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

German Modernism Essay -- essays research papers

The Era of Modern Germany Throughout time, nations have attempted to become independent from one another by discovering means to help their citizens experience more fulfilling lives. The dilemma that troubled each of these countries is whether or not innovations, in technology and society, led to a higher quality of life. In the book, Rites of Spring, Modris Eksteins examines how innovation affected the citizens of Germany. Eksteins conveys that technological and industrial innovations paved the way for social transformations, throughout Germany. These social changes include a newfound appreciation for Art, tolerance of homosexuality, and a new approach towards warfare. The establishment of the German modern era began at the turn of the 20th century. Eksteins verifies this conviction by stating that Germany made tremendous industrial improvements, during this time. Among these industrial improvements was the introduction of a massive steel industry. Although Germany produced steel prior to 1900, it had never competed with the other European powers. â€Å"By 1914, Gergely, 2 German steel production equaled that of Britain, France, Russia combined? Along with a massive production of steel, other German industries such as iron, chemical, and electricity also flourished throughout this time. Germany finally had the foundation it desired for economic growth. According to Ecksteins, the formation of these industries gave Germany the opportunity to develop as a culture. Industry facilitated culture by shifting a large part of the population out of the countryside and into the city. â€Å"In 1870 Germany’s population was two thirds rural; by 1914 that relationship had been reversed? This gave German industry the possibility of transmitting their ideas to a large audience. The formation of the modern man and women was born. Also, one must conclude that the shift out of the countryside brought an influx of diverse beliefs into German cities. Germans who had previously lived under certain beliefs were introduced to several new convictions. Suddenly Germany transformed itself from a close-minded nation, to one, which was open to change. This newfound acceptance of change facilitated a general belief that Germany had become the most modern state of that time. Gergely, 3 One of the most prevalent examples of German modernism was their newfound attitude towards art. Ekstein... ...ncompass Eksteins argument that Germany was at the heart of the modern Gergely, 5 experience. I agree with Eksteins claim because he presents the reader with perspectives from all aspects of society. In reading other interpretations of modernism I received limited viewpoints, of how modernism influenced society. One example of this is Marshall Bermans, All That is Solid Melts Into Air. This text provides the reader with examples of modernism in different societies. It does not focus on one society, like Eksteins. This method does not allow the reader to get an accurate feel of how modernism encircled society. Instead one leaves with an understanding of how individual changes affected certain aspects of societies. Secondly, Eksteins argument is convincing because it gives various examples of how societies differed from Germany. One is able to comprehend why Eksteins believes Germany is the epitome of modernism, as opposed to other societies. This method is also valuable because it allows the reader to make his/her own decision of German modernism. After reading Rites of Spring, one agrees with Eksteins beliefs because of the outstanding methods he utilizes to deliver his argument.

Kudler Fine Foods Network Overview Essay

Introduction One of the considered â€Å"best fine food stores† around is the Kudler Fine Foods. However, Kudler is in serious need of a network infrastructure upgrade of their old one. To introduce the latest technologies in data collection; company communication; and information protection while providing the best data speeds and network access; are the main goals of the enterprise network. This huge step is significant as this will increase the revenue and will reduce the costs of operation throughout the Kudler Fine Foods stores. Kudler Fine Foods will go back up to technological speed as the network upgrade is completed, while at the same time improving the way they keep track of inventory and sales by using data mining techniques, which will be collected and analyzed in real time. Network Overview The review of the current network used at Kudler Fine Foods was able to determine that the network topology that is being used is the bus topology. The bus network is set-up in such a way that all the network components are connected via CAT5 to the bus or communication line. This configuration is true at sites in the corporation for their workstations, servers, and standalone UPS. A 56k modem is the device that is used by all of the networks communicating to the internet. Although the bus network is very reasonable when it comes to cost, the downfall is that when the backbone goes down, the entire network can encounter an outage that is very difficult to troubleshoot. Another disadvantage this network is the occurrence of signal collision. This happens when two systems are sending signals at the same time to one another, collides with each other and causes to drop both signals. To solve this problem, CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) technology will be set-up in the network, which will put the network into a listen mode before sending, to prevent collisions from taking place. Network Response time The current network is experiencing lack of response time and latency due to the use of 56k modems installed at all of the sites. The major goal of the upgrade is to respond to the critical issue of speed performance and possible network outage when there are no other mean of communication exists in case the modems went down. The use of outdated system hardware and software, including the modem and operating system of computer, are seen as the main cause of the problem in terms of response times, latency, and jitter that in the entire network. Response time is being measured by the time that the network takes to respond to command of the users. The slow response time is happening because the host systems at all sites are running only with Window 98 and Pentium II processors, which are over 10 years old. The available bandwidth is related to the latency and jitter issues that are being seen over the network. â€Å"Jitter is defined as the amount of variation or randomness in latency or response time, measured in milliseconds† (What is jitter?, 2006). The 56k modem provides up to 56,000 bps of speed only, which is very slow response time, thereby causing low bandwidth. Another reason is that all of the servers on the Kudler network are running Windows NT with Pentium III processors only. By upgrading the hardware, updating the software, and installing a T1 line which can offer a speed up to 1.544 Mbps (27 times faster than the old modem), the major problems can be solved. By then, the network performance can cope up with all the real-time information coming from all the Kulder Fine Foods locations which will result to better sales and inventory tracking. This will give great improvements from the existing network and will provide an uptime of up to 97%. Traffic Analysis Traffic analysis is used for detecting network intrusions to be able to determine response time and latency that is taking place. Traffic analysis concerns more on the security of the network than the protocol being used. It will be able to detect about when and where a latency issue is taking place. Traffic analysis is being done through command line tools to provide the vital information about the network latency. Wire Shark will be used to allow deep packet level analysis of the network and to mitigate possible network latency problems. Ping is also used to provide the user the ability to check the network conductivity from the workstation to a specific node or internet site. Trace Route is still another utility that can show the full connection path between the user’s workstation and the desired destination  system being reached. The use of these tools can decrease the amount of time of an outage on a network by identifying which devices are not passing on the packets and where the packets drops are taking place. The ability to detect an outage before it results to a bigger issue would be the best case scenario for any network. Kudler’s network will be implementing Nagios. It â€Å"Nagios is a powerful IT management system that lets an organization to easily identify and resolve problems in IT infrastructure before it can greatly affect the critical business processes† (Nagios, 2012). Nagios provides a system that gives alerts whenever a network device is detected acting abnormally, thereby providing a fix immediately. One network can live without the help of traffic analysis tools but it would take a huge amount of man-hours to pin point where in the network the problem exists. Networking Standards It is very important that a network is following and applying the right standards in connecting and sharing information. Open standards allow connecting and sharing information possible because it allows everyone using different technology such as NIC (Network Interface Card) to connect to the internet via CAT5 (Category 5) cable. Using new technology standards can be beneficial but can also give a lot of disadvantages when not using the open standards because it can cause incompatibility with other existing devices. Kudler Fine Foods needs to follow the networking standards issued by the standard-giving bodies as follows: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is the organization that sets the standards for all networks. Wireless networking standards also fall under this organization. The IEEE has a wide library of information and standards which will be very valuable for the new network. WLAN is also incorporated into this network that is why WECA standards are also worth including. The WECA standards are applied â€Å"ensuring the cross-vendor compatibilities of 802.11b wireless-networking hardware and  software† (Kozierok, 2005). If these wireless standards were not applied properly to the network, then the individual wireless users would not be able to connect properly. The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) plays a very important role in networking as they are the one who issues standards on how to communicate via TCP/IP. These standards and standards-giving bodies need to work together so that network can perform in its fullest potential. Protocol and Security overview Security plays a vital role in the network of any company. The advancement in the hardware and software being used by the network is useless, and costly acquisition and installation are non-sense, if these were no properly secured. To provide the security needed by the network, it is very important to choose the correct communication protocols and individual protocols (under the communication protocols) to be used. For example, TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) is a communication protocol, but within the TCP/IP are protocols that allow for network communication to take place such as port 80 or HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). These protocols are properly chosen based on the characteristics and ability of the devices acquired for the network. The TCP/IP operates at layers 3 and 4 of the OSI model. The new enterprise network will be using WAN which will connect all the sites with their individual WLANs. Again, choosing the right protocols is essential to the security and performance of these networks. WPA2 Enterprise, which is the most recommended encryption used to secure a wireless network, will be used for the WLAN. WPA Enterprise utilizes 802.1x authentications by means of a RADIUS server. RADIUS server, â€Å"is a client/server protocol and also a software, which enables servers that access remotely to communicate with a central server to make authentication of dial-in users and authorization of their access to the requested system or service possible†(Thomas & Oosten, 2006). This will provide user account certificate-based authentication to take place and will form signal-based authentication on to the wireless network. The protocol that is applicable to this implementation is Port 443 or HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), which uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) over HTTP, which will encrypt any communication going over this port. The use of this protocol will  prevent network sniffing from unwanted entities and will provide DLP (Data Loss Prevention). Another implementation is the ability to connect to one another via VPN (Virtual Private Network). This will allow a secure communication tunnel to all of the sites using the enterprise network. The VPN connection will have the ability to be accessed anywhere by just setting up an additional high speed internet. The VPN is also significant as it will allow the systems to have back-up system on a central server and provide redundancy of connection in case the main internet connection goes down. Almost everything that will be implemented in the new enterprise network is new technologies but the basic phone line should not be taken for granted. Either VoIP or Centrix can be used for the implementation of the phone line. VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) â€Å"is using RTP, UDP, and IP to/from a Skinny Client for audio† (RADCOM Academy, 2012). The Skinny protocol is used by Cisco devices. VoIP systems can cost a little more expensive due to the total ownership of the systems once purchased. This is an extra overhead for Kudler, so choosing Centrix system is a better option because the company will not be taking on the cost of the system, but only the cost of the service, thereby incurring less overhead and saves money. To conclude, Kudler Fine Foods’ new enterprise network will bring the best choice of hardware, software and service in terms of cost and quality of performance to perform the collection of data, communication, and protection of information vital to the company. This will also increase the revenue and will reduce the operational costs at all Kudler Fine Foods stores. This will then in turn allow Kudler to offer lower prices of their products and services while still providing the best quality of food in the state of California. References RADCOM Academy. (2012). Voice over ip reference page. Retrieved, 15 January 2012, from http://www.protocols.com/pbook/VoIP.htm What is jitter?. (2006, January 6). Retrieved, 21 January 2012, from http://www.nessoft.com/kb/article/what-is-jitter-57.html Nagios. (2012). Products. Retrieved, 21 January 2012, from http://www.nagios.com/products Thomas, O., & Oosten, C. V. (2006, August). Radius (remote authentication dial-in user service). . Retrieved, 21 January 2012, from http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/RADIUS Kozierok, C. (2005, September 20). Networking industry groups. Retrieved, 21 January 2012, from http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_NetworkingIndustryGroups.htm

Ideology vs. united church of Canada’s advertisement Essay

Ideology is a ‘Representation’ of the Imaginary Relationship of Individuals to their Real Conditions of Existence — Louis Althusser, 1970 Many companies use advertisement as their way of attracting customers. They tend to create ideological perspective within their advertisements to show their stand on the society’s standards. Most of the time, advertisements are made for women. If men and babies’ needs were advertised, women are still part of it. It shows that in the ideology of the society, women are the determiner or the decision-maker of what should be use as a necessity or luxury. This is what advertisement for, it radicalize the essence of what is important and necessary. Advertising is significant because, in consumer capitalism, individuals depend on it for meanings — a source of social information embedded in commodities that mediate interpersonal relations and personal identity. Advertising should therefore be conceived as an important institution in the consumer society because it produces â€Å"patterned systems of meaning† which play a key role in individual socialization and social reproduction. However, in the context of ideology and advertisement as a whole, advertisements are made because we want to prove something or we want to impose a law on a certain aspect of the society. Through this, we could be able to spread our ideas and perspectives towards different issues and arguments that exist in the society today. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze a certain advertisement in connection to the Ideological State Apparatus of Louis Althusser to determine its meaning and rationalization. The chosen advertisement is a child advertisement. The advertisement showed a picture of a baby with a medical wristband stating â€Å"WARNING: some re-assembly of priorities and beliefs may be required. † This advertisement suggests that parenthood is not an easy thing. As parents, people tend to view life more seriously. Once a baby is born, everything will change not according to plan but according to responsibility. Wandercafe. ca stated in the advertisement that â€Å"parenthood changes everything – including how you view the world. † Most often, this scenario happens if the baby is a wanted child because if it is not, parents tend to disregard their responsibility towards their children especially the fathers. Nevertheless, being a parent is a gift from God as we all know. In the perspective of the society and our culture, we view parenthood as a form of required responsibility. Once a child is born, we need to settle our priorities as based on the needs of the child and would not focus on our necessities and luxuries. In poor families, even if the parents could not eat, as long as their child has its milk, problem would not exist. This situation shows that parents can do everything and anything just to make their child safe and healthy. This is what the advertisement is trying to impose – parenthood is an obligation that should be taken into consideration because it requires re-assemble of priorities and beliefs. In the perspective of ideology and advertisement, this advertisement can be said as part of the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA). According to Louis Althusser (1970), an Ideological State Apparatus is a certain number of realities which present themselves to the immediate observer in the form of distinct and specialized institution. Because the advertisement came from the people of the United Church of Canada, it can be said as a religious Ideological State Apparatus. He also stated that the distinction of ISAs from (Repressive) State Apparatus is that the Repressive State Apparatus functions ‘by violence’, whereas the ideology State Apparatus function ‘by ideology’. This is the fact that the (Repressive) State Apparatus functions massively and predominantly by repression (including physical repression), while functioning secondarily by ideology. (There is no such thing as a purely repressive apparatus.)†¦ In the same way, but inversely, it is essential to say that for their part the Ideological State Apparatuses function massively and predominantly by ideology, but they also function secondarily by repression, even if ultimately, but only ultimately, this is very attenuated and concealed, even symbolic. (Althusser 1970) Advertisement has different impact to society and its institutions such as education, culture, and religion. In the chosen advertisement, these three factors exist as they give contribution to the perspective and ideology of the ad. It was seen through different aspects and reasons. In the institution of education, this advertisement educate people especially parents to become aware with their responsibilities and obligations towards their child or children because it was the most important thing that should be taken into account. When it comes to culture, it shows the stand of the society when it comes to parenthood because this is part of the culture – parents should abide by the rule of the law that they should love their children for they have conceived them. In the religious institution or the church, this advertisement shows what is right in opposition to evil. Church stated that parents should do their obligations not by their choice but by the rule of the church because it was the teaching of God. In the pre-capitalist historical period which I have examined extremely broadly, it is absolutely clear that there was one dominant Ideological State Apparatus, the Church, which concentrated within it not only religious functions, but also educational ones, and a large proportion of the functions of communications and ‘culture’. It is no accident that all ideological struggle, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, starting with the first shocks of the Reformation, was concentrated in an anti-clerical and anti-religious struggle; rather this is a function precisely of the dominant position of the religious Ideological State Apparatus. (Althusser 1970) In the chosen advertisement, Church is dominant and ‘repressive’ in some angle because it tried to impose a law or a rule. It was shown in the medical wristband of the baby. Using the word â€Å"warning† is an implication of notice that there must be an action to consider. The ideology of the advertisement is actually true when it comes to responsibilities of the parents but the Church overpowers the parents on what they should do and act. Though it was just a simple warning, capitalism can be seen based on its attack and point of justification. As a whole, the advertisement means more than what it wanted to say. The ideology of the church can be said as a form of repression or simply a justification of what is true as based on the standard of the society. Advertisement has different meanings based on the perceiver. It was the audience’s obligation to perceive the advertisement on their own context and ideology. Ideology is innate for all of us. It should not be taken for granted because it is an armor of our thinking, rights, and stand towards the rules and laws of the society. Culture, education, and church are underlying institutions that we need to consider in analyzing a certain advertisement because these factors are the most important aspects of humanity whether we oppose or consider their specificities from the past, present, and future civilization. Works Cited Althousser, Louis. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. La Pensee, 1970. 27 November 2007 http://www. marxists. org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology. htm Wandercafe. ca. baby. 27 November 2007 Harms, John and Kellner, Douglas. â€Å"Toward A Critical Theory of Advertising. † Illumination. (n. d. ) 27 November 2007 .

The Pianist essays

The Pianist essays The Pianist is a historically based film that captivates the audience with its intense, riveting scenes. The movie outlines Hitlers policies against the Jewish race during the holocaust in the late 1930s. It focuses on the lives of one particular Jewish family during the period in which Hitler invades and occupies the Polish community of Warsaw. The title was inspired by the career of the main character before and after the Holocaust. The film chronicles the experiences of a Jewish pianist and his survival through the Holocaust with determination and the help of others, while millions of other Jews perish. The theme is portrayed effectively throughout the movie. The merciless treatment of the Jewish people convinces the audience to empathize with the characters in the movie. The movie begins with the pianist, Szpilman, in the studio playing the piano while the community of Warsaw is being bombed. A woman who will help him later in the movie approaches him and tells him of her admiration for his musical talent. Soon after the bombings, Hitler institutes the policies, he takes away their money and their property and they are forbidden to enter public places. These policies soon become more severe when Hitler forces the Jews into Ghettos and eventually into concentration camps. When the pianist and his family are being escorted to a train destined for the concentration camp, the pianist is helped by a police officer and he escapes. Several helpful Germans then help him to hide out from the Nazi soldiers. When Hitlers police seize the Germans, Szpilman returns to his old apartment building in the Ghetto. There a Nazi soldier who helps him by bringing him food and other supplies finds him. The movie ends with the British army invading Poland and sending all the Nazi soldiers to labour camps. In doing this, they save what is left of the Jewish population in Poland. ...

General Sir William Howe in the American Revolution

General Sir William Howe in the American Revolution General Sir William Howe was a central figure during the early years of the American Revolution (1775-1783) when he served as commander of British forces in North America. A distinguished veteran of the French and Indian War, he took part in many of the conflicts campaigns in Canada. In the years after the war, Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, were sympathetic to the concerns of the colonists. Despite this, he accepted a post to fight the Americans in 1775. Assuming command in North America the following year, Howe conducted successful campaigns that saw him capture both New York City and Philadelphia. Though victorious on the battlefield, he consistently failed to destroy General George Washingtons army and departed for Britain in 1778. Early Life William Howe was born August 10, 1729, and was the third son of Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe and his wife Charlotte. His grandmother had been the mistress of King George I and as a result Howe and his three brothers were the illegitimate uncles of King George III. Influential in the halls of power, Emanuel Howe served as Governor of Barbados while his wife regularly attended the courts of King George II and King George III. Attending Eton, the younger Howe followed his two elder brothers into the military on September 18, 1746 when he purchased a commission as a coronet in Cumberlands Light Dragoons. A quick study, he was promoted to lieutenant the following year and saw service in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession.  Elevated to captain on January 2, 1750, Howe transferred to the 20th Regiment of Foot. While with the unit, he befriended Major James Wolfe under whom he would serve in North America during the French and Indian War. Fighting in North America On January 4, 1756, Howe was appointed major of the newly formed 60th Regiment (re-designated 58th in 1757) and traveled with the unit to North America for operations against the French.  Promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1757, he served in Major General Jeffery Amhersts army during its campaign to capture Cape Breton Island. In this role he took part in Amhersts successful siege of Louisbourg that summer where he commanded the regiment. During the campaign, Howe earned a commendation for making a daring amphibious landing while under fire. With the death of his brother, Brigadier General George Howe at the Battle of Carillon that July, William attained a seat in Parliament representing Nottingham.  This was aided by his mother who campaigned on his behalf while he was overseas as she believed that a seat in Parliament would aid in advancing her sons military career. Battle of Quebec Remaining in North America, Howe served in Wolfes campaign against Quebec in 1759. This began with a failed effort at Beauport on July 31 that saw the British suffer a bloody defeat. Unwilling to press the attack at Beauport, Wolfe decided cross the St. Lawrence River and land at  Anse-au-Foulon to the southwest. This plan was executed and on September 13, Howe led the initial light infantry assault which secured the road up to the Plains of Abraham. Appearing outside of the city, the British opened the the Battle of Quebec later that day and won a decisive victory. Remaining in the region, he helped defend Quebec through the winter, including participation in the Battle of Sainte-Foy, before aiding in Amhersts capture of Montreal the following year. Colonial Tensions Returning to Europe, Howe took part in the siege of Belle ÃŽle in 1762 and was offered the military governorship of the island.  Preferring to remain in active military service, he declined this post and instead served as the adjutant general of the force that assaulted Havana, Cuba in 1763.  With the end of the conflict, Howe returned to England. Appointed colonel of the 46th Regiment of Foot in Ireland in 1764, he was elevated to governor of the Isle of Wight four years later. Recognized as a gifted commander, Howe was promoted to major general in 1772, and a short time later took over training of the armys light infantry units. Representing a largely Whig constituency in Parliament, Howe opposed the Intolerable Acts and preached reconciliation with the American colonists as tensions grew in 1774 and early 1775. His feelings were shared by his brother, Admiral Richard Howe. Though publicly stating that he would resist service against the Americans, he accepted the position as second-in-command of British forces in America. American Revolution Begins Stating that he was ordered, and could not refuse, Howe sailed for Boston with Major Generals Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne. Arriving May 15, Howe brought reinforcements for General Thomas Gage. Under siege in the city following the American victories at Lexington and Concord, the British were forced to take action on June 17 when American forces fortified Breeds Hill on the Charlestown Peninsula overlooking the city. Lacking a sense of urgency, the British commanders spent much of the morning discussing plans and making preparations while the Americans worked to strengthen their position. While Clinton favored an amphibious attack to cut off the American line of retreat, Howe advocated a more conventional frontal attack. Taking the conservative route, Gage ordered Howe to move forward with a direct assault. Bunker Hill In the resulting Battle of Bunker Hill, Howes men succeeded in driving off the Americans but sustained over 1,000 casualties in capturing their works. Though a victory, the battle deeply influenced Howe and crushed his initial belief that the rebels represented only a small part of the American people. A dashing, daring commander earlier in his career, the high losses at Bunker Hill made Howe more conservative and less inclined to attack strong enemy positions. Battle of Bunker Hill. Photograph Source: Public Domain Knighted that year, Howe was temporarily appointed commander-in-chief on October 10 (it was made permanent in April 1776) when Gage returned to England. Assessing the strategic situation, Howe and his superiors in London planned to establish bases in New York and Rhode Island in 1776 with the goal of isolating the rebellion and containing it in New England. Forced out of Boston on March 17, 1776, after General George Washington emplaced guns on Dorchester Heights, Howe withdrew with the army to Halifax, Nova Scotia. New York There, a new campaign was planned with the goal of taking New York. Landing on Staten Island on July 2, Howes army soon swelled to over 30,000 men. Crossing to Gravesend Bay, Howe exploited the light American defenses at Jamaica Pass and succeeded in flanking Washingtons army.  The resulting Battle of Long Island on August 26/27 saw the Americans beaten and forced to retreat. Falling back to fortifications at Brooklyn Heights, the Americans awaited a British assault. Based on his earlier experiences, Howe was reluctant to attack and began siege operations. Battle of Long Island by Alonzo Chappel. Public Domain This hesitation allowed Washingtons army to escape to Manhattan. Howe was soon joined by his brother who had orders to act as a peace commissioner. On September 11, 1776, the Howes met with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward Rutledge on Staten Island. While the American representatives demanded recognition of independence, the Howes were only permitted to extend pardons to those rebels who submitted to British authority. Their offer refused, they began active operations against New York City. Landing on Manhattan on September 15, Howe suffered a setback at Harlem Heights the next day but ultimately forced Washington from the island and later drove him from a defensive position at the Battle of White Plains. Rather than pursue Washingtons beaten army, Howe returned to New York to secure Forts Washington and Lee. New Jersey Again showing an unwillingness to eliminate Washingtons army, Howe soon moved into winter quarters around New York and only dispatched a small force under Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis to create a safe zone in northern New Jersey. He also dispatched Clinton to occupy Newport, RI. Recovering in Pennsylvania, Washington was able to win victories at Trenton, Assunpink Creek, Princeton in December and January. As a result, Howe pulled back many of his outposts. While Washington continued small-scale operations during the winter, Howe was content to remain in New York enjoying a full social calendar. Two Plans In the spring of 1777, Burgoyne proposed a plan for defeating the Americans which called for him to lead an army south through Lake Champlain to Albany while a second column advanced east from Lake Ontario. These advances were to be supported by an advance north from New York by Howe. While this plan was approved by Colonial Secretary Lord George Germain, Howes role was never clearly defined nor was he issued orders from London to aid Burgoyne. As a result, though Burgoyne moved forward, Howe launched his own campaign to capture the American capital at Philadelphia. Left on his own, Burgoyne was defeated in the critical Battle of Saratoga. Philadelphia Captured Sailing south from New York, Howe moved up the Chesapeake Bay and landed at Head of Elk on August 25, 1777. Moving north into Delaware, his men skirmished with the Americans at Coochs Bridge on September 3. Pressing on, Howe defeated Washington at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11. Outmaneuvering the Americans, he captured Philadelphia without a fight eleven days later. Concerned about Washingtons army, Howe left a small garrison in the city and moved northwest. Fighting around Cliveden during the Battle of Germantown. Photograph Source: Public Domain On October 4, he won a near-run victory at the Battle of Germantown. In the wake of the defeat, Washington retreated into winter quarters at Valley Forge. Having taken the city, Howe also worked to open the Delaware River to British shipping.  This saw his men defeated at Red Bank but victorious in the Siege of Fort  Mifflin. Under severe criticism in England for failing to crush the Americans and feeling he had lost the kings confidence, Howe requested to be relieved on October 22. After attempting to lure Washington into battle late that fall, Howe and the army entered winter quarters in Philadelphia. Again enjoying a lively social scene, Howe received word that his resignation had been accepted on April 14, 1778. Later Life Arriving in England, Howe entered into the debate over the conduct of the war and published a defense of his actions. Made a privy counselor and Lieutenant General of the Ordnance in 1782, Howe remained in active service. With the outbreak of the French Revolution he served in a variety of senior commands in England. Made a full general in 1793, he died on July 12, 1814, after a prolonged illness, while serving as governor of Plymouth. An adept battlefield commander, Howe was beloved by his men but received little credit for his victories in America. Slow and indolent by nature, his greatest failure was an inability to follow up on his successes.