are unable to pay a little of their debt money to the courts and those from richer and classier families, are taken in to custody, questioned and then simply let off, no matter how big their crime is. This is one of the main reasons as to why, there are so many strikes and industrial unrest occurring in the country when poorer people try to take things to their own hands when justice is to laid upon them by law. The effects of social classes on the 2012 US election lies unknown to me, since I do not have enough information and facts in order to elaborate my point. Therefore, let me bring forth a situation where the issue of social classes affected the elections in Sri Lanka. For a person in the higher classes, it is not of much importance on who wins the election. No matter who wins and comes to power, they know that, similarly they will also have enough power in order to get what they need and survive in the society, arm to arm with the politicians. Although the citizens are entitled to free speech and right to vote, always the one with greater power and a certain level of cunningness will always get the poor peoples votes, win and then gradually wash their hands over the people who brought the win to them. It is a well known fact that most of the cabinet holders are of the upper class. And the oppositions, who are known to be the party that benefits the common people in the country, are also packed with upper class people, who do not even have the necessary educational qualifications in order to get there. The people of lower classes will always want a government that provides them with enough benefits and appreciation for the work they do. They would also dream of and era, where the poor and the rich would be treated the same and they wouldn’t have to be oppressed and ignored and given priority when it comes to getting their work done at a government institute. If the poor have to stay in long queues for hours, then the law should be that, no matter how big you are, they should also follow the same procedure. Yes, I do agree with the authors opinion,, since the author has clearly illustrated through figure 7, that poverty is unequally distributed according to race and that statics show how, mostly colored people are considered to be the poor and families with women heads are considered to be poorer than those lead by men. It is certain that the inequality among the class groups will further strengthen if necccassary precautions and actions are not taken by the authorities that are responsible.

System Thinking In Healthcare Nursing Essay

System Thinking In Healthcare Nursing Essay The health care system can be defined as a set of interrelated parts or agents, which include caregivers and patients, bound by a common purpose and acting on their knowledge. This great number of interconnections within and among makes the healthcare organisation complex (IOM, 2009). Such complexity brings problems and opportunities and requires organisations to adjust to the changes. The ability to understand and respond to both the external and internal environments might require a holistic thinking approach of the system (Lebcir, 2006). Systems consist of interrelated, interacting and interdependent parts configured in a manner that produces a unified whole. System thinking studies these components parts, their interrelationship and the way they function as a whole. According to Senge (1993), system thinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools that has been developed to make the full patterns of systems clearer, and to help see how they can be changed effectively. There are various system thinking approaches and the essay will review some methodologies that were used in managing the case study of Ashford hospital. 1.1 Case Study- Ashford Hospital Earlier in the year, Ashford hospital which serves quite a large population experienced severe pressure on service. The hospital had 67 ward beds. Patients had to wait for long in chairs or trolleys at accident and emergency unit (A E) before they could be admitted into the wards. This led to overcrowding of AE unit. Patients were asked to stay away from the hospitals AE unless absolutely necessary. The healthcare providers were put under pressure and resulted in trading of blames amongst them. Patients were no longer satisfied with the quality of care. The management of the hospital was disturbed and wanted a way out of the messy situation. 2 Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) SSM is an action oriented approach for tackling perceived real world problematic (social) situations ( Checkland and Poulter, 2006). Appendix A shows the SSM process steps that were followed in the course of investigation. 2.1 Finding out An investigation team was invited by Chief Executive (CE) and introduced to some health workers. Using the SSM the first stage was to identify and provide a brief description of the situation. Due to the workload the clinicians were encountering, getting them round a discussion table wasnt easy. However, the investigation team moved around asking questions and observing proceedings. A rich picture was developed to help capture the main entities, structures and view points in the problem situation of Ashton hospital (Figure1, Appendix B). As part of the finding out, the team had to identify key roles that were affected in this situation (Analysis 1). The team already knew who the client was because it was the CE who requested for intervention. The nurses and doctors (some with specialisation) in A E provided treatment to patients with various illnesses and injuries.. Where necessary, patients were moved to the ward. The bed manger allocated beds to patient, while the ward manager supervised the ward. Table1 shows the outcome of Analysis 1 while table 2 shows the worldviews of the issue owners. Having known the key issue owners, the social texture (Analysis 2) of the issue owners in term of their role in the hospital, the norms (expected behaviour associated with such role) and the values (standard by which behaviours are judged) were identified. This is illustrated in table 1 of Appendix B. A political analysis (analysis 3) which enriched the cultural appreciation previously obtained through Analyses 1and II was done. The essence was to find out the disposition of power associated with the roles within the hospital thereby buttressing our cultural understanding of the situation. The CE, being the head of the hospital, had positioned power over other roles while the doctors enjoyed expert power across the hospital. The details of the analysis 3 are shown in figure 2 of Appendix B. The culture analysis provided a basic for identifying the relevant issues, actors and conflict in the hospital. The Client- person(s) who caused the intervention to happen The Chief Executive of Ashford hospital The Practitioner- people performing the investigation The Investigation team (Us) The issue owners-people who are concerned about or affected by the situation. Doctors, Bed managers, nurses, patients, ward managers, Chief Executive Table 1: Analysis 1 (the Intervention Itself) in Ashford hospital case study Issue owners World views Chief Executive Targets must be met with the available budget Doctors Patients need to be given effective treatment before they are discharged Bed manager Doctors do not discharge patients on time and are always bed blocking Patients We need better healthcare service; we Need to get well before we are discharged Ward managers High standards must be maintained in the ward Nurse To many patients to cope with Table 2: Worldviews of the issue owners in Ashford hospital case study. 2.2 Making Purposeful Activity Models. According to Checkland and Poulter (2006), every human situation reveals people trying to act purposefully. The models of purposeful activity system viewed through the world view of the doctors and the bed manager were considered very relevant. This was because the doctors made decisions on patients that needed admission while the bed manager was involved in allocation of beds. In order to model the purposeful activities, root definitions describing the primary activity processes and functions were developed using a mnemonic CATWOE analysis. Appropriate root definitions for the primary functions performed by doctors and bed manager were formulated as follows: A doctor system to provide quality and effective treatment care, through the use of appropriate acquired knowledge and hospital resources in, order to improve patients condition. A bed manager system that provides timely placement of patients in wards, by optimizing the use of available hospital beds, in order to contribute to quality and effective patient care. Tables 3 and 4 show the purposeful activity models for the Bed Manager and Doctor respectively. The conceptual purposeful activity models are illustrated in figure 2 and 3 of Appendix B. Purposeful Activity model 1 Root definition A bed manager system that provides timely placement of patients in wards, by optimizing the use of available hospital beds, in order to contribute to quality and effective of patient care. Activity name Admission of patients Task Primary task Customer Patients, doctors Actors Bed manager Transformation process Patients are admitted in hospital ward beds Worldview Doctors do not discharge patients on time and they contribute to bed blocking Owners Bed managers, doctors, ward managers, nurses Environment Number of beds, bed management and ward policies Efficacy Are beds available for patients? Are beds data correct? Efficiency How long do patient wait before being admitted? Do patients over stay on ward bed? Optimal bed usage, waiting time Effectiveness Have all patients been admitted on time? Table 3: Purposeful Activity model of Bed Manager. Purposeful Activity Model 2 Root definition A doctor system to provide quality and effective treatment care, through the use of appropriate acquired knowledge and hospital resources in order to improve patients condition. Activity name Treatment and admission of patients Task Primary task Customer Patients Actors Doctors Transformation process Patients are admitted and treated in the hospital Worldview Patients need to be given effective treatment before they are discharged Owners Nurses, doctors, bed managers, ward managers Environment Bed management and ward policies, availability of beds Efficacy Have patients been treated and admitted Efficiency Are patients getting better?, cost of drugs, time Effectiveness Have all patients been treated and admitted on time? Table 4: Purposeful Activity model of Doctors 2.3 Discussion and Outcomes. Activities in conceptual models developed were used for the discussion. The most significant finding that resulted from the investigation was in the area of discharge. The actual problem which was assumed to be limited to the AE was actually as a result of failure to adequately plan discharge in the wards. When the rate of patients needing admission increased, there was a need to change discharge plans. However, it was realised that the doctors did not change discharge behaviour and created waiting lists for patients that needed admission. Facilitated brainstorming sessions resulted in identifying number of contributing causes of delayed discharge. Discharge was done after ward round which took place in morning during week days alone. Insignificant numbers of discharge were done over the weekend because there was no major ward round. This meant that most patients needing admission in A E over weekend had to wait till following week before beds could be arranged for them. This also compounded the bed crises. A discharge project team was immediately set up. The main function of the discharge team was to carry out additional ward rounds in the evenings and on weekends so as to discharge patients and free up more beds. They were able to indentify other causes of delayed discharge and resolved them. This ensured timely discharge fashion which then freed up beds for patients in AE. 2.4 Strength and weakness of SSM The methodology provided guidelines that were flexible to apply. The use of models provoked debate and learning among the issue owners. Through discussion and debates, the hospital was able to realise that there was a need to amend patient discharge policy. However, this methodology could not satisfy everybody. Some of the discharge decisions were not favourable to the ward patients. Also members of the discharge team had extra work to do and ways of compensating them were not discussed. This could be seen from Jackson (2000) arguments that SSM tends to favour the more powerful people in the system while genuine participative debate could be severely constrained. 3.0 Thinking Differently Most of the inventions in our society today, such as electricity, telephone, automated teller machine and many more, are the results of some people who decided to think differently. Thinking differently involves using innovative and creative approaches to transform healthcare delivery service (NHS, 2007) The first stage was to stop and think of the whole situation and identify areas where creative thinking could improve matters. It was observed that there was poor co-ordination of patients and beds management while poor communication existed between the bed manager and other clinicians, in the wards and A E, about bed availability. A tool called Others Point of View (OPV) was then selected to describe the issue from others peoples perspective. The aim was to generate some alternative ways of framing the problem and to think about what other people might say about bed management of the hospital. Hotel manager Despite their poor hospitality, they still have more clients.poor service in hotel industry will make you to be out of business Service Consultant Poor customer service in the hospitalno regards for patientscustomers are kings ..so are the patients Journalist Taking the sick to a sick hospital. Patient -This is disgustingwhere else do they want us to go to? The second phase allowed clinicians to brainstorm and come up with ideas. At this stage no idea was good or bad. It allowed for people to speaking out their imaginations. The Fresh eyes tool was picked to see how similar issues were managed in other industries and the possibility of adopting the solutions into the hospital. Hotels- Hotels manage rooms, checks customers in and out using software systems designed to help administrator to track all rooms availability. University- students can book their accommodation online while a system assists in organising and allocating rooms to students Airline Airline Reservations Systems that manages airline schedules, fare tariffs, passenger reservations and ticket records. This gave us insight to how clients and resources were being managed in other industries. The stake holders then agreed to try out a bed management information system. The hospital implemented bed management information system on a small scale and some of the benefits were highlighted (Table 5). Real time online monitoring of bed position, bed manager did not have to go round wards again It improved communication between units for patient admissions Saved time searching for available beds in the hospital It provided an overview of bed occupancy rate in hospital It was user friendly and easy to use. Enabled more accurate allocation of beds for emergency patients Table 5: Realised benefits of Bed management information system after implementation. 3.1 Strength and weakness The thinking differently methodology was a powerful tool in stimulating thinking and lots of ideas were suggested. However, this took time and caused arguments as feasibility, advantages disadvantages and risk of each idea were all argued out. Also, traces of people trying to impose their ideas on others were noticed while others brought up ideas that would satisfy their own interest. 4 System dynamics System dynamics is an approach and simulation technique for studying and managing complex feedback systems, that are seen in business and other social systems (SDS, 2009). According to Jun el at (1999), there has been increased use of simulation in healthcare. This could be attributed to numerous success reports of using simulation to address health care system problems and availability of simulation software packages. The methodology was used to estimate and manage the aggregate flow of patient through the hospital and its environment. As the number of people visiting AE increased, it in turn increased the number of people who needed hospital admission. Also, as patients waiting for bed increased, it caused an increase in number of patients that were discharged home early. This is illustrated in Figure 1. There was the need to control the number of patients coming through A E. The availability and use of other healthcare facilities such as GP practice, community care and nearby hospitals would have a negative feedback on the inflow of patients into aE. This would directly affect the number of patients needing admission. Most of the patients that were discharged home might not have to return to AE as community care could assist carter. This methodology helped the hospital to forecast inflow of patients and ways that could be adopted to control it. Community care services around were informed about the situation of things in the hospital. In addition, ambulance bringing patients were informed ahead to make use of other hospitals or GP practices if condition of patient was not too severe. Figure 1: A model to show the flow of patients through the hospital 5. Conclusion The complex nature of healthcare system makes system thinking well-suited to tackle problems in this sector. The various methodology approaches used assisted in better understanding of the relationship between the various units in Ashford hospital and its environment. This showed that like any other system, no unit in the hospital is an island. The different methodologies applied in Ashford hospital situation yielded various positive outcomes that helped improved the problematic situation. While some of the methodologies used have their roots in action research, further participatory research will be carried out to investigate occupational work stress among the clinicians. This may help identify majors causes of stress associated with their workflow, how it affects their relationships with others and with the patients in particular. Word count -2034

The Powerful Ideal of Freedom Essay -- Incidents in the Life of a Slav

The Powerful Ideal of Freedom Developed in Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Blood-Burning Moon, by Jean Toomer, and W.E.B DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk Slavery played an overwhelming role throughout the history of the United States. The riches created by the unpaid labor of African Americans helped to guarantee the country’s industrial revolution and succeeding economic strength. Yet, that wealth created incredible political power for slaveholders and their representatives. African American slaves brought with them many languages, cultures and values, which helped shaped America and it’s exceptional cultural and natural environment. Continuing a brutally cruel system, African slaves developed a profound commitment to liberty and became a living testament to the powerful ideal of freedom. As Harriet Jacobs’ wrote in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she stated, â€Å"No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery† (Jacobs 289). This relates to a reference to both the author’s personal struggles under slavery and as a significant theme throughout her narrative. During her personal story, Harriet revealed that the institution of slavery crippled the accepted family structure. For instance, slave women similar to Harriet herself, needed permission from their masters to marry, which frequently delayed or destroyed their ability to wed and reproduce. Slave women were often faced with sexual abuse and mistreatment from their slaveholders. The traditional family structure was further threatened by the dispersal of its member. For example, it was not uncommon that the children of slave women would set to be sold right after their birth. Consequently, those attem... ...m and slavery are extremely evident throughout history. Yet, the word freedom has been a topic of debate, and for good reason. There are so many different views on what freedom truly defines and what influence it has on our daily lives. Therefore, whites had to accept the fact that African Americans were gaining rights and liberties that once never existed. Those who had a voice within the black movement gave others the courage to go out and work for themselves and their futures, wanting to forget any old sayings making blacks inferior to whites. Works Cited Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Bantam Company, 1989. Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Ed. Jean Fagan Yellin. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987. Toomer, Jean. â€Å"Bood-Burning Moon.† Cane. New York: Livericht, 2010. 39-49. Print.

Emotions Essay -- essays research papers

Emotions No matter how hard you try, you cannot control your emotions, only attempt to hide them. Emotions influence every aspect of our lives, what we do, what we say, and et cetera. All of our emotions, from anger to insecurity, are influenced by several factors, just as our lives are influenced by our emotions (Gelinas, Emotions 35). First of all, it causes problems when one does not trust himself, and it shows up in many ways. Some people brag to call attention to themselves, causing others to believe that the egoistic person has a lot of self-respect. Very often though, egotism can be an attempt to cover up insecurity in a person who does not feel they will be good enough without it (Gelinas, Emotions 36). Bragging about one’s achievements, material possessions, or achievements reveals a sense of inferiority. Even though one may brag their whole lives, they never reach a sense of well being. This is caused by fixation, which is when a person does not grow emotionally after a certain point (Gelinas, Emotions 64). A person that brags a great deal may also be considered a snob. A snob may not act as a braggart for the same reasons egoistic people do, for what snobs do is act so that they end up isolating themselves. They do this to avoid the trouble of friends, responsibilities, and emotional relationships by giving a snobbish attitude to the people who put up with these things (Gelinas, Emotions 45). Another sign of...

North Ireland Conflict :: essays research papers

Political Unrest in Ireland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There has been a continuing conflict in Ireland that has been going on for decades, and affects the world to this day. It is essentially a political and religious struggle between several groups. The British have played a key role in the situation since the early 1900’s, and even more distant into the past. Origins of the Conflict   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The conflict in Ireland has its roots as far back as the 1500’s. Ireland has historically been recognized as a Catholic country. However, when King Henry VIII was ruling in Britain, Ireland was brought under British control. At the time, Britain was predominantly a Protestant country. Tension between the Catholic majority and Protestant minority began to arise in the two faiths. Throughout the years the British and Protestants began to tighten their grip and control in Ireland. In 1534 Henry VIII had the Ireland parliament declare himself as King of Ireland. The native Irish viewed the British as a major threat to their customs. There have been multiple uprisings and rebellions by the Irish people against the British. A British and Spanish alliance was able to put to rest all of the major uprisings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The English began to settle areas of Ireland with Protestants, beginning in the early 1600’s. The northern regions of Ireland became one of the more heavily immigrated areas. The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but formed a majority in the northern province of Ulster (en.wikipedia.org/Northern_Ireland). Involved Groups and Peoples   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two major groups involved are the Protestants and the Catholics. The Protestants have their roots back to the British who migrated to the region when King Henry VIII was in power. The Protestants are predominantly Unionists. Unionists are â€Å"people in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who were historically in favor of uniting their nations into a United Kingdom, or who in modern times with their nation to remain a part of the United Kingdom (www.wikipedia.com). The Protestants are the majority inhabitants of Northern Ireland today. The Catholics are predominantly known as Nationalists, and are descendants of the Irish population predating the settlement of the English and Scottish.

My top 5 filipino traits Essay

1.Adept†¦Filipinos are very flexible at surging any difficulty and hardship 2. Craftsmanship†¦Filipinos are very crafty 3. Obsessive†¦Filipinos wish to improve their lives and those around them and are willing to go through great hardships and efforts, but don’t always know when to stop or how to balance it all. 4. Mimicry†¦Filipinos tend to copy or gain that which others have. In this respect, that’s why you see groups of Filipino’s in foreign countries that are so similar (like in LA every Filipino seems to have a piano at home that no one buys, or in Japan every Filipino on a military base seems to own rose wood. But if they move to a new group, then they easily wish to change and copy the new styles. Kind of like following a fad. 5. Short memories†¦No I don’t mean their dumb or something, I mean they forget the past or let go of the past easier. They don’t hold grudges quite so bad. Filipino’s are not more family oriented than in other cultures, but what makes them Filipino’s is they think they are. No offense. But many people have strong relations with their families. I lived in a home for six months and had to listen to my Brother in law tell me how family oriented they are as he yells at his father, and puts down his dead mother. I watched as just about every male member of the family had girlfriends, and the wives knew and ran those girls out of town when they got pregnant. I watched families that lived across the street visit each other once a year. I had a Filipino tell me that my daughter (half Filipino isn’t Filipino enough to live in his house with my 2nd wife for a short time). So in any respect, I’m not say they are less family oriented, but that we all have our issues with getting along, and Filipinos are no more family oriented than other cultures. This is according to the yahoo answers dot com. Well I agree with these because most of the Filipinos come from poor families and they can survive any trials becsuse they are already used to it. They are already down, so they on;y way to go is up. In the Philippines the most common thing that is talked about is the government. This is because this is the largest contributor of the poverty in the Philippines. The government system in the Philippines is very un organized and very corrupt. That’s why youre not rich if youre not in politics.

Love, Power, and Romeo and Juliet Essay

The play Romeo and Juliet is a classic tale of friendship, love, betrayal, comedy, tragedy, and death. I t was written by William Shakespeare in and is considered one of his greatest tragedies. It has many different renditions and has been translated into many different languages. In the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† two young ambitious lovers put themselves in situations that would inevitably lead to their deaths. Was Romeo to blame or perhaps Juliet? Maybe the blame can be put on true love that would lead them to do certain things that were forbidden during those times. In the relationship between Romeo and Juliet many questions are formed within my mind such as who had more power in the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, was it Romeo, was it Juliet, or was it the Love between them. Perhaps gender played a role in who had more power in the relationship. In this paper I intend on exploring the answers to these questions that are lingering in my mind. Throughout the play Juliet increasingly showed her power over Romeo, even though in those days, it was customary for men to show their power and dominance over women, this was not the case in this play. This could have been because William Shakespeare was married and had daughters. The first instance that Juliet shows her indirect power over Romeo was the very moment Romeo laid his eyes upon her. In scene one, act five Romeo says to a servingman, â€Å"What ladies that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight†, â€Å"Oh she doth teach the torch to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the check of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear beauty too rich for us, for earth to dear! † This show power because earlier that day Romeo was mopping around crying about another young lady named Rosaline. When he saw Juliet he completely forgot who Rosaline even was and went out of his way to talk to Juliet even though she was part of the family that his family was in a feud with. Power was also exhibited by Juliet because Romeo was so infatuated with her that he stood outside her window and talked about her like she was the sun in the sky herself even though he could have been killed for it. Another exhibit of power was when Marcutio and Tybalt fought and the end result was Marcutio being killed by Tybalt and Romeo killing Tybalt and then being banished from Verona by the king. All his happened because of the love between Romeo and Juliet. Another instance of Juliet’s power was when she unintentionally got the Prince and Romeo to fight to the death over her, even though she was not really dead. The result of this battle, ended in the Prince’s death. The next instance of Juliet’s power was at the end of the play when Romeo was so incredibly distraught over his lov ers’ alleged demise that he purchased a vial of poison brewed by an apothecary to kill himself. After Romeo Kills Paris he lies down next to his beautiful Juliet and consumes the vial of poison so he can be with his lover once again. In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo also exhibits power. In the balcony scene between the two star- crossed lovers when the famous Romeo, Romeo where forth art thou Romeo speech Romeo tells Juliet that he wants to be with him. They both know that their love is forbidden, but Romeo convinces Juliet that they should run away out of Verona to get married and make beautiful love children. This shows power because they could have been banished or even killed because they could have caused the families to go to war and the kind already declared if they fought again they could been punished with death. Romeo also show his power when in the end of the play Romeo see Juliet dead and drink the poison to kill himself, Juliet awakes to see her lover dead his power over her was so strong that she tried to kiss his lips in hopes of getting the poison into her system so she could be with her lover. When they plan failed she took Romeo’s dagger and plunged it into her own heart killing herself instantly. If that is power over someone I don’t know what is. The last Object that could have been seen as having power over the relationship between Romeo and Juliet was the Friar. He was somewhat of a corky guy who brewed up remedies and was a good friend of Romeo and Juliet. He tried his best throughout the play to get the two lovers together and we all know how that turned out. The first instance of the friar showing his power over Romeo and Juliet’s relationship was when the two came to him for advice he came up with a plan to get the both out of the city and marry the two. Juliet was supposed to take a potion that the friar had concocted which was to make her seem if she had died but she would merely be a sleep. The family would bury her and she would wake up several hours later and meet up with her lover. He writes to Romeo to let him know what the plan is but the letter never makes it to Romeo so he doesn’t know Juliet isn’t really dead. Then all the bad stuff happens and everyone dies. So yes the friar did have some sort of power over the relationship between Romeo and Juliet but it wasn’t good power at all. In conclusion Love will make you do some stupid things. Love is very powerful whether experienced by a man or woman, it can make you do some strange things. The story was a good one and Power over people can definitely be a bad thing, as you can see in Romeo and Juliet.

Redken vs Wen

Staci Pritchett Eng 101-011 03/05/13 Try This Out Homework Assignment Redken products and Wen hair care system have some similarities . The both have products aimed for colored, oily, or dry hair. Redken is different from Wen because all of its hair cleaning products have sulfate in them ,whereas , Wen is sulfate free. Wen is different from Redken because it is a cleaning conditioner . Redken does not have any of their cleaning products as a cleansing conditioner.Redken has been a well known hair care company for the past fifty years . This hair care line has developed several products lines like the moisturing, fresh curls, and get it pump volumizing systems. Wen is a fairly new hair care line that was developed seventeen years ago. Wen has only a few products in it hair care line like the sweet almond mint, lavender, and pomegranate cleaning conditioner. Wen also only has one styling product and deep conditioner. Redken and Wen are both hair care lines.They have a cleansing system, deep conditioning, and styling products essay writer online. Redken and Wen hair care companies have both been around for many years. Not a lot of people know that Redken hair care was invented by an actress and her hairstylist. Wen was invented by a hairstylist that did hair for many years but was never happy with using salon products cause his clients hair still looked damaged and dry. So he decided to develop his own hair care line for his clients but eventually went worldwide with his products.

Diversification and Firm Performance

DIVERSIFICATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION Anil M. Pandya and Narendar V. Rao Abstract Diversification is a strategic option that many managers use to improve their firms’ performance. This interdisciplinary research attempts to verify whether firm level diversification has any impact on performance. The study finds that on average, diversified firms show better performance compared to undiversified firms on both risk and return dimensions. It also tests the robustness of these results by classifying firms by performance class.The results show that among the best performing class of firms, undiversified firms have higher returns, but these returns are accompanied by high variance. Whereas, highly diversified firms show lower returns, and much lower variance. Results further show that diversified firms perform better than undiversified firms on risk and return dimensions, in the low and average performance classes. The paper concludes that a dominant undivers ified firm may perform better than a highly diversified firm in terms of return but its riskiness will be much greater.If managers of such firms opt for diversification, their returns will decrease, but their riskiness will reduce proportionately more than the reduction in their returns. In such firms, there will be a tradeoff between risk and return. INTRODUCTION Two seemingly irreconcilable facts motivate this study: one, diversification continues to be an important strategy for corporate growth; and two, while Management and Marketing disciplines favor related diversification, Finance makes a strong case against corporate diversification.With the help of a large sample, this interdisciplinary study tries to address this contradiction in the associative relationship between diversification and firm performance. Diversification is a means by which a firm expands from its core business into other product markets (Aaker 1980, Andrews 1980, Berry 1975, Chandler 1962, Gluck 1985). Rese arch shows corporate management to be actively engaged in diversifying activities.Rumelt (1986) found that by 1974 only 14 percent of the Fortune 500 firms operated as single businesses and 86 percent operated as diversified businesses. Many researchers note a rise in diversified firms (Datta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990). European corporate managers according to a survey, not only favor it but actively pursue diversification (Kerin, Mahajan and Varadarajan 1990). Firms spend considerable sums acquiring other firms or bet heavily on internal R&D to diversify away from their core product/markets.Of late U. S. firms are beginning to moderate their zeal for diversification and are consolidating around their core businesses. But this trend has not affected large Asian corporations which continue to remain highly diversified. As in any economic activity there are costs and benefits associated with diversification, and ultimately, a firm's performance must depend on how managers achieve a balance between costs and benefits in each concrete case. Moreover, these benefits and costs may not fall equally on managers and investors.Management researchers argue that diversification prolongs the life of a firm. Researchers in finance argue diversification benefits managers because it buys them insurance, and shareholders usually bear all the costs of such insurance. Diversification can improve debt capacity, reduce the chances of bankruptcy by going into new product/ markets (Higgins and Schall 1975, Lewellen 1971), and improve asset deployment and profitability (Teece 1982, Williamson 1975).Skills developed in one business transferred to other businesses, can increase labor and capital productivity. A diversified firm can transfer funds from a cash surplus unit to a cash deficit unit without taxes or transaction costs (Bhide 1993). Diversified firms pool unsystematic risk and reduce the variability of operating cash flow and enjoy comparative adva ntage in hiring because key employees may have a greater sense of job security (Bhide 1993).These are some of the major benefits of diversification strategy. Diversification, firm size, and executive compensations are highly correlated, which may suggest that diversification provides benefits to managers that are unavailable to investors (Hoskisson and Hitt 1990), creating what economists call the agency problem (Fama 1980) and managers stand to lose if they become unemployed, either through poor firm performance or bankruptcy (Bhide 1993, Dutta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990).Diversification can also lead to the problem of moral hazard, the chance that people will alter behavior after entering into a contract-as in a conflict of interest by providing insurance for managers who have invested in firm specific skills, and have an interest in diversifying away a certain amount of firm specific risk and may look upon diversification as a form of compensation (Ami hud and Lev 1981, Bhide 1993).Although it may be necessary for a firm to reduce firm specific risk to build relations with suppliers and employees, only top managers can decide what is the right amount of diversification as insurance (Bhide 1993). Diversification can be expensive (Jones and Hill 1988, Porter 1985) and place considerable stress on top management (McDougall and Round 1984). These are the costs of diversification.In the final analysis, this situational argument regarding balancing costs and benefits can only explain the performance of individual firms but it cannot address the theoretical question about the veracity of diversification as a valid corporate strategy. Consequently, following the benefit-cost agreement, whether in general, diversification enhances firm performance becomes an empirical question. Further, recent reviews of the rather extensive literature do not find agreement about the direction of association between firm diversification and firm performanc e.This lack of a clear answer in the literature motivates the present study. The paper is organized in four sections. The first section briefly reviews the empirical literature and presents the research hypotheses. Section two describes the research methodology and operationalizes the dependent and independent variables. Section three presents the results of the study. The concluding section discusses the results and summarizes the findings. REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESIS The impact of diversification on firm performance is mixed.Three recent reviewers (Datta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990, Kerin, Mahajan and Varadarajan 1990), broadly conclude: (a) the empirical evidence is inconclusive; (b) models, perspectives and results differ based on the disciplinary perspective chosen by the researcher; and  © the relationship between diversification and performance is complex and is affected by intervening and contingent variables such as related ver sus unrelated diversification, type of relatedness, the capability of top managers, industry structure, and the mode of diversification.Some studies claim diversifying into related product-markets produces higher returns than diversifying into unrelated product-markets and less diversified firms perform better than highly diversified firms (Christensen and Montgomery 1981, Keats 1990, Michel and Shaked 1984, Rumelt 1974, 1982, 1986). Some claim that the economies in integrating operations and core skills obtained in related diversification outweigh the costs of internal capital markets and the smaller variances in sales revenues generated by unrelated diversification (see Datta, Rajagopalan ; Rasheed 1991).While agreeing that related strategy is better than unrelated, Prahalad and Bettis (1986), clarify that it is the insight and the vision of the top managers in choosing the right strategy (how much and what kind of relatedness), rather than diversification per se, which is the key to successful diversification. Accordingly, it is not product-market diversity but the strategic logic that managers use that links firm diversification to performance; which implies that diversified firms without such logic may not perform as well.Markides and Williamson (1994) show that strategic relatedness is superior to market relatedness in predicting when diversifiers related outperform unrelated ones. Others however argue, it is not management conduct so much, but industry structure that governs firm performance (Christensen and Montgomery 1981, Montgomery 1985). Besides diversification types and industry structure, researchers have also looked at the ways firms diversify. Simmonds (1990) examined the combined effects of breadth (related vs. nrelated) and mode (internal R ; D versus Mergers ; Acquisitions) and found that relatedly diversified firms are better performers than unrelatedly diversified firms, and R ; D based product development is better than mergers and acquis ition- led diversification (Simmonds 1990, Lamont and Anderson 1985). Among studies of acquisitions the results are mixed. Some report that related acquisitions are better performers than unrelated ones (Kusewitt 1985), or there is no real difference among them (Montgomery and Singh 1984).Some studies on breadth and performance find relatedly diversified firms perform better than firms that are unrelatedly diversified (Rumelt 1974, 1982, 1986). Others show confounding effects in firm performance because of diversification category and industry (Christiansen and Montgomery 1981, Montgomery 1985). Recent studies suggest service firms should not diversify (Normann 1984), whereas, Nayyar (1993), shows that in the service industry diversification ased on information asymmetry is positively associated with performance, whereas diversification based on economies of scope is negatively associated with performance. A contradiction of Johnson and Thomas' (1987) confirmation of Rumelt's findin g that the appropriateness of product diversity is judged by a balance between economies of scope and diseconomies of scale. It also appears there is a limit on how much a firm can diversify; if a firm goes beyond this point its market value suffers and reduction in diversification by refocusing is associated with value creation (Markides 1992).Apart from the empirical evidence, the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) holds that competition among investors for information ensures that current prices of widely traded securities are the unbiased predictors of their future value, and that current prices represent the net present value of its future cash flow. Evidence supports the existence of weak, semi- and near-strong forms of market efficiency (Fama 1970). If this view of the market is true, then investors have the information necessary to construct portfolios of stocks to maximize their risk/return strategies for a given amount of resource.Consequently, a firm's management cannot do better for the investor by diversifying into different product markets and create a portfolio that will improve returns or better manage risk than investor’s stock portfolio. Stockholders also do not pay a premium for diversified firms (Brealey and Myers 1996); the market does not value risk/return trade-off positively for unrelated diversification (Lubatkin and O'Neil 1987), and acquiring firms only earn normal returns (Lehn and Mitchell 1993), and not economic rents.Finally, corporate takeovers discipline managers who waste shareholder resources and bust-ups promote economic efficiency by reallocating assets to higher valued uses or more efficient uses (Jensen and Ruback 1983, Lehn and Mitchell 1993). The review of empirical literature from Management/Marketing disciplines and the theoretical and empirical literature from Finance show that the relationship between diversification and performance is complex and is affected by intervening and contingent variables. Taken toge ther, the evidence and arguments presented above seems to suggest that diversified firms (i. . highly unrelatedly diversified firms) as a class, should perform less well than an optimal securities portfolio, and thus for our study we propose the following null hypothesis. Our null hypothesis (H0) is that: Highly diversified firms should perform less well than moderately diversified and single product firms. There are numerous arguments and findings against the null hypothesis proposed above. In certain markets, an investor may face assets constraint in constructing a portfolio, restricting diversification opportunities (Levy 1978).Farrelly, and Reichenstein (1984) show that total risk rather than systematic risk alone, better explains the expertly assessed risk of stocks. Jahera, Lloyd and Page (1987), find well-diversified firms have higher returns regardless of size. DeBondt and Thaler (1985, 1987), argue that the market as a whole overreacts to major events. Prices shoot up on go od economic news and decline sharply on bad news. According to Brown and Harlow (1988, 1993), investors hedge their bets and over react or under react to important news by pricing securities below their expected values.As uncertainties decrease, stock prices adjust upwards, regardless of the direction of the impact of the initial event. The post-event adjustment in prices tends to be greater in the case of bad news than in the case of good news. Haugen (1995) also casts doubts on the validity of the EMH. Finally, Fama and French (1992), changing their earlier stance, argue that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is incapable of describing the last fifty years of stock returns, and the beta is not an appropriate measure of risk.This implies that a stockholder may not be better positioned to diversify his portfolio of stocks as compared to a corporate manager as implied by the null hypothesis. On the basis of this discussion, we could argue that market inefficiency may not allow i nvestors to optimally allocate their resources. It can put managers, especially good ones, in a more advantageous position to diversify their product market portfolios and thereby improve firm performance. Thus, our alternate hypothesis (H1) is: that diversified firms perform better in terms of return and risk measures compared to less diversified firms.Thus, on average, diversified firms as a class should perform better than moderately diversified or single-product firms. STUDY DESIGN The availability of the Compustat database has made it possible to study a larger sample of firms over several years and approach the problem of diversification from a more macro perspective. The approach used in this study is akin to that of military historians who examine past battles and in the context of operational tactics conclude that combatants with greater orce (material and manpower) tend to win more often. Those with insufficient force need the advantage of mobility and surprise to neutrali ze superior force in order to win. These insights, based on outcomes of many battles, allow historians to disengage from contingencies and specificities of stewardship and terrain. This does not imply that situational specifics should be ignored in planning military campaigns. The finding only points out the general truth of certain tactics.Similarly, in the context of the conduct of business strategy, we could also first examine the performance of diversified firms without regard to specifics of strategy, like type, breadth, modality and industry, and figure out if in general, the average performance of diversified firms is better than that of undiversified firms. The diversification literature is unable to demonstrate that diversification type, breadth, modality, and industry have consistent and predictable impact on performance. We therefore treat these as situational contingencies and do not take them into account.Earlier studies of diversification use cross sectional data, smal l samples and single measures of performance. We on the other hand, examine a large sample of firms with data over a seven year period. We use about two thousand firms, and multiple performance measures. The starting point of our main study is 1984, the earliest data point for segment information available on the Compustat database. Specialization Ratio (revenue from a firm's largest segment divided by its total revenue) as the dependent variable measures the extent of diversification.Accounting and market returns, their variability, coefficient of variation, and the Sharpe Index are the independent performance variables. The study also tests the robustness of classification of firms based on SR ratios. For this part of the study, the data is available from 1981. It also tests the robustness of results based on the extent of performance and the degree of diversification. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS Diversification is treated as the independent variable in this study. As a policy variabl e, managers can control the extent of diversification desired, and performance is the dependent variable.This section defines and operationalizes these concepts. Diversification This study uses Specialization Ratio (SR) to classify firms into three classes of diversification. Its logic reflects the importance of the firm's core product market to that of the rest of the firm (Rumelt, 1974, 1982; Shaikh ; Varadarajan, 1984). After we started this work some researchers have argued that the entropy measure of diversification is probably a better one. We leave it to future research to test the robustness of SR versus other measures of diversification.Operationally, SR is a ratio of the firm's annual revenues from its largest discrete, product-market activity to its total revenues. In the diversification literature, SR has been one of the methods of choice for measuring diversification. It is easy to understand and calculate. TABLE 1 Values of Specialization Ratios in Rumelt's and Our Cla ssification Schemes SR Values in Rumelt’s Scheme SR Values in Our Scheme Undiversified, Single Product Firms SR ? . 95 SR ? 0. 95 Moderately Diversified Firms 0. 95 ; SR ? 0. 7 0. 95 ; SR ? 0. 5 Highly Diversified Firms SR ; 0. 7 SR ; 0. 5 Performance Management researchers prefer accounting variables as performance measures such as return on equity (ROE), return on investment (ROI), and return on assets (ROA), along with their variability as measures of risk.Earlier studies typically measure accounting rates of return. These include: (ROI), return on capital (ROC), return on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS). The idea behind these measures is perhaps to evaluate managerial performance-how well is a firm's management using the assets (as measured in dollars) to generate accounting returns per dollar of investment, assets or sales. The problems with these measures are well known. Accounting returns include depreciation and inventory costs and affect the accurate reporting of earnings.Asset values are also recorded historically. Since accounting conventions make these variables unreliable, financial economists prefer market returns or discounted cash flows as measures of performance. For the sake of consistency, we use two accounting measures: ROE and ROA; along with market return to measure performance. Return on equity (ROE) is a frequently used variable in judging top management performance, and for making executive compensation decisions.We use ROE as a measure to judge performance and calculate the average return on equity (AROE) across all sampled firms and time periods, its standard deviation and also the coefficient of variation for each of the three diversification groups. ROE is defined as net income (income available to common stockholders) divided by stockholders equity. The coefficient of variation (CV) gives us the risk per unit of average return. ROA is the most frequently used performance measure in previous studies. It is defined as net income (income available to common stockholders), divided by the book value of total assets.We also calculate the average return on assets (AROA) across all sampled firms and time periods calculate its standard deviation and also the coefficient of variation for each of the three diversification groups. Market return (MKTRET), is the third dependent variable we use. MKTRET is computed for a calendar year by taking the difference between the current year's ending stock price, and the previous year's ending price, adding to it the dividends paid out for the year, and then dividing the result by the previous year's ending price.This study includes companies for which complete data to calculate the variances used is available on Compustat PC- Plus for the period 1984 through 1990. In addition, we calculate the average market return (AMKTRET) for each of the three groups, the standard deviation of AMKTRET, and the Sharpe Index (Sharpe, 1966), a commonly used risk-adjusted performance measure. It measures the risk premium earned per unit of risk exposure. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As mentioned earlier, Table 1 presents comparison of breaks between Rumelt’s classification and the modified version.Using the Compustat database we then classified 2637 firms using Rumelt’s classification scheme for the years 1981-1990. Table 2 presents the AROE and its standard deviation using Rumelt’s classification. While we intended to calculate AROA and MKTRT for this data set we were unsuccessful because of the problem of missing data. The 1984 – 90 data set proved to be better and was used for the alternate classification scheme for all the three performance variables. Using the same Compustat database, we classified 2188 firms in three groups: Single Product Firms (SR ; 0. 5), Moderately Diversified Firms (0. 5 ? SR ? 0. 95), and Highly Diversified Firms (SR ; 0. 5), for each of the seven years, from 1984 to 1990, for which complete segmental data was available. We kept only those firms in the sample that remained in the same SR category for the entire seven year period, and had all the data for computing the variables. After classification, we calculated each of the three performance variables: return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and market return (MKTRET), for each firm in each of the three groups, for each year from 1984 to 1990.We also calculated the average ROE (AROE), average ROA (AROA), and average MKTRET (AMKTRET), first by averaging across the seven years for each firm, and then by averaging across firms by pooling across the years, along with their standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. Tables 3, 4 and 5 present the results. The number of firms in each performance group varies slightly because we had to ensure that the data was available for all variables, for all the seven years. Statistical ProcedureThe test of the null hypothesis requires a test of equality of means of each classification group , and for each performance variable. While the study may indicate one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), it is not a robust test. The application of ANOVA requires that the data set meet three critical assumptions: first, the test is extremely sensitive to departures from normality; second, the assumption of homogeneity of variance is necessary; and third, the errors should be independent of group mean.While for our study the first and the third assumptions checked out, the second assumption regarding the homogeneity of variance failed. We carried out Hartley's test of equality of variance for each performance variable. This test confirmed that variance of the three groups is unequal for each performance variable. We faced the Beherens-Fisher problem or checking for equality of means when variances of the underlying population are unequal. Such situations indicate Cochran's approximation test for hypotheses testing (Berenson and Levine 1992).This test requires us to test the null hyp othesis of equality of means, taken two at a time, and according to the test we must reject the null if the t (observed) exceeds t (critical) at chosen levels of significance. (Statistical information available from authors by request) TABLE 2 Performance Based on Rumelt's SR Classification Scheme: ROE-1981-1990 N AROE SD CV Undiversified Firms (SR ? 0. 95) 1663 3. 8 277. 73. 13 Moderately Diversified (. 95 < SR ? .7) 371 2. 3 181. 2 78. 78 Highly Diversified (SR < . 7) 603 9. 9 100. 9 10. 25 Results Classification Methods: Comparison and a Test of Robustness Table 1 compares the breaks in SR values. Table 2 reports the results using Rumelt's scheme with 1981-1990 data, and Table 3 reports the results using our scheme with 1984-1990 data.The first column in Table 2 shows the three categories of diversification based on SR values; N stands for the number of firms that remained in the same group for the period 1981-1990, and had performance data for the entire period under study; ARO E stands for the average of the ROE calculated over N firms; SD stands for the standard deviation of AROA; and CV represents the coefficient of variation, given by the ratio of SD divided by the AROE, representing the risk per unit average return. Tables 3 through 5 follow the same layout for ROE, TABLE 3 Performance As: Return On Equity (AROE)-1984-1990N AROE SD CV Undiversified 1844 -1. 6 323. 3 NA Moderately Diversified 315 32. 7 409. 4 12. 52 Highly Diversified 23 14. 6 9. 8 0. 67 N= Sample Size, AROE= Average Return on Equity, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of VariationROA and MKTRET. The highly diversified group in Table 2 has AROE of 9. , SD equal to 100. 9 and CV of 10. 25; the moderate group has AROE of 2. 3, SD equals 181. 2 and CV equals 78. 8. The Undiversified group AROE is 3. 8, SD 277. 9 and CV 73. 1. The highly diversified group has the highest AROE, the lowest Standard Deviation and the lowest Coefficient of variation. The results are in the expected direct ion. The results follow the expected path with the exception that AROE of the moderate group is less than that of the undiversified group but the mean values are not far apart and the difference is statistically insignificant.The result for the undiversified and the highly diversified groups are as expected. The SD values are also in the expected direction. Compare these results with results obtained in Table 3. Table 3 shows the relationship between the degree of diversification and group-wise performance measured by ROE. The sample consists of 1844 single product firms with SR greater or equal to 0. 95. The average ROE of these firms over the seven year period is -1. 6 percent, with a SD of 323. 3. The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. , has 315 firms. The AROE of the group equals32. 7 percent and the SD equals 409. 4. While the AROE of this group is clearly superior to that of single productfirms, the group shows high ROE variability. Thus, the moderately diversified group shows an slightly improvedrisk-return profile. The third group with SR values of less than 0. 5, is the smallest, and includes only 23 firms. The average ROE of the group equals 14. 6 or about half that of the second group, with SD of 9. 8, which is much lower than the first and the second group.The CV is the lowest at 0. 67, which is about 1/20 of the moderate group. Table 3 shows that while highly diversified firms have lower risk than moderately diversified firms; moderately diversified firms have higher average ROE compared to highly diversified firms. It also shows that single product firms have lower risk than moderately diversified firms, but moderately diversified firms have much higher returns. When we combine the return and risk measures as given by the coefficient of variation CV, we do see consistent results, i. e. that highly diversified firms have better risk-return profile than moderately diversified firms; and moderately diversified firms perform be tter in risk-return terms when compared to single product firms. We find that the Tables 2 and 3 show results in expected direction. The highly diversified groups have higher AROE and lower SD compared to the other two groups. This comparison of the two classification schemes shows sufficient consistency especially in the two extreme groups to strongly suggest that performance tends to be invariant to classification breaks.The comparison also demonstrates the validity of using the more pronounced classification scheme used in this study. Performance as Return on Assets and its Variability Table 4 shows the relationship between the degree of diversification and group-wise performance based on ROA. The sample consists of 1848 single product firms with SR greater or equal to 0. 95. The AROA of these firms over the seven year period is – 1. 9 percent, with a SD of 38. 2. TABLE 4 Performance As: Return On Assets (AROA)-1984-1990 N AROA SD CV Undiversified 1848 -1. 38. 2 NA Moderat ely Diversified 316 4. 0 5. 0 1. 25 Highly Diversified 24 5. 8 2. 7 0. 47 N= Sample Size, AROA= Average Return on Assets, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of Variation The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. 5 has 316 firms. Its AROA equals 4 percent with a5 percent SD. In absolute terms, the AROA of this group is higher than that of undiversified firms and has lower SDof 5. 0 percent, as compared to 38. percent of the first group. The CV is positive at 1. 25, which shows a much improved risk-return profile. The third group of the highly diversified firms includes 24 firms, with AROA of 5. 8 and SD of 2. 7. These values are lower than the first and the second group. The CV of this group is high at 0. 47, being 38 percent of the moderate group. Statistical results in Table 2 show that as we move from undiversified group of firms to the highly diversified group of firms, the average return on assets increases, and the variability of ROA as given by SD decr eases, and CV or the risk per unit return decreases.Statistically, according to Table 4, the above results are significant at the 1% level. Based on these findings reject the null hypothesis. Performance as Market Return Table 5 reports group-wise markets return performance. The sample consists of 1195 firms in the single product category, and 280 and 23 firms in the moderately and highly diversified groups. The sample for each group is smaller than it was for AROA and AROE because we eliminated firms that did not have complete information for the period under study.The average market return AMKTRET of the undiversified group over the study period is 8. 2 percent. The SD is 21. 1, the risk per unit of return as measured by the CV is 2. 57 and the Sharpe Index is 0. 0421. The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. 5 has 280 firms. Their AMKTRET equals 13. 2 percent and the SD equals 40. 8 percent. Whereas, the average market return of this group is clearly superior to that of the single product firms, the group shows higher variability as compared to the first one. The CV, i. e. , the risk per unit return also is higher at 3. 8. The Sharpe Index of the moderate group is 0. 1443, about three times higher than the first group, and is in the expected direction. The third group includes 23 firms. Its AMKTRET equals 16. 3, with SD of 10. 1, which is much lower than the first and the second group. The CV is 0. 67, about a fourth of the first group. The Sharpe Index at 0. 89 is about six times higher than that of moderately diversified firms. Table 5 shows that the average market return for the highly diversified group is higher than the moderately diversified group, followed by the single product group.The variability of market returns of the highly diversified group is lower than firms in the single product group. Moderately diversified firms on average have a higher market return, but higher risk than single product firms. The Sharpe Index, the i nverse of which gives us risk per unit return, and is a better risk-return measure, shows that the performance of highly diversified firms is much better than the moderately diversified ones, and performance of moderately diversified firms is better than single product firms. TABLE 5 Performance As: Market Return (AMKTRET)-1984-1990N AMKTRET SD CV SI Undiversified 1195 8. 2 21. 1 2. 57 0. 0421 Moderately Diversified 280 13. 2 40. 8 3. 08 0. 1443 Highly Diversified 23 16. 3 10. 1 0. 67 0. 8900 N= Sample Size, AMKRET= Average Market Return, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of Variation, SI= Sharp’s Index Analysis of ResultsStatistical analysis of the results in Tables 3, 4 and 5 are reported in Table 6. These results look strong. They `show that performance of firms as measured by all the variables in the undiversified group is markedly below that of the firms in the highly diversified group and that these results are statistically significant. The results also show that the performance of firms in the moderately diversified group is better than that of the firms in the undiversified group. These results are also statistically significant.The performance difference between the moderate and highly diversified group however, is not always that clear. When measured on AROA, Sharpe Index and CV, the results are in the expected direction and significant, but when performance is measured by AROE and its SD, and AMKTRET and its SD, the results are not as clear. TABLE 6 Statistical Analysis of Performance Variables STATISTIC AROA AROE AMKTRET n 729. 33 727. 33 499. 3 F max (3,n) 20. 17* 1747. 78* 16. 32* F12 58. 37* 0. 67*+ 0. 27+ F23 3. 43* 1747. 78* 16. 32* F13 200. 17* 1088. 33* 4. 45* t’12 6. 29* 1. 41**** 1. 9** t’23 2. 91* 1. 86*** 0. 96*+ t’13 7. 38* 2. 08*** 3. 07* *Significant at 0. 01 or less; **Significant at 0. 025; ***Significant at 0. 05; ****Significant at 0. 1; *+Significant at 0. 25; +Not significant. The results sugge st that we can reject the null and accept the alternate hypothesis: that higher the degree of diversification, greater is the average performance, measured in risk-return terms.The following paragraphs analyze the results for each performance variable in greater detail. Analysis of Results by Performance Class We further massage our data by subdividing each diversification category: undiversified, moderately diversified, and highly diversified, into three performance classes by adding and subtracting one standard deviation from the average ROE. Thus, each category is divided into three performance subclasses: Average ROE + 1 Std. Dev. ; Average ROE; and Average ROE – 1 Std. Dev†¦ This gives rise to a total of nine performance classes, three for each level of diversification.If the hypothesis that the higher the degree of diversification, the higher the performance is robust, then we should expect it to hold when we compare performance across the performance sub-classes. That is; the high, average and below average ROE performance of highly diversified firms should be higher than the respective performance of the three moderately diversified groups, and each of the three moderate performance groups should have higher average ROE as compared to each of the three undiversified groups.If this relation holds then we can say with greater degree of confidence that diversification of firms leads to higher performance for all classes of firms. We, therefore, hypothesize that the best, the average and the medium performing groups demonstrate a consistent pattern of performance across the three diversification groups on both risk and return dimensions. Table 7 shows classification of firms based on degree of diversification and by performance class. These results are both in expected and unexpected directions.The performance for the low and average performing firms, both in terms of risk and return diversification is in expected directions. But the results fo r the high performance group is found to be in the expected direction only for risk, while for the return measure the performance is in the opposite direction. In the worst performance sub-class, the AROE of undiversified firms is -59. 53, and the SD is 103. 16. As we go toward increasing level of diversification, AROE performance increases to -5. 78 and SD drops down to 5. 58 for the moderate group. For the highly diversified group, AROE becomes +2 and SD falls to 0. 2. In the average performance sub-class, the AROE for the undiversified group is 2. 46, and SD is 6. 87. For the moderately diversified group, ROE increases to 4. 21 and SD falls to 2. 91. For the highly diversified group, AROE increases to 5. 27 and SD falls 1. 60. The results for these two performance sub-classes are consistent with the results obtained for the entire group as shown in Table 3. The results for the best performance sub-class show interesting results. The AROE for the undiversified group is 35. 28 and the SD is 36. 44. AROE for the moderately diversified group decreases to 12. 9. SD also decreases to 3. 3. For the highly diversified group, AROE drops to 9. 52, nearly a fourth of the undiversified group, and the SD decreases to 0. 87, one thirty sixth of the undiversified group. Clearly the results for the best performance class are contrary to earlier findings as far as ROE is concerned, but they are in expected direction as far as standard deviation is concerned. We are, however, able to reject the null hypothesis if we look at CV (Risk per unit return). The value of CV decreases as we move from undiversified to highly diversified group.These results suggest that dominant firms operating with core competencies and operating in less competitive environments are better off concentrating on one business segment. Our results show that such firms have superior returns but are unable to diversify away market risks. These firms may waste investor resources by diversifying into other bu sinesses. On the other hand, firms operating in markets where they face considerable competition and have fewer core competencies, or are unable to dominate their markets, they are likely to be better off diversifying, as it would reduce risk for such firms and increase average returns.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The study began with questions regarding discrepancies in empirical and theoretical investigations into the relationship between firm diversification and performance. Our results suggest that the average performance of diversified firms (especially highly diversified ones) perform well on a risk-return basis on accounting measures as well as market-based measures, when compared with group of firms that are not as highly diversified. Managers tend to judge performance using accounting measures such as ROE and ROA where as financial markets use market-based measures such as MKTRET.Our results show that on both types of performance measures, the group of diversified firms on avera ge tends to perform better. The data show that with an increasing degree of diversification, the average return on assets, average return on equity and average market return, increase and the average risk per average unit return decreases. The results are clearer when comparisons are made between the highly diversified and the undiversified group, and the moderate and undiversified groups. The results are not as sharp when we compare results between the moderately diversified and the highly diversified group.The implication of the finding is that in general diversification is helpful but it does not tell us how much of it is helpful. Additional research on economies of scope for these groups of firms may throw some light on this issue. The marginal ambiguity between the moderate and the highly diversified groups may also be the result of eliminating the contingent variables like type, modality and extent of diversification. Controlling these variables may provide greater insight and clarify the differences between the moderate and the highly diversified groups of firms and lend support to theory building.The most surprising finding of our study was about the class of â€Å"best performing† firms. The study found that AROE of undiversified firms was four times better than the highly diversified firms, but such firms had 36 times the volatility of the highly diversified firms. This result implies that the best performing firms, if they diversify, will reduce their earnings, but dampen the volatility of their returns. Managers of such firms therefore will be tempted to dampen the volatility of returns by diversification.Such actions, according to this study will lead to a reduction in returns, but the reduction in volatility of returns will be much greater. This is clearly beneficial to managers and employees of the firm, but a benefit of such insurance for the shareholders is not as clear. The implications for investors are that, if they risk such high pe rformance, they ought to stay in for the long haul, and have high tolerance for volatility. But even for this class of firms based on coefficient of variation, we feel that the average performance of highly diversified firms tends to be better than that of the undiversified firms.One must judge Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric (GE) in this context. GE's top management group insists that each of their divisions must be either number one or number two in their specific product markets. Thus GE, a high performing conglomerate is trying to emulate characteristics of a dominant undiversified firm at the product market level in order to earn very high returns and concomitantly it practices the art of being an aggressive and active conglomerate at the corporate level to reduce the risk engendered by dominant firms.But not all high performing firms are as careful, well managed or lucky. The study echoes the belief of senior corporate executives who think diversification enhances firm value because it contributes to improvement of the firm's risk-return profile. The results also speak to the concerns of investors. Diversification, especially for the truly high performing firms reduces risk but at the cost of returns. There is undoubtedly a trade-off here between risk and return when managers of such single firms diversify from their core business.Thus diversification does buy insurance for the managers which may help managers and employees more than investors. But in the case of the average and the low performing single firms (most likely the non dominant firms), gain from diversification in return and risk terms, seem significant. The moderate and highly diversified groups also benefit from diversification on risk and return dimensions but their performance is not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. One can argue that diversification tends to reduce the already severe competitive threat faced by the majority of firms in these groups.The implications for investors follow suit. They are better off picking stocks of well-diversified firms as these deliver better returns over time as compared to moderately diversified or undiversified firms. The finding that on average, highly diversified firms, including conglomerates, show better performance than single product firms or moderately diversified firms, supports the belief of corporate executives but is contrary to the viewpoint of research in finance. A classification scheme by definition remains arbitrary, no matter how well we justify the scheme.The only safeguard against such arbitrariness is to demonstrate that the results of the study are invariant to changes in arbitrarily set classification boundaries. We were somewhat successful in showing that changing classification boundaries did not change the thrust of our results. Both methods showed that AROE of highly diversified group of firms was greater than that of the undiversified group. But this still is a fruitful direction for f uture research. We were able to examine ROE alone because of data limitations.The 1981-1990 data set was not consistent for all the variables and segments of businesses. Other variables need to be tested. Researchers may also want to know if, at what point, the results are no longer invariant to SR classification values. Our study has several other limitations. The research period (1984-1990) of this study does not match the time periods reported in earlier studies. If diversification matters as a strategy, then it ought to do so no matter what the time period. This study has examined pooled time series data and finds the results consistent with expectations.Subject to the availability of data, replication over different time periods will adequately address this issue. Economic arguments require that we measure performance in terms of cash flows. We do need to look at the net present value of cash flows to make strong statements about the usefulness of a diversification strategy in the capital budgeting sense. Market return may be a reasonable substitute but the examination of the net present value of cash flow may be necessary from the point of view of the stock market. This is left to future research.Although SR is an acceptable measure of diversification, the entropy measure (Hoskisson, et. al. , 1993) has become an important and probably a better measure of diversification. This study was extensive enough. Perhaps multiple measures of diversification in a future study will alleviate methodological concerns about the appropriateness of diversification measures. The research design of this study differs somewhat from similar earlier studies, and as stated at the outset, it does not address the question whether investor portfolios outperform diversified firms.Therefore, while addressing several possible objections, we urge caution in accepting these results, and suggest future research to verify the findings reported here. Finally, this study examines the ass ociation between corporate diversification and performance per se. It does not address the differences in performance caused by types of diversification, like related, or unrelated; nor does it use modifying variables like firm size and other firm-level factors, or modalities of diversification such as internal product development or mergers and acquisitions.The results of this study are interesting enough to warrant the inclusion of variables that control for industry structure and contingency variables such as interest rates or the state of the economy; or underlying managerial motivation like risk reduction, agency problem, or moral hazard. Such controls will provide greater insight into the diversification strategy, as a practice and as a phenomenon.