Wednesday, August 26, 2020

What extent could government policies affect house prices

What degree could government strategies influence house costs In 2009 British house costs has first to their yearly decrease since at any rate 2002. As indicated by the British media, home costs in London really confronted the more terrible costs down 5.3%. The London Housing Prices are maybe one of the most mainstream issues of conversation in UK. Somewhat this is because of the reality lodging costs have almost trebled since the mid 1990s. As a result of this proprietors have seen colossal additions of riches which has left with an obviously incomprehensible undertaking for those going after for purchasing a house. Since the Wall Street crash in 1929, the economies circumstance in 2009 was depicted as the most noticeably terrible monetary emergency. The joblessness, credit crunch, bombing banks and organizations drove the economy into a delayed downturn. The UK lodging market is repetitive and is very acquainted with the blasts and busts of the monetary cycle. The UK lodging market is exceptionally crucial part in the economy. The nation execution all in all is firmly related with the exhibition of the lodging market. Before the emergencies the circumstance of the countrys economy was that there was colossal measure of cash streaming in the economy, because of appealing interest banks were certain to loan the cash, yet the dealings of 2009 came about when the banks neglected to gather all the cash back they loaned, subsequently they diminished their loaning which prompts breakdown of huge banks in the market. At last the outcome affected the shoppers that now it got hard for them to acquire a h ome loan from banks. Presently the best way to get hang on a house left with money exchange which brings about fall sought after for lodging. Individuals began to lease a house rather purchasing. Hence, an abatement sought after for lodging brings about house costs were coming up short. This is maybe because of the elements that decide the costs of houses in a free market. So in the event that we study the most recent three years of the lodging market it will show us an extremely intriguing picture. In any case, at this stage we have to think about those elements which influence the lodging costs. Following are the key factors that assume a significant job to decide lodging costs in a free market Source: http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/house-costs/what-factors-impact house-costs/ Components That Affect House Prices in UK House costs are influenced by a mix of flexibly and request factors. Request Side Factors: These are the fundamental factor which assumes a significant job in assurance of the house costs. On the off chance that request is higher than the gracefully lodging costs will increment and if interest for the house is lower than the flexibly eventually costs will diminish. The new lodging societys advancement is low in UK as contrast with request, which is the crucial explanation behind higher lodging costs. At house costs to fall, the interest would need to fall broadly. Obviously there are numerous variables that decide interest for houses. Monetary Growth/Real salary. High monetary development and lessening joblessness expands discretionary cashflow importance individuals can spend more on purchasing a house. It additionally builds trust in purchasing a house. In addition, the critical ascent in Per Capita Income empowers individuals to spend more on purchasing a house in a free market. By convention, the home loan proportion was multiple times of the compensation. For example, if there is an individual who acquires  £20,000 the structure society would drove him  £60,000. Thusly, rising wages prompts ascend in lodging request which further empowers house costs to rise. Then again if the economy goes into a downturn and joblessness rises, the interest for purchasing houses would fall essentially. Loan fees Loan fees influence the expense of paying for a home loan. Home loan Interest Rate is the most significant factor that influences lodging costs. The expense of premium installments on contract relies upon the loan fee set by the Bank of England. In the event that loan fees are raised, the expense of home loan reimbursements rises this demoralizes individuals from purchasing and it might drive individuals to sell. For example, in 1992 loan costs were rose over 12% which caused an enormous fall sought after at lodging and house costs fell. Be that as it may, in 2009 loan fees have been cut exceptionally low (1.5%) however request is as yet falling. Despite the fact that it is modest to pay a home loan, at the same time, this is exceeded by the reality contract accessibility is low and certainty is low. Accessibility of Mortgage Finance Study shows that in 50s, 60s and 70s, there were exacting limitations about the accessibility of fund. Be that as it may, with the expansion in deregulation of the financial division there has been ascend in rivalry in the quantity of home loan items like intrigue just, self accreditation home loans and home loans up to multiple times salary have empowered individuals to get more home loans, which prompts expanding interest for lodging. Notwithstanding, during the credit mash of 2008, the quantity of home loan items on offer fell because of an insufficiency of fund in the currency markets which prompts decline popular. Socioeconomics/Population The developing degrees of net movement are expanding interest for houses. The movement from Eastern Europe, similar to Poland and Romania are upgrading the UK populace. Accordingly, starting increment popular. In addition, developing number of family units are segment changes, for example, number of individuals living alone. For example increasing separation rates have raised number of single individuals living alone. Future Price Expectations. There is a part of reluctant purchasing in the lodging Market. This is for the most part the case in the purchase to let advertise. At the point when individuals anticipate falling house costs in 2008, it might offer certainty to individuals to sell and money in their capital increases. On the off chance that we are not cautious falling costs can make a multiplier impact where others are certain to sell. Clearly, the vast majority purchase a house to live in, not as a speculation. Yet, decreasing costs will urge some imminent property holders to lease as opposed to purchase. Hypothesis Everybody doesnt purchase a house to live in it. An expanding number of property speculators purchase houses to attempt to make both capital additions and salary from leasing. During the previous not many decades the quantity of purchase to give financial specialists access the UK has risen. In spite of the fact that UK house costs have expanded quicker than expansion, leasing has additionally become costly which is the fundamental substitute to purchasing a house. Flexibly side Factors This is a second most significant factor that influences the lodging costs in a free market. A diminishing in flexibly is likewise capable to raise lodging costs, particularly in long haul. Some anticipate UK lodging costs will altogether ascend in long haul because of long haul deficiency of flexibly. In the US lodging market, they as of now have an excess of flexibly so a bob back in the property showcase is far-fetched. In the short run Supply of lodging is fixed in light of the fact that it requires some investment to fabricate houses. In this way in the short run request influences costs more than gracefully. In any case in the event that the flexibly of lodging is inelastic, at that point an expansion sought after will prompt a major increment in cost. Over the long haul the flexibly of lodging is influenced by numerous elements: Market Reaction On the off chance that individuals watch house costs expanding and they anticipate that costs should continue rising, more individuals will purchase a house. Additionally, when trust in the market is high, loan specialists are all the more ready to loan contracts with little stores/huge pay products. Be that as it may, presently in 2009 certainty is low, individuals see house costs falling so dont need to purchase and banks dont need to loan contracts without a major store. Area The region causes significant varieties in UK house costs by geological region. Indeed, even inside various regions of London, house costs can fluctuate stupendously. Accessibility of arranging consent. This is hard to acquire in rustic territories. Opportunity cost for manufacturers for example are there better comes back from different kinds of venture. Existing houses might be thumped down on the grounds that they are regarded unfit to live in. An expansion in the expense of building new houses will move flexibly to one side. In the UK, it is contended there is a noteworthy lack of lodging is this clarifies why house costs have risen a lot quicker than swelling and profit. Be that as it may, in the US, the gracefully of lodging expanded in the period upto 2008 and hence, the overabundance flexibly and falling interest prompted a major fall popular. Be that as it may, note that house costs can in any case fall, regardless of whether there is a lack of flexibly. In 1992, house costs in London fell over 20%, despite the fact that we can say gracefully is inelastic. A lack of gracefully just methods they will be on normal higher. It doesnt mean they are unequipped for falling. http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html Why House Prices are falling in the UK Since the top in July 2007, UK house costs have fallen extensively. Following are the fundamental purposes behind falling house costs: Trouble of Getting Mortgage because of credit crunch. Low moderateness (high house cost to pay proportions) Monetary downturn and rising joblessness. No one needs to purchase when house costs are falling. Government Interventions in Determining the Interest Rate in UK It is the duty of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Bank of England to set Interest rates in UK. The MPC works freely from the Government. Prior to 1997, loan costs used to be set by the Chancellor. It was contended, with a level of support, loan costs were dependent upon political inspiration. The administration now just sets the MPC an expansion focus of CPI = 2% +/ - 1. The MPC means to keep expansion as near this objective as could be expected under the circumstances. On the off chance that swelling is above or underneath this level, the legislative leader of the Bank of England needs to compose a letter of clarification to the chancellor. In principle, they just objective expansion; anyway practically speaking they may consider the impacts of financing cost changes on monetary development, joblessness, and less significantly the lodging market and the conversion scale. http://www.a

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Marvel Free Essays

string(255) bonds as insurance are esteemed generally lower now than they were the point at which the bonds were first given , which bring about t hello can just recuperate a small amount of the assumed worth of their securities as value now and a making back the initial investment again appears questionable. Chapter 11 and Restructuring at Marvel Entertainment Group Chen Ziqiang Wu Libin Lin Yingshuai Deng Linli Lim Yihao 2011/11/29 1. For what reason did Marvel record for Chapter 11? Were the proble ms brought about by misfortune, terrible procedure, or awful execution? We believe that Marvel petitioned for Chapter 11 predominantly because of its terrible business methodology. Three o f its six b usiness lines, Trading cards, Stickers and Comic Books began confronting the decrease in deals after year 1993. We will compose a custom paper test on Wonder or on the other hand any comparative point just for you Request Now There were two principle purposes behind this decay: F irst, these organizations progressively needed to contend with a lternative types of kid diversion (fundamentally computer games). Second, the decrease in deals was driven by baffled authorities who had seen comic books as a type of venture and quit getting them as organization quit expanding the costs. We accept that the organization ought to have predicted these occasions while playing out a statistical surveying and framing a drawn out business and money related procedure. The three unpromising business lines accounted to 61% of absolute incomes of an organization in year 1995. Simultaneously, the company’s monetary procedure depended on profoundly idealistic business desires and was not reasonable for negative turn of interest for amusement items towards computer games. Because of its high influence (52%), the organization couldn't serve all the obligation if there should be an occurrence of forcefully declining incomes. Clearly the organization didn't foresee the cha nge in customers’ inclinations and wasn't right in forecast of market patterns, concentrating on cards, stickers and distributing business lines and utilizing itself. Additionally, in 1995 Marvin proceeded with its utilized venture into amusement cards b usiness †obtaining Skybox. This choice was incredibly indiscreet, as the organization was at that point on the edge of monetary misery and ought to have looked for high development pportunities to extend so as to help its incomes as opposed to adding obligation to purchase business whic h produces non-requested items. Working proportions Marvel Entertainment Group 1991 1992 1993 Sales 115. 1 223. 8 415. 2 Cost of Sales 58. 2 112. 6 215. 3 Cost of deals/Sales 50. 6% 50. 3% 51. 9% SGA 21. 4 43. 4 85. 3 SGA/Sales 18. 6% 19. 4% 20. 5% Net Income 16. 1 32. 6 56 Net Income/Sales 14. 0% 14. 6% 13. 5% 1994 514. 8 275. 3 53. 5% 119. 7 23. 3% 61. 8 12. 0% 1995 823. 9 383. 3 46. 2% 231. 3 27. 9% †48. 4 †5. 8% 1996 581. 2 372. 4 61. 4% 168 28. 9% †27. 9 †4. 8% As can be found in the table above, Marvels working proportions dropped significantly. The expense of Sales/Sales rose from 51% in 1991 to 62% in 1996, along with the SGA costs/Sales ascending from 19% to 29%. Furthermore Marvels Net Income/Sales dropped from 14% to †5%. Influence proportions Marvel Entertainment Group 1991 1992 1993 Total Debt 355,3 324,7 Shares remarkable 97,7 98,6 102,6 Share value 5 12 26 Market estimation of value 488,5 1183,2 2667,6 Debt/D+E 23,1% 10,9% EBITDA 35,5 67,8 114,6 EBITDA/SALES 30,8% 30,3% 27,6% Interest costs 3,50 6,50 14,60 EBITDA/Interest 10,1 10,4 7,8 1994 585,7 103,7 16 1659,2 6,1% 119,8 23,3% 16,50 7,3 1995 934,8 101,3 12 1215,6 43,5% 214,7 25,9% 43,20 5,0 1996 977 101,8 4 407,2 70,6% 40,8 7,0% 42,70 1,0 Compare the administration arrangement and the influence proportions from that time along with its working proportions, we trust Marvel made an amazingly impudent move to procure Skybox in 1995. While their working edges where weakening an d their influence inclusion proportion (EBITDA/Interest) where falling, they ought to have procured an alternate strategy. For all above expressed reasons, we accept that the company’s monetary issues were caused predominantly by awful system and poor administration. . Assess the proposed rebuilding plan. Will it explain the proble ms that made Marvel document Chapter 11? As Carl Icahn, the biggest debt without collateral holder, OK vote in favor of the proposed rebuilding plan? Why or why not? A. ) We accept that the rebuilding plan can just tackle some portion of the issues that Marvel is confronting. We additionally accept that the proposed rebuilding plan won't tackle the genuine issues that Marvel is confronting however just give brief alleviation to the organization that isn't reasonable. The proposed rebuilding plan targets giving liquidity to Marvel, lifting its obligation trouble and growing its current toy business. This is to be accomplished by methods for a recapitalization of the organization through an outflow of 427mn extra portions of regular value fo r a complete estimation of USD 365mn. Also, the extraordinary open obligation of the organization will be resigned with obligation holders being paid in the offers that went about as security for their credits. With the returns of the discharge and the brought down obligation trouble, Marvel is then expected to secure the rest of the stake in ToyBiz, its toy producer auxiliary. The recapitalization through the issue of 427mn new offers would take care of the intense liquidity issues of the firm and the retirement of the firm’s open d ebt would bring down the obligation weight of the firm essentially. Nonetheless, we accept that Marvel, under the proposed arrangement, would utilize its recently picked up liquidity and adaptability to an inappropriate end. The procurement of the rest of the portions of ToyBiz would mean the continuation of an effectively doomed technique that prompted the present emergency. We in this manner accept that the rebuilding plan can just take care of part of the issues that Marvel is confronting. All the more decisively, the arrangement offers an answer for the manifestations of the basic issues in particular. It tackles the liquidity issue that made Marvel disregard a portion of its obligation pledges and it likewise brings down the company’s obligation trouble. The center issue in our view, the business technique of Marvel, isn't surrendered yet even sought after further. B. ) I would not you vote in favor of the proposed rebuilding plan. The offers being p ledged to their bonds as guarantee are esteemed to a great extent lower now than they were the point at which the bonds were first given , which bring about t hello can just recuperate a small amount of the presumptive worth of their securities as value now and a making back the initial investment again appears to be flawed. You read Wonder in classification Paper models This contention doesn't really hold for the speculators who purchased the profoundly limited bonds however given the valuat particle of Bear Stearns it is faulty whether they will recuperate their venture either. 3. What amount is Marvel’s value worth per share under the proposed rebuilding plan accepting it secures Toy Biz as arranged? What is your appraisal of the ace forma Financial projections and liquidation suppositions? Marvel’s current market value that is 2 dollars before limiting arrangement accepting it gains Toy Biz as arranged. Table 1: Debt/Equity Ratio With the mean to compute Marvel’s value with the proposed a cquisition of Toy Biz we utilized DCF model. As Debt/Equity proportions are steady (table 1), FCFE is utilized to figure the income with the accompanying suppositions. Table 2: Assumptions Assume: Discount Rate is equivalent to average Annual Return on Investments in Stocks from 1997 to 2001. *Annual Returns information is from histretSP. xls (http://pages. tern. nyu. edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/Inv2ed. htm) Table 3: FCFE 401. 7million/528. 8 million = 0. 76 Dollars for each offer. It shows that Mr. Perelman pays 13. 3% premium for new offers (he pays 0. 85 dollars for each offer). M arvel’s liquidation esteem Table 4: Marvel’s liquidation esteem The liquidation este em is 424. 7million by means of Chapter 7. 4. Will it be hard for Marvel or different organizations in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding organization to give obligation later on? The remarkable obligation of Marvel has been minimized by two rating offices. In 1995 S and Moody’s downsized the holding companies’ obligation from B to B-. In 1996 Moody’s downsized Marvel’s open obligation. From that point onward, Marvel had declared that it would disregard explicit bank credit contracts because of diminishing incomes and benefits. Minimizing of obligation builds the difference in default. Subsequent to minimizing of obligation, the procedure of likelihood to default expanded generously. The low FICO score shows a high danger of defaulting on an advance and, consequently prompts high financing costs or the refusal of an advance by the loan boss. Financial specialists understand this hazard and subsequently would request a higher default premium. The expanded default pre miums raised the expense of capital for the holding organization. Given the expanded hazard premium and default prospects, Marvel and different organizations in the MacAndrews and Forbes holding gathering would having more challenges giving new obligation later on. Obligation holders and loan bosses where bringing up issues about the respectability on the judgment choices from Perelman. Judge Balick affirmed Marvel didn't segregate unreasonably against non-influencing loan boss classes and gave it was reasonable and evenhanded to all classes. In response, a legal counselor tested the Bearn Stern’s ends and suggested Bearn Sterns had various degrees of contentions because of the possibility expense gave by Perelman. At long last even the Vice †Chairman of the Andrew bunch needed to accompany an announcement to beat all the negative sounds in the market. In any case it would appear that Perelman’s notoriety was harmed as of now. 5. For what reason did the cost of Marvel’s zero-coupon bonds drop on Tuesday, Nov 12, 1996? For what reason did portfolio chiefs at Fidelity and Putnam sell their bonds on Friday, Nov 8,1996? On Nov 12, 1996, Marvel’s zero-coupon bonds fell by over half when the representative for the Andrews Group

Friday, August 21, 2020

Understanding Vygotskys Social Development Theory

Understanding Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory Man is a social being. This basically means that he is unable to survive and thrive on his own, because it is in his makeup and nature to be with others â€" to interact with them, connect with them, and even develop relationships. This nature of his is what leads him to seek a sense of belonging, and partake of society.Aristotle even quoted, “Man is by nature a social animal,” and that “society is something that precedes the individual.” The implication behind his words is that, anyone who is unable to naturally act socially is not human. This has been interpreted in several ways, and one of these interpretations equate humanity to the need to connect and interact with others in a social setting.Several other notable thinkers came forward even long after the Greek philosopher had passed on, each with their own theories on human development and how the social factor figures into it. Their social learning theories have become the foundation of several disciplines and fields of study in psychology.One of the most oft-discussed fields is cognitive development, which refers to the development of a person from infancy and childhood, through adolescence and adulthood, in terms of his thought processes, problem-solving, and decision-making. © Shutterstock.com | Rawpixel.comOne of these thinkers was Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, whose major contributions were his theories on social learning and how it impacts the development of a child. His thoughts and ideas on the subject were embodied in what is now known as the Social Development Theory.THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORYVygotsky’s name may not be as recognizable as, say, Piaget, Pavlov and Freud, who were his peers when he developed his theory, but ask anyone studying psychology and they are bound to know who he is. He may have died at the relatively young age of 37 in 1934, and it may have taken around 4 decades before his ideas were formally introduced and incorporated in psychology curricula across universities in the Western world, but they have since become integral to the study of psychology, particularly in the field of educational and early childhood psychology.Among his contemporaries, the one whose theories were scrutinized closely in comparison with Vyg otsky’s was Jean Piaget, a Swiss child psychologist that came up with his Theory of Cognitive Development. We will try to point out the differences between these two psychologists’ works as we move on with the discussion.Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory, or SDT, introduced two major principles:Cognitive development is limited up to a certain extent or within a certain range, at any given age of the individual; andAn individual’s full cognitive development requires social interaction.These principles are encapsulated in three theories or themes: Social Interaction, The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).I. Social InteractionKey concept #1 Social interaction plays a central role in cognitive development.It is ingrained in every individual, even as a child, to seek meaning in everything. Curiosity sets in early on during childhood, and you probably noticed how, even from a very young age, a person starts asking questions. He will be lo oking around, wide-eyed, wonder and interest in his observant eyes. It is safe to say that the individual has started the process of looking for or “making meaning”. And, in order to find or make that meaning, he has to look around him, be involved, and play an active role on the “road to discovery”.Cognitive â€" and human â€" development, according to Vygotsky, is a result of a “dynamic” interaction between the individual and the society. This dynamic relationship denotes a relationship of mutuality between the two. Just as society has an impact on the individual, the individual also has an impact on society.Children are unable to learn and develop if they are removed from society, or are forbidden to interact with it. Take a look at the typical development of a child: his first teachers were his parents, who taught him his first words and guided him as he took his first steps, or as he went “potty”. On play dates, he learned how to play with other kids his age, and slowly built a bond with one or two kids that he ended up being the closest to.On the first day of school, he met his teacher, and several other teachers in the following years. The process of learning also required him to work closely with other people besides his teachers, such as older students and classmates.Through these social learning experiences, he was able to gradually develop and grow. And that brings us to the next concept of the Social Interaction. Key concept #2 Social learning precedes development.Vygotsky claims that a child will not be able to develop unless he undergoes or experiences social learning first. He identified two areas, or levels, where the functions in a child’s cultural development, appear in:Social level, or interpsychological. The functions first appear between individuals first. This is where the person will have to interact, connect and reach out to other people. This is the level where social learning takes place.Individual level, or intrapsyc hological. This is the area within the child or the individual. Once he has passed the social level, where he acquired social learnings, the functions will appear a second time and, this time, more developed and thus, leading to cognitive development.To put it plainly, without learning, there is no way that that individual will be able to function and become fully developed.However, that does not mean that people are born with absolutely zero abilities. Vygotsky is quick to point out that everyone is born with basic or elementary functions or abilities that will get them started on the road to their intellectual development.The elementary mental functions include those that come by naturally with birth and growth, without influence by an external stimulus. In other words, these capacities are not learned, involuntary, and often do not really require any thought on the part of the individual. Vygotsky even went so far as saying that most of these elementary mental functions are acqui red by a child through geneticsExamples of elementary or lower mental functions (LMFs) are:Sensation. A child does not need to be taught that something is hot, cold, sweet, or bitter. His senses are will automatically deliver those messages to his brain, so he can react accordingly.Hunger. There are bodily processes that are beyond a person’s control, and one of them is hunger. When an infant is hungry, he is hungry, and so he will show it by crying or acting restless. He does not need to be told that he is hungry since his body will manifest the fact.Memory. To be more specific, natural or unmediated memory. Young children are able to immediately commit things to memory in a natural manner. A baby will instantly recognize the sound of his mother’s voice, or the taste of baby food. But that’s it. He won’t necessarily be able to associate â€" or subsequently recognize any association â€" the sound of his mother’s voice to those times that she sung him a lullaby to sleep, an d he isn’t likely to identify that baby food to be the one that he really likes to eat.As the child grows older, and as his social learning increased through more social interactions, his elementary mental functions evolved into his “higher mental functions” or HMF. Unlike elementary mental functions, they are stimulated. They are taught, and they are learned in social settings or environments, and they often come with social meanings.The given examples include:Language. As a child develops, so does his capacity for languages. The need to communicate to people around him â€" whether to express his discontent about something or to inform his parents that he is hungry or he has to go potty â€" will spur the need to learn languages. As he grows older and undergoes a multitude of other social processes, language learning will also advance, as well as his thought processes.Memory. This refers to what comes after the child has gone past the natural memory stage. This time, his memor y can be cultivated and controlled, and he now has access to memory aids and tools. He is now able to make the relevant associations, and he can pick the things that he deems must be memorized, using these tools. Examples of these so-called tools of intellectual adaptation, or tools that allow children to use their elementary mental functions more effectively, include mind maps, memory mnemonics, note-taking, and other visual cues and aids.Voluntary attention. You may have heard toddlers and small children being described as having short attention span. That is because, at that age, their thought processes aren’t stable enough to sustain concentration on one particular object or thought. Sure, they can focus on one thing at one time, but they won’t really know what to do with that ability, and so they turn on to something else. Social learnings will arm the child with the ability of focus and concentration, and the ability to figure out what to do with it. He gets to decide whic h objects, actions or thoughts to focus on. Full cognitive development means that, eventually, he will be capable of selective or focused attention and shared or divided attention, and sustain it.Perception. Through sensing, a child is able to recognize a sensory stimuli… but it ends there. His lack of perception skills will render him unable to interpret the meaning or significance behind it. Social interactions help the child’s level of perception, increasing his awareness and capacity to understand why things are as they are.The learning that Vygotsky referred to does not point to a specific type or standard, because he also acknowledged how cultural differences can cause variability when it comes to learning and how culture, in general, is influential and powerful in shaping or molding one’s cognition.Key concept #3 Language accelerates cognitive development.It is a given that language is very important in any social interaction, since it is the primary medium of communica tion in any social setting. But that is not the only reason why language plays a very important role in an individual’s cognitive development.First, let us take a look at the three stages of speech development, according to Vygotsky.Stage 1 â€" Social or External SpeechThis covers the preverbal stage, usually under the age of three, when the child is still unable to transcribe his thoughts in complete thought messages. His thoughts are pretty simple, and his emotions basic, and there is no intellectual or thinking exercise involved.However, despite that, he still wants to be able to control others’ behaviors. Therefore, he makes use of his limited speech to express simple thoughts of hunger, pleasure, displeasure, satisfaction and dissatisfaction through crying, laughing, shouting, and gurgling. As he advances in age, he will start to use what we call “baby-speak”, with phrases such as “Want milk” and “Go potty”.Stage 2 â€" Egocentric Speech If, in the first stage, t he purpose of the child’s speech is to control the behavior of other people, the egocentric speech in the second stage is spoken as a way for the child to direct his own behavior.This is usually demonstrated between the ages of 3 and 7, when the child starts to enunciate words more clearly and form more complete sentences, with more sense or thought. They practice this by talking out loud to themselves. It is actually normal behavior for them at this stage to do things, even the simple act of playing with a train set, with a running commentary of every little thing that they are doing.Stage 3 â€" Inner SpeechThe final speech development stage takes place once the child becomes older and starts growing toward adulthood, and he is able to use it to direct both his thinking and the resulting behavior or action. This does not require his thoughts to be voiced out loud, with all thinking processes done in his head. He can do mental calculations in his head, analyze a situation from all angles without saying a single word, and form an opinion without verbalizing his arguments.It is during this stage that the individual is now able to engage in all the other higher mental functions.Language involves speech â€" both its expression and comprehension. The two-way nature of communication requires that the language must be expressed or delivered, and it must also be understood. When expressed differently, or even erroneously, the recipient will receive a different meaning.This essentially means that language can dictate the way people look at things, and how they process information. It is powerful enough to have an impact on the rate or speed of cognitive development, given how it is connected or related to the other cognitive functions. For example, language can affect how a person perceives something. A country with a culture that recognizes only the primary colors and are unaware of the color called “champagne” is likely to perceive the hue as simply “a shade of pink”.In the same manner that an individual is more motivated to memorize something that is in a language he understands, and ignore one that is expressed in a language that is completely foreign to him.Learn about the benefits of a bilangual brain in the following video. Key concept #4 Self-initiated discovery and collaborative dialogue aid in a child’s cognitive development.According to Jean Piaget, the inherent curiosity of young children pushes them to be actively involved in their learning, and motivate them to discover and explore new things by themselves. They are the ones to actively initiate the discovery and development process. For Piaget, this is self-initiated and hands-on approach in discovery learning is the best way for children to learn.Vygotsky agrees mostly with Piaget, except for the last part. He postulated that the social and cultural settings that children’s activities take place in requires social interaction and communication, and that the children learn best through these social interactions. They acquire knowledge and hone skills through these interactions, as well as the culture surrounding them, and these ultimately shape their cognition.Through the concept of “cooperative or collaborative dialogue”, a child may learn his first words, the alphabet, his first nursery rhyme and how to count from 1 to 10 from his parents. As he grows older, he will be interacting with tutors and teachers, who are likely to provide verbal instructions and model or demonstrate behavior that will, consequently, guide him.II. The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)Meet the MKO, a person with a better understanding and considerably higher or superior level of ability, skill or knowledge about a particular subject, task or process, than the person who is attempting to learn (also called the learner).It is common sense, really. Why would you seek to learn from someone who knows less than you?The MKO often comes in the person of a teacher, a superior at work, or a peer with more experience. There are instances when he could be someone younger, but with more cultivated knowledge and skill.   In this digital age, the MKO may even be a computer or any intelligent machine. In the eyes of a child, adults are the MKOs.Take, for example, a father and his little boy headed to their backyard to play catch. He happens to know how to play baseball, and he plans to teach his boy the basics while he is still young. In this case, the MKO is the father, by virtue of his adult status and his knowledge and skills in the sport.Twenty years later, the son is now a professional baseball player, and his father has just retired. Before a major game, the son hands his father the latest, most advanced camcorder model, so he can film the game from his VIP seat. He sits down with his father and teaches him how to operate the camcorder. This time, the MKO is the son, since he is more knowledgeable about the device.To prepare for the game, the son had to l eave, but before doing so, he downloaded an app on his father’s cell phone that will guide him further on how to work the camcorder. The father was then left exploring the features of the camcorder, using the voice prompts from the app on his phone. The MKO is now the electronic device, his cell phone.While learning and discovery that is self-initiated is effective, learning becomes more productive and contributory to cognitive development when acquired from an MKO.The concept of the MKO is seen to always go together with his other concept, that of the Zone of Proximal Development.III. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)Imagine a circle divided into three rings. The inner circle or ring represents what the child already knows, while the third, outermost circle or rings represents what he still does not know. Or we could use the inner circle to include those that the child can achieve or discover on his own. The outermost circle or ring includes those that he cannot achieve or d iscover independently, but can only do so with the help or guidance of someone who is more skilled or knowledgeable.What about the second, or middle circle?That gap, or that empty area between the inner and outer circles, is the Zone of Proximal Development. That is where the learning will take place.Vygotsky said that the ZPD is where the child will be given the most sensitive instruction or guidance, coupled with a lot of encouragement, from the MKO. Take note that the words used were “instruction” and “guidance”, as opposed to outright “full assistance”. This is because the MKO will provide just the right amount of guidance, and then allow the child to learn and develop his skills. By letting him do it independently, the MKO will help the child develop his higher mental functions faster, thereby speeding up cognition.Let us go back to the father and son example. The first few times, the father taught his son how to catch and throw the ball, holding his hand, teaching how to grip, pull back, and throw. After showing how it’s done several times, he will step back and let his son do it on his own. From time to time, he will give pointers and corrections but, for the most part, he let his son practice on his own.He did the same thing when teaching the other skills. Soon, the son learned how to figure things out on his own, so he starts practicing how to play ball by himself, not asking for help from his father unless absolutely necessary.When the son gave his father the camcorder, he showed him how to turn it on, and what buttons to push to record, zoom in, zoom out, pause, and other key features. Then he handed it over to his father, who practiced what he was just taught.Learning in the ZPD, as mentioned earlier, is facilitated with the help of an MKO, which is precisely why we said that these two often go together. The learning process, in itself, is a social interaction, which could be done directly or indirectly (with the use of technology, pe rhaps), between the learner and the MKO, who can be a teacher, professor, coach, mentor, or any older adult, or a peer or even someone younger, who happens to be more skillful, experienced, or knowledgeable in the area, subject or discipline that is being learned.CONCLUSIONWith so many psychological school of thoughts on cognitive development introduced, it came as no surprise that some concepts in Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory are being questioned. Still, no one can deny the influence of his theories, and how they are widely accepted and applied in the field of education, particularly early childhood education.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Does The Adolescents Brian Make Risk Taking Inevitable

Does the adolescents Brian Make Risk Taking Inevitable I decided to agree with Robert Epstein because adolescence, make decisions that are different from adults. Adolescence has a brain that is still developing and growing which make adolescence take a risk, but as for an adult, they already did their time and learn to not to make any risks. I feel as though people may not see adults, making a risk, but they do and they are smart choices because their brain has matured. Robert Epstein argues that we blame teen turmoil on the immature brains. But did the brain cause the turmoil, or did the turmoil shape the brain? He thinks that its a myth about the teen brain. Teens tend to make risk taking inevitable, by making poor decisions, having bad behavior, and teens also to make risk by their culture environment. First I was debating with myself If did not choose No because Robert Epstein argues that we blame teen turmoil on the immature brain, but did the brains cause turmoil, or did the turmoil shape the brain? which he thinks it is The Myth of Teen Brains. I agreed with that fact, I do believe that culture has a big effect on the brain development. Only reason I agree on this statement because of how I was raised in a cultural environment that has an effect on my brain as teen and now as an adult my brain has expanded and analyze things a little different. First I was confused about my decision because reading about the new perspective on risk taking, made things seem asShow MoreRelatedWho Are You Calling Old? Negotiating Old Age Identity in the Elderly Consumption Ensemble Michelle Barnhart Àà º Lisa Penaloza18943 Words   |  76 Pagesrelation to and distinction from physiological ability and old subject position, and (3) updates the ï ¬ nal stages of the Family Life Cycle model. I had offered several times to just help her with her bills, just to make sure she was keeping up with her bills. . . . Well that just makes her so mad. I said Mom, why? I don’t understand why this is making you mad. I’m helping you. (Sandy, age 58) these things that I’ve always been able to do with no problem. (Bonnie, age 86) W I didn’t like thatRead MoreCase Commentary10898 Words   |  44 Pages www.ucc.ie Case commentary provided on: Do Something-He’s About to Snap by Eileen Roche Big Shoes to Fill by Michael Beer Bob’s Meltdown by Nicholas G. Carr We Googled You by Diane Coutu When Steve Becomes Stephanie by Loren Gary and Brian Elliot Moonlighter by Bronwyn Fryer Micromanager by Bronwyn Fryer All the Wrong Moves by David A. Garvin Riding the Celtic Tiger by Eileen Roche The Best of Intentions by John Humphreys Steve Carmody Human Resource Management and DevelopmentRead MoreCrossing the Chasm76808 Words   |  308 Pageson people who have fallen prey to it in the past—it wasn’t all my fault! Moreover, like a good book on golf, its prescriptions give great hope that just by making this or that minor adjustment perfect results are bound to follow— this time we’ll make it work! And so any number of people cheerfully have told me that the book has become the Bible in their company. So much for the spiritual health of our generation. In editing this revised edition, I have tried to touch as little as possible the Read More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesabout numbers; it is about data—numbers in context. It is the context that makes a problem meaningful and something worth considering. For example, exercises that ask students to compute the mean of 10 numbers or to construct a dotplot or boxplot of 20 numbers without context are arithmetic and graphing exercises. They become statistics problems only when a context gives them meaning and allows for interpretation. While this makes for a text that may appear â€Å"wordy† when compared to traditional mathematicsRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. 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I strongly recommend it to anyone seriously interested in the different intellectual traditions that contribute to our understanding of organizations. 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DeCenzo Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Stephen P. Robbins San Diego State University San Diego, CA Tenth Edition Contributor Susan L. Verhulst Des MoinesRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesCentury of Environmental Transitions †¢ Richard P. Tucker 315 About the Contributors †¢ 343 _ IN TR OD UC TIO N Michael Adas B y any of the customary measures we deploy to demarcate historical epochs, the twentieth century does not appear to be a very coherent unit. The beginnings and ends of what we choose to call centuries are almost invariably years of little significance. But there is little agreement over when the twentieth century c.e. arrived, and there were several

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Child Abuse Within Public Schools - 3070 Words

Introduction: Child abuse in public school systems Child abuse is defined as a physical or maltreatment or sexual abuse of a child. Middle class families have more reported cases of their children being abused in public schools. In this research the study of child abuse in public schools will be conducted. The public school systems have numerous of abusers on campus that gets caught and reported. The abusers in the school system use authoritative discipline against the kids. Children under the age of eleven are normally forced to participate in sexual activities with their abuser due to their inability to recognize a predator. Authoritative abusers in the school system use their authority to discipline the kids. In order for children to grow they need discipline to shape them. The learning process to teach children the approximate behavior is disciplining them; unlike discipline abuse is not a learning process because it does not teach correct behavior. Some children that are abused in public school, their parents normally can’t afford to pay for a private school. The low-income families’ children are more prone to undergo abuse and be abused due to financial problems. Some families become abusive because they may have lost their jobs, deaths in the family or split househ olds for example those going through a divorce. Children under eleven are easy to influence to let you do anything to them. There are closed correlation between abuse in home and abuse in school. IfShow MoreRelatedBecoming a Mandated Reporter1229 Words   |  5 PagesUnit 6 Project: Child abuse and what it takes to be a mandated reporter Kaplan University CM 107-27 1. Introduction: A What is a Mandated Reporter B. Profession that are to report child abuse 2. What is child abuse ? A) What are the different types of child abuse? B) Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse Maltreatment and child neglect 3) What are the steps in reporting child abuse A) Keeping it confidential B) State regulation on how to report C) How to deal with parents on notification Read MoreCorporal Punishment with Respect to the Private and Public Sphere1187 Words   |  5 Pagescorporal punishment in the public sphere and in the private sphere. Corporal punishment on children in the private sphere is administered by parents. It is legally accepted in South Africa, provided that the requirements are met. The public sphere’s position is much different in the sense that the government along with all schools have no authority to physically discipline school children anymore. Authority to exercise corporal punishment often leads to abuse of power, child abuse and feelings of superiorityRead MoreCorporal Punishment in the Private and Public Sphere in South Africa1190 Words   |  5 Pagesin the public sphere and in the private sphere. Corporal punishment on children in the private sphere is administered by parents. It is still legally accepted in South Africa, provided that the requirements are met. Parents know their children best and have the authority to discipline their children in such a way as to benefit the child in the future. They are equipping the child with the necessary manners, morals and good character which will be essential for a bright future. The public sphere’sRead MoreBreaking The Cycle Of Child Abuse1628 Words   |  7 Pages Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse Alyssa Salcido 4 November 2015 Childhood and Adolescent Development 3303 Dr. Gallik According to Pecora, Sanders, Wilson, English, Puckett Rudlang-Perman (2014), â€Å"Every year in the USA, about 695,000 unique children are confirmed as victims of child maltreatment (US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau 2011) (p. 321). Such startlingRead MoreHealth Disparities And Prevention Of Child Abuse856 Words   |  4 Pagesin the incidences, prevalence, morbidity and mortality in child abuse can be seen when the caregiver becomes aggravated with their situation. Usually an individual with issues within themselves commit child abuse. Prevention of child abuse will never go away sadly approximately 896,000 American children were victims of abuse and neglect and 1,400 children died. Within the four areas, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse lies the problem. By working with the families and educateRead MoreChildren Of A Child Protec tion Process Essay1551 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferent organisations that may be involved when a young person or child has been abused or harmed. This includes health visitors, GP’s, the police, schools, the NSPCC, psychologists, school nurses and probation workers. 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This sh ould be fully stated in the school’s child protection and safeguarding policies. Governors, as well as parents should be made of aware of these policies and staff should be fully trained in this area. A safeguarding policyRead MorePreventing Child Abuse By Donna J. Stone984 Words   |  4 Pages Prevent Child Abuse America is one of my top list organizations that makes a really big difference to preventing child abuse. The Prevent Child Abuse America is the organization founded in 1972 by Donna J. Stone. Their mission is â€Å"to prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation s children.† This organization helped and saved many innocent lives who suffered from abuse. They offer children to be able to stand again and seek better opportunity despite of being a victim of child abuse. They have

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Lies Youve Been Told About Research Paper Writing

Lies You've Been Told About Research Paper Writing Research Paper Writing Thus, in the event you google write my term paper for me and our website is what you've found, then you're on a suitable track, and we are here in order to cover your back. A great way to begin is by making a compelling and creative title. Your title page is the initial impression of your work so make certain it will capture your reader's interest. There are lots of paper templates to select from, but the majority of the time your instructor will require a particular format for the entire class to follow. Choosing Research Paper Writing Is Simple Writing an appropriate thesis statement may also be challenging. Writing a paper will raise your competence in some specifically appreciable place. Term paper writer is not just profession, it's calling! Selecting an essay writer on the internet isn't as expensive as some folks say. The process for research starts with the assortment of a topic which is a cceptable for your course or purpose. Our experts know everything for their subjects. In the first stages of your research, investigate everything it's possible to discover on the topic. Be prepared to modify the topic if you find out your research isn't going anywhere. Vital Pieces of Research Paper Writing The main reason is that our experts do not need that their customers will truly feel any difficulties. There are many case study writing services in UK that are extremely popular with academicians. To find an appropriate help, you will need to conduct research to understand what options you've got and pick the most trustworthy company among thousands of dishonest websites. It isn't simple to know which firms offer you high excellent help and for that reason deep research should be run. In research, you need to do independent research. You must be in a position to draw information from several sources and organize it thoughtfully in a sheet of writing. Again, you've got to be precise, no irrelevant details. There's consistent demand on academicians to create decent high quality research papers. The individuals should approach our institution's website and looks at our services that have articles. You do not have to use a good deal of technical terms in a research paper that must be read by means of an audience that doesn't understand it. With the multitude of on the internet and academic means readily available today, there's reason to feel intimidated by new subject locations, or from your very first research assignment. New Step by Step Roadmap for Research Paper Writing Such research can take a lot of time and energy, which isn't always possible, particularly if your deadline is right around the corner and you need to receive your work done whenever possible. A great deal of students are not able to write term papers for various courses or issues. The students from all around the world have the ability to speak to our experts and find the term papers at any time of the day. Dear students, now, you are going to have no issue with research papers. Academic papers have a great deal of work in order to acquire an excellent result. Our college term papers for sale supply you with a terrific deal every moment. Academic paper writing isn't as simple as writing something on a bit of paper. An investigation paper writing company may help you report correctly. Experienced term paper writers are affordable and they are able to help you acquire the information which you require for your topic. If you order from us, you can find a draft of your paper to ensure your writer is heading in the correct direction. To be certain of the quality of our essays, you're free to take a look at term paper sample. The usual facet of thesis vs. research paper is they're academic documents. Although essays and research papers can be an issue, term papers are more complex than nearly all of the academic assignments. You will need to look through several online sources, which can provide totally free essays.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Performance Management of Lloyds Banking Group †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Performance Management of Lloyds Banking Group. Answer: Introduction Lloyds Banking Group plc is a large British financial institution founded in 1995. It provide financial and banking services. Its activities include retail banking mortgages, life insurance, pensions, commercial and private banking, investment banking and general insurance. The banking group is listed on London Stock Exchange and is a component of FTSE 100. It has billions of UK customers and the business is mainly focused on retail and commercial services. The main objective of the group is to serve best to their customers, maintaining good relationship with the communities and is focused on prosperity of Britain (Lloydsbankinggroup.com, 2017). This report contain the critical review of Lloyds performance management and its control over the activities. Review of the objectives and trends in management accounting and analysis of the information is done to measure performance of Lloyds Banking Group. Objectives of Management Accounting Management accounting is the method of presenting and providing the accounting information to the management in an organised and systematic manner to help the management in taking decisions and performing its functions effectively and efficiently. The primary objective of management accounting is to give necessary information to the management so that all the functions can be carried easily (BANERJEE, 2017). Various objectives are as follows: Analysis and Interpretation: Financial statements are properly analysed with the help of various tools like ratio analysis, cash flow and trend analysis, comparative and common size statements. Management accounting interprets the financial data and made it available for the management in an understandable manner. By doing proper analysis of its final accounts and interpreting the data accurately, Lloyd is able to maintain an effective performance management. LBG employees are clear about their responsibilities, a proper track record of improvements and achievement is kept. Having a proper knowledge of financial performance help Lloyd to take decisions regarding improvements and modifications. Planning Policy making: Success of any organisation and institution depends upon the planning and policies made by them. Proper planning and making of beneficial policies by LBG has contributed in successful management of its performance. Lloyd have attracted a lot of consumers in recent years by making beneficial and profitable policies for them. Also, involving employees in planning process have improved their performance in an efficient and effective manner. Controlling: The managers of the bank have kept an eagle eye over the functioning of the institution. Control on the resources of the organisation was kept In order to make sure that the resources are used optimally. Lloyd is capable of achieving its predetermined targets by keeping a control on the activities performed by its employees. This also help the bank to increase its financial performance over the year. Communication: It is considered as the most important objective of management accounting which is required to be achieved. Better communication of the performance of various departments is essentially required for the management to perform tasks such as planning, decision making and controlling. With the proper communication among the employees of LBG, the group is able to achieve all its objectives. It can be in any form that is formal or informal. Accurate financial information is properly communicated by the accountants to the managers which results in the effective performance management of Lloyd. Decision Making and Coordination: in an organisation, decisions are been made and taken at every level. Management accounting help the managers to take right decisions at right time. Knowing about the overall financial performance of the organisation, mangers are capable to take correct decisions as and when required. It is also easy to set coordination between the various departments, when everything is properly managed. With the help of effective performance management, Lloyd Banking Group take proper and right decisions regarding its policies and objectives. The group is also capable enough to maintain coordination among its different activities (Jhamb, 2009). Role of Management Accounting In general, banks provide various services to its customers. The managers of bank require different types of data and reports which are related to the various activities performed by bank. Management accounting plays a critical role in managing the resources of bank. The role it plays include collection of data, supply of modified data and control over the data recorded and processed (Accountingedu.org, 2017). As far as Lloyd is concerned, management accounting as a part of business information system plays a very important role in managing the performance of the bank. It performed various function which are: Information: It helps the managers in getting the accurate and relevant information at all the levels which is necessary for taking the decisions. Reports on different activities are also been provided to enhance the decision making process and smooth functioning of the bank. Accounting: all the activities and the tasks performed by the bank is accounted time to time and the information is provided to the internal users to make them aware about the things going on in the organisation. Control: performance targets are set and budgets are been prepared in management accounting. A proper control is done over the functioning of the bank to check whether the targets are been met or not. Function of budgetary control is also performed by the accountants. Analytical: analysis of the financial statements is done in an effective and efficient manner. It helps in improving the performance of the bank and setting the targets for the future. Communication: the formation of information which is the part of internal communication form a link between the levels of management and structural departments. Forecast: it is done to make sure that proper strategic planning is there and the development of bank is done in the direction of achieving its strategic goals (Bartosh, 2014). Trends in management accounting Management accounting is an important activity which is done in all the leading industries and enterprises today. Service sectors like banks has also adopted the function of management accounting and its emerging trends (Icmai.in, 2017). The new trends and concepts are: Just-In-Time Approach (JIT): this approach is used my many companies to reduce its inventory level. The companies have significant benefits after implementing the JIT programs in order to minimize the amount of all types of inventories. Total Quality Management (TQM): it is termed as a management approach adopted by the organisation to have a long term success through customer satisfaction. In TQM, all the employees are focused on improving the quality of products, services and processes so that they can provide a higher level of satisfaction to its customers (Sallis, 2014). Activity Based Costing: ABC analysis is done to recognize activities in the enterprise and assigns the cost to each and every activity. Resources are also assigned to all products and services according to the consumption by each (Richards, 2017). Balanced Scorecard: it is exclusively used by the business, industry, government and non-profit organizations to align their activities with the strategy of the organisation. It is a strategic planning and management system which also helps in the improvement of internal and external communication and monitoring the activities of the organisation (Keyes, 2016). Environmental Management Accounting: analysis of the financial and non-financial information is done to provide support to the process of internal environmental management (Schaltegger, Burritt and Petersen, 2017). Six Sigma: this trend is based on TQM and is used to achieve a low defect rates. It is a quality control program which is used to control the defects occurring in a manufacturing unit. With the help of this, organizations are able to increase their business process capability (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014). Enterprise Performance Management (EPM): this is the combination of various methods such as balanced scorecards, performance management, driver-based budgeting and consumer relationship management to achieve the targeted strategies, control and to raise financial profits by taking good decisions (Zabiullah et al., 2017). There are many other trends like value chain analysis, EFQM model that is European Foundation for Quality Management, lean production and lean enterprise and theory of Constraints (Cokins, 2013). Implications of the trend Enterprise Performance Management is one of management accounting trend used by LBG. EPM means that the organisation is converting its strategies into measurable indicators and monitoring the performance. It also means that people are employed in the whole organisation to achieve the predetermined targets. As the EPM mainly has three components that are strategy to plan process, measurement of forecast and recognise to reward process. LBG follow this trend and its components to make its performance better (pwc.com, 2012). By making proper strategies for both financial and non-financial sector, doing day to day analysis and monthly reporting which supports the decision making process and measuring the employees performance to give them rewards, Lloyd Banks financial statements are able to show its enhanced and strong position and performance in the market. The annual reports of the banks shows an increase in its net incomes during the year 2015-2016. Operating expenses have been reduced and the amount of loans given to the customers and other banks has increased over a period. All this is because of the proper and best performance of the employees of bank, the strategies and trend followed by LBG and the policies and the decisions taken at right time. Nature of Information A structured and organized presentation of the information shows its nature. Nature of information is usually defined as the way of communicating between the individuals within the organisation. Lloyd Banking Group require to use formal information in order to excellence in its performance. This involves presenting the information in a consistent manner. Formal communication is also treated as a main way to communicate with the external environment. Its methods are formal letters, reports in a proper structure and writing the information in a systematic manner. Language used in formal communication is clear, logical and well organised. The services provided by the bank which include money deposits, life insurance and so on require the details of the customer who is willing to apply for such services. The information is gathered through the forms or applications filled by the customer. These forms and applications are properly structured and cover all the aspects of the customer detai ls that are required to be noted for a particular type of service. Formal customer surveys are also done to get the related information. Source of information Lloyd obtain the personal information of its customers from variety of sources and in different ways. The consumer personal details are held secured with the bank. The details include the information given by the consumers at the time of applying, or other additional information provided through various ways (Lloydsbank.com, 2017). Data gathered from the application forms, emails and letters, telephonic sessions within the branch, at the time of registration, consumer surveys, through participation in competitions and promotions and from the LBG official website and through the interviews and financial reviews. Another source is from the customers payments and transaction analysis and from the use of the services of other companies of Lloyd Banking Group. This will help the bank in detecting frauds and any illegal activity. Details received by the LBG companies from each other through other organisations such as credit agencies, insurance companies at the time of giving services and products to the customers. The bank also derive the information about its customers from its online and mobile banking services which are used by large number of consumers. Information gathered from all these sources is reliable and is mostly provided by the customer itself. Having a relevant data about its clients will automatically help the bank to excel in its performance and to increase its overall financial performance. Analysis of Information To increase the performance, information analysis is required to be done by LBG. It is considered as an essential function of an organization. Proper analysis and evaluation of the data will help the bank to increase its ability to meet its targeted customers, enhance its competitive position and contribute to the welfare of its employees and the country (Lis.cua.edu, 2017). Pulling together all the available data into one place is one of the biggest challenges of the bank. Correct data analysis tools and methods should be used to utilise the information provided by the customer. The first step of analysis include consolidation of the data. Arrange the data in the systematic manner so that it become easier for the different departments to attain information as per their requirements. And services provided by them. After the consolidation, bank focuses on evaluating the quality of data and its consistency. For doing this, LBG uses various data analysis methods and big data analytical tools. By doing the analysis, the bank came to know about the errors or the mistakes done by its customers at time of filling the information. Frauds or illegal activity can also be determined by this. On a whole, the main objective of Lloyd Banking Group is to correctly evaluate the given information and to maintain its quality and consistency. It also avoid the risk such as misplace and misuse of the data, manipulations in the information and so on. Conclusion This report concluded that the performance management of Lloyd Banking group is effective and efficient enough that the bank is able to maintain its financial position in the market. It has provide a strong financial position during the year. Quality of assets remain good and the balance sheet also reflect a strong financial position. The performance management of Lloyd follows all the objectives of management accounting and its role is very vital for the functioning of the bank. The information and trend used by LBG makes its performance better and more effective. References Accountingedu.org. 2017.Accounting Information Systems - Functions and Parts of the System. [Online] Available at: https://www.accountingedu.org/accounting-information-systems.html [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. BANERJEE, B. 2017.FINANCIAL POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING. 9th ed. Delhi: PHI learning Pvt. Ltd., p.5. BARTOSH, O. 2014.MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AS THE BASIS FOR EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF BANKING MANAGEMENT. [online] JEL CLASS?F?CAT?ON M00, M41, M49, O21. Available at: https://fp.cibs.ubs.edu.ua/files/1401/ref/14bomuoj.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. Cokins, G., 2013. Top 7 trends in management accounting. Strategic Finance,95(6), pp.21-30. Icmai.in. 2017.Emerging concepts in management accounting. [online] Available at: https://icmai.in/Knowledge-Bank/global-finance-management-accounting.php [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. Jhamb, H. 2009.Fundamentals of management accounting. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Ane books Pvt. Ltd. Keyes, J., 2016.Implementing the IT balanced scorecard: Aligning IT with corporate strategy. CRC Press. Lis.cua.edu. 2017.Information Analysis Course of Study - Library and Information Science at CUA. [online] Available at: https://lis.cua.edu/msinls/coursesstudy/info-analysis.cfm [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. Lloydsbank.com. 2017.Lloyds Bank - Privacy. [online] Available at: https://www.lloydsbank.com/privacy.asp#collapse2-1475867889416 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. Lloydsbankinggroup.com. 2017.Home - Lloyds Banking Group plc. [online] Available at: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. pwc.com. 2012.Enterprise performance management (EPM) Drivingfinance effectiveness. [online] Available at: https://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications-2012/icc-report.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017]. Pyzdek, T. and Keller, P.A., 2014.The six sigma handbook(p. 25). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Richards, G., 2017.Warehouse management: a complete guide to improving efficiency and minimizing costs in the modern warehouse. Kogan Page Publishers. Sallis, E., 2014.Total quality management in education. Routledge. Schaltegger, S., Burritt, R. and Petersen, H., 2017.An introduction to corporate environmental management: Striving for sustainability. Routledge. Zabiullah, B., Bhargava, B., Reddy, K. and Reddy, C. 2017.RECENT TRENDS IN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING. [online] Data.conferenceworld.in. Available at: https://data.conferenceworld.in/ICRISEM9/P438-444.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017].

Friday, April 3, 2020

Gothic Architecture Vs. Egyptian Architecture Essays -

Gothic Architecture Vs. Egyptian Architecture Gothic Architecture Vs. Egyptian Architecture The sediment richens the soil year after year by the Nile that floods the valley and rises twenty to thirty feet high. African villagers expect the seasonal rains; the precipitation determines the crops productivity. The valley cut by this dominating river is also where one of the greatest Neolithic civilizations grew. The originals were of mixed races but all derived from the white races. By 4000 B.C. these egger people started using copper and gold, developing a standard way of living. They made tools to their own needs and began building and started to include architectural art full of decorous curves and lines. The early Egyptians made their homes out of river reeds and river mud. They produced round homes or rectangular homes with arched rooftops. Primarily the huts were used to keep from the harsh, warm temperatures. During this time period of reed homes adobe bricks were being made which led to a crucial innovation to Egyptian homes and architecture. The art and skill that was carved, painted and designed into religious temples and tombs gave later researchers of great talent information on Egyptian life. With architectural strides religious gods and carvings were beginning a decorative architectural era. Imhotep was an architect that designed the great pyramid and temple of King Zoser in the third dynasty. He was precise and eloquent with the use of stone that was not surpassed for centuries. The Egyptians honored many of their architects, who also became court officials, but Imhotep was credited for being the first great user of stone towards monumental buildings. The old kingdom was b uilt of river reeds and mud but later other kingdoms learned from the old designs. Later the middle kingdom saw a new light in utilizing stone form and development of others. Though it wasn't until the new empire where great temples and large courts. The new empire fell and the idea of a strong, continuous rise in Egyptian architecture had almost ceased. The Nile River determined the building materials of the Egyptians. As time progressed and architecture was beginning to have history, technical skills were developing as well as architectural skills. One major discovery was slanted roofs were unnecessary to the hot, humid weather. Falt roofs became the new invention and were multipurpose for more living space, which became an essential part of the home design. Egyptians also tried to figure out a way walls could be sturdy and strong but less heavy and less cracks. But the cracking would never fail so when the bricks were laid on concave beds, so when cracks did occur, the wall was easily fixed. Another form of the brick was used called the vault. Vaults were most often used in tombs and cover storage rooms but never did this principle become a way of source. Stone was later introduced, which came late in Egyptian architecture. There was more than enough stone, from the Nile cutting its way down the desert plateau. There was a surplus of stone to be used. They became expert quarrying diggers, cutting some of the best pieces of rock. Egyptians also developed different techniques of handling stones. With all this stone, labor power and organization was needed. The king steeped forward for that position and gave orders to the laborers, whom all were working on one building at a time. The workers were treated fairly good with adequate pay. This is how the pyramids were built and stone architecture was the new generation of adobe brick and river reed huts. Gothic architecture is an example of how the intricate structural and decorative elements in buildings are tied together. Like the Egyptians Gothic architecture uses the vault idea but is better understood. Early experiments failed and were left to explore other options but gothic architecture explains the answers. The question of different width varied different heights; so gothic architecture uses the pointed arch, and varying the steepness to gain the correct connections. Gothic architecture was more of a solution of building problems. It also was an expression of modern Europe. The economy way stable, trade and business was steady and cities were expanding and flourishing. The Gothic era was an introduction to new

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Analysis of Moral Dilemma essays

Analysis of Moral Dilemma essays Philosophers have studied moral concepts of right and wrong for millennia. During this time, great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Bentham, and Kant have developed a number of carefully reasoned and eloquent approaches to moral questions. These approaches in the field of ethics can span from metaethics (the core of ethical principles or universal truths) to the field of normative ethics (which takes a much more practical approach to solving specific problems) to the field of applied ethics (which looks at specific issues like abortion or animal rights) (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Each of these fields of ethics has sparked some often surprisingly elegant approaches to difficult ethical problems. However, in the real word, moral decisions are often much more difficult and confusing than they appear during reasoned ethical analysis. Moral dilemmas like the following illustrate the profound difficulty in coming to an ethical decision under truly trying and confusing circumstances. Imagine that you are an inmate in a concentration camp, and your son is about to be hung by a sadistic prison guard for attempting to escape. The guard wants you to pull out the chair from underneath your son, effectively killing him. The guard says that if you refuse to pull out the chair, he will kill your son and another, innocent, inmate as well. There is no doubt that the guard will carry out his actions. If you decide to pull out the chair from under your son, there are a number of potential consequences, both good and bad. Importantly, if the guard is true to his word, you will have saved the life of another innocent inmate. This is clearly a positive moral action, as preserving human life, especially innocent human life is essentially universally morally desirable. In saving this man's life, you spare both his personal agony, but spare his family and friends f...

Friday, February 21, 2020

Comparison between the Greek Crisis of 2010 with the Argentinean Dissertation

Comparison between the Greek Crisis of 2010 with the Argentinean crisis of 2001 - Dissertation Example .†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦17 Chapter 4 Conclusions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..23 Chapter 5 Reflective Report†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..25 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...28 ABSTRACT This paper attempts to study the Greek Financial Crisis of 2009 and the Argentinean Crisis of 2001 in a comparative framework. The idea is to deduce a policy remedy for Greece to recov er from the recession. The primary issues addressed in this paper comprise the state of the economies of the two countries at the time of recession, the sovereign bond default and its causes. The research tries to compare the policy situations of the two countries to evaluate the effectiveness of the Argentinean policy measures to fight the Greek Crisis. In this situation the paper concludes that though there are similarities in the two situations and issues of concern, but they are not identical. The magnitude of the Greek crisis is much more and consequences much graver due to the ongoing crisis in the global financial markets. Hence the Greek government needs to tread a more unconventional path than Argentina. The government has to depend on the foreign assistance to resurrect itself in the absence of a healthy global financial market. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IMF International Monetary Fund EU European Union ECB European Central Bank ACB Argentinean Currency Board EC European Commi ssion UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 1.... In this paper we studied the emergence of the Greek Crisis in Europe at the backdrop of the global crisis. We delved into the causes of the crisis and compared it with similar experience of recession in the past in other parts of the world. In this context we took a particular interest in the Argentinean Crisis of 2001 because of the conventional policies adopted by the country in fighting their crisis and the success they achieved in reaching their goals. Our primary interest in this paper was if the same model to tackle a recession could be applied for the case of Greek recession. In this scenario we tried to evaluate the situation of the two economies and considered all the channels Greece can assume. We also considered the consequences of the crisis and its impact on the partner economies as well as the global financial situation. That helped us to judge the severity of the crisis and hence the interests of the national and international agencies to help Greece. Our method of ana lysis has been mostly a comparative study of the Greek crisis with the Argentinean crisis and an advantage and disadvantages of the solutions Greek can adopt. In comparison to the Argentinean crisis we noted that both the countries share some similarity in leaning on credit for loan servicing as well as personal consumption. There was also a degenerated trade system owing to overvaluation of currency and wage price rigidity in both the countries.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Employee Relations Assignments One Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employee Relations Assignments One - Case Study Example I identified UK Leasline as the most appropriate organization that could help the small business to accomplish its goal. The company offers capital to businesses in the UK at affordable terms, and I needed to purchase the office equipment at hire purchase to pay through installments as the business expanded. However, it was difficult to acquire the credit facilities since my business was a start up and therefore there was no collateral. I had to negotiate with the credit appraisal team for to prove that my business had the potential of growing to a substantial size to repay the borrowed capital. I knew that after launching the business, there were high chances for it to grow gain the capacity to negotiate better for loans. However, to get to that point, I had to use negotiation techniques so that I could not loose the opportunity. Since I had no tangible property but ideas, there was no need to negotiate with the credit appraisers. The appropriate person was the credit manager, who on the other hand was not directly concerned with issues regarding credit appraisals. But I had to proof my case to him and negotiate a deal because when I contacted the junior officers, they asserted their principles of collateral as well as offering credit to continuing businesses. With such principles, I could not excel in business. I consideredI considered myself successful even before I engaged in the negotiation process since I had the conviction that my idea was prudent and that anyone else who would give it a critical thought would find it an inventive decision. I remembered what a teacher who was my mentor once commented that I was a critical thinker. I had developed a close relationship with him because of the way I approached issues with sophistication. These memories gave me confidence and motivation to go ahead with my aspiration. On the other hand, I had witnessed start up businesses becoming successful, especially the ones that dealt with the same field as my intended undertaking. This meant that the business could attain sustainable profitability while on the other hand continuing to repay the equipments acquired on credit. I intended to show the senior credit officer my business plan and explain my vision to him so that he too could visualize my idea. I always though of how I would be happy after accomplishing my mission. However, I knew that there were drawbacks that could become a hindrance to my efforts of acquiring the loan. In the first place, I had no track record of previous loans that I had successfully repaid. This lowered my chances of proofing my credibility. Nevertheless, my age was an indicator of insufficient experience in handling large sums of money or managing a business on my own. I remembered how one of my friends took over the management of his father's business after he was taken ill, which led to its collapse. The business had been established through a loan for the purchase of equipment. To make the matter worse, the head of the credit appraisal team in UK Leasline worked in the company that issued the loan as a credit appraiser at the time. Only three years had passed from the time the business collapsed, which led to the demotion and eventual termination of all the credit appraisers that were involved in the appraisal of my friend's father to qualify for a loan. The dilemma in this situation was the fact that the head of the team who was to appraise my

Monday, January 27, 2020

Definition Of Parental Involvement

Definition Of Parental Involvement 2.0 Introduction Research is made in order to inform people with new knowledge or discovery. Jancowicz (2000:159) knowledge does not exist in a vacuum and you work only has value in relation to other peoples work. Thus for a research to be credible, it should be supported by other works that have spoken about the same topic; therein the importance of the literature review which Hart (1998) defines as: The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed. The ability to carry out a literature review is an important skill for any researcher. It will provide the latter with a context in which to place the research with respect to what has already been researched about the topic whereby the researcher will get an up to date account and discussion of the research findings about the particular topic. 2.1 Parental Involvement 2.1.1 Definition of Parental Involvement Parental involvement is believed to be an important strategy in the advancement of the quality of education. Parental involvement as such may be defined in different ways. According to Althoff (2010) parental involvement refers to the amount of participation a parent has when it comes to schooling and her childs life. (Abdullah, Seedee, Alzaidiyeen, Al-Shabatat, Alzeydeen, Al-Awabdeh, 2011) define parental involvement as the activities occurring between a parent and a child or between a parent and teachers at school that may contribute to the childs educational outcomes and development. NCLB (2001) described parental involvement as regular participation of parents, a two-way process, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities including: Assisting their childs learning; (b) Being actively involved in their childs education at school; (c) Serving as full partners in their childs education and being included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child; and (d) The carrying out of other activities such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA Section 9101(32). Liontos (1992) mentions recent beliefs about parents and families that schools should consider when involving themselves in the education to their children: 1) All families have strengths, 2) parents can learn new techniques, 3) parents have important perspectives about their children, 4) most parents really care about their children, 5) cultural differences are both valid and valuable, and 6) many family forms exist and are legitimate (pp. 30-31). 2.1.2 Family Involvement Regardless of how they are able to demonstrate their investment, the notion that families play a very important role in creating a school that provides a nurturing and safe environment for their children is becoming widely accepted (Epstein et al., 1997). Families provide the social, cultural, and emotional supports that youth need to function well in school. Schools provide opportunities for childrens positive interactions with significant adults and other adolescents to enhance their home experiences and to support their continued development and related learning (Comer Haynes, 1991). According to Davies (1991) parental involvement shifts from parent focus to family focus, family to community agencies, school to home/neighborhood setting, eager parents to hard-to reach families, teachers/administrators agendas to family priorities, and deficit view of urban families to emphasis on inherent strengths of families. He further explains that even though non-traditional families are much more common nowadays than they were in the 1950s, alternative family structures are effective and should be recognised by the school. The paradigm Changing Definitions of Parental involvement according to Davies(1991) is as follows: from Parent Focus to Family Focus; from school to home or neighbourhood setting; from eager parents to hard to reach families; from teacher/administrator agenda to family priorities; from deficit view of urban families to emphasis on inherent strengths of families. Davies (1991) mentioned that non-traditional family units are getting more common, but the alternative family structures are effective and should be recognised as they do impact in the education and performance of students. 2.1.3 Types of parental involvement Fan and Chen (2001) in their meta-analysis found that researchers commonly conceptualised parental involvement as having multiple dimensions. Research conducted over a number of years have proved that there are numerous types of parenting practices associated with positive school-related academic and social competencies. These are: (a) parental participation in school-related activities, for instance monitoring homework and attending parent-teacher association meetings (Desimone, 1999; Keith et al., 1993; Steinberg, Lamborn, Dornbusch Darling, 1992); (b) parental encouragement of positive school behaviors (Atkinson Forehand, 1979; Barth, 1979; Kelley, 1952; Schumaker, Hovell, Sherman, 1977; Seginer, 1983); and (c) parental expectations for achievement and attainment (Ainley, Foreman, Sheret,1991; Fan Chen, 2001; Scott-Jones, 1995; Seginer). Similarly, Epstein (2001) has distinguished six types of parental involvement namely: parenting; communication; volunteering; home tutoring; involvement in decision-making; and, collaboration with the community. Epsteins model presents family, school and community as overlapping spheres of influence, the congruence of which is of considerable importance for the optimal development of children. 2.2 The effect of parental involvement on childrens achievements It is generally believed that the parents do play an important role in the education of their children and there is now an extensive research literature indicating that parental involvement is advantageous for children of all ages (Cox 2005; Desforges and Abouchaar 2003; Eccles and Harold 1993; Epstein 2001). Research has shown that one of the most promising ways to increase students achievement is to involve their families (Chavkin, 1993; Henderson Berla, 1994). Herbert Walberg (1984) found that family participation in education was twice as predictive of academic learning as family socioeconomic status. Establishing partnerships with families has many benefits for schools and families, but Epstein says, the main reason to create such partnerships is to help all youngsters succeed in school and in later life (1995, p. 701). When parents participate in their childrens schooling, students may experience more academic and social success. Epstein (2001) suggests that parents who are informed and involved in their childrens school can positively impact their childs attitude and performance. Drawing a causal link between parental involvement and student achievement is challenging; much of the research on parent involvement and student performance is therefore correlational (Scott Stein Thorkildsen, 1999). Although the impact of parental involvement is dependent on a number of contextual variables, there are many advantages attributed to parental involvement. Involvement at home, especially parents discussing school activities and helping children plan their programs, has the strongest impact on academic achievement (Sui-Chu Willms, 1996; VanVoorhis, 2003). Researchers have also found that parent-child discussion about school helps improve academic achievement and reduce problematic behavior (Epstein Sheldon, 2002; McNeal, 1999; Sheldon Epstein, 2005). McLaughlin and Shields (1986), for example, reported that parents can contribute to improved student achievement through their involvement in (a) the selection of appropriate reading materials, (b) targeting educational services, and (c) the use of particular pedagogical strategies. Clark (1983) found a correlation between achievement in reading and mathematics and the number of books at home. Parent involvement is absolutely essential to student achievement in school and in life say (Campbell Glasgow, 2010). The overwhelming studies and research indicate that there are indeed positive academic outcomes stemming from parental involvement with benefits beginning in the early childhood throughout adolescence and beyond (Henderson Mapp, 2002; Patrikakou, Weisberg, Redding, Walberg, 2005). Buchmann and Dalton (2002) suggest a possible linkage between differences in institutional contexts of educational system and variation in the effect of parental involvement on childrens educational outcomes while examining variation across 12 countries in the effect of mothers and peers attitudes toward academic performance on educational aspiration among middle-school (lower secondary school) students. The comparisons across 12 countries indicate significant variation in the influence of parental attitude on childrens educational aspiration across countries with different structural features of educational system. 2.3 Factors affecting Students Academic Achievements The students performance or academic achievement plays an important role in producing the good quality school leavers who will become good manpower for any country. There are actually numerous factors that affect the performance and achievement of students. Parents influence their childrens academic achievement (Spera, 2005). High family socioeconomic status, positive parenting practices, positive aspects of parents personality, and high marital quality are associated with school success (Harold, Aitken, Shelton, 2007; Heaven Newbury, 2004; Robertson Reynolds, 2010). Children whose parents who actively promote learning in the home more positively engage in relationships outside the home and in learning (Marchant, Paulson, Rothlisberg, 2001), perhaps because these parents help children approach learning environments more positively. The premise that home environment risks, such as negative parenting (Clark, Dogan, Akbar, 2003), a chaotic household (Brown Low, 2008), parents low educational attainment or income level (Davis-Kean, 2005), and single-parent family structure (Zill, 1996), are correlates of poor academic functioning is also well supported. According to a report on Monitoring Learning Achievement (1999) the Determinants of childs performance were identified to be as follows: Socio-economic status of the childs family had a very strong impact on achievement at school. (b) Parental education level and parents opinion about education were decisive factors affecting performance of the children at school. (c) The child who had access to learning through technology and through materials at home was more likely to do better at school. (d) Pupils who had a positive attitude to school and teachers as well as those who used English to communicate performed better on the tests. (e) Children who had more experienced teachers at school and who were more frequently assessed became better learners. 2.3.1 Student Demographics and Students Achievement Students from ethnic minority backgrounds and low income families are more at risk for poor school outcomes and are becoming an increasing share of the student population. Many studies have linked the educational disadvantage of minority students to a combination of out-of-school factors, many of which center on family characteristics, such as poverty and parents education. Linn (2005) says that prior achievement or other relevant characteristics of the student body may help to explain current levels of achievement while (Carlson, 2002; Ponisciak Bryk, 2005) point out that when large scale assessments are used as the sole measure of accountability, the characteristics of the schools clientele are confounded with change that is directly attributable to the effectiveness of the school producing biased estimates of school effects. Children coming from middle-class family may have a head start given their higher social position and income may lead to better quality housing, more availability of books and study facilities at home such as their own room, internet access facility as well as the ability to afford private tuition. According to the University of Mauritius study on private tuition (1989), children from better off families take more tuition than students from poor families and they tend to perform better. A better measure of a schools effect on student achievement should account for the nature of students in the schools as well as the characteristics of the schools themselves. For example the correlation according to Sirin (2005) between socio-economic status and achievement tends to be approximately 0.30 at the student level. When aggregated to the school level, the correlation between socio-economic and academic achievement is approximately 0.60 (Sirin, 2005), though that correlation has been estimated to be even higher (0.73) in an earlier meta-analysis (White, 1982). 2.3.2 School Leadership and Students Achievement Studies have revealed that strong leaders are critical to successful learning environments (Briggs Wohlstetter, 2003; Hallinger, Bickman, Davis, 1996; Haycock, Jerald, Huang, 2001; Jesse, Davis, Pokorny, 2004; McGee, 2004; Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Stoll, Russ, 2004; Murphy, 2004; Scribner Scribner, 2001; Snipes, 2004; Yau, 2002). There are different characteristics of strong leaders that have been mentioned in the literature: Leaders have a clear vision for their schools that is continuously communicated to school staff and parents (Cole-Henderson, 2000; EdSource, 2006; Jesse et al., 2004); they have high expectations for all students (Cole-Henderson, 2000; EdSource, 2006; McGee, 2004; Scribner et al., 2001); and they are able to translate their vision and expectations into concrete goals for teachers by aligning curriculum with state standards and standardized tests (EdSource, 2006; Education Trust, 2003). 2.3.3 School Systems and Students Achievement In many countries, including Mauritius to some extent, school systems are tracked where students are assigned to different school types based on their prior performance. These tracks range from purely academic tracks to vocational tracks and prepare students for different educational and labor market destinations (Marks, Cresswell, Ainley, 2006; Reyes, 2010). In general most secondary school systems maintain a distinction between academic and vocational education. The specifics may be different from place to place, but in most countries academic education prepares students for college or for a university whereas vocational education prepares them for immediate entry into the labor market (Shavit, Blossfeld 1993). Schools may be involved in the socio-economic inequalities in education in a number of ways. Wealthy families can afford a superior education for their children by sending them to fee-paying private schools. In countries with tracked school systems, the allocation of stude nts to the more academic school tracks may be biased towards students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. 2.3.5 Parental Involvement and Students Achievement Studies on the influence of parenting on school outcomes have mainly focused on specific parental practices such as involvement in their childs education, mostly in relation to academic achievement and rarely in relation to school dropout (McNeal, 1999; Rumherger, 1995). Studies conducted among specific grades and subject areas support the contention that parental involvement can influence students academic achievement regardless of the students age or subject. For example, Stegelin (2003), Wirtz Schumacher (2003), and Hertz-Lazarowitz Horovitz (2002) focused on early childhood education and literacy, noting a link between families who engage in literacy activities at home and their childrens success with reading and writing. Henderson and Berla (1994) say that the most accurate predictor of a students achievement in school is not income or social status but the extent to which that students family is able to create a home environment that encourages learning; express high but not unrealistic expectations for their childrens achievement and future careers and become involved in their childrens education at school and in the community. There exists an extensive research literature indicating that Parental Involvement is advantageous for children. This includes home-based Parental involvement such as listening to children read and supervision of homework as well as school-based Parental Involvement such as attending parent education workshops and parent-teacher meetings. The effectiveness of both home-based and school-based Parental Involvement in facilitating academic achievement has been reported by several reviews and meta-analyses of the literature (Fan and Chen 2001; Henderson and Mapp 2002; Jeynes 2005, 2007; Pomerantz, Moorman, and Litwack 2007). Mariaye (2008) has found that higher levels of education of parents are often related to better provision of financial resources, thus leading to achievement of children. 2.4 Barriers to parental involvement Though there is much importance attached to parental involvement it is still being ignored in many schools. Lazar and Slostad (1999) believe that parents are willing to get involved in the education of their children, but the negative perceptions of parents persist because teacher education programs do not educate teachers to work with parents. Foster and Loven (1992) also shared that the major explanation for this, according to researchers, is the fact that very little attention is given to preparing teachers to work with parents and other adults (Lazar, 1999, p. 207). According to Lazar and Slostad, (1999) the way parents viewed their roles was shaped by the circumstances and norms of particular cultures and their beliefs about their own effectiveness as teachers or tutors. Epstein (1991) found out that teachers had doubts whether they could motivate parents to become more involved even though they thought that parental involvement would improve students achievement. Teachers lack the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and strategies needed to collaborate with families leading to a weak school-family partnership (De Acosta, 1996; Epstein Dauber, 1991; Foster Loven, 1992; Greenwood Hickman, 1991; Midkiff Lawler-Prince, 1992; Williams,1992). Major barriers to parental involvement in schools include the school environment, school culture, time constraint, changing demographics and employment patterns, and the lack of teacher preparation in involving parents in their childrens schooling (New Skills for Schools, 1997; National PTA, 1997). 2.5 Overcoming barriers to parental involvement Strategies for overcoming barriers to parental involvement in schools include overcoming time and resource constraints, providing information and training to parents and school staff, restructuring schools to support family involvement, bridging school-family differences, getting external supports for partnerships, meeting families basic needs, providing flexible times and places for parental involvement, and helping staff communication with parents (The U.S. Department of Education, 2004; Family Involvement in Childrens Education October 1997). The various barriers to Parental involvement can be categorised by adapting Epsteins (2001) framework of overlapping spheres of influence focused on the three areas of family, school and community. 2.5.1 Parents beliefs about Parental Involvement Parents beliefs about various issues can act as barriers to effective parental involvement. Firstly, the way that parents view their role in the education of their children is crucial. Parents who believe that their role is only to get children to school, which then takes over responsibility for their education, will not be willing to be actively involved in either school-based or home-based parental involvement. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) reported that this attitude is more prevalent in some communities and national cultures than others, but that there is considerable variation within these. For example, Clark (1983), in his research on high achieving students from low-income black families, found that what distinguished the parents of these students from others at the school was that they believed that they should be involved in their childrens education, by both supporting their learning at home and interacting constructively with schools. Clark found that parents of high a chieving students had a greater belief than the other parents that they could effectively help their children to do better at school. 2.5.2 Parents perceptions of invitations for involvement One other potential barrier to parental involvement is parents perceptions of the level of explicit and implicit invitations for involvement. According to Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) when parents think that Parental Involvement is not valued by teachers or schools they are less likely to get involved. Thus, parents perceptions of invitations from schools are considered crucial in developing effective parental involvement. Epstein (2001) has found that parents are most effectively involved when teachers actively encourage them to get involved. Eccles and Harold (1993) believe that teachers with positive, facilitating attitudes toward involving parents encourage more parents to become involved and increase the effectiveness of parental involvement. When parents perceive that teachers are not open to involve them, there tends to be a major barrier to parental involvement. Similarly, when schools are welcoming to parents and make it clear that they value parental involvement, the s chools develop more effective parental involvement than schools that do not appear inviting to parents. Secondary schools are often seen by parents as large bureaucratic organisations which are not welcoming to parents, which is considered to be one of the reasons why there is a tendency for higher levels of parental involvement in primary than secondary schools (Eccles and Harold 1993). 2.5.3 Parents Level of Education Parents level of education will influence their views on whether they have sufficient skills and knowledge to engage in different aspects of parental involvement (Green et al. 2007). For example, parents who have not completed secondary school themselves may be diffident about helping their children with homework once the latter get to secondary school. Also, parents who do not have a university degree may feel in some ways inferior to teachers who they know are better qualified than them and therefore be reluctant to work closely with the teachers. In general, children of parents with higher levels of education perform better, on average, on assessments of student achievement. 2.5.4 Parent current life status Family circumstances can be major barriers to parental involvement. For example, single parents and those with young families or large families may find it difficult to get involved in education of their children because of their responsibilities. Parents work situations can also be a factor. When parents are unemployed money could be an issue as they may not be able to afford a car or to pay babysitters in order to get to school meetings. For parents with jobs, whether both parents work and the kind of jobs they have may be issues. When both parents work they will have less time to devote for both home-based and school-based parental involvement. Similarly while some jobs allow little flexibility for taking time off for school-based parental involvement, other jobs may leave parents too tired at the end of the day to help children with homework (Catsambis 2001; Green et al. 2007). 2.5.5 Class, ethnicity and gender There exist also barriers regarding to class, ethnicity and gender of parents that account for the difference between rhetoric and reality in parental involvement. Reay (1998) suggests that it is those parents who possess cultural capital which matches that generally valued by schools. In contrast, working-class parents, although they possess their own undervalued cultural capital, are aware of the difference between the cultural capital they possess and that of teachers. Reay (1998) concludes that, for working-class families, home-school relationships are about separateness, whereas for middle-class families they are about interconnectedness, and this difference shapes their respective attitudes towards parental involvement. The barriers related to ethnicity and culture also play an important role. According to a report by Koki and Lee (1998) some of the issues involved in parental involvement for parents in New Zealand who have come from the Pacific Islands. They make the point that it is impossible to understand these issues outside of the context of the history of Pacific education and cultural tradition, but the reality is that parental involvement programmes typically pay scant regard to these issues. 2.5.6 Learning difficulties and disabilities The performance of at school can be both a barrier or facilitating factor for parental involvement. According to Eccles and Harold (1993) when children are struggling with their school work, due to learning difficulties or disabilities, then parents are generally more inclined to be active in parental involvement activities. Many authorities on special needs education consider that involving parents is an essential aspect of effective education for children with disabilities or learning difficulties (Hornby 1995; Seligman 2000). The involvement of parents is required for the process of implementing individual education programmes and this facilitates parental involvement for many parents whose children have learning difficulties or disabilities. But this is not always the case as there are many possible areas for disagreement between schools and parents of children with learning difficulties or disabilities, which can then act as barriers to effective parental involvement. For instan ce, when parents consider that their children can achieve more academically or when teachers want more support from parents in backing up at home what children are working on at school (Seligman 2000). 2.6 Strategies to involve parents To achieve more parental involvement, the school or teachers can help to adjust to parents work schedules, interests, and special abilities to involve them in their childs education 2.6.1 Parenting Parents can be involved in their childs schooling in many ways. One way teachers can get these parents involved is by providing them information about parenting practices. Parents with children with behavior problems are interested in learning about specialised reinforcement and discipline techniques that can be applied in their home. Research has shown that students who are disruptive in schools are also disruptive at home (Walker et al., 1995). Teachers can be useful by providing suggestions on how to teach specific skills at home. Parents who learn new parenting skills and teach their child at home are making positive contributions to their childs education. 2.6.2 Communication Encouraging parents to communicate with the school about important information about their child is another way parents can be involved. Darch, Craig, Miao, Yu, Shippen, and Peggy(2004) recommend that teachers ask parents to discuss their childs behaviour at home, his or her attitudes about school and learning, and whether there are home problems impacting the childs behavior at school. It is helpful if teachers ask parents about their expectations about their childs performance. 2.6.3 Volunteering Darch et al.,(2004) also suggest that one role that some parents can play is to provide instructional or management support in the classroom. For example, parents can be tutors for their own child or other students in the classroom. Also, parents can serve by grading papers, participating in field trips, and reading to groups of students. The advantages of including parents in these activities are many. Parents visibility in the classroom can be helpful in managing children. Also, if parents can provide instructional support, the improved learning performances of students will have a positive impact on their classroom behavior. 2.6.4 Instruction According to Darch et al, (2004) parents can also be involved in their childs school program by providing instructional and management support in their homes. Teachers may ask parents to allocate time for their childs homework, provide instructional support for academic assignments, and carry out home-based reinforcement programs. For parents to effectively take this role, they must be willing to participate and must have skills to implement home-based programs. However, as Hoover-Demsey and Sandler (1997) point out, many parents do not see the importance of taking an active role in their childs education. Thus, teachers must provide parents with clear guidelines on how they can be helpful at home and, if necessary, information on how to implement instructional and management strategies at home. An advantage of these activities is that the child is provided extra instruction at home that leads to more successful learning and motivation in the classroom. 2.6.5 School-Wide Involvement Teachers can suggest to parents that they be involved in school-wide activities. (Darch et al., 2004). The goal is to link parents to activities beyond their childs classroom: parents can be involved in PTA meetings, school-wide parent advisory councils, volunteer to work in the school office, and participate on a school-wide discipline committee. The advantages of linking parents into school wide activities are obvious. The presence of parents throughout the school is related to higher levels of student achievement and decreases school-wide disruptive behaviors. Parents involved with school-wide activities become more supportive of teachers and school policy. 2.7 How do schools involve parents? According to Hanke (2006) lack of parental involvement is due to lack of helpful information to parents. Emails, phone, letters, newsletters and personal contacts can be made by schools to reach out to parents. If schools communicate with parents regularly and consistently using the various means, the gap between school and parental involvement will be reduced. Based on the recent report on the Commonwealth conference on education (2012) the technology is available for ICT to be the foundation for change in education provisioning: from the classroom to the ministerial committee room; from the way teachers relate to their students, to the increasing of parental involvement in schools. Students expectations and achievement will increase if involvement are identified by Epstein and associate (1997): parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Reenay and Vivian (2007) have explained that even though the invention of new technologies has made it easier for schools to reach out to parents (through emails, cell phones and internet websites), the use of traditional methods in communication has been found to be an effective way for schools to communicate with parents, but this has been limited in use b