Organizational Behaviour - 2950 Words

[Type text] AsiaeUniversity Interface Global Education Authorised Centre By N AsiaeUniversity STUDENT’S NAME : ABDUL KADIR AL JAILANI BIN RAMLE I/C NO : 840128-04-5227 PROGRAMME : EXECUTIVE MASTER IN MANAGEMENT CLASS DATE : 27 28 FEBRUARY 2016 INTAKE DATE : SEPTEMBER 2015 MODULE : ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR TRAINER’S NAME : PN. ZUNAIDAH BINTI ABU HASAN CENTRE : IGE MELAKA OVERALL MARK (Fill up by Trainer) QUESTION 2 3 TOTAL FINAL MARK (40%) [Type text] MARK Contents Question 2 .................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction†¦show more content†¦Change in organization necessitates changes in skills, and for some people will feel that they won’t be able to make the transition very well. 3. Connected to the old way ïÆ'Ëœ This scenario obviously can be seen during ramp up. There is sometimes in a year, necessity to increase the production output creates new environment and new requirement of job specifications. In some scenarios, the change in organization creates stress and conflicts. 4. Low trust ïÆ'Ëœ When people don’t believe that they or the company can competently manage the change there is likely to be resistance. The history of past changes that have brought negative result to the employees such as restructure of reporting chain. 5. Not being consulted ïÆ'Ëœ Resistance exists when people are not being allowed to be part of the change. 6. Changes to routines ïÆ'Ëœ Comfort zones are referring to routines. The employees love them as they create security. So there’s bound to be resistance whenever change requires doing things differently. This frequently occurs when there is change made to work procedure and system. For example, the staffs having resistance to adapt to green line concept due to the previous co have been used over 10 years which are easier and less monitored. 7. Change in the status quo ïÆ'Ëœ Resistance can also stem from perceptions of the change that people hold. 8. Benefits and rewards ïÆ'Ëœ When the benefits and rewards for making the change are not seen asShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Behavior And Organizational Behaviour1644 Words   |  7 PagesThe above drawn figure shows about organisational behaviour. It highlights the bonding among human behaviour in organizational settings, the individual - organization interface, the organization, the environment surrounding the organization. In an organization each and every individual brings its own experience, managerial and effective skills. Classical Organizational theory:- Popovich (2010) said that in this theory, the concentration mainly goes in how an organization can be structured inRead MoreOrganizational Behaviour1455 Words   |  6 PagesIf you were CEO what would you change and why - provide your recommendation with a Before and After Organizational chart. - If you are not working at this time - use a past employer. Ans 1. Table of Content * Introduction * Discussion * Complete assessment of the company I work for – M. Muhammad Shafi amp; Co. * What would I change as the CEO and why * Organizational Charts, Before and After. * Bibliography Introduction Change is very important for any organizationRead Moreorganizational behaviour1261 Words   |  6 Pages Organizational Behavior MG6013 The exploration of the theories, research and practices that allow a better understanding of human behavior in organizations. Topics include motivation and job satisfaction; decision making; group dynamics; work teams; leadership; communication; power, politics and conflict; organization culture, structure and design; impact of technology; management of work stress; organizational change andRead MoreOrganizational Behaviour Analysis28615 Words   |  115 Pagesconfusion, also goes under several different names, some of which you will encounter when reading texts on the subject. The two main areas are generally called Human Resource Management (HRM) and Organisational Behaviour (OB), but the field is also sometimes called Organisational Analysis (OA), Behaviour in Organisations (BinO), Organisation Studies (OS), and a host of other names, including the practitioner area called Organisational Development (OD). There are, in fact, subtle nuances and variations inRead MoreOrganizational Behaviour Issues1427 Words   |  6 PagesFinal Report- Organizational Behavior â€Å"Issues in Organizational Behaviour based on own experiences† Student No. Structure: 1. Introduction 2. Main Body and Recommendations 3. Conclusion 4. References What is Organizational Behaviour? Organizational Behaviour is nothing else than developing our understanding and development of people skills. A multidisciplinary field devoted to understanding individual and group behaviour, interpersonal process and organizational dynamics. DifferentRead MoreEssay about Organizational Behaviour1051 Words   |  5 Pagescom My essay will introduce the culture and organizational strategies of Amazon.com. I focus on the evolution of Amazon.com, the organization culture with the Scheins three levels of culture, the truth of working on Amazon, why is amazon so successful on the basis of organizational strategies and how to improve in the original basis. Organizational culture could be the core of the company and exists from the start of Amazon.com. Organizational culture is the shared values, beliefs, and normsRead MoreThe Development Of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour3154 Words   |  13 Pages2001). Out of this comes the development of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). OCB represents â€Å"individual behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and in the aggregate promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization† (Organ 1988, p. 4). The study of OCB has become increasingly important as the prevalence, importance, and costs of counterproductive, or deviant, behaviour in the workplace have been increasingly recognisedRead MoreOrganizational Behaviour And Communication Issues Essay1452 Words   |  6 Pages1.0 INTRODUCTION In this case-study for Electra Products’, I will be addressing relevant, organisational behaviour and communication issues that must be addressed in order to â€Å"revive the failing company† (Samson, 2012). Specific recommendations will be offered to further assist in focusing on the key outlined issues and what actions would be most appropriate to take from this point. Throughout the report, it is clear the attitudes of staff are becoming unfavourable and has resulted in a lack ofRead MoreRoot Metaphors as an Aid to Understanding Organizational Behaviour3097 Words   |  13 PagesRobert Allen 11500024 Root metaphors as an aid to understanding organizational behaviour and their relevance to organizations in a knowledge based economy. Introduction The use of root metaphors to provide insight into organizations seems to be seen as a useful if limited way of understanding their complex natures (Morgan, 1997) (Andriesson, 2008), which may have been more suited to the industrial age. The rise of the Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) and post-industrial organizations pose furtherRead MoreOrganizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) Essay1796 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿What is organizational citizenship? Explain the links between the various types of organizational citizenship behaviors and job-related outcomes. In what ways does organizational citizenship affect organizational performance? Illustrate with examples where appropriate. Organizational Citizenship Organizational citizenship is an organizational success that consists of supports from the volunteers of individuals and behavior (Business Dictionary 2013). Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)

The Lottery By Shirley Jackson - 918 Words

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about an annual lottery draw in a small town. The story sets place in a small town of three hundred or so people. The theme of destructive tradition pervades the text, beginning with irony manner of choosing the person and, of course, ultimately leading to the person’s death. Every year a lottery is held, in which one someone is cruelly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the town to be able to provide more for the others in the town. The lottery has been done by the town for over seventy years. Some symbolism, Jackson uses is the names, objects, and the setting to hide the real meaning and what really happen with the lottery. In her short story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson uses references of sacrifice rituals to symbolize that with the sacrifice better agriculture for the town it also demonstrates how following tradition leads to a disaster. Some names of some characters hold significant meanings to â€Å"The Lottery.† Jackson uses symbolic names to indicate and foreshadow some of the things what will happen after the lottery happens. The name Dellacroy for example, is a French surname which stands for of the cross. This surname shows some Christian symbolize into the story plot by including the cross. Summers is another last name used in the lottery, he is the man that present and conducts the ceremony. The lottery happens during summer June 27 to be exact, and Mr. Summer has Mr. Graves help him throughout the wholeShow MoreRelatedThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1195 Words   |  5 PagesOn the surface, Shirley Jackson’s short story, â€Å"The Lottery,† reads as a work of horror. There is a village that holds an annual lottery where the winner is stoned to death so the village and its people could prosper. Some underlying themes include: the idea that faith and tradition are often followed blindly, and those who veer away from tradition are met with punishment, as well as the idea of a herd mentality and bystander apathy. What the author manages to do successfully is that she actuallyRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson757 Words   |  4 Pagessucceed but many fail just like the main character Tessie Hutchinson in Shirley Jackson’s short story â€Å"The Lottery†. When someone hears the word â€Å"lottery†, he or she may think that someone will be rewarded with prize. But â€Å"The Lottery† By Shirley Jackson is different than what one thinks. In the story, a lottery is going to be conducted not like Mega Million or Powerball one play here. In the story, the person who wins the lottery is stoned to death instead of being rewarded with the prize. TessieRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson931 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1948 Shirley Jackson composed the controversial short story â€Å"The Lottery.† Generally speaking, a title such as  "The Lottery† is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a form of population control, but negatives easilyRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson1504 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson In The Lottery Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even though some people have no idea why they follow these traditions. The title of the story plays a role in how Shirley Jackson used some literary elements to help mask the evils and develop the story. The title â€Å"The Lottery† serves as an allegory. When people think of the lottery majorityRead More`` The Lottery `` By Shirley Jackson894 Words   |  4 Pagesshort story â€Å"The Lottery†, author Shirley Jackson demonstrates Zimbardo’s concepts in three different areas: Authority figures, Tradition and Superstition, and Loyalty. The first concept Jackson portrays in â€Å"The Lottery† is the authority figures. Jackson indicates that the lottery is being held in the town center by one authority figure, Mr. Summers, annually on June 27th. Every June 27th, without fail, townspeople gather in the town square to participate in the annually lottery even though mostRead MoreThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1510 Words   |  7 PagesShirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† illustrates several aspects of the darker side of human nature. The townspeople in Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† unquestioningly adhere to a tradition which seems to have lost its relevance in their lives. The ritual that is the lottery shows how easily and willingly people will give up their free will and suspend their consciences to conform to tradition and people in authority. The same mindless complacency and obedience shown by the villagers in Jackson’s story are seenRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson8 11 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† was published by Shirley Jackson. The story was true expression of Jackson’s genuine thoughts about human beings and their heinous competence in an annual village event for corn harvest . First, her used to word symbolized main point of the story. Second, Jackson was inspired by few historical events happened in the past and a life incident in her life. Lastly, She was able to accomplish the connection between historical and biographical with the story. Therefore, Shirley Jackson’sRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson934 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson signifies the physical connection between the villagers and their unwillingness to give up their tradition. â€Å"The Lottery† is very unpredictable and quite misleading. The black box has no functionality, except every June 27th. Shirley Jackson depicts the black box as an important and traditional tool. Although the villagers in â€Å"The Lottery† are terrified of the goal of the lottery and the black box, they are unwilling to let go of the tradition. Shirley Jackson portraysRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson799 Words   |  4 Pagesthe mood and to foreshadow of things to come. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a story in which the setting sets up the reader to think of positive outcomes. However, this description of the setting foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come. In addition, the theme that we learn of at the end leads us to think of where the sanity of some human beings lies. The story begins with the establishment of the setting. To begin, Shirley Jackson tells the reader what time of day and what time ofRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson1764 Words   |  7 Pagesfilled with excitement and eeriness, leaving the reader speechless. The Lottery , a short story written by famous writer Shirley Jackson, created an uproar on June 26, 1948, when it was published in the magazine The New Yorker (Ball). The gothic thriller, set in an unknown time and place, shares the tradition of a small town, a little larger than three hundred people, in which a drawing is held once a year. In this â€Å"Lottery,† each family’s husband draws a slip of paper from a black box. The husband

Affirmative Action vs Reverse Discrimination free essay sample

Affirmative Action or Reverse Discrimination Colleen Koehn Business Law 1038 Instructor Jackie Sexson March 1, 2010 South University Online There has been a large debate in recent years if affirmative action has gone against the American way, has affirmative action caused reverse discrimination? The establishment of affirmative action was put into place to create equal rights for racial minorities, ethnic minorities, women, the physically disabled and those who served in the military. Affirmative Action was born during the civil rights movement to give special consideration to minorities and women in the work place and education. In order for businesses and schools to increase their diversity they put in place quota systems. The quota system put admissions officers in a position to hire or select students based on their race or sex. Affirmative Action was put into place to equal out discrimination and give all qualified applicants the ability to apply. It was never to be a quota system and for employers or schools to except a less qualified applicant over a highly qualified white man based on race. It was never to harm anyone thru reverse discrimination. Affirmative Action was put into place to guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex, race or national origin. Writer Dan Froomkin (1998) with the Washington Post brings up the question that affirmative action may not be correcting the problem, â€Å"Affirmative Action is the nation’s most ambitious attempt to redress its long history of racial and sexual discrimination. But these days it seems to incite, rather than ease the nation’s internal divisions. (paragraph 1) Has affirmative action gone against the American way, have we taken it so far that it has turned into reverse discrimination? The origin of affirmative action started in 1894 with amendment 13 making slavery illegal and the amendment 14 giving all citizens equal protection under the law. President Roosevelt executive order in 1941 outlawed segregation in the hiring of minorities. Unfortunately this did not assure them of getting a job. America had a long ways to go to offer equality to all. Affirmative Action was introduced by President Kennedy in 1961. Back when the American Way was very one-sided. President Kennedys attempt was to strengthen the civil rights movement and allow all equally prospering. Affirmative action was put into place as a temporary remedy to give equal rights to all Americans. In a time in our history when racism was out of control affirmative action was needed to permit minorities the same opportunities as white males with employment, salaries, job promotions, scholarships and school admissions. This was America’s first attempt to give everyone the same opportunities in life. President Johnson stated, â€Å"We seek not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result. In 1965 President Johnson was the first to enforce affirmative action in the United States and added voting rights to minorities. Then in 1967 women were added to the list of minorities and added to the affirmative action law. (now. orgsnationalNOWtimes). The term affirmative action came into being in 1961 with John F. Kennedys Executive Order 10925 in which he instructed federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are treated eq ually without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin (The History of Affirmative Action Policies 1). Three years later the Civil Rights Act or Title VII was made law; discrimination was made illegal but no program was put into place to ensure that minorities were able to compete on equal terms with whites (Affirmative Action 1). As an active program, affirmative action began with Johnson; Executive Order 11246 dictated that all firms under contract with the federal government take affirmative action against discrimination; it also created with Office of Federal Contract Compliance to enforce the policy (Affirmative Action 2). The Nixon administration created a more tangible plan and laid the foundations for affirmative action as it currently operates; the Nixon plan, called the Philadelphia Plan, set minimum standards but did not require them to be met by contractors. After the implementation of the Philadelphia Plan, legislation was passed at the federal, state and municipal level implementing affirmative action plans using the Philadelphia Plan as a model. Today, almost all government affirmative action plans are offshoots of the Philadelphia Plan (Affirmative Action 2-3). Affirmative Action was not put in place to cause reverse discrimination. In the 1978 Bakke case, (www. infoplease. com) the Supreme Court upheld a decision to outlaw quota systems. In this case it brought up issues of reverse discrimination against a white man being turned down by admission to a medical college based on quotas the college had in place to reserve placements in their college for minorities. The college continued to overlook Bakke because he was a white male and they had a quota to meet to enroll minorities. With their quota system in place they continue to overlook Bakke and except less qualified minorities. This lead the Supreme Court to rule this as reverse discrimination and outlaw the quota system. In an article in the Washington Post called â€Å"Affirmative Action Under Attack† by Dan Froomkin (1998) he states that, â€Å"admission officers are put in a position to hire minorities over qualified whites based on quotas. †(paragraph 9) Affirmative action was not developed to put unqualified applicants into positions but to level the opportunities for all that are qualified to apply and receive the position that is opened within a job or school. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first women named to the US Supreme Court. She was involved in the Grutter vs. Bollinger case. Grutters was being overlooked for acceptance to a law school based on a quota system they had in place to accept a certain number of minorities. The college was accepting under qualified minority applicants and overlooking Grutters. In this case O’Connor stated, â€Å"In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry it is necessary that the path of leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. When looking at court cases involving Affirmative action there is another case Ricci vs. DeStefano. In this case it was about White and Hispanic firefighters being denied promotions due to the fact that no African American passed the promotion test given by the fire station. In June 2009 in the case Ricci v. DeStefano in New Haven, Conn. a group of White and Hispanic firefighte rs stating that they were a subject of reverse discrimination. The case fought that firefighters were denied promotions based on their skin color. New Haven rejected all promotions when they received the written test scores and no African American and only two Hispanics would be eligible for promotions. The city feared a lawsuit. Fear of litigation from minorities resulted in the ones that did pass not receiving their promotions. The test was equally given to all candidates of all race and ethnic backgrounds. The Second Circuit Court affirmed and held that the city of New Haven violated Title VII by discarding. testresults. (http://www. lawmemo. om/supreme/case/Ricci/) This case brings up the question if the Civil Rights Act violates the constitutional rights of equal opportunity for all. Have we created reverse discrimination because of the fear of lawsuits? In this case White and Hispanic firefighters that passed the promotion test where over looked and not given their promotion due to no African American and only two Hispanics passing the test. If America is to truly remedy disadvantage, then qualifications of an individual should be considered over the basis of race. In today’s time when everyone has the opportunity to prosper and all Americans receive the same education from Kindergarten thru high school then why do we set preferences and quotas based on racial minorities, ethnic minorities, women, the physically disabled and those who served in the military and not on the characteristics and qualities of individuals. Have we taken affirmative action too far? Our countries racist past cannot be corrected with more racism. Affirmative action has not corrected the problem of discrimination over the last 25 years. It cannot correct racism, which unfortunately is a trait that some individuals possess. Perhaps we are still trying to fix the problem that no longer exists with equal opportunities for all. Race, ethnicity and gender are human traits not qualifications. Affirmative action can have a tragic side effect on a minority’s significant achievement as . well. It brings up the question whether the minority deserved it or was it only because of their race or gender. Affirmative action in today’s time only seems to keep feeding the racism in our country. The debate will rage on at this point in our nation’s history, does affirmative action make things better or worse? References: Affirmative Action. Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps. Gale Group, 2003. eNotes. com. 2006. 24 April, 2006. ;http://law. enotes. com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/affirmative-action; â€Å"Affirmative Action History† The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright  © Brunner, 2007,ColumbiaUniversityPresshttp://www. infoplease. com/ce6/history/A0841421. tml Brunner, Borguna (2006) Affirmative Action History, retrieved from www. infoplease. com Froomkin, Dan (1998) Affirmative Action under Attack, Washington Post, retrieved from www. washingtonpost. com Sykes, Marquita (1995) â€Å"The Origins of Affimative Action†Nation Now Times article retrieved from now. orgsnationalNOWtimes. Find law Supreme Court Docketâ€Å"Gutter vs. Bollinger(2003) http://supreme. lp. findlaw. com/supreme_court/docket/2002/april. html http://www. lawmemo. com/supreme/case/Ricci/ sunysb. edu/diversity/glossary. html

Southern Sudan Referendum

Table of Contents Introduction The Referendum Process Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Southern Sudan is currently conducting a referendum and the voting exercise has been scheduled to run from January fifth to fifteenth 2011. The referendum is being conducted after a consensus between the North and the South on the modalities of power sharing between the two blocks had been set (The Kansas City Star).Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Southern Sudan Referendum specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The out come of the referendum will determine whether the Southern Sudan citizens will gain their independence, that they have fought for over the last few decades, or continue being part of Sudan (The Kansas City Star). The exercise has attracted a great international attention characterized by a high presence of international diplomats and journalists who are keenly observing the process. The Referendum Process The Southern Sudanese citizens have demonstrated a great sense of nationalism since the beginning of the voting exercise by turning out in large numbers to vote in various polling centers (The Kansas City Star). The polling centers have also been extended to neighboring countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda among other counties which have a considerable number of Sudan citizens. This is meant to give the Southern Sudan citizens in these countries a chance to participate in the exercise. According to the Kansas City news paper report on Sudan referendum, the Sudan government and its party are ready to consent the outcome of the referendum. This comment was made by Ibrahim Ghandour and it has reduced the speculation that the government would probably disown the results of the referendum (The Kansas City Star). On the other hand, Omar al-Bashir who is the current president of Sudan has however had mixed reactions about the process saying that it would possibly compromise peace between the Northern and Southern Sudan regions. Nevertheless, he has promised that as long as the whole process is conducted fairly the Southern Sudan block will be free to be autonomous (The Kansas City Star). Although the referendum is being carried out in various parts of Southern Sudan, the hotly contested Abeyi region which is popularly known for having rich deposits of oil â€Å"the black gold† has actually been left out in the referendum race due to unresolved residential and demarcation disputes (The Kansas City Star). The Abeyi region was to have a parallel referendum at the same time to determine if it should be part of the South or the North. However, this has been shelved until the mentioned disputes are ratified. Cases of escalating violence have been recently reported in this region owing to the current high political temperature in the region (Garang). It has also been reported that Northern militia groups have been lynching the southerners along the border of Kharto um (Garang).Advertising Looking for article on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The US government has pledged to give the current Sudan government which operates from Khartoum splendid incentives should it accept the outcome of the process (Garang). The news paper report has also revealed that close to two million lives have been claimed since the beginning of the conflict between the North and the South which has now lasted for well over two decades. If Southern Sudan gains independence, it will bring under its control a large territory with rich oil deposits and this can best explain why the Northerners have always been reluctant to separate from the Southerners (The Kansas City Star). The removal of Sudan from the file of countries that fund terrorists and rebels is likely to start once they accept the outcome of the referendum. Conclusion Until the final results of the referendum shall have been relea sed in a few days to come, one cannot make conclusive remark that the Southerners have gained their independence. However, owing to the current situation on the ground coupled with positive media reports about the whole process it is evident that the outcome will be good. Thus the Southerners are likely to gain the independence they have always longed for. The Southern Sudan citizens have also envisaged better opportunities should they gain independence (The Kansas City Star). Works Cited Garang, Joseph. â€Å"Sudan bishop speaks about referendum, international partnerships†. Anglican Journal.com. 06 Jan. 2011. Web. The Kansas City Star. â€Å"Sudan: ruling party ready for south’s independence†. The Kansas City Star. 14 Jan. 2011. Web. This article on Southern Sudan Referendum was written and submitted by user Isiah D. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Real Swaraj will not come by the acquisition Essays

The Real Swaraj will not come by the acquisition Essays "The Real Swaraj will not come by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition capacity by all to resist authority when abused." -Mahatma Gandhi Introduction India is a democratic country. The head of the country is elected by the people of the country. The Government of the country possesses the authority to work for the welfare of the country on behalf of the people. The final decision making power regarding the welfare of the country is in the hands of Government. The people of the country want to know how the government is functioning. People have many questions regarding the functioning of the government. So, to answer all the questions of the people, the Parliament passed a new Bill known as "The Right to Information Act, 2005". The Bill was presented in Parliament on 22nd December, 2004. After intense debate till 15th June, 2005, it was finally passed on 15th June 2005 and came into force on 12th October, 2005. The Right to Information Act aimed at ensuring transparency in the functioning of Central State Governments. The Act provides for setting out the practical regime of right to information for the people to secure access to information under the control of public authorities to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions have been constituted for this purpose. Before passing of this Act, Disclosure of Government Information in India was governed by a law enacted during the British rule named as Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was amended in 1923. After 1923, it has taken India 82 years to transition from an opaque system of governance, legitimized by the colonial Official Secrets Act, to one where citizens can demand the right to information. The Right to Information is derived from our fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. It says, " All the citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression. " The main idea is that if the people do not have any information regarding the functioning of the Government and public institutions, then people cannot expr ess any informed opinion on it. For such a democracy to function, Freedom of Press is necessary to be understood first. The main reason for a free press is to ensure that the citizen s are informed. Thus, it clearly flows from this that the citizens' right to know is paramount. The date of 12th October, 2005 shall be remembered as a new era of empowerment for the common man i n India. It is applicable every where except JK. MEANING OF INFORMATION- Information means any material in any form including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force. The formal recognition of a legal Right to Information in India occurred more than two decades before legislation was finally enacted, when the Supreme Court of India ruled in State of U.P. v Raj Narain that the Right to Information is implicit in the right to freedom of speech and expression explicitly guaranteed in Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. Subsequently, the Court has affirmed this decision in numerous cases, and has even linked the Right to Information with the right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. The RTI Act, which if used sensibly and efficiently can take the country in the direction of new democracy and good governance. "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost". RTI is perceived as a key to strengthen participatory democracy and ushering in people-centered governance. With access to information on their side, people can function better as an informed and responsible citizenry - investigating and scrutinizing government actions and reviewing the performance of their elected representatives with a view to seriously holding

Tactical mistake - Emphasis

Tactical mistake Tactical mistake Weve all done it: accidentally substituted a similar-sounding but actually entirely different word for the one we meant to write. And while no-one wants to be the person who does it (it could seriously undermine your credibility), for humours sake, were probably all secretly glad it happens occasionally. Take one of the features of a 9 LED Eurohike aluminium torch (offered at an unmissable price with a recent purchase at Millets). Listed between heavy duty aluminium construction and 3 x AAA batteries included we find tactical on/off switch. Now that sounds fancy, doesnt it? But really, whenever any of us make that strategic reach for the on/off switch, with the cunning plan of being able to see where we are going, arent we all tacticians in our own right? Or could this simple, moulded, soft-rubber switch actually be better described as tactile? But then, this is a dangerous game to start.

Social Impact Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social Impact Paper - Essay Example Many such technologies may lay claim to having been the key milestones in this path of human development. These claims are validated by the impact they have had on human beings and the changes in societal patterns that have resulted from such technological inventions and discoveries. The invention of the wheel is often considered as that which has had the greatest impact on human progress (1). In the same line of thought then the invention of the internal combustion engine has a strong impact on the sped and direction of human progress since its invention, not so long ago in the history of human progress. The impact of the internal combustion engine on human progress has been on a broad. Within the limits of this paper it is not possible to deal with every aspect of social impact that the invention of the internal combustion has. Therefore, this paper limits itself to evaluating the social impact of the gas powered internal combustion engine from the limited perspective of contribution to human progress in overland transportation, with particular emphasis on automobiles and the manner in which it has impacted on society. History The basic technology involved in the internal combustion engine can be truly said to be derived from the gunpowder engine developed in the seventeenth century. Two centuries were to elapse before the technology involved in the gunpowder engine could be harnessed into the internal combustion engine. ... Though passenger cars were developed using steam engine, the best use of steam engines was seen in the engines developed for hauling the locomotives of the train. The deficiencies of large engine size and lower efficiency made the steam engines unsuitable for widespread use in passenger vehicles. By the second half of the nineteenth century the search was on for a more efficient engine (2) Technological advances occur in what appears to be a predetermined sequence, one setting the ground for the other, and when the right idea is seeded into this advance of technology, further advances are made (3). The fundamental idea of the internal combustion engine gas was conceived through the principles contained in the gunpowder engine and the steam engine. The reason for the idea progressing to reality was finding the ideal fuel for the internal combustion engine. In the nineteenth century the availability of coal gas and petroleum removed this barrier to progress in the development of the ga s powered internal combustion engine (2). The high energy fuel of petroleum in a mixture with air on ignition produces a rapid and powerful explosion. From 1860 to1880 the means for harnessing the energy of these explosions to power an internal combustion was under active experimentation and the results were soon forthcoming. Most of these experiments were in Germany and not surprisingly the early results sprang from Germany. Two sets of pioneers of the internal combustion engine using petroleum products emerged in the form of Daimler and Maybach on one side and Karl Benz on the other side. While Daimler and Maybach delivered early initial results of an internal combustion engine that could be used on two-wheelers, Karl

Whether Organizations Should Use Formal Mentoring Schemes Essay

Whether Organizations Should Use Formal Mentoring Schemes - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that employees’ morale holds the key for the eventual decisions that are made for them when it comes to imparting training and the related facilities. There must be an effort to mobilize the employees more and more and seek from them a feedback mechanism so that their role comes out significantly well within the related context of training regimes. The formal mentoring schemes within the organizations of today are shaping up because there is a need to address the challenges which have come up. The employees know little with respect to social and personal pressures which engulf their domains and it is only natural to understand that formal mentoring schemes would help resolve these issues in entirety. A mentor is defined as an individual who serves as a teacher or a trusted counselor whose main task is to act wise and thus guide and advise on different issues and matters. As far as the formal mentoring schemes and activities are concern ed, they are always very organized and have a serious disciplinary regime within them. Mentoring is more inclined with personal development relationship than anything else; focusing on the experienced senior who imparts the much-needed knowledge and help towards the unknowing junior. The former is regarded as the protege or an apprentice who works to best effects to make sure that the person who is being given the formal mentoring remains on track and is guaranteed to receive the benefits of mentoring in the long run scheme of things. The formal mentoring happens through a professional development process, where formal communication hierarchies are embedded and the information is passed across a number of different significant channels. This formal mentoring is therefore very elusive and takes care of the areas which are not covered by informal mentoring regimes in place. One must comprehend the fact that formal mentoring requires face to face conversation and linkage, helping towar ds building the long-term credibility of the protege and indeed the organization from a strategic perspective. The difference between formal and informal mentoring lies in the fact that since formal mentoring takes care of the employees from a very formal setting, the latter comes about in a haphazard and random manner. What this means is the philosophy that informal mentoring can be held anywhere within the domains of the organization and it basically takes care of the employees on a very one to one level, where the legal codes of inviting employees over for the mentoring programs and activities are not held as such.

Aristotle Essay Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Essay Essay Aristotle Despite being Plato’s student, Aristotle’s views conflict with his teacher’s. The biggest difference being that Aristotle was a realist; he saw the value in studying the physical world and trusted his senses, unlike Plato who believed in the world of forms. Plato believed that we need to look beyond the physical world for a metaphysical explanation of the universe, Aristotle refuted this. Aristotle observed nature and used logic and reason to explain how it works; he tried to find the ‘action’ of why things exist and tried to make sense of them. Also, Aristotle’s approach was imperial and he trusted the use of reason based on his experience. Aristotle rejected Plato’s dualism; he thought that the body and soul are one, as the brain and body are. This opposes Plato’s views that the body and soul were separate. Aristotle believed in the four causes, the principal that everything has four causes of existence: Material cause – refers to what a thing is made of, Aristotle used the example of a bronze sculpture and a silver saucer, Aristotle would say that bronze or silver is the material cause. However, an object can have more than one material cause, for example, the laptop I’m typing on is made of plastic, metal, wires and glass; these would all be material causes. The material cause also counters Plato’s theory of the world of forms, he would say that my laptop has a perfect form however, it is made up of individual things in order to be a laptop, all of the things it is made up of must have their own perfect form according to Plato, making his theory contradictive. Formal cause – refers to the structure of an object, the shape it takes that makes it what it is. It is what we recognise as the thing we are looking at. An object must have a specific order in order to be what it is, for example, a bronze sculpture is not just a lump of bronze, and it has been shaped into a sculpture in order to function, as my laptop has been assembled into an order so it works. Efficient cause – refers to how the object has changed from a state of potentiality to what it is, for example, the way a bronze sculpture has been taken from a lump of bronze chiselled until it is made into a statue by the sculptor. The efficient cause of an object may not be as simple as this i. e. my laptop’s efficient cause may vary from machines and people to plastic moulds and screwdrivers. It is the cause of the change. Final cause – refers to the purpose of an objects being; the purpose of a sculpture might be to be admired, the purpose of my laptop is to let me watch videos of cats playing musical instruments on YouTube. Aristotle uses the example of health being the cause of walking, Why does one walk? he asks, that one may be healthy. The final cause is perhaps the most important of all of the causes. Aristotle’s understanding did not end there, he said that once something has achieved a state of actuality, it will be in a state of potentiality, for example, take ‘whiteness’, when my shirt is washed and becomes clean and ‘white’ but it has the potential to become dirty and ‘not white’ anymore. Aristotle also came up with the idea of the Prime Mover. The Prime Mover is, according to Aristotle, the ultimate and final cause of the universe. He said that everything in the universe is in a state of change (motus) so the Prime Mover must exist outside the universe, so that it is not affected by what happens inside. The Prime Mover cannot change, because to change something must exist in a state of actuality and have the potential to change i. e. an actual child is a potential adult. Aristotle does not consider the Prime Mover as a God, because a god is a living being which effects what happens in the world, however, the Prime Mover does not affect what happens in the universe, it is just the cause of it. Aristotle says that the Prime Mover has to exist because the universe has to have a cause. The Prime Mover also has to be eternal, because if something comes into existence it must be caused by something else.

Fidel Castro Essay -- History Biographies Papers

Fidel Castro In 1959, a rebel, Fidel Castro, overthrew the reign of Fulgencia Batista in Cuba; a small island 90 miles off the Florida coast. There have been many coups and changes of government in the world since then. Few if any have had the effect on Americans and American foreign policy as this one. In 1952, Sergeant Fulgencia Batista staged a successful bloodless coup in Cuba . Batista never really had any cooperation and rarely garnered much support. His reign was marked by continual dissension. After waiting to see if Batista would be seriously opposed, Washington recognized his government. Batista had already broken ties with the Soviet Union and became an ally to the U.S. throughout the cold war. He was continually friendly and helpful to American business interest. But he failed to bring democracy to Cuba or secure the broad popular support that might have legitimized his rape of the 1940 Constitution. As the people of Cuba grew increasingly dissatisfied with his gangster style politics, the tiny rebellions that had sprouted began to grow. Meanwhile the U.S. government was aware of and shared the distaste for a regime increasingly nauseating to most public opinion. It became clear that Batista regime was an odious type of government. It killed its own citizens, it stifled dissent. (1) At this time Fidel Castro appeared as leader of the growing rebellion. Educated in America he was a proponent of the Marxist-Leninist philosophy. He conducted a brilliant guerilla campaign from the hills of Cuba against Batista. On January 1959, he prevailed and overthrew the Batista government. Castro promised to restore democracy in Cuba, a feat Batista had failed to ac... ...ed far longer; measured American responses might have appeared well deserved to an increasing number of Cubans, thus strengthening Cuban opposition to the regime instead of, as was the case, greatly stimulating revolutionary fervor, leaving the Russians no choice but to give massive support to the Revolution and fortifying the belief among anti-Castro Cubans that the United States was rapidly moving to liberate them. The economic pressures available to the United States were not apt to bring Castro to his knees, since the Soviets were capable of meeting Cuban requirements in such matters as oil and sugar. I believe the Cuban government would have been doomed by its own disorganization and incompetence and by the growing disaffection of an increasing number of the Cuban people. Left to its own devices, the Castro regime would have withered on the vine.

Animals Should Not Be Used for Medical Research

UUB 3023 | CRITICAL THINKING| WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY NAME| 😠 SIFAJEE | TITLE| 😠 ANIMALS SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH IN MALAYSIA| Abstract There is no doubt that throughout the centuries, animals have played a central role in medical research in Malaysia. Many of the treatments available for serious illnesses we have today have come from animal experimentation. There has been recorded that the use of animals in research has been going on as far back as the Greek writings.According to the history, Aristotle who lived in 384-322 BC was the first to use living animals in experiments; whereas Galen, a physician in second-century Rome, was known as the â€Å"father of vivisection† from his experiments on living pigs. However, these experiments were not conducted in the name of clinical research; they were done to gain knowledge about the animals themselves. In that period of time, man was not set next to animals in comparison of physiology or any other way because man was seen as a creature above the animal. From century to century, new ideas were developed when Darwin came with his theory of evolution.His theory made a path that linked human with animals; and encouraged researches to be done on different animals to learn how human physiology worked. Even though many believed animal experimentation is important for clinical study, some claimed that it is against the humanity. Many debates have been carried out to argue whether the animal testing is crucial or cruel. The writer believes though many have heard of this matter, yet people need to know about the adverse effects it plays in the toxicology field. TABLE OF CONTENTS | | Page| | Abstract| 2| | Table of Contents| 3| Introduction| 4| | Argument 1| 5| | Argument 2| 7| | Counter Argument & Refutation| 9| | Conclusion & Recommendations| 13| | References| 15| Introduction Toxicology is the scientific study of interactions between chemicals or other biohazards to liv ing organisms and their systems; and how to prevent poisoning of such substances in application to human beings. Toxicologists often practice animal experimentations called â€Å"vivisection† in order to identify the effects of certain dose of drugs in animals; whether it is beneficial or become poisonous.Vivisection also include procedures such as infecting animals with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, brain damaging, maiming, and blinding to administer the impacts those acts have on these animals, and then, the theories created later can be practiced to enhance the human well-being. Nowadays, many animals in Malaysia are being used in toxicology field for clinical experiments, which cause more animal extinction in our country. Many people have been aware of this matter and this polemic has led to many arguments on whether it is really necessary to use animals in clinical study.Even though some people had argued that it is necessary to conduct clinical research on a nimals, it is believed that the act is no more applicable. The writer claims that animal testing or â€Å"vivisection† is inappropriate for clinical research in Malaysia because the results can be misleading and cause sufferings to animals. Argument 1 Firstly, an animal has a total different DNA and nervous system from a human and therefore you can’t rely on the results. It is claimed that bypass surgery is conducted to save the life of human beings, but the same bypass surgery can be fatal to animals.Similarly, paracetamol is a well-known medicine to cure headache on human, but it will kill a cat, goat or horse. Many of the animal experiments are not only horrible to the animals, but also unreliable. There are tremendous physiological variations between animal and human. According to a source (http://www. veganpeace. com/animal_cruelty/animal_testing. htm), it is stated that: â€Å"Drugs like ‘thalidomide’, ‘zomax’ and DES were all tested on animals and judged safe but had devastating consequences for the humans who used them.More than half of the prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration between 1976 and 1985 were withdrawn from the market or relabeled because of the serious side effects they had on humans. They had all been tested on animals. † It has long been stated that animal testing can certainly be downright contradictory in the results it provides, as well as merely misleading (Dappleshade, 2012). According to the Medical Research Modernization Committee, human data has historically been interpreted in light of laboratory data derived from nonhuman beings. This had turned out to downtrodden medical consequences.For an example, retrospective studies on human patients, in the early 60’s, had already shown a strong correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Unfortunately, almost all experimental efforts on producing lung cancer in animals had failed (Medical Research Modernization Committee). Likewise, the relationship between alcohol consumption and cirrhosis (a liver disease caused by frequent alcohol consumption) is undeniable in human. However, experimental tests conducted to produce cirrhosis by excessive alcohol ingestion have failed in all animals except baboons.On the other hand, the case of polio research in animal models has directed to a misunderstanding of the mechanism of infection and it caused failed preventing measures and delayed the development of the vaccine. During the experimentation on monkeys, it has shown that the virus was transmitted via respiratory organs. When the vaccine tested with monkey’s cell, it has shown positive results. Eventually, the vaccine did not help in producing expected changes in human, and medical researchers found out later that the viruses of polio disease were actually transmitted through the digestive route in human.In short, it is clear that we should not rely on experimental studies in animals due to lots of misleading results and misunderstandings it catered. In Dr. Andrew Knight's â€Å"The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments†, it is stated that in a study of twenty randomly chosen cases, only two proved useful in further developing medicines and consistent with clinical trial data. Medical historians argued that key discoveries in fatal diseases in human were achieved mostly through observation of patients and human autopsy because there are lots of misleading results obtained through animal esting. It causes health warnings to be delayed for years, while thousands of people died of various diseases (Medical Research Modernization Committee). Argument 2 Secondly, animal testing or â€Å"vivisection† is inappropriate for clinical research because it causes horrific sufferings to animals. Masses have been debating on the issue that vivisection process is unethical because the helpless animals are harmed and it caused prolonging sufferings to t hem. Animals being sacrificed in the name of medical testing are not presented in objective ways by animal rights organizations in Malaysia.Hence, the general development of animal welfare-opinions has become more engaging. The fact why animal experimentation is against by the community is because the processes is not ended just by giving an animal a pill and see what it does, this is so much ahead than that. This include the action of applying animals with drugs, infecting it with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, brain damaging, maiming, blinding and other painful and invasive procedures (Anti-Vivisection Society, 2012). Furthermore, many people think that only mice and rats are being used in animal testing for clinical research.Most people don’t aware that actually rabbits, hamsters, cats, dogs, pigs, horses, goats, chickens, frogs, birds, monkeys and many more are being killed redundantly each year in laboratories. We can’t imagine what will happen to the a nimal’s population if this activity continues further. In addition, the protocols in animal experimentation turned out to be extremely heart-wrenching, where it includes procedures such as long-term social isolation, full-body restraint, electric shocks, withholding of food and water, or repeatedly breeding and separating infants from mothers.Animals suffer excessively when the medical practitioners break their legs, burn them, cut them open while they’re still alive, poison them and remove half their brains, spray fluids in their eyes and so on (Lithium Queen, 2010). The Anti-Vivisection Society further claimed that essentially, it is using animals in ways that cause distress or death in attempts to test the safety of drugs and biological products or finding treatments, prevention, and cures for human diseases. The other point to be noted is that animals are being sacrificed unnecessarily in order to maintain the human wellness.This is totally a failure of logic. Anim als in laboratories live in an intimidating environment within barren cages and experience unnatural lives of daily deprivation. The highly unnatural laboratory environment constantly stresses them. Most of the animals never get the chance to inhale fresh air nor relish sunshine. They are unable to convey their will, make choices, or exert their natural behaviors and needs. The changes that come into their lives are obviously from the intrusive experiments, which range from comfortless ‘zone’ to excruciation.Yet, they are helpless to defend themselves. Animals are not facing natural deaths in laboratories. The viruses that induced into their cells for testing may infect them vigorously and cause them to encounter death gradually. According to a research, it is stated that the viruses transmitted to animals affects the entire organism by altering pulse, blood pressure, hormone levels and immunological activities to their death. In short, it is totally unethical to conduc t animal testing for clinical researches as the adverse effects it has on the animal itself.Peter Singer wrote Animal Liberation in 1975, which has been a major formative influence on the modern animal rights movement. He wrote that â€Å"there are obviously important differences between human and other animals, and these differences must give rise to some differences in the rights that each have. † This is meant in a way that justifies the needs and rights every animal have. Thus, there is no reason to necessarily give an animal what you would have given a man (Dappleshade, 2012). Counter Argument ; Refutation However, there are those who argue that animals should be used for clinical research in Malaysia.The main reason why animals should be used is that animals are more likely resemble to human and they are more accountable to be in replace of human being for clinical studies. Animals are surrogates for humans. The basic reason for animal trials is to determine two issues before any new compound introduced to a human; safety and efficacy, whether a compound is safe for human ingestion and also whether a product works for its intended purpose (Laura Blue, June 17, 2008). In the perspective of doctors and scientists, animal testing is very important for medication and the humanity as a whole.Advocates of animal testing say that the outcomes of testing on animals are the most credible. Millions of medical discoveries decades ago were achieved through animal experimentations. According to the published journal Animal Testing in Medical Research, n. d, one of the most important discoveries was the discovery of insulin in humans. Insulin is secreted from the pancreas. In 1889, a pancreas from a dog was removed to prove its role in digestion. When the pancreas was removed, the researchers discovered flies swarming around the urine of the dog. They found sugar in the urine which proved the connection between pancreas and diabetes.For the following two decade s a lot of researches were done on dogs to figure out how to keep the dog alive without its own insulin production. Similarly, a lot of medical researches involving animals have been conducted to study the correlation it applies on human, and hence, enhance the wellness of human being. Some of the successful discoveries that has helped human from last centuries are as follows: †¢ Kidney transplants †¢ Replacement heart valves †¢ Polio vaccine †¢ Hip replacement surgery †¢ Heart bypass operations †¢ Drugs to treat mental illness †¢ Drugs to treat stomach ulcers, asthma and leukemia Drugs to control transplant rejection †¢ Life-support systems for premature babies It is affirmed that animal testing is important because in the absence of human data, research with experimental animals is reliable for detecting important toxic properties of chemical substances and for estimating risks to human and environmental health. A medical student from the Ox ford University, Kristina Cook, had argued that if this fundamental research is stopped, we won’t find a cure for cancer, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a vaccine for AIDS, a therapy for Alzheimer’s and a cure for paralysis.She insisted that any further advances in medicine and human health are absolutely dependent on animal research. Moreover, if to compare who is better to be used to conduct an experiment, of course people will choose animals instead of themselves, even though they realize that animals are also important creatures in our life (Daniyar, 2012). From the drugs testing on animals, now we have antibiotics and vaccines that have saved many people lives. According to Dr. Jane Goodall, n. , he said that, people got used to take all conveniences from life and forget that all those depend on medical researches on animals. In addition, the remedy that now saves thousands of women fighting with breast cancer was developed through medical testing on mice. According to Batul Nafisa Baxamusa, 2010, in DNA level, chimpanzees' body matches up with humans' in 90%. This big number facilitates successful surgeries and transplantations because of similar inner organs of chimpanzees with human's organs.According to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), liver from baboon was successfully transplanted to a 35 year- old man in June 1992. This case was the first known transplantation from animal to human. It is the best example of how animal testing has resulted in saving human lives. In spite of opinion that using animals for people's curing is wrong, we can’t deny that fact that annually millions of animals are killed for food; they are used for agriculture, hunted for pleasure of people and even euthanized (Natalie Kustcher, n. ). In that case, using animals to treat and save people's lives by using their organs in surgeries, wouldn’t be the worst deal. Nevertheless, this argument can be refuted because it has bee n proven that with the availability of modern alternatives now, animals testing can be considered as useless. With the development of technology in science, various new alternatives have been found to replace the experiment on animals. Studies can be undertaken upon human cell cultures and engineered tissues, than testing on animals.According to a published journal, Animals in Research: The Importance of Animals in the Science of Toxicology (2006), one alternate way is by applying ‘vitro’ tests (meaning) laboratory tests using cell or organ cultures rather than whole organisms. In other cases, organisms such as worms or bacteria are used instead of mammals. In replacement of animals, computer models can also be developed to predict outcomes of the test carried out. The viable options were meant to produce more accurate results on the clinical research and to prevent more animals from being harmed.The cloning of human organs and examining within the cell cultures are now scientifically proven to produce more reliable data to human autopsy and therefore, the need for animal testing will be no longer become an issue. Referring to a reliable source (http://www. newscientist. com/article/mg15120450. 300-pioneers-cut-out-animal-experiments. html), a company by the name of Pharmagene Laboratories in the United Kingdom utilises only tissue cultures and computer modelling on its drug development and testing.The existence of this company shows that the need for animal experimentation is now no longer the case. Medical practitioners by all means can now consider replacing vivisection on animals with cloning of organs and safely test on it. By this way, no one gets hurt, and eventually it doesn’t cost as much as animal testing. Many people may believe that modern alternatives are much more expensive than animal testing because that is what the pharmaceutical industry keeps telling them.It indeed costs quite an amount of money to switch from old techniq ues to new ones, but eventually it will be worth it. It is a one-time investment, whereas with animal testing; you have to keep paying for it. The cost to rear, feed and maintain animal subjects is extremely high, whereas the alternative methods are cheaper and thus less burdensome on the economy. So despite what the industry claims, animal testing is more expensive than the use of modern alternatives (LithiumQueen, 2010). Conclusion & RecommendationsTo sum things up, the writer would like to uphold once again that animals should not be used for clinical research in Malaysia. Through time, the welfare of the animals has come into focus, and several legislations have been made to prevent cruelty and unnecessary acts. Even though many medical breakthroughs have been a result of animal researches, we should only be grateful to the animal tests of the past for the benefits they have provided us, without seeing a need for animal tests in the future (Dappleshade, 2012).Despite of the argu ments that animal experimentation must be conducted because animal pathology is similar to that of humans, we should aware more on the consequences that the misleading results animal testing has played, and that using animals in laboratories cause horrific sufferings to them. There are more negative effects imposed by animal experimentation than the benefits it has provided us with. A professor of philosophy, Professor Charles R. Magel made his statement that: â€Å"Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us. Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us. ‘ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction. † In Europe, a research foundation called 3Rs is being implemented in order to find solution to the abundance number of animals sacrificed in the name of animal testing. The term 3Rs stands for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. This implies the concept to replace animal testing, to reduce the number of animals used in testing, or to refine methods to minimise the distress for research animals.This kind of research foundation should be implemented in Malaysia as well, to promote good science with no animal experimentation in future. In conclusion, with the new technology lead to viable alternatives and more humane methods like use of cell cultures and imaging, it is hoped that the number of animals used in medical research can be tremendously reduced. References * Christine Egerszegi- Obrist, 3R Research Foundation (n. d). Good Science with Less Animal Experimentation. Available at http://www. forschung3r. ch/ * Dappleshade, Debate. org (2012).Animal Testing should be Banned. Retrieved from http://www. debate. org/debates/Animal-testing-should-be-banned/1/ * Kristina Cook (April 4,2006). Why Animal Research is Important AND Needed: A Copy of the Speech I Gave on the February 25th D emonstration. Retrieved from http://www. protest. org. uk/2006/04/why-animal-research-is-important-and. html * Laura Blue (June 17, 2008). How Much Does Animal Testing Tell Us?. Retrieved from http://www. time. com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815241,00. html * Lee Bowman, Scripps Howard News Service (2011).Animal Testing: Crucial or Cruel?. Retrieved from http://www. abc15. com/dpp/news/national/animal-testing%3A-crucial-or-cruel * LithiumQueen, Mibba Creative Writing (2010). The Cruelty of Animal Testing. Retrieved from http://www. mibba. com/Articles/Science/3703/The-Cruelty-of-Animal-Testing/ * Marte Thomassen, Ellen Trolid, Tonje Arondsen, Marit Gystol (n. d). Animal Testing in Medical Research- Past, present and future. Retrieved from http://www. nt. ntnu. no/users/clabec/pdf/MedicalResearchAnimalExperiments. pdf Medical Research Modernization Committee (2006). A Critical Look at Animal Experimentation. Retrieved from http://www. mrmcmed. org/Critical_Look. pdf * Neavs. org (n. d). Alternatives in Testing. Retrieved from http://www. neavs. org/alternatives/in-testing * The Society of Toxicology (2006). Animals in Research: The Importance of Animals in the Science of Toxicology. Retrieved from http://www. toxicology. org/ai/air/AIR_Final. pdf * Wanda Embar (2008). Animal Testing. Retrieved from http://www. veganpeace. com/animal_cruelty/animal_testing. htm

Marks And Spencer Plc Commerce Essay

Get downing in UK as a penny shop in 1880s, Michael Marks and Top Spencer started the company we know today as Marks and Spencer plc. Simon Marks, the boy of Michael Marks took over the running of the concern and introduced the nucleus principals of the concern. The nucleus principals, which remained unchanged for most of their history, included the usage of simple monetary value policies, first-class quality of merchandises under the â€Å" St. Michael † trade name name, promoting and working with the providers straight to guarantee their procedures were modern and of the highest criterions and better the concern in efficiency and besides by organizing close relationships between the employees and the clients. By runing with a centralized distribution system and holding control over the full procedure, enabled to them have the same quality and make consistent shop experiences. This besides meant that the local shops were unable to run into the demands, as the directors were restricted in their powers. The powers seemed to be concentrated to the CEOs, who were besides the chair of the board of members. Sir Richard Greenbury, known for his strong sentiment and about allergic reaction to bad intelligence ran the company from 1988 to 1999. The jobs started in 1998, when the portion monetary values were hit badly, and the company was get bying with lifting costs due to the their trust on expensive providers in Britain ( while it seemed every other rival was outsourcing to Asia ) , increased competition in the market sections they were present and the traditional bureaucratic direction. After his surrender, the new CEO Peter Salsbury did small and lasted merely a twelvemonth, before being succeeded by Luc Vandervelde in 2000. Until his going in 2004, he made important alterations such as a new construct of â€Å" shop in shop † , recognition card fecilities, trueness plans, â€Å" Simple Food † trade name and the â€Å" Per Una † joint venture. However he excessively held the place of both the CEO and the chair. These alterations little consequence in the stock market, and many companies, who were their rivals were seeking to take over the company. Their commands were fought away and besides meant the debut of a new caput, Rose Stuart. Rose, made several more alterations, the most celebrated being the 11-point strategic program based their nucleus values of quality, service, trust and value for money. He made several cuts to halt blowing money, better efficiency and besides doing ascents in the shops. The public presentation was good, and in 2008, Ross officially took over the function of chair ( he was already the CEO ) , and despite being controversial. 2009 proved to be a twelvemonth of slow growing for the company, and this caused relationships between the board and the investors to go rancid. Ross, announced his connotations to step down as the CEO, nevertheless he would retain the place of Chair until 2011.Theory and constructsThe instance survey is based around alteration direction and the schemes involved. Every company faces alterations, and must do them to run into the demands of the concern. Many factors can convey about this alteration and influence it. The writers ( Witcher & A ; Chau 2010 ) depict one such model as the PESTEL model. It consists of: Political affairs such as the influence from the authorities, Economic factors that are caused due to affairs related to cost incurred, Social factors which are the alterations that are related to the alterations in the society, Technological factors which involve alterations in the engineerings that are invented and proficient alterations made in procedures, Environmental factors which are caused by environmental events or considerations of environmental impact, and in conclusion Legal factors which are alterations in the legal institutes and models. Harmonizing to the writer ( Henry 2008 ) the alteration influences can besides be described by the â€Å" Porter ‘s five forces model † , which can demo the success or failure of a merchandise or service. The five forces are: menace to new entrants, the bargaining power of the purchasers, the bargaining power of the providers, the menace of replacement merchandises and services and in conclusion the strength of the competition among the rivals in the market. These forces can be examined to measure the whether the company will be able to vie in the market, and put its resources. These factors have all influenced M & A ; S plc to do alterations. To do these alterations nevertheless a proper direction is required. The company can take many paths to recognize the alterations, and many attacks can be taken to implement the alterations. These are detailed in the subdivisions that follow.Aims of the assignmentThe aims of the assignment are to: Analyse the strategic paths taken by the company. Identifying the nucleus competences of M & A ; S plc. Analyze and discourse the types of alteration direction used in M & A ; S plc.II. Beginnings of competitory advantages of M & A ; S and routes takenCompetitive advantages of M & A ; S plcDegree centigrades: UsersuserDesktop ew.PNG Figure: Strategic Clock The archer scheme clock is used to do an analysis of the place of a company with its rivals. From the writers ( Needle 2010 ) and ( Thomson & A ; Baden-Fuller 2010 ) we understand that, the â€Å" Strategic Clock † is set against two factors, the â€Å" Perceived Value of the merchandise to the consumer † and the â€Å" Price † . It came from an earlier stiff theoretical account, by Michael Porter, which was seen as deficient. Companies can be analyzed utilizing this theoretical account, falling non merely in a peculiar section, but taking a assorted way. In the clock we can see, the low priced, low added value, which is focal point on supplying basic merchandises and minimal pricing. From at that place, we see the low priced, which is for companies supplying merchandises that are cheaper discrepancies of similar merchandises offered by their rivals. The intercrossed way is taken to set supply both a distinction factor and a low monetary value factor, which is me rely possible with high volume gross revenues. The distinction way is for merchandises which are offered merely to supply distinction, and the focussed distinction way allows the company to bear down higher by offering different, advanced and merchandises which are merely available from them. On the other side of the clock we see that hazardous, monopoly pricing and loss of market portion, which are all bad for the company, unless under extreme fortunes where the company has a monopoly over the merchandise. These schemes combine to organize of import factors to see in order for bettering the place of the company in the market. The paths taken by Marks and Spencer are based on the loanblend and distinction of its merchandises to acquire a competitory advantage in the market. These allow the company to be: Loanblend: The Company provides merchandises which are merchandises in a sensible cost, but due to its repute and the long history of attending to inside informations, the company is able to portray a higher sensed value for the merchandise. For this ground they are able to construct a trueness from the clients. Differentiation: In this path the company is supplying the client with a higher sensed value for the merchandises. They increase the borders of the merchandises and have been making so for some clip, basking higher net income borders. This distinction is based on the many factors harmonizing to ( Obitz 2009 ) such as image distinction which allows for the trade name image to distinguish their merchandises in the market utilizing the company ‘s image. Support distinction is where the company provides the clients with convenient and advanced services such as shopping hours, price reductions, shop layout etc. Quality Differentiation is where the company differentiates its merchandises based on the quality. This has been achieved by proper trading which is controlled by the company, the attending to inside informations of the demands of the merchandises and invention. And in conclusion the design distinction where the importance is to maintain it different and advanced in the marke t.CompetencesThe nucleus competences of M & A ; S plc can be identified as: The trade name is known for quality. This is one of the chief competences, which provide them with extra value from their rivals. From the early yearss, the company has been able to concentrate and command the quality of the merchandises it sells in the shops, from design, production and distribution. This allows for the merchandises at their shops to be of the highest quality and design. The merchandises of the company are known for their value for money. Although they are more expensive than their rivals, they are able to maintain the monetary values at a degree that is justified by the quality they provide. This can be important when competition with rivals who provide lower cost merchandises. The trade name of the company has been present in the market for a long clip. Therefore it is good known by about everyone. Due to this, they can vie with new trade names that are non so good known in the market, and hence demands to pass more money in advertisement. The company ‘s direction has ever been a closely knit clump. The work civilization at the company, being closely related to the clients can intend that the client service is better. This is of import to supplying the clients with a great shop experience. Other rivals might non be able to supply the same degree of client satisfaction. The company has been spread outing and is present in many states, with many shops. The shops are able to supply entree to many clients. This is an advantage for the company, in contrast with some of their rivals who do n't hold such a immense planetary range.III. Type of alteration employed by M & A ; SChange direction is an of import portion of any organisation. ( Harrington 2006 ) argues that, clients demand betterment and alteration in merchandises invariably, maintaining up to which requires the changeless focal point of any company to guarantee they run into these demands in an effectual and efficient manner. In add-on to this, the gait of alteration is increasing as the population of the universe is increasing. While points out that there are two ways in which alteration can be done. There are different types of alteration. The writer ( Martin 2003 ) point out these alterations as: Incremental Change: This type of alteration is when the company makes alterations as the demand for them rises. The demand comes from the consumers and is met in a uninterrupted manner. To enable this sort of alteration it is of import for the people involved to do accurate Hells about the types and graduated table of the alteration that is required and meets all the demands. Measure Change: This type of alteration effects the full organisation, and involves doing important alterations in one or many countries within the organisation at one spell. The alterations have a Domino consequence, which means that alteration made in one portion normally causes alterations to other parts of the organisation. For illustration, the company can present a wholly new merchandise or service in the market, which would intend a important alteration from its yesteryear. Transformational alteration: This involves the complete alteration of one concern procedure or the full concern as a whole. This is a radical alteration, which means a wholly different set of individuality and process. The alteration is deep and involves everyone in the company. An illustration of this type of alteration is a amalgamation between two companies that provide the same services, to organize a new company ( like in the recent instance of two Bankss in Oman, unifying into one ) . The alterations made in M & A ; S have been fundamentally incremental. Throughout their history, they have been doing alterations on a regular footing as the demand presented itself. For illustration, when the demand in the market appeared for betterment in engineering use such as recognition cards, the company made those alterations. Even more, when the company was confronting challenges and concern from the investors, the top direction was changed to let them to run into the demands as a company. In times of alterations in the market, and client demand for better merchandises, the company introduced the trueness card strategies, recognition card strategies and such. It would non be incorrect to state that they have failed to even run into the incremental alteration demands. However, they have besides made some measure alterations. During the term of Philip Green as CEO, the company closed down many shop, acquired Per Una trade name, cancelled many nutrient merchandises, and restricted their direction to do it more efficient. These were important alterations that were introduced to better the company and caused the first growing in gross revenues since two old ages prior. The company has yet to do transformational alterations, and they are right in making so. One of the cardinal competences of the company is its trade name value, which has been a symbol of quality and invention. Changing this would do a important strain to its fiscal stableness and besides do it to be at a disadvantage in the competitory market.IV. DecisionM & A ; S plc has had to do important alterations in their history. Organizations have to do strategic alterations due to the many factors that can be defined utilizing models such as PESTEL and Porter ‘s five forces. These alterations have to be managed decently to be effectual. As such, companies take waies, as M & A ; S did, to supplying their merchandises and being competitory in the market. Furthermore they have made these alterations in an incremental and few in a transformational mode to run into the demands of the consumers. We have been able to analyse and understand strategic alteration direction. Change is necessary for any concern, and of import for any organisation to win.V. MentionsHarrington, HJ 2006, Change Management Excellence: The Art of Excelling in Change Management, Paton Press. Henry, A 2008, Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford University Press. Martin, V 2003, Leading Change in Health and Social Care, 1st edn, Routledge. Needle, D 2010, Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment, 5th edn, South Western Educational Publishing. Obitz, C 2009, Supermarket distinction in the UK: A theoretical and empirical probe, Diplomica Verlag. Thomson, N & A ; Baden-Fuller, C 2010, Basic Strategy in Context: European text and instances, 1st edn, John Wiley & A ; Sons. Witcher, BJ & A ; Chau, VS 2010, Strategic Management: Principles and Practice, CL Business Press.

Wuthering Heights essays

Wuthering Heights essays Wuthering Heights can be interpreted on various levels. One of these interesting interpretations can be found by looking at the good and the evil in Wuthering Heights. Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, the two main settings of the novel, symbolize the good and the evil. Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange also figure largely in both plot and character. Wuthering Heights is a stormy dark place, which signifies the evil, whereas Thrushcross Grange is a place of relative peace and civilization, which represents the good. Wuthering Heights symbolizes anger, jealousy, and hatred. Although, it not only represents evil, it also mirrors the characters that come from that environment. In general, the characters from the Heights are more passionate and aggressive. Wuthering Heights is a sturdy home. It is short and squat, with solid stonewalls. The trees are bent by the howling windstorms that batter the hill on which it stands. However, the house needs to be strong not only to withstand the storms, but also to withstand the stormy emotions the characters and events release within its walls. Catherine and Heathcliff are the two stormiest characters to emerge from the Heights. Catherine is stubborn and passionate. Even a long trip to the Grange cannot tame Catherine completely. Heathcliff, too, is untamable, although his passions take a more ruthless bent. Heathcliff, vows vengeance on the Earnshaws and Lintons; Im trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I dont care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do. He does this on account of all the suffering abuses as an unloved child at the Heights, Events at the Heights all run along this unsettled and dark manner. Hindley turns to drink and house soon falls to devastation after his wife dies in childbirth. Heathcliff escapes the Heights in the midst of a storm. Also, Isabella, Hindley, and Heathcliff get in... But even Nellys narration throughout the novel is not informed of what happens beyond the boundaries of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights I know all except where he was born and who are his parents and how he got his money, at first(pg35)-Heathcliffs origins and where he gain his wealth upon his return remain a mystery. The departure of Isabelle to London parallels in the same theme of enclose-ness bec...

Free PDF Library for Delphi Developers

Free PDF Library for Delphi Developers Are you developing a Delphi application with a task to do PDF document manipulations? Portable Document Format, PDF, is a file format created by Adobe for document exchange. While there are many (commercial) Delphi libraries designed to help you create PDF and/or manipulate PDF documents, if you only need to load an existing PDF document, get the information from it (number of pages, security, is it linearized) and even write some information to it (set page size, add text, add graphics), you might want to take a look at the Quick PDF Library Lite version. Quick PDF Library Lite offers a subset of the functionality found in Quick PDF Library - a royalty-free PDF developer SDK. Whats more: Quick PDF Library Lite is available as an ActiveX component and works with C, C, C#, Delphi, PHP, Visual Basic, VB.NET, ASP, PowerBASIC, Pascal or any other language that supports ActiveX. Heres a short list of the supported functions in Quick PDF Library Lite (names would give you the clue of the actual usage): AddImageFromFile, AddLinkToWeb, AddStandardFont, DocumentCount, DrawImage, DrawText, FindImages, GetInformation, HasFontResources, ImageCount, ImageHeight, ImageWidth, Linearized, LoadFromFile, NewDocument, NewPage, PageCount, PageHeight, PageRotation, PageWidth, RemoveDocument, SaveToFile, SecurityInfo, SelectDocument, SelectedDocument, SelectFont, SelectImage, SelectPage, SetInformation, SetOrigin, SetPageSize, SetPageDimensions, SetTextAlign, SetTextColor, SetTextSize. Note: the Lite version of Quick PDF Library comes as an ActiveX component. You need to register the ActiveX library with Windows, using the following command:regsvr32 \QuickPDFLite0719.dll Next, heres a simple usage example: uses ComObj;procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);var QP: Variant;begin QP : CreateOleObject(QuickPDFLite0719.PDFLibrary); QP.DrawText(100, 500, Hello World!); QP.SaveToFile(c:\test.pdf); QP : Unassigned;end;

Principles of Scholarly Communication Coursework

Principles of Scholarly Communication - Coursework Example This research even focused on identifying the preference of these family members regarding their presence while their loved one is recovering. The researchers identified that family members gave preference of being available with the patient after he/she has recovered from the accident and they did not want to be present when the patient was being treated in the recovery room. 2. The main difference between a website and the scholarly dataset is the articles that are published and stored in these mediums. The articles that are published on scholarly websites are authored by professionals and experts from a particular field and the articles that are published by a website can be authored by any individual. Furthermore the articles that are in the scholarly databases are hard to comprehend for the general population and are targeted towards professionals from the field such as nursing articles are more likely to be understood by nursing students. In case of websites, the articles are authored in such a way so that any individual can read and understand them. Those websites are considered as credible that are managed by the government or educational institutes. The websites that are managed by the government mostly comprises of content that has been collected by the government itself. Furthermore, if the content of the website comes with an author’s n ame, the website is even considered credible (Uknowit.uwgb.edu, 2015). Hung, M. S. Y., & Pang, S. M. C. (January 01, 2011). Family presence preference when patients are receiving resuscitation in an accident and emergency department. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67, 1,

Healthcare Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healthcare Communication - Essay Example Some of them also face a lack of proper attention given by a health care professional as a result they seek some other nursing services at a very low cost.â€Å" According to Chronic Care in America [Institute for Health and Aging, University of California San Francisco for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation], â€Å"more that one half of the United States has a chronic condition. Out of those, 412 million were limited in daily activities, and 12 million are unable to live independently†. [Strengthforcaring.com. 2006]. It this being the case it appears that the health care industry does not really consider the needed, or they simply function on a profit based level. Most of the reforms brought out in the health care industry prove to be convenient for the health care professionals and service providers rather for those who are in need of a health care service. For example that computerised health care system has brought several innovative trends in providing a health care services. However, It is very useful for the Physicians and health care services to maintain patient details and the treatment undergone by the patients. Immediate access to patient data could maintain the records confidentially and more privacy and security can be expected from computerised health care services. The lack of financial development plays an important role in determining the health care opportunity for an American citizen. The tax system depends more on the individual and consumer items as a result people with a very moderate income and those without that struggle to pay either for health care or for insurance. â€Å"Between 2000 and 2005, 7.2 million Americans lost their health coverage according to the US Census Bureau. Americans typically lose health coverage when they lose their jobs, or get a job with an employer that does not offer coverage,† observes. Favro. [2006]. The health care system seems to have become a profit based one a more

Personnel Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personnel Economics - Essay Example The company has the following operational units: Enterprise Fleet Management, Enterprise Car Sales, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Enterprise Rent-A-Truck. In spite of the fact that a customer within each and every one of these markets is in need of different products, every customer, whether private or business, requires a convenient, speedy and reliable service. Car rental as a business continues to be competitive. Enterprise is continually expanding the range of services it has, in a bid to meet the needs of the consumers (Kazanjian 40). Apart from business rentals at city and airport locations, the company also avails replacement cars for the repair of accidents, holiday rentals at short-term intervals for special occasions or breaks, and courtesy cars to be used in garages. Moreover, the enterprise offers a service of collecting consumers and taking them to their cars for hire. Upholding high customer satisfaction levels is an essential proponent of growth within the company. Enterp rise’s emphasis is delivering high-class customer service. It has on regular occasions won awards to this accord. The small and local office structure of the company and their entrepreneurial teams of employees have the capacity to whip out crucial decisions independently, and are, as such, able to attain their goals. The case study herein examines the manner in which the enterprise is able to screen and recruit the right personnel and skills in order to attain its business objectives and aims (Kazanjian 44). The Human Resource Management’s Role The human resource management’s purpose is to hire, consequently train, and ultimately develop staff. Where necessary, the department disciplines personnel or dismisses them. Though comprehensive training and development, the enterprise’s employees are promoted in the company and attain their full potential. This modus operandi reduces the company’s need for recruiting external personnel by making maximal u se of the existent talent (Compton and William 36). In terms of cost effectiveness, this is an effective way in which a business can manage its personnel. The human resources department not only functions to manage present staff but also plans for approaches of effecting changes bound to affect its staffing needs in the future. This phenomenon is referred to as workforce planning. For instance, the business may accrue growth into emerging markets such as truck rental. It may also adopt the use of new technology that necessitates new skills, such as global positioning. Moreover, personnel can retire or may be promoted, hence leaving gaps that have to be filled (Kazanjian 48). External changes in the labor market may occur, and this means that fewer skills will be available in a particular area, with other areas being inundated with professionals. Human resource management takes charge of planning for all tenets that define the company’s strategy for planning and recruitment. T he human resource management function of the company, therefore, plays a focal role in the business since all the managers make use of their expertise in their quest to acquire staff. The enterprise has an intrinsic policy of manager promotion from within its existent workforce. What this means is that the business has an obligation to recruit individuals who exhibit potential for growth. On an annual basis, an average of 1,000 employees is recruited into the

Risks and Returns of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)

Risks and Returns of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) ASSESSMENT OF RISKS AND RETURNS OF INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS (IPOs) ISSUED IN HONG KONG VERSUS CHINA CHAPTER 1 ABSTRACT This dissertation was designed to focus on an assessment of the risks and returns of the initial public offerings (IPOs) issued in Hong Kong versus China. In recent years, Chinas stock market has experienced phenomenal growth with a record of US$62 billion raised in 140 IPOs in 2006, more than that raised in the United States of US$48 billion.1 The growth of Chinas economy continues to fuel the expectations that this trend of strong IPO growth would continue and that Chinese firms would increasingly pursue listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges to tap international investors for their fund raising requirements. A recent example of a Chinese firm doing an IPO was China Railways Construction which issued US$3.1 billion in an IPO in February 2008.2 The key rationale in pursuing this research was that it would give an understanding of the key differences between listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, particularly in relation to risks and performance (i.e. returns). Based on the statistical analysis of the existing information, there was no marked difference seen in the performance of the IPOs of the mainland Chinese firms in the Hong Kong Exchange versus the performance of the overall exchange (represented by the Hang Seng index). The data availability limited the statistical analysis primarily to the IPO information from the Hong Kong Exchange. The assessment of the risks and performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges led to the following conclusions: (1) Hong Kong is favoured overseas exchange for dual listing of mainland Chinese firms, (2) there is strong uncertainty in listing in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and (3) interest in China is strong and investors can be tapped through an overseas listing. For the mainland Chinese firms that will be issuing their IPOs, the following are the recommendations resulting from the dissertation: pursue a dual listing, list in the Hong Kong Exchange for the overseas exchange listing, and manage the timing of the IPO. Finally, for further research work, the following are the recommended steps that can be taken to develop the issues in greater detail and address other related concerns: pursue comparison of long-term performance of IPOs, compare the options available for mainland Chinese firms in terms of their IPOs, and assess IPO performance across other factors (such as size of firms, sector of firms, and extent of local versus global breakdown of the business). CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The dissertation had two key research questions which were addressed during the research. These research questions guided the research design and methodology of the dissertation. The two research questions were: 1. How have the firms listing in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges performed since their IPOs, and what risks did these firms face in their listings? 2. How have the IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges performed compared to each other and also in relation to regional and global competitors? The rest of this section discusses these research questions in greater detail. 2.1 PERFORMANCE SINCE IPO OF CHINESE AND HONG KONG LISTINGS AND RISKS FACED BY FIRMS The dissertation sought to determine the performance since IPO of Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchange listings, and the risks faced by the firms listing in these exchanges. The research aims and objectives for this part of the dissertation focused on the following:  · Assess the performance of the listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This assessment focused on how listings have performed in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and China. This gave an indication of the performance of the stocks which were listed through an IPO, and provided an opportunity to analyse the differences, in terms of performance, in listing between the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges.  · Determine the risks faced by firms pursuing an IPO through the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Another objective pursued in this dissertation was determining and understanding the risks that IPOs of firms listing in China and Hong Kong faced. As options have expanded in terms of the location where firms can list in, firms consider various factors in deciding on the best stock exchange for the listing of their IPO to be done. The different options also need to be assessed in terms of the risks that the firms are exposed to by listing in these exchanges. Understand other factors that have affected performance and risks of firms. The recent developments in the financial markets brought on as an impact by the US subprime markets have also affected the performance of recent listings not only in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges but also in other stock exchanges as well. These factors and the impact these factors have had on the performance of recent IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges were also identified and presented in this dissertation.  · Analyse issues using quantitative and qualitative analysis. In pursuing the assessment of the points above, this dissertation pursued both a quantitative and a qualitative approach to ensure that the research methods provided a complementary approach. This was also designed to ensure that the inputs to the analysis had a robust basis with the assessment of performance and risks based off actual quantitative results supported by input from industry practitioners and their observations. 2.2 ASSESSMENT OF IPO PERFORMANCE BETWEEN CHINA AND HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGES AND VERSUS OTHER STOCK EXCHANGES The assessment of the performance of the IPOs was reviewed by comparing the performance of the IPOs of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. In addition, these were also compared versus the performance of IPOs in selected regional and also global stock exchanges to give an indication of the relative performance of the IPOs in these different exchanges. The research aims and objectives of this part of the dissertation were the following:  · Assess objectively the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus selected regional and global stock exchanges. This assessment was conducted using the performance data of selected firms in these exchanges to provide an indication of their relative performances. Thus, the dissertation sought to expand on the initial issue raised on the performance and risks of IPOs between Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This provided an added viewpoint into how different the performances of the IPOs have been in these exchanges.  · Understand factors and issues affecting the relative performances of the IPOs. With the differences in the performances of IPOs identified in the previous point, the dissertation sought to analyse the factors affecting these differences. This assessment was important as it provided the opportunity to pursue further research of the issues, resulting in increased understanding of factors affecting the performance of the IPOs in these stock exchanges. These two points above were the key research objectives in assessing the performance of the IPOs of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus the IPOs of other selected regional and global stock exchanges. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH RATIONALE There were several key reasons identified as to the rationale behind pursuing this dissertation. This section discusses the research rationale first from an academic research point of view and then, second, from a personal point of view of the researcher in terms of the benefits achieved in completing the dissertation. From an academic research point of view, the following were the key reasons identified:  · Drive decision for location of IPO for firms listing in stock exchanges: The results of the research could be utilised in forming a decision as to the location of a firms IPO. With greater transparency of the performance and risks in listing in China versus listing in Hong Kong, firms now have further factors to include in building a decision for the location of a firms IPO. This point is particularly relevant for mainland China firms which are looking to tap international overseas investors for their IPO and are considering various options for their action.  · Provide alternative options and thought processes for firms considering their IPOs: The results of the dissertation also provide firms pursuing an IPO in China or Hong Kong further basis for possibly considering other options outside of China or Hong Kong, given the points raised in the findings and analysis section. For example, firms now are not limited only to the thinking pursuing the funding of Chinese firms is best achieved by tapping both the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges for a dual listing as this gives Chinese firms best access to the funding capability of international investors.  · Push stock exchanges to manage more effectively the marketing of their products and services: The dissertation also benefits the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as this dissertation provides the stock exchanges the basis and the opportunity to revisit their product and service offerings, and ensure that their marketing properly addresses the requirements of Chinese firms in capital markets financing. The review of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus its regional and global peers also provide the stock exchanges an objective assessment of performance levels relative to each other. On a personal level, the dissertation also benefited the research considerably, and also lends further basis to providing a strong rationale for completing the dissertation. The key personal reasons for the researcher in pursuing this dissertation, aside from completing school requirements, include the following:  · Improve knowledge and expertise of researcher. The dissertation was very specific in the research questions addressed and the research issues to be assessed. Thus, the researchers knowledge in these specific academic and business areas were considerably enhanced with the conduct and completion of the dissertation, including the pur suit of in-depth research and the structuring of questions and issues for the dissertation. The understanding of the issues in this dissertation will be very helpful to the researcher as other challenges are faced in an academic and business setting.  · Build project management skills. The dissertation provided the researcher the opportunity to build on project management skills as well given the extent of the period and the different aspects required in completing the dissertation, or project. This skill will be very beneficial to the researcher particularly once this is utilised in the business world where the ability to manage projects, as well as multi-task, is appreciated. The two points above provided further rationale to the pursuit of the completion of this dissertation, and gave the researcher strong reasons for undertaking the dissertation in addition to the given benefit of completing a requirement for school. CHAPTER 4 LITERATURE REVIEW The issue of performance and risks in issuing IPOs in exchanges has been analysed in various research works and there is a relatively comprehensive research work that can form the basis of further research work. For example, assessments of the performance of IPOs of stock exchanges have been done in a number of exchanges already. One research in particular focused on an assessment of the long-term performance of the IPOs of Europes new stock markets.3 The research works focusing on the issue of IPO performance are expected to continue to be of importance to the academic finance community given the debate which goes on relating to the near-term abnormal returns of IPOs and their long-term underperformance. The focus of this dissertation is a comparison and assessment of the performance and risks of IPOs issued in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This research differs in other bodies of academic work in that this specific research issue has not been addressed directly. Certainly, the existing literature and academic research provides a preliminary path and approach in resolving the key research questions defined at the beginning of this dissertation paper. In reviewing the related literature on the assessment of risks and performance of IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, a number of consistent themes were noted as predominant in the research works. In order to assess the themes which may have contrasting supporting research, these themes are presented below and form the structure for the rest of this section reviewing the related literature:  · Methods for assessment of IPO performance  · Performance of IPOs  · Risk assessment of IPOs  · Period of assessment  · Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs The points above are the key factors discussed in this section. 4.1 METHODS FOR ASSESSMENT OF IPO PERFORMANCE One of the areas that need to be reviewed is the research methodology that previous research works have utilised in pursuing their research. The related literature has shown that the typical method used in analysing the performance largely relies on the use of descriptive statistics. In some occasions, qualitative assessment are included as part of the research methodology in order to gain greater understanding of the performance and the factors affecting the performance of the IPOs. The research mentioned earlier in this section which focused on an assessment of the long-term performance of the IPOs of Europes new stock markets used both qualitative and quantitative assessments as part of the methodology.5 The research approach was a combination of qualitative assessment (to discuss the rationale for the resulting performance) and quantitative analysis (on the IPO performance and which, as expected, was analysed and presented using descriptive statistics). The research work noted in the introduction highlighting the continued debate on the near-term abnormal returns of IPOs and their long-term underperformance was a research piece focused on the returns of IPOs from the Istanbul Stock Exchange. In this research, the performance of the IPOs was assessed utilising descriptive statistics with a comparison of means (z-test: sample for two means) as part of the statistics tool kit utilised. Clearly, the use of descriptive statistics and statistical tests for significance seems to be the preferred method of analysis for these types of research assessments. The dominant use of descriptive statistics also provides confidence that this is the method that would be most logical for the dissertation in the assessment of performance of the IPOs in the stock exchanges. 4.2 PERFORMANCE OF IPOs Another area focused on in this dissertation is the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as well as other regional and global stock exchanges. In terms of IPO performance assessment, one research work focused specifically on bank IPOs and their growth. Interestingly, this and the research work mentioned earlier on IPO performance (Europes new stock markets) both found that long-run post-offering returns were poor when compared to various market benchmarks. This finding was supported by another research whose results were from an analysis of 6,000 NASDAQ IPO stocks. Thus, there seems to be a number of research works that have shown the underperformance of IPOs versus other more established stocks or the market benchmarks. A research paper that focused on this underperformance showed that a reason for the underperformance of IPOs was the high expectations which were linked to the IPOs and which affected the prices paid for these offerings. This result is rather ironic as the high expectations given by investors indicate that these investors expected much higher returns from IPOs versus other stocks that these investors could have invested in. A research work with similar findings on the long-term underperformance of IPOs was done on the UK IPOs from the period 1996 to 1999.9 For this research, the long-term underperformance of the IPOs in the study was considerable versus the market performance. A period of three years was used as the long-term period. The research notes that this underperformance has been seen in a large number of countries where the IPO performance was measured over a number of years to assess its performance. The key factors identified in the research as impacting on the long-term performance of the IPOs were: (1) percentage of equity issued as part of the IPO, and (2) degree of multinationality of a firm issuing the IPO. On the first point, the research finding noted that the greater the percentage of the equity issued for the IPO, the greater the probability of underperformance over the long-term. On the latter point, the research finding was that the greater the multinational component of a firm was, the better the expectation for a long-term performance. Further to the research on UK IPOs, another research work on the UK IPOs but focused on the AIM-listed firms versus those on the main board of the London Stock Exchange showed a similar result in terms of long-term underperformance of IPOs. This research work has an additional finding on the cost of equity that is relevant to the risks faced by firms pursuing an IPO. This finding is discussed in greater detail in a later part on the assessment of risks. The research works with an assessment showing poor long-run returns for IPOs is not unanimous though as opposing performance arguments also exist with IPOs being shown to be undervalued and thus provide good, long-run returns even versus the market. However, the reasons that the results are different for this research work is the adjustment done on the valuation of the IPOs which result in the IPO valuation being markedly different from those considered in the other researches which found poor longrun returns for IPOs. This research work utilised an alternative method with adjustments made on the performance of the IPO stocks. The research work on the Istanbul Stock Exchange highlighted a number of reasons for the performance of the IPOs, particularly the abnormal returns shown in the near-term: overvaluation of IPOs by investors and deliberate under-pricing for the IPO which then rewards the informed investors. The long-term underperformance of IPOs is not shared and accepted universally as other research works exist which shows that this is not the case, at least for the particular market and time period considered in these research works. A research on Malaysian IPOs from 1992 to 1996 showed that these IPOs showed particularly strong growth in stock prices over a three-year period from the issuance. This thus negates the concept of long-term underperformance shown by a number of research works. The difference in results could be attributed to a number of factors which could include differences in the parameters of the research factors related to the IPOs such as, for example, the definition of long-term in the assessment (this Malaysian research study utilised a period of three years to define the long-term). Further evidence of long-term performance contrary to other international evidence is that result from a review of IPO performance in Greece from the period 1993 to 1997, which showed that the IPOs performed much better than the market over the long-term and not just in the near-term for the effects of the abnormal near-term returns. In this research work, the definition for long-term performance was again different as the period of one year was taken for this assessment to reflect the long-term performance of the IPOs. The research piece attributes the difference with international evidence to possibly the legal framework, the institutional arrangements, and the degree of development of the capital markets. To further complicate the current thinking on the performance of IPOs, a research work focused on Germany IPOs from 1977 to 1995 showed varying performances over the long-term with some IPOs resulting in considerable underperformance while other IPOs showed excellent long-term performance.15 The focus of the research was not necessarily the determination of the long-term performance of the IPOs and thus could not be considered as inconclusive. The actual focus of the research work was the determination of the action post-IPO and the ability to determine which of the IPOs would perform better over the longer-term. The research finding was that the key predictor of the long-term performance of an IPO was the subsequent financing activity in the equity market with the firms being able to raise additional funds soon after the IPO slated for out-performance versus other firms which failed to generate further funding. Several reasons have been put forth as supporting the underperformance of IPOs in most markets. A research work which looked at French IPOs but focused on the impact of ownership resulted in findings that ownership had an influential and large impact on long-term performance of the IPOs.16 The reason for this was that at some point, usually a typical long-term period such as three to five years, ownership restriction in terms of selling off stakes would have been lifted. Thus, the sell-off of family or block holdings in IPOs after a long-term period impact negatively on the share price and becomes a large reason for the underperformance of IPOs over the long-term. This finding would seem to be applicable to most firms pursuing IPOs as it would be usually the case that a firm issuing an IPO would have large blocks of holdings controlled by very few entities or personalities. 4.3 RISK ASSESSMENT OF IPOs While a number of research works such as those cited earlier have focused only on the performance of the IPOs, other research works have combined the analysis of the risk and rewards related to IPOs, which would be parallel to the focus that this dissertation is geared to do. One, in particular, focused on the risk and return trade-off for IPOs though, admittedly, there was greater focus on how these issuances were riskassessed.A rather focused look on long-run performance showed that industry parameters, timing of IPO, and industry situation all play in the aftermarket returns of IPOs which, in general, are not favourable. One of the risks identified in a research work on AIM-listed IPOs was the resulting cost of equity. A decision factor for the firms considering pursuing an IPO should be the cost of equity and the research finding on the assessment of AIM-listed stocks showed that, potentially, cost of equity is much greater than that expected with the listing on these stock exchanges.Using this as an analogy to the current issue of issuing an IPO between Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, it is possible that this is a risk faced by the mainland Chinese firms in their decision. 4.4 PERIOD OF ASSESSMENT A factor that needs to be made consistent in the assessment of the performance of the IPOs is the period of assessment. The proper time frame could impact on the performance considerably and in viewing this assessment, it would be important to have the proper time frame from which to consider returns. For example, flipping of IPOs impact the pricing of some IPOs post the offering and affect the returns if taken within a short time frame. There is thus a question of the period defined by near-term as well as long-term performance given different periods taken by researchers in conducting their work. Understandably, this could have been driven by the availability of data of the stock prices. In order to have a proper assessment for this dissertation, it would probably be best to utilise the following time periods: one month for near-term performance, and 3 years for consideration of long-term performance. These seem to be the periods that most of the researchers had utilised though it does differ from some of the period conventions used in other researches. 4.5 CHINESE AND HONG KONG IPOs Despite the existence of numerous research work on the assessment of risks and rewards of IPOs across exchanges globally, there have been limited research works which focus on the Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs of recent years. One recent unpublished work touched on under-pricing and the aftermarket liquidity of Hong Kong IPOS, and found that under-pricing was evident in driving liquidity post-IPOs. A more comprehensive published work on Hong Kong IPOs utilised slightly dated figures (IPOs up to 2002) and thus presents a challenge in the findings concluded.22 Another is dated (published in 1998) but does look at the issue of pricing and aftermarket performance of IPOs with results showing large returns accruing in the long-term for IPOs. Other China-related research work focus on performance post-IPO but refer to operating performance of the firms and not the performance of the share price.One research which looked at short-term and long-term IPO performance in China highlighted a number of differences affecting Chinese stocks: stake that the government has in the firm, the size of the firm, and the options available to Chinese investors. Over the next few years, there will continue to be increased interest in the IPOs of firms in mainland China as these firms seek to tap international investors. In turn, international investors are increasingly interested in investing in the mainland Chinese firms given their typical profitable nature (largely owing to monopoly or large market share status) and the presence these firms have in mainland China that international investors find attractive. The pursuit of the IPO by the mainland Chinese firms is partly driven by the need to diversify ownership risk, particularly for the mainland Chinese firms which are predominantly state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Thus, despite extensive related research, there is still scope to pursue this dissertation as it provides further evidence of the risk and reward assessment of IPOs. CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The approach to the dissertation followed an explanatory research approach. This approach was deemed to be the best approach to address the research questions, particularly with the requirement of discovery of insights and ideas. The research approach relied on both extensive primary and secondary research providing a complementary basis for conducting the assessment and analysis of the issues in the research. This section is structured as follows:  · Research analysis and approach. This part describes the overall research approach utilised in this dissertation and the methods of analysing the information retrieved from primary and secondary research methods.  · Primary research. This discusses the primary research undertaken in this dissertation, including the objectives in the methods used.  · Secondary research. This presents the use of secondary research and the complementary approach to the primary research tools.  · Research limitations. In the conduct of the dissertation research, a number of limitations presented itself which impacted on the results of the dissertation. These are explained in this part.  · Ethical considerations. This part goes through the key ethical considerations in the process of completing the dissertation. 5.1 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND APPROACH The dissertation was conducted using a problem-solving approach. This methodology was used in assessing the quantitative results from the statistical analysis and also in analysing the results of the in-depth interviews, and secondary research. The dissertation utilised a combination of desktop analysis (the statistical analysis and quantitative assessment of the performance of IPOs in various stock exchanges), input from industry practitioners (the qualitative assessment of risks of the IPOs), and desk research (primarily for the secondary research and in providing further support to the results of the statistical analysis and qualitative assessment). The assessment of the performance of the IPOs was conducted using descriptive statistics as these allowed for an objective comparison of the performance (or returns) of the IPOs. Descriptive statistics was also used to show other relevant trends related to the performance of the IPOs from the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, and also the comparison versus other regional and global stock exchanges. After the assessment and analysis, and with the preliminary results on-hand, the research findings were tested and reviewed in the ‘market through discussions with other stakeholders to ensure that these research findings were sound and logical. The market review also provided feedback and confirmation of the possible research contribution that the dissertation provides. This has been noted as part of the findings and analysis section. 5.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH The key primary research utilised in this dissertation involved interviews with industry practitioners involved in Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs. The objectives in this primary research method were to: (1) understand the key risks for firms pursuing their firms listing in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, and (2) determine the perception of the industry practitioners as to the relative performance of IPOs being done in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The interviews were conducted to get an understanding of the key risks that firms are exposed to by pursuing their IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The use of in-depth interviews was selected as the primary research method as this provided an opportunity for the researcher to gain deeper insights into the issues focused on. It was initially planned that in-depth interviews of various stakeholders in the industry would be pursued in order to have a good breadth and depth in understanding the key risks and to get input from a diverse set of stakeholders. However, the research limitations in terms of timing, access to various stakeholders, and leverage of contacts in the Chinese and Hong Kong financial services sectors provided a hindrance to having an extensive list of industry practitioners included in the primary research. Nevertheless, the researcher was still able to have several in-depth interviews and these provided a good indication of the overall viewpoints currently existing in the industry, particularly related to the risks that exist for firms. 5.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH The secondary research for this dissertation involved two key approaches: (1) statistical analysis of stock price performance of selected IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as well as several regional and global stock exchanges, and (2) desk research to understand the viewpoints currently existing on the performance and risks of IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. 5.3.1 Statistical Analysis The first secondary research method involved the quantitative data analysis of the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This analysis effectively supported the assessment the performance of the listing in these stock exchanges to determine if there were differences in the performances of IPOs for these exchanges. The objectives in usin Risks and Returns of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) Risks and Returns of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) ASSESSMENT OF RISKS AND RETURNS OF INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS (IPOs) ISSUED IN HONG KONG VERSUS CHINA CHAPTER 1 ABSTRACT This dissertation was designed to focus on an assessment of the risks and returns of the initial public offerings (IPOs) issued in Hong Kong versus China. In recent years, Chinas stock market has experienced phenomenal growth with a record of US$62 billion raised in 140 IPOs in 2006, more than that raised in the United States of US$48 billion.1 The growth of Chinas economy continues to fuel the expectations that this trend of strong IPO growth would continue and that Chinese firms would increasingly pursue listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges to tap international investors for their fund raising requirements. A recent example of a Chinese firm doing an IPO was China Railways Construction which issued US$3.1 billion in an IPO in February 2008.2 The key rationale in pursuing this research was that it would give an understanding of the key differences between listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, particularly in relation to risks and performance (i.e. returns). Based on the statistical analysis of the existing information, there was no marked difference seen in the performance of the IPOs of the mainland Chinese firms in the Hong Kong Exchange versus the performance of the overall exchange (represented by the Hang Seng index). The data availability limited the statistical analysis primarily to the IPO information from the Hong Kong Exchange. The assessment of the risks and performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges led to the following conclusions: (1) Hong Kong is favoured overseas exchange for dual listing of mainland Chinese firms, (2) there is strong uncertainty in listing in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and (3) interest in China is strong and investors can be tapped through an overseas listing. For the mainland Chinese firms that will be issuing their IPOs, the following are the recommendations resulting from the dissertation: pursue a dual listing, list in the Hong Kong Exchange for the overseas exchange listing, and manage the timing of the IPO. Finally, for further research work, the following are the recommended steps that can be taken to develop the issues in greater detail and address other related concerns: pursue comparison of long-term performance of IPOs, compare the options available for mainland Chinese firms in terms of their IPOs, and assess IPO performance across other factors (such as size of firms, sector of firms, and extent of local versus global breakdown of the business). CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The dissertation had two key research questions which were addressed during the research. These research questions guided the research design and methodology of the dissertation. The two research questions were: 1. How have the firms listing in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges performed since their IPOs, and what risks did these firms face in their listings? 2. How have the IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges performed compared to each other and also in relation to regional and global competitors? The rest of this section discusses these research questions in greater detail. 2.1 PERFORMANCE SINCE IPO OF CHINESE AND HONG KONG LISTINGS AND RISKS FACED BY FIRMS The dissertation sought to determine the performance since IPO of Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchange listings, and the risks faced by the firms listing in these exchanges. The research aims and objectives for this part of the dissertation focused on the following:  · Assess the performance of the listings in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This assessment focused on how listings have performed in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and China. This gave an indication of the performance of the stocks which were listed through an IPO, and provided an opportunity to analyse the differences, in terms of performance, in listing between the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges.  · Determine the risks faced by firms pursuing an IPO through the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Another objective pursued in this dissertation was determining and understanding the risks that IPOs of firms listing in China and Hong Kong faced. As options have expanded in terms of the location where firms can list in, firms consider various factors in deciding on the best stock exchange for the listing of their IPO to be done. The different options also need to be assessed in terms of the risks that the firms are exposed to by listing in these exchanges. Understand other factors that have affected performance and risks of firms. The recent developments in the financial markets brought on as an impact by the US subprime markets have also affected the performance of recent listings not only in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges but also in other stock exchanges as well. These factors and the impact these factors have had on the performance of recent IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges were also identified and presented in this dissertation.  · Analyse issues using quantitative and qualitative analysis. In pursuing the assessment of the points above, this dissertation pursued both a quantitative and a qualitative approach to ensure that the research methods provided a complementary approach. This was also designed to ensure that the inputs to the analysis had a robust basis with the assessment of performance and risks based off actual quantitative results supported by input from industry practitioners and their observations. 2.2 ASSESSMENT OF IPO PERFORMANCE BETWEEN CHINA AND HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGES AND VERSUS OTHER STOCK EXCHANGES The assessment of the performance of the IPOs was reviewed by comparing the performance of the IPOs of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. In addition, these were also compared versus the performance of IPOs in selected regional and also global stock exchanges to give an indication of the relative performance of the IPOs in these different exchanges. The research aims and objectives of this part of the dissertation were the following:  · Assess objectively the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus selected regional and global stock exchanges. This assessment was conducted using the performance data of selected firms in these exchanges to provide an indication of their relative performances. Thus, the dissertation sought to expand on the initial issue raised on the performance and risks of IPOs between Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This provided an added viewpoint into how different the performances of the IPOs have been in these exchanges.  · Understand factors and issues affecting the relative performances of the IPOs. With the differences in the performances of IPOs identified in the previous point, the dissertation sought to analyse the factors affecting these differences. This assessment was important as it provided the opportunity to pursue further research of the issues, resulting in increased understanding of factors affecting the performance of the IPOs in these stock exchanges. These two points above were the key research objectives in assessing the performance of the IPOs of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus the IPOs of other selected regional and global stock exchanges. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH RATIONALE There were several key reasons identified as to the rationale behind pursuing this dissertation. This section discusses the research rationale first from an academic research point of view and then, second, from a personal point of view of the researcher in terms of the benefits achieved in completing the dissertation. From an academic research point of view, the following were the key reasons identified:  · Drive decision for location of IPO for firms listing in stock exchanges: The results of the research could be utilised in forming a decision as to the location of a firms IPO. With greater transparency of the performance and risks in listing in China versus listing in Hong Kong, firms now have further factors to include in building a decision for the location of a firms IPO. This point is particularly relevant for mainland China firms which are looking to tap international overseas investors for their IPO and are considering various options for their action.  · Provide alternative options and thought processes for firms considering their IPOs: The results of the dissertation also provide firms pursuing an IPO in China or Hong Kong further basis for possibly considering other options outside of China or Hong Kong, given the points raised in the findings and analysis section. For example, firms now are not limited only to the thinking pursuing the funding of Chinese firms is best achieved by tapping both the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges for a dual listing as this gives Chinese firms best access to the funding capability of international investors.  · Push stock exchanges to manage more effectively the marketing of their products and services: The dissertation also benefits the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as this dissertation provides the stock exchanges the basis and the opportunity to revisit their product and service offerings, and ensure that their marketing properly addresses the requirements of Chinese firms in capital markets financing. The review of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges versus its regional and global peers also provide the stock exchanges an objective assessment of performance levels relative to each other. On a personal level, the dissertation also benefited the research considerably, and also lends further basis to providing a strong rationale for completing the dissertation. The key personal reasons for the researcher in pursuing this dissertation, aside from completing school requirements, include the following:  · Improve knowledge and expertise of researcher. The dissertation was very specific in the research questions addressed and the research issues to be assessed. Thus, the researchers knowledge in these specific academic and business areas were considerably enhanced with the conduct and completion of the dissertation, including the pur suit of in-depth research and the structuring of questions and issues for the dissertation. The understanding of the issues in this dissertation will be very helpful to the researcher as other challenges are faced in an academic and business setting.  · Build project management skills. The dissertation provided the researcher the opportunity to build on project management skills as well given the extent of the period and the different aspects required in completing the dissertation, or project. This skill will be very beneficial to the researcher particularly once this is utilised in the business world where the ability to manage projects, as well as multi-task, is appreciated. The two points above provided further rationale to the pursuit of the completion of this dissertation, and gave the researcher strong reasons for undertaking the dissertation in addition to the given benefit of completing a requirement for school. CHAPTER 4 LITERATURE REVIEW The issue of performance and risks in issuing IPOs in exchanges has been analysed in various research works and there is a relatively comprehensive research work that can form the basis of further research work. For example, assessments of the performance of IPOs of stock exchanges have been done in a number of exchanges already. One research in particular focused on an assessment of the long-term performance of the IPOs of Europes new stock markets.3 The research works focusing on the issue of IPO performance are expected to continue to be of importance to the academic finance community given the debate which goes on relating to the near-term abnormal returns of IPOs and their long-term underperformance. The focus of this dissertation is a comparison and assessment of the performance and risks of IPOs issued in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This research differs in other bodies of academic work in that this specific research issue has not been addressed directly. Certainly, the existing literature and academic research provides a preliminary path and approach in resolving the key research questions defined at the beginning of this dissertation paper. In reviewing the related literature on the assessment of risks and performance of IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, a number of consistent themes were noted as predominant in the research works. In order to assess the themes which may have contrasting supporting research, these themes are presented below and form the structure for the rest of this section reviewing the related literature:  · Methods for assessment of IPO performance  · Performance of IPOs  · Risk assessment of IPOs  · Period of assessment  · Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs The points above are the key factors discussed in this section. 4.1 METHODS FOR ASSESSMENT OF IPO PERFORMANCE One of the areas that need to be reviewed is the research methodology that previous research works have utilised in pursuing their research. The related literature has shown that the typical method used in analysing the performance largely relies on the use of descriptive statistics. In some occasions, qualitative assessment are included as part of the research methodology in order to gain greater understanding of the performance and the factors affecting the performance of the IPOs. The research mentioned earlier in this section which focused on an assessment of the long-term performance of the IPOs of Europes new stock markets used both qualitative and quantitative assessments as part of the methodology.5 The research approach was a combination of qualitative assessment (to discuss the rationale for the resulting performance) and quantitative analysis (on the IPO performance and which, as expected, was analysed and presented using descriptive statistics). The research work noted in the introduction highlighting the continued debate on the near-term abnormal returns of IPOs and their long-term underperformance was a research piece focused on the returns of IPOs from the Istanbul Stock Exchange. In this research, the performance of the IPOs was assessed utilising descriptive statistics with a comparison of means (z-test: sample for two means) as part of the statistics tool kit utilised. Clearly, the use of descriptive statistics and statistical tests for significance seems to be the preferred method of analysis for these types of research assessments. The dominant use of descriptive statistics also provides confidence that this is the method that would be most logical for the dissertation in the assessment of performance of the IPOs in the stock exchanges. 4.2 PERFORMANCE OF IPOs Another area focused on in this dissertation is the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as well as other regional and global stock exchanges. In terms of IPO performance assessment, one research work focused specifically on bank IPOs and their growth. Interestingly, this and the research work mentioned earlier on IPO performance (Europes new stock markets) both found that long-run post-offering returns were poor when compared to various market benchmarks. This finding was supported by another research whose results were from an analysis of 6,000 NASDAQ IPO stocks. Thus, there seems to be a number of research works that have shown the underperformance of IPOs versus other more established stocks or the market benchmarks. A research paper that focused on this underperformance showed that a reason for the underperformance of IPOs was the high expectations which were linked to the IPOs and which affected the prices paid for these offerings. This result is rather ironic as the high expectations given by investors indicate that these investors expected much higher returns from IPOs versus other stocks that these investors could have invested in. A research work with similar findings on the long-term underperformance of IPOs was done on the UK IPOs from the period 1996 to 1999.9 For this research, the long-term underperformance of the IPOs in the study was considerable versus the market performance. A period of three years was used as the long-term period. The research notes that this underperformance has been seen in a large number of countries where the IPO performance was measured over a number of years to assess its performance. The key factors identified in the research as impacting on the long-term performance of the IPOs were: (1) percentage of equity issued as part of the IPO, and (2) degree of multinationality of a firm issuing the IPO. On the first point, the research finding noted that the greater the percentage of the equity issued for the IPO, the greater the probability of underperformance over the long-term. On the latter point, the research finding was that the greater the multinational component of a firm was, the better the expectation for a long-term performance. Further to the research on UK IPOs, another research work on the UK IPOs but focused on the AIM-listed firms versus those on the main board of the London Stock Exchange showed a similar result in terms of long-term underperformance of IPOs. This research work has an additional finding on the cost of equity that is relevant to the risks faced by firms pursuing an IPO. This finding is discussed in greater detail in a later part on the assessment of risks. The research works with an assessment showing poor long-run returns for IPOs is not unanimous though as opposing performance arguments also exist with IPOs being shown to be undervalued and thus provide good, long-run returns even versus the market. However, the reasons that the results are different for this research work is the adjustment done on the valuation of the IPOs which result in the IPO valuation being markedly different from those considered in the other researches which found poor longrun returns for IPOs. This research work utilised an alternative method with adjustments made on the performance of the IPO stocks. The research work on the Istanbul Stock Exchange highlighted a number of reasons for the performance of the IPOs, particularly the abnormal returns shown in the near-term: overvaluation of IPOs by investors and deliberate under-pricing for the IPO which then rewards the informed investors. The long-term underperformance of IPOs is not shared and accepted universally as other research works exist which shows that this is not the case, at least for the particular market and time period considered in these research works. A research on Malaysian IPOs from 1992 to 1996 showed that these IPOs showed particularly strong growth in stock prices over a three-year period from the issuance. This thus negates the concept of long-term underperformance shown by a number of research works. The difference in results could be attributed to a number of factors which could include differences in the parameters of the research factors related to the IPOs such as, for example, the definition of long-term in the assessment (this Malaysian research study utilised a period of three years to define the long-term). Further evidence of long-term performance contrary to other international evidence is that result from a review of IPO performance in Greece from the period 1993 to 1997, which showed that the IPOs performed much better than the market over the long-term and not just in the near-term for the effects of the abnormal near-term returns. In this research work, the definition for long-term performance was again different as the period of one year was taken for this assessment to reflect the long-term performance of the IPOs. The research piece attributes the difference with international evidence to possibly the legal framework, the institutional arrangements, and the degree of development of the capital markets. To further complicate the current thinking on the performance of IPOs, a research work focused on Germany IPOs from 1977 to 1995 showed varying performances over the long-term with some IPOs resulting in considerable underperformance while other IPOs showed excellent long-term performance.15 The focus of the research was not necessarily the determination of the long-term performance of the IPOs and thus could not be considered as inconclusive. The actual focus of the research work was the determination of the action post-IPO and the ability to determine which of the IPOs would perform better over the longer-term. The research finding was that the key predictor of the long-term performance of an IPO was the subsequent financing activity in the equity market with the firms being able to raise additional funds soon after the IPO slated for out-performance versus other firms which failed to generate further funding. Several reasons have been put forth as supporting the underperformance of IPOs in most markets. A research work which looked at French IPOs but focused on the impact of ownership resulted in findings that ownership had an influential and large impact on long-term performance of the IPOs.16 The reason for this was that at some point, usually a typical long-term period such as three to five years, ownership restriction in terms of selling off stakes would have been lifted. Thus, the sell-off of family or block holdings in IPOs after a long-term period impact negatively on the share price and becomes a large reason for the underperformance of IPOs over the long-term. This finding would seem to be applicable to most firms pursuing IPOs as it would be usually the case that a firm issuing an IPO would have large blocks of holdings controlled by very few entities or personalities. 4.3 RISK ASSESSMENT OF IPOs While a number of research works such as those cited earlier have focused only on the performance of the IPOs, other research works have combined the analysis of the risk and rewards related to IPOs, which would be parallel to the focus that this dissertation is geared to do. One, in particular, focused on the risk and return trade-off for IPOs though, admittedly, there was greater focus on how these issuances were riskassessed.A rather focused look on long-run performance showed that industry parameters, timing of IPO, and industry situation all play in the aftermarket returns of IPOs which, in general, are not favourable. One of the risks identified in a research work on AIM-listed IPOs was the resulting cost of equity. A decision factor for the firms considering pursuing an IPO should be the cost of equity and the research finding on the assessment of AIM-listed stocks showed that, potentially, cost of equity is much greater than that expected with the listing on these stock exchanges.Using this as an analogy to the current issue of issuing an IPO between Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, it is possible that this is a risk faced by the mainland Chinese firms in their decision. 4.4 PERIOD OF ASSESSMENT A factor that needs to be made consistent in the assessment of the performance of the IPOs is the period of assessment. The proper time frame could impact on the performance considerably and in viewing this assessment, it would be important to have the proper time frame from which to consider returns. For example, flipping of IPOs impact the pricing of some IPOs post the offering and affect the returns if taken within a short time frame. There is thus a question of the period defined by near-term as well as long-term performance given different periods taken by researchers in conducting their work. Understandably, this could have been driven by the availability of data of the stock prices. In order to have a proper assessment for this dissertation, it would probably be best to utilise the following time periods: one month for near-term performance, and 3 years for consideration of long-term performance. These seem to be the periods that most of the researchers had utilised though it does differ from some of the period conventions used in other researches. 4.5 CHINESE AND HONG KONG IPOs Despite the existence of numerous research work on the assessment of risks and rewards of IPOs across exchanges globally, there have been limited research works which focus on the Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs of recent years. One recent unpublished work touched on under-pricing and the aftermarket liquidity of Hong Kong IPOS, and found that under-pricing was evident in driving liquidity post-IPOs. A more comprehensive published work on Hong Kong IPOs utilised slightly dated figures (IPOs up to 2002) and thus presents a challenge in the findings concluded.22 Another is dated (published in 1998) but does look at the issue of pricing and aftermarket performance of IPOs with results showing large returns accruing in the long-term for IPOs. Other China-related research work focus on performance post-IPO but refer to operating performance of the firms and not the performance of the share price.One research which looked at short-term and long-term IPO performance in China highlighted a number of differences affecting Chinese stocks: stake that the government has in the firm, the size of the firm, and the options available to Chinese investors. Over the next few years, there will continue to be increased interest in the IPOs of firms in mainland China as these firms seek to tap international investors. In turn, international investors are increasingly interested in investing in the mainland Chinese firms given their typical profitable nature (largely owing to monopoly or large market share status) and the presence these firms have in mainland China that international investors find attractive. The pursuit of the IPO by the mainland Chinese firms is partly driven by the need to diversify ownership risk, particularly for the mainland Chinese firms which are predominantly state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Thus, despite extensive related research, there is still scope to pursue this dissertation as it provides further evidence of the risk and reward assessment of IPOs. CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The approach to the dissertation followed an explanatory research approach. This approach was deemed to be the best approach to address the research questions, particularly with the requirement of discovery of insights and ideas. The research approach relied on both extensive primary and secondary research providing a complementary basis for conducting the assessment and analysis of the issues in the research. This section is structured as follows:  · Research analysis and approach. This part describes the overall research approach utilised in this dissertation and the methods of analysing the information retrieved from primary and secondary research methods.  · Primary research. This discusses the primary research undertaken in this dissertation, including the objectives in the methods used.  · Secondary research. This presents the use of secondary research and the complementary approach to the primary research tools.  · Research limitations. In the conduct of the dissertation research, a number of limitations presented itself which impacted on the results of the dissertation. These are explained in this part.  · Ethical considerations. This part goes through the key ethical considerations in the process of completing the dissertation. 5.1 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND APPROACH The dissertation was conducted using a problem-solving approach. This methodology was used in assessing the quantitative results from the statistical analysis and also in analysing the results of the in-depth interviews, and secondary research. The dissertation utilised a combination of desktop analysis (the statistical analysis and quantitative assessment of the performance of IPOs in various stock exchanges), input from industry practitioners (the qualitative assessment of risks of the IPOs), and desk research (primarily for the secondary research and in providing further support to the results of the statistical analysis and qualitative assessment). The assessment of the performance of the IPOs was conducted using descriptive statistics as these allowed for an objective comparison of the performance (or returns) of the IPOs. Descriptive statistics was also used to show other relevant trends related to the performance of the IPOs from the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, and also the comparison versus other regional and global stock exchanges. After the assessment and analysis, and with the preliminary results on-hand, the research findings were tested and reviewed in the ‘market through discussions with other stakeholders to ensure that these research findings were sound and logical. The market review also provided feedback and confirmation of the possible research contribution that the dissertation provides. This has been noted as part of the findings and analysis section. 5.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH The key primary research utilised in this dissertation involved interviews with industry practitioners involved in Chinese and Hong Kong IPOs. The objectives in this primary research method were to: (1) understand the key risks for firms pursuing their firms listing in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges, and (2) determine the perception of the industry practitioners as to the relative performance of IPOs being done in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The interviews were conducted to get an understanding of the key risks that firms are exposed to by pursuing their IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The use of in-depth interviews was selected as the primary research method as this provided an opportunity for the researcher to gain deeper insights into the issues focused on. It was initially planned that in-depth interviews of various stakeholders in the industry would be pursued in order to have a good breadth and depth in understanding the key risks and to get input from a diverse set of stakeholders. However, the research limitations in terms of timing, access to various stakeholders, and leverage of contacts in the Chinese and Hong Kong financial services sectors provided a hindrance to having an extensive list of industry practitioners included in the primary research. Nevertheless, the researcher was still able to have several in-depth interviews and these provided a good indication of the overall viewpoints currently existing in the industry, particularly related to the risks that exist for firms. 5.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH The secondary research for this dissertation involved two key approaches: (1) statistical analysis of stock price performance of selected IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges as well as several regional and global stock exchanges, and (2) desk research to understand the viewpoints currently existing on the performance and risks of IPOs in Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. 5.3.1 Statistical Analysis The first secondary research method involved the quantitative data analysis of the performance of the IPOs in the Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This analysis effectively supported the assessment the performance of the listing in these stock exchanges to determine if there were differences in the performances of IPOs for these exchanges. The objectives in usin