No Guns - fewer Shootings Essay Example for Free

No Guns fewer Shootings Essay Allowing guns on campus would be a dreadful idea, it would increase more violent acts as well as putting staff and students at risk of being injured or even result in death. Not only this but students, as well as everyone on campus, would feel extremely unsafe. By allowing guns on campuses we would we be supporting violence, as well as giving shooters a higher opportunity to commit a crime. This would leave the victims defenseless and at risk of being murdered, raped, kidnapped, or be hurt in any other method. Not only this but anyone who is not mentally stable can misuse a gun and this can even lead to a suicide. Guns on college campuses ought to be banned because they will simply increase the problem with regards to shootings, unnecessary deaths and increase crime rates. We all have to keep in mind that colleges already have a high-risk factor for drugs, alcohol, and stress in academics. Including weapons would cause a bigger problem on a college campus and put everyone in danger. This can result in the misuse of the weapon and fire a gun by accident or simply shoot someone because you truly dislike a person. Many adolescents will commit a crime and sometimes don’t think of the consequences that are going to come with their actions. Jade Reindl and Jean Cocco mention in their CNN piece, â€Å"Say no to guns on college campuses† explains how if a gun is present at the moment of a sexual assault or any form of assault it is more likely that the person will die. This is suggesting that if a gun is in existence at the moment of a crime there is a higher risk of a fatal accident happening. We understand that some students might feel safer knowing they have a way of protection, but how will this make other students on campus feel? They will f eel unsafe in an environment that is supposed to be â€Å"safe† for all students. Also, knowing that someone is carrying a gun will make a student feel like they need to be careful around them. As a community, we also have to take in consideration that some people are not mentally stable: whether they are depressed or suffer from anxiety and will most likely misuse the weapon. This can result in a person committing suicide or attempting for their life.   Furthermore, having guns on campus will not solve any problems, if anything it will create more. On the contrary, proponents of guns within campus advocate that they will be more safe and protected if they were able to carry a concealed handgun in a college campus to protect themselves in case of a shooting, or even from a sexual assault. Also, those citizens who are responsible enough should have the opportunity to protect themselves against a shooter. By allowing the students as well as staff, to carry a gun there won’t be as many victims whereas if they didn\t have any weapon to defend themselves there would be a higher chance of being the victim. Neal Hutchens in his GOOD EDUCATION piece â€Å" 11 States Allow Students To Carry Guns On College Campuses. More could be Next† he mentions that allowing students and faculty to carry a gun with them will decrease the number of shootings as well as decreasing the number of deaths. Also, it has been said that there is a higher possibility of a shooting happening somewhere else rather than a college campus so why not al low people to carry a gun. Subsequently allowing guns on campus can help people defend someone who is at risk of being hurt resulting in saving lives. Not only this but supporters believe that a gun in a classroom would not affect anyones learning or concentration in class. Not only this but students believe that they should have the right to protect themselves with a weapon in case it is necessary. In addition, supporters of concealed guns will advocate for guns since they think it is the best way to protect themselves and knowing that at least they have a gun to protect themselves from any potential threat. Lastly, they believe that allowing guns on campus should be a right given to everyone for the safety of everyone that can help reduce many deaths. Despite the fact that allowing guns on campus would be a terrible decision made by the voters who agree with guns on campus we would simply be encouraging mass shooting and many other horrific incidents. An example of a horrific accident that happened is the mass shooting at Virginia Tech University in 2007. This left many families devastated due to the loss of a loved one. Although proponents of guns believe that a gun in a classroom would not distract anyone, in reality, it would because if any classmate knew that someone had a gun on them they would feel tense and nervous all the time. Even if a person had a gun on them to protect themselves they might not know how to use it adequately and cause more problems. Concealed guns overall are hardly ever used in the appropriate form and that is why we always are having horrific scenes of violence, and mass shooting which just simply terrorize our community. People simply misuse a gun often either because they are angry or maybe even fee l sad or depressed. When affecting our whole community, the children are growing up afraid and scared as well as the parents, knowing that at any moment a bullet can just end someone\s life in a second. Not just this but even though college students believe that by giving them the opportunity to carry a gun we are treating as the adult. The thing about this is that even though we are treating them like the adult by giving them this huge responsibility, there are still some adult who misuse a weapon. Therefore, not giving college students the ability to carry a concealed gun would have more benefits rather than allowing them to carry a gun. In short, not allowing guns on campus would make everyone feel in a safe environment where they don’t have to be afraid of the constant shooting happening. Not just this, but they will be able to focus on their studies and in class rather than thinking all the time that they can be shot at any moment. Sometimes people think the best way to protect themselves on a college campus is the best way but in reality, it can result in many accidents occurring. Students and staff will ultimately feel safer in a free gun zone rather than a place that is surrounded by a gun every corner you walk around. Carrying a gun is a huge responsibility and not everyone is willing to accept the consequences if they use the weapon inappropriately, so it would just be better to save ourselves that problem and not allow guns on campus.

Effect of Technology Development on Entertainment

Effect of Technology Development on Entertainment Table of Contents (Jump to) Introduction Delivering superior content Enhancing user experiences Platform mobility Conclusion References Introduction Over the years, the advancement of the digital technology has created a revolution in TV. Nielsen’s 2012 report stated that the number of homes with high definition TV grew in the US by more than 8 million (Nielsen 2011). This suggested that TV continues to be the dominant platform media for many households. Watching live or time-shifted TV programmes or games connected online via Internet are now using more of this conduit to deliver their contents to the many TV users. The continuous development and advancement in the digital technology continue to make a tremendous impact on television, playing an important part of family lives’ by offering quality entertainment and increasing the way of family bonding. They are achieved through delivering superior content, enhancing the user experiences’ in watching TV and offer excellent platform mobility for both network producers and users. Delivering superior content With the advancement of technologies like streaming video, high-quality video and Internet, it has offered different delivery platforms to deliver TV programs and dramas. However, the real focus remains on the content. In Kelly Scott Madison’s State of media report, it reiterated that â€Å"content is and always will remain, king† (Madison 2013). With quality programming content like ‘Who is HBO’s Girls for?’ (Smith 2012) that shows about different women and their lives, the show has differentiated itself from other media programming content. The show not only caters to mostly female audience demographics where most females are at home watching TV; the audience are able to relate their lives to the series show and this creates the ‘stickiness’ to the television drama series because of its content. This is similar to other shows like â€Å"Sex and the City†. Subscription TV penetration of TV households in Australia is increasing over the years. It is forecasted to increase from 30% in 2008 to 35% in 2017 (Maurer, Emmanuel Parker 2013). Through subscription TV, it provides different content and choices to the viewers like sport, movies, cartoons, variety shows. It also allows, through digital set-top boxes, the viewers can record and view the program as and when he prefers. This is not available in the traditional broadcast TV when the viewers have to watch a show through a fixed schedule. The regulatory environment for free-to-air television in Australia continues to change. In 2012, the Convergence Review highlighted the need for diversity in media and more Australian content (ABC News 2012). With digital and primary channels, it allows broadcasters the flexibility to provide more Australian content. (Cosgrove, Schaffer Horlin 2013) Through digital technologies, viewers can watch ‘live’ broadcast shows like Formula-1 racing, AFL, English Premier League or Australian Open Tennis. In most networks, it also allows viewers to have video-on-demand in which the viewer can select the movies at their own convenience. Viewers can also use time-shifting features in their set-top to skip the advertisements if they would like to. Thus, with superior content and rapid advancement in technology, TV providers and networks can create more value to the TV consumers (Maurer, Emmanuel Parker 2013). Consumers will now spend more hours watching TV and be willing to spend more money in subscription or video-on-demand fees. Enhancing user experiences TV has advanced tremendously in recent years because of digital technologies advancement. From traditional black and white or colour TV, it now has features like high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Dolby surround effects to 3D technology offering real-life effects to viewers. In addition, in the digital era, TV has provided more connectivity with other devices such as Nintendo wii or Xbox 360 game machine, Internet access for online games, music and many more. Many of these devices provide multi-user games that allow family members to enjoy playing the games in the living room together. Imagine the effects on family bonding when parents and their children can enjoy a game of tennis for several hours in front of the television in the living room. Through technologies, TV has created a ‘cocooning impulse’ (Tryon 2012, p. 291) that unite families and brings them together (Cosgrove, Schaffer Horlin 2013), creating bonding and harmony in the family. User experiences are also enhanced through the superior content delivery through digital technologies. Movies are more readily available in household TV through Pay TV or Subscription TV options. TV drama series like ‘Serangoon’ made by Australian TV or Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’ are some examples where these sitcoms series which are made for television (Mundell 2013) have created a ‘glueing’ effects on user experiences to the TV. Technologies like video-on-demand and built-in program recorders of TV show allows time-shifting, thus watching TV becomes a ‘pleasure and a treat’ for housewives (Venkatraman 2013). Statistics have also shown that users are now more than doubled spending time watching time-shifted TV using their DVR (digital video recorder) (Madison 2012). Interactive TV also allows viewers to interact with other viewers through polls, chats, online shopping or voting. 3D technology in TV has now experienced a worldwide resurgence together with high definition video capability and superior sound quality standards. It also brought about a drastic change in television viewing, creating vibrant three dimension and captivating real life effects on the viewers. This has created a ‘3D revolution’ (Uniyal 2012) in the user experiences watching TV at home and not only in cinemas. Technological innovations in 3D technology for TV offer a more interactive television user experience through captivating user interfaces like 3D animations or real-time interaction with online apps like Facebook and Twitter (Connected Media World 2013). Platform mobility Traditional scheduled television broadcasts and viewing through receive-only television sets have been increasingly supplanted by digital technologies offering viewer engagement and convenience through video-on-demand, viewing of television programs across a multitude of devices such as smart mobile phones, Apple iPad tablets, Smart Internet-Ready Television, and sophisticated digital set-top boxes provided by cable and internet television operators. As pointed out by Sterne, people can spend many hours of their time watching specific programs using their mobile devices and still not realizing and thinking of themselves ‘as watching television’ (Sterne 2012). Tyron defines â€Å"platform mobility† as the â€Å"idea that films and television shows can move seamlessly from one device to another with minimal interruption† (Tyron 2012). He also noted that digital delivery technologies allowed workers and families with hectic schedules, the ability to watch television programs ‘wherever and whenever they would like’ (Tyron 2012). This provides them the individual and personalized experiences that cater to their own tastes and needs, enhancing the overall compelling user viewing experiences. Tyron (2012) further argues that the viewer empowerment through digital technologies has an overarching impact on viewer engagement as more mobile devices like iPad tablets, laptops and smartphones can provide the platform mobility to the users. Members of the family can watch different or same television program in different places within the house. This also empowered individual viewer to access to a wide range of choice selection like viewing on-demand movies on personal mobile device, online chat using social media applications such as Twitter and Facebook or speaking with their friends on their mobile phones while watching a sport game. Platform mobility also allows producers like Warner to sell their films through this mode of digital delivery to viewers who can purchase them via iPhone apps. Viewers can choose to view their favorite movies as and when they would like, in the living room or on a bus. Thus it can be said that the resurgence of TV as a home for â€Å"quality† entertainment can be partly attributed to demand spawned by viewers’ mobile and digital era lifestyles, and their desire to be an engaged viewer instead of being a passive one. Conclusion In conclusion, it is apparent that digital technologies will continue to remain a dominant force in the television industry as a home for ‘quality’ entertainment. TV network services providers continue to capitalize on the advancement of the digital technologies so as to explore and offer more innovative and value-add services to TV subscribers. Advancement in the Internet or other media delivery channels like satellite, broadcast via cable, allows service providers to increase their revenue streams by offering more superior content and options and enhancing user experiences by making use of newer technology like 3D. Platform mobility remains the focus of the future research in the digital technologies in the TV industry. This is because of the ever changing lifestyles and demanding needs of the younger generation for more contents and mobility. Hence, we will not see the demise of the television but rather a revolution that television plays an important part in the home for quality entertainment, through the digital technologies; and it continues to provide intrinsic value in family bonding. References ABC News 2012, ‘Government releases convergence review’, viewed 7 June 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-30/govt-releases-convergence-review/3980316>. Cosgrove, C, Schaffer, B Horlin, S 2013, ‘Free-to-air television’, PWC Outlook: Australian Entertainment Media, viewed 7 June 2014, https://outlook2013.ezimerchant.com/category31_1.htm>. Connected Media World 2013, ‘The evolution of the TV User Experience’, viewed 7 June 2014, http://www.connectedmediaworld.com/NewsArticle.aspx?ArticleID=c73b0e36-43ca-4a84-93be-835f4bfe222e>. Madison, K.S 2012, ‘2012 State of media’, Chicago: KSCMedia Madison, K.S 2013, ‘2013 State of media’, Chicago: KSCMedia Maurer, D, Emmanuel, R Parker, A 2013, ‘Subscription television’, PWC Outlook: Australian Entertainment Media, viewed 7 June 2014, https://outlook2013.ezimerchant.com/category38_1.htm>. Mundell, I 2013, ‘Smallscreen fare makes a big splash’, Variety, viewed 2 June 2014, http://variety.com/2013/film/news/smallscreen-fare-makes-a-big-splash-1118064535/>. Nielsen 2011, ‘The cross-platform report’, State of The Media, pp. 2-10. Smith, S.E. 2012, ‘Who is HBO’s Girls for?’, Global Comment, viewed 7 June 2014, http://globalcomment.com/who-is-hbos-girls-for/#>. Sterne, J 2012, ‘Formatted to fit your screen’, FlowTV, vol. 15, no. 5, http://flowtv.org/2012/01/formatted-to-fit-your-screen/>. Tyron, C 2012, ‘’Make any room your TV room’: digital delivery and media mobility’, Autumn, 53(3), pp. 286-300. Uniyal, D 2012, ‘3D Technology: Shaping the future of entertainment’, Journal of Mass Communication, 10(1), pp. 50-55. Venkatraman, M 2013, ‘Consuming digital technologies and making home’, Journal of Business Research, Issue 66, p. 2 1

Market Growth And Competitive Positioning Growth Strategies

Market Growth And Competitive Positioning Growth Strategies Nobody plans to fail but fails to plan. Marketing Planning is the first and foremost activity that a company should perform before embarking on a mission such as launching a new product into the market or revamp of existing product line. Not just in the case of new product launch, but also marketing planning provides a strategic direction to the company in terms of increasing the market share, building brand value and thus obtain increased revenues. 1.1 SOSTAC Model SOSTAC is a renowned model in marketing planning which is widely followed across several industries. It is also claimed to be the most powerful technique of in helping the companies to plan their marketing process. SOSTAC stands for Situation Analysis, Objective Analysis, Strategy, Tactics, Action and Control. Situation Analysis helps visualize the internal and external factors that affect the company which prevail at a given time. This analysis mainly comprises of employing SWOT technique to understand the situation at company level and also PESTLE technique to analyse the global environment which impacts the industry in which the company is operating. By carrying out this analysis, the company can get a snap shot of the current situation which will help the managers to take necessary actions to take advantage of the situation. Elements such as performance, competitors and customers are analysed in this stage. Objective Analysis will provide a clear path to the company in terms of the revenues and sales targets that should be achieved in a stipulated time limit to obtain the desired market share. The main outcome of this analysis is to shape the marketing strategy for the company based on the corporate strategy as to what the company aims to achieve within a time frame. Strategies part of SOSTAC mentions about the need for segmenting the target market and then specifically design the products based on the needs of the customers in each segment. In this stage, the company will go onto design its individual strategies on segmentation, positioning and competitiveness to place the product in a safe position in the market. Strategy emphasizes on the need for designing a USP for each of the product to give it a competitive edge over the existing products in the market. Tactics will help design the 4Ps of marketing by carefully selecting the right mix in order to achieve optimum results in terms of sales. Tactics also inform about the different ways of promotional activities and communication techniques that a company should take up in order to get the attention and create awareness among the target market. Actions refer to the action plan the company should have about who does what and how the strategies are executed. The focus of the company at this stage will be budgets, staff and risk analysis. The allocation of resources and work break down structure are defined in this stage as well as key performance indicators are determined along with the bench marks that are supposed to be achieved. Control deals with the measurement and monitoring of the effectiveness of the strategies that are followed. It mainly revolves around the measurement of performance in each communication channel in terms of ROI (Return On Investment) for the promotional activities. 2. Importance and Scope of Internal and External Auditing Marketing audit forms the base of marketing planning. It is divided into two types, internal and external auditing. The aim of any auditing activity is to review the effectiveness of existing processes and suggest necessary improvements to be made. Internal auditing helps to analyse the strengths and weaknesses within the company and the way the company is performing whereas external auditing helps to assess the external environment that will affect the operations of the company. A wide range of tools are used to carryout auditing such as SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, Porters Five Forces analysis etc. Both the audits together give a multi-faceted approach to look at the companys operations and the need for improvements. The aim of internal audit is to measure the performance of the resources and processes in the company and find the gaps where improvements are required. The main focus of this audit is to review the marketing process and quantify its effectiveness in terms of achieving the sales targets and objectives. Aspects like distribution channels, communication channels, customer interaction, product price and product design are analysed in the internal auditing. The aim of external auditing is to provide an Outside-in view to the company by analysing the external factors such as the competition in market place, the consumer buying behaviour and the trends in market. This assessment will enable the company to predict the dynamics of the market and take necessary actions to sustain and grow within the industry. The global environment of the industry in which the company operates will be analysed by looking at the factors like polity, economy, society, technology, legislature and environment which have a direct impact on the business. This analysis will be helpful in redesigning the business strategy to match with the environment. 3. SWOT and TOWS Process SWOT analysis is carried out at the organizational level to observe the internal capabilities of a company and match them against threats and opportunities presented by outside factors such as competition. It is one of the simplest techniques to conduct internal audit. The main focus of SWOT technique is to analyse the internal weaknesses that can be converted to strengths as well as work on strengths to take advantage of the external opportunities in the market. The limitation of SWOT analysis as tool for designing strategy is that it will not include all the necessary dimensions to be analysed for providing a robust strategy. In order to overcome the limitations of SWOT, Weihrich (1982) developed TOWS technique that will help the managers to go a step further in analysing the state of the company at a given time. TOWS framework is considered to be a situational planning tool that provides more number of parameters to analyse and give a holistic view for designing the strategy of a company. The technique of TOWS analysis is to compare each strength and weakness to each opportunity and threat in the form of a matrix which provides a more comprehensive solution for devising the strategy than in a traditional planning process like SWOT. TOWS technique involves 4 types of analyses as follows: SO: Strengths- to-Opportunities ST: Strengths-to-Threats WO: Weaknesses-to-Opportunities WT: Weaknesses-to-Threats For all the four analyses mentioned above, a matrix can be designed to map each element with the other. The following figure will describe a typical Strengths-to-Opportunities matrix based on the strengths and Opportunities which originated from SWOT analysis: SO Matrix Strength1 Strength2 Strength3 Opportunity1 Opportunity2 Opportunity3 TOWS analysis has to be conducted in succession to SWOT where initially the strengths and weaknesses of the organization are identified. Once the list of SWOT elements is obtained, the organization should then develop strategy to attack the external opportunities with help of its strengths and try to convert the threats into opportunities. This process is done in the TOWS analysis which gives a rounded perspective for the managers to tally and improve every row element in the TOWS matrix against every column element as shown above. Hence both SWOT and TOWS analyses complement each other to inform strategy for an organization. 4. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Strategy formulation is the key to success for launching a product into the market. The foremost objective of any strategy is to give a sustainable competitive advantage to the product over its rivals in the market (Barney, 1991). According to Kotler, the essential elements of any organisations marketing strategy are segmentation, targeting and positioning. These three processes are collectively and shortly termed as STP. Segmentation Dividing the target market into specific groups based on the demographics, habits and location is called Segmentation. The target market is grouped based on the factors like age, sex, annual house hold income etc. This process is very crucial in forming the market strategy because it will inform both product development team and the marketing team on what products to be designed and how they can be promoted to the different sections of people respectively. Effective marketing is all about making what you can sell, but not selling what you can make (Ali, 2001). For example a simple segmentation of market for a Sports Footwear manufacturer can be based on the following factors: 1) Type of Sport 2) Percentage of Men, Women and Children interested in different sports Based on the above segmentation, the company would then decide on the type and quantity of footwear to be manufactured as well as how to market it to the target customers in order to achieve the sales objectives. Therefore Segmentation directly informs the marketing strategy in the initial stages of formulation. Targeting Once the segmentation of customers is over, then the company has to devise strategies to target the identified segments by designing the products that closely match their requirements which could generate optimum sales revenue. Targeting is to identify the target customers who will potentially buy the product when it is out in the market. This process involves identifying three target groups which is mostly common to many industries, the niche customers group, mass customers group and the differentiated customers group. Niche Market: The products designed for this segment are very specific and tailor-made in order to suit the particular requirements of very few customers who are ready to pay premium prices. In Niche markets the volume of sales is very low but sales revenue is high due to premium prices for the heavily customized products. Example: Equipment manufacturer for military needs. Mass/ Undifferentiated Market: In this market products are designed to suit the generic needs of customers rather than meeting specific requirement of each customer. The prices for this target market are relatively low and the companies can achieve economies of scale by doing batch production. In this segment the volume of sales are high and the revenues depend on the volume of sales. Example: Fast moving consumer goods like cosmetics etc. Selective/ Differentiated Market: The needs of customers in this target market are similar but specific. The main reason for companies to address this market is to enhance customer experience and thus grab a significant market share by surpassing the competitors. Product price is slightly higher but is complemented by customer satisfaction hence resulting in increased market share and sales revenues. Example: Apple iPhone can be a classical example of differentiated target market product as it provides enhanced user satisfaction at a premium price. Positioning Any company thinking of introducing a new product into the market should create a launch pad for it as to define the position where it fits into the existing space in the market place. This act of identifying and defining the position can be called Market Positioning. In this process, the main focus is on the quality and the price of the product to be launched. Therefore positioning process should start by identifying the gap in the market place where there is less density of competitors and bleak possibility for new entrants to occupy that position. Market positioning mainly depends on which type of competition is prevailing in the industry (Monopoly, oligopoly, Perfect competition). The below figure demonstrates a situation where there are 3 existing players and a possible market gap where the 4th player, a new entrant can position itself: HIGH PRICE C DHIGH LOW A BQUALITY QUALITY LOW PRICE In the above market place, each of the products are in a different position where the new product D has entered into the space of providing high quality products at a price less than premium. This space was earlier empty as all the other three players are not providing as much quality at the price slightly higher and lower than that of D. Therefore it can be understood that product D can capture a significant market share if right marketing campaigns are adopted. 5. Strategies for Market Growth and Competitive Positioning Growth strategy After successfully launching the product in the market the companies should then look at enhancing the growth prospects for the product by designing appropriate growth strategies. Growth in terms of market share as well as sales revenues. There are various growth strategies like mergers and acquisitions, franchises, strategic collaborations and outsourcing. Ansoffs Matrix explains the various market growth strategies in detail which will help the organizations to select the appropriate strategy that best fits their case. Depending on whether the product and market whether they are new or existing a company should adopt a growth strategy. Ansoffs matrix is a tool whose output will provide a set of growth strategies which can be followed. Figure: Ansoffs Product-Market Growth Matrix Existing Product New Products Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification Existing Market New Markets To understand the market growth strategy in more detail, consider the example of a company which wants to explore a new market by exporting its existing products to another country. Let us say, a UK car manufacturer finds a potential growth factor in Indian market, the strategy would be market development. In the process of Market Development the company should segment its target customers based on the socio-economic sections in the context of India and build an entirely new distribution channel in to sell the cars. The company should also change the pricing structure according to the prevailing competitive prices. Likewise, depending on the type of market and the type of product broadly four growth strategies can be adopted as shown in the figure. 6. Need for differentiated marketing mix Marketing mix essentially deals with the 4 crucial elements which form the core of marketing any product. The 4Ps stand for Product, Price, Place and Promotion. With the following example all the four Ps are explained: Example: Fashion Clothing for Teenagers Vs Formal Clothing for Older middle class Product: A right product has to be designed that exactly meets the needs of the target customers. Target customers in this case are teenagers and older people in middle income group. In UK the market size for clothing is dominated by Women with more than half of the total value of the sector (KeyNote, 2009). By value womens garments contribute for  £19.1 bn whereas Men and Childrens garments are at  £11 bn and  £7bn respectively of the total market value of  £37.2bn as of 2008. The variety of clothes for women is huge and for simplicity purposes only Mens clothing is discussed in this context. Teenagers: Population in the age of 15 to 19 can be treated as active teenagers. Teenagers generally like to be trendy and fashionable. So the product for this target market should reflect the same in its design and appearance. Trousers: Teenagers prefer Jeans for trousers with various styles according to their tastes like boot-cut, low waist, straight fit. T-Shirts: Teenagers prefer round-necks over collar T-shirts Older Middle class: The average annual house hold income in UK per capita is  £14,921 as of 2008 (KeyNote, 2009). The target customers, older middle class population in UK belong to the social grade B based on the classification of the Office of National Statistics. According to the buying behaviour based on age, sex and social grade the penetration is observed to be more in the clothing accessories like rain coats, jackets and polo shirts in this segment (Older Middle class). Hence the products designed for this segment should take the above trend into consideration for selling the clothes easily. Price: Price is the most crucial factor that can influence consumer buying decision and hence should be fixed by considering the factors like right price for right quality and the competitive prices in the market for similar products. In the context of clothing, most of the brands have a varying price structure based on the style and the quality of material used for production. For example, jackets made of cashmere wool are costlier than other ordinary wool and there would not be much price difference in this segment across the brands. Price for natural fibre-made clothes is always premium while there is a great variation in the prices of clothes made up of man-made fibre like Viscose, Acrylic, Polyester and Poly Propelene. As the investment in designing fashionable out fits is high, the price for clothes made for teenagers is higher than that of the clothes designed for Older people. Prices Jeans: Price varies depending on the style Boot-cut:  £15 to  £30 Narrow-fit:  £20 to  £40 Formal Trousers:  £10 and above depending on the fabric T-shirts: Price varies depending on the material Cotton round-neck:  £10 Cotton Polo:  £15 and above Polyester round-neck: From  £6 onwards Place: Place is where the product is available for the customers to purchase. The places might range from a corner shop to that of high street stores and large wholesale stores. There were around 3,530 enterprises in UK that are involved in clothes manufacturing and there is a strong distribution network in UK for clothing manufacturers (KeyNote, 2010). Clothes can be made available at a variety of stores across all the regions in UK. The places which sell clothes in UK are Super markets, sports shops, department stores, independent stores, mail orders and online stores. Teenagers: As the clothes made for this segment are fashionable, they need to be located in an eye-catching area like high street retailers and sports stores. However a large number of clothes can also be sold through online retailer like Amazon which is quite popular among internet users. Older Middle Class: The major place for sales in this segment would be large supermarkets. Older singles and couples visit large supermarkets for grocery and household needs quite often, therefore clothes in this segment might find right place in super markets for large volume of sales. Promotion Promotion is about communicating the brand and the products to the customer who will then make a buying decision. Without the awareness of the brand, the customer would hardly make a purchase. Therefore quantity of sales is directly proportional to the effectiveness of the promotional activity. There are different ways of promoting a product. Advertisement, brand endorsements, email marketing, discount offers like buy 2 for 1, pre-launch and post-launch promotional campaign etc. are some of the commonly adopted promotional techniques. Teenagers watch television quite regularly and hence it is a good medium to advertise. On the other hand, fashion magazines and internet are also very popular among teenagers and advertising on these might attract them to buy the clothes. Older people might not be as good in using the internet as computers are modern and they might feel it difficult to adopt. However television and magazine advertisements might boost up the sales for the clothes in this segment.

Reality vs. Illusion in Othello :: Othello essays

Reality vs. Illusion in Othello      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reality and illusions are two words which may be confused among people reading or learning about this sort of topic.   Reality is what is real or true and should not be misinterpreted with illusion, which is fake or something a person believes is real.   Often people can put an illusion in some ones head and through words, can manipulate how they think, which affects the person's judgment on what is reality and what is an illusion.   Illusions can be mistaken as being reality and very often there is a person making another believe in the illusion through his/her actions and speech.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play "Othello" has the greatest example of this and is easily understood through this example.   Iago is a very intelligent man who uses peoples weaknesses to his advantage.   Iago has got to be one of Shakespeare's most evil characters and he is a character who stands out among all of the Shakespeare characters.   Iago uses his skill to gain revenge and take advantage of people who he believes deserves this sort of punishment.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Iago uses this revenge in many occasions, one in particular he talks to Othello about Casssio and makes Othello believe that Cassio is sleeping with Othello's wife Desdemona.   This is definitely not the truth but Iago talks in such a way that Othello has no choice but to believe him.   Iago also plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's cabin knowing that Othello will eventually find it.   Iago uses persuasive words to make Othello believe these illusions and as an extra plan Iago is making Othello trust in him because only a good friend would break this kind of news to another friend.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reality and illusion are often mixed up as in Othello.   People have to look out for the situations such as this.   It is hard to believe such opposite words with opposite meanings could be mixed up so easily if a person actually puts some intelligent thinking behind a plan like this.   To give credit where credit is due, Iago is very intelligent and he knows how to get his way.   

Essay --

Video games have shaped this country in many ways, in such a way that no other product has even came close. This accomplishment would not have been met if it were not for its many different types games there are for sale. If someone were to ask someone that was from an era where video games were popular and you asked them about games from the old age and the new age, that gien person will either know what you are talking about and/or had the experience to play that game. That is how popular video games are in this country. There are many different types of videos games that consumers can choose from. When someone walks into a video game store, or anywhere that sells video games, they are bombarded with huge selections of games. These games vary from action games, war games, tracing games, and even role- playing games. The list of possible selections could go on and on. But, the three best types of games that have been consistently popular have been the third-person video games, first -person video games, and arcade games. Though there are many different types of video games that are out on the market, each one gives the user its own unique experience. A type of video games that I have had a lot of experience with are first person shooter games. A first person video game makes looks through the perspective of the character. This means that the only object seen is the gun or whatever object the character has in hand. Some examples of this type of game include: Call of Duty, Borderlands, Halo, and many others. Usually, these types of games makes someone feel like they are apart of the story line and really gives a feeling that he/she is right there in the action and gives players a cool outlook on the game while playing. This experien... ...s of the games and have at least played arcade games a few times. This just shows that arcade games are still popular among the children and teen population today, and still very well known and appreciated by the adult population. There are many types of video games out there for the consumer to buy and enjoy in their free time. The types of games that I thought were the most popular were first-person, third-person, and arcade games. These sought- after games have been both popular and popular throughout the world. The consumer can see this by how the demand for these types of games has been constant for a number of years. It is up to the consumer to make up their opinion if a game is good or bad. I believe everyone should give these games a chance, because they are not only the best sellers of this video game era, but are in my opinion the most enjoyable to play.

Recent Changes in Monetary Policy in Pakistan

{text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} PAKISTAN ECONOMIC POLICY {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} DATED: *15TH* DECEMBER 2009 {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Submitted To: {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Sir Ashraf Janjua {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Submitted By: {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Nimra Anjum {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Rakana Payam {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} *Sheema H*asanat {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} ACKNOWLEDGEMENT {text:toc-mark-end} We would like to give our special thanks to our Pakistan Economic Policy teacher, Mr. Ashraf Janjua for giving us this opportunity to work and have an insight of the our country’s economy, also to let us interpret our learning in a real situation. We thank him for the assist ance through out this project. Table of Contents MONETARY POLICY Monetary policy is the regulation of volume of money supply, by the central bank in order to achieve relative price stability. If the economy is heating up then the Central bank can increase the bank rate or the reserve requirement. Whereas when there is recession, then the bank rate is reduced. Instruments for the Regulation of Money Supply Open market operations. Cash Reserve requirement Statutory Liquidity Ratio Credit Ceiling Open market operations: It is the buying and selling of government securities. If the M. S is high then the securities are sold so that people buy it and money goes to the SBP and if the M. S is low then you buy securities in this way Money supply increases. Cash Reserve Requirement: It is a requirement in which all the commercial bank have to keep a percentage of cash with the SBP. Currently, it is around 7%. Statutory Liquidity Ratio: It is a requirement in which each bank has to maintain a certain reserve requirement to strengthen their liquidity position. Credit Ceiling: It is the fixation of the upper limit; quotas are assigned to different banks. Components of Money text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Mo is the resource money and comprises of: {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Currency in circulation {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Bank’s Reserve with the SBP {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Other deposits with the SBP {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Cash in the tills of the Bank {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} M1= Currency in circulation + Demand deposits with scheduled banks + other deposits with SBP. text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} M2=M1 + time deposits with the scheduled banks. Technically, M2 is called Monetary Assets & M1 is called Money Supply. {text:toc-mark-end} How is Money Created? {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} There are three sources of creating money: {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Net Credit creation by the central Bank (SBP): Credit extended during a period minus recoveries. {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} 1 and 2 are called net Bank credit. Credit is always on the Asset side of Banks. When this credit is used by issuing cheques end up with bank (either the same bank/or any other bank). These cheques are deposits, and are on the liability side of the banks. These deposits/liabilities become money/monetary Assets, and are equal to the credit created by the Banking System. {text:toc-mark-end} How Much Money can be Created? {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} The share of currency in circulation in Mo and, {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Level of cash in tills and commercial banks reserves with SBP as a % of Mo. text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} The higher the value of either of these amounts with respect to M2, the lower the Money Multiplier. {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} 1/c + r (1-c) {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} C= the ratio b/w CIC + other deposits with SBP and M2 {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} R= Cash assets of Scheduled banks: Ca sh in tills of commercial banks + reserves with SBP. {text:toc-mark-end} DOES MONETARY POLICY PLAY EFFECTIVE ROLE IN CONTROLLING INFLATION IN PAKISTAN? Introduction text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Inflation is politically costly for the government (Haque and {text:toc-mark-end} Salient Features of the Monetary Policy {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Instruments of Monetary Policy {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Cash Reserve Requirement {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} {draw:frame} {text:toc-mark-end} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Discount Rate {text:toc-mark-end} {draw:frame} INFLATION TREND IN PAKISTAN (2004-2009) According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the core inflation in the year (2005) was 8. per cent which has almost doubled since the last year (2004) in which the inflation rate was 3. 8 per cent. During this year the non-governmental borrowing increased by 30 per cent. The two main reasons for high inflation during this peri od were because of excessive government borrowings and the price of wheat. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, government estimated that the inflation rate in the next year would range between 7. 7 and 8. 3 per cent. During the year (2006) there was a decrease in the total inflation of the country (general and food) from 9. 3 to 7. 9 per cent and 12. 5 per cent to 6. per cent respectively. The government took several major steps to bring the inflation down during this year as well by tightening the monetary policy and augmenting the supply of essential commodities through liberalization of import regime. As a result the general inflation declined from 9. 3 per cent (2004-05) to 7. 9 per cent (2005-06) & the non-governmental borrowing in the year 2006 became 23 per cent. During 2007 the core inflation reduced from 7. 5 per cent to 5. 9 per cent, due to tight monetary policy. According to the SBP the food inflation increased from 6. 9 per cent (2006) to 10. per cent (2007) becaus e of supply side constraints in which the prices of some key food staples (including wheat, rice, vegetable, ghee etc,) were increased. Where as comparatively the non-food prices grew at a slower pace since last year and the general Inflation (CPI) declined from 7. 9 per cent to 7. 8 per cent. The inflationary trend in the food prices during the year (2008) increased to 17. 6 per cent as compared to the last year in which the food inflation was 10. 3 per cent, affecting people living standards of low and fixed income groups. The non-food inflation had the same increasing trend as in the year (2007), which was 6. per cent and during the year (2008) was 7. 9 per cent. Although the core inflation was reduced to 5. 9 per cent but during this year it went back to 8. 4 per cent because of the global increase in some commodity, higher utility tariff and by local supply and demand driven prices. Inflation during (2008) indicates that the prices of a few commodities (18) essential food items registered sharp increase particularly during the second half of the fiscal year (2008). Other significant contributors to (2008) upward inflationary trend included house rent, which is the index that measures the cost of construction in Pakistan, racing to 11. per cent by April (2008). The current fiscal year commenced with ease in headlines compared to the same month of previous fiscal year. The consumer price inflation annually was 11. 2 per cent during July (2009) as against 24. 3 per cent in July (2008) and 13. 1 per cent in the previous month. A major increase in the core inflation was witnessed in July (2009) of 17. 6 per cent as compared to July (2008) 8. 4 per cent. The food inflation increased by 6. 1 per cent during this fiscal year. The main reason for this high inflation was due to low export growth relative to import, high oil prices and inadequate foreign apital inflow. Conclusively, one can say that inflation adversely affects the overall economic growth, the financ ial sector development and exploit the vulnerable poor segments of the population. Inflation also decreases the real income and induces uncertainty. Considering such undesirable impacts of inflation on the economy, there's a consensus among the world leading central banks that the price stability is going to be the prime objective of monetary policy and the central banks are committed to lower the inflation in the economy. Hence the State bank of Pakistan should adopt inflation as their main focus of monetary policy, by targeting inflation explicitly or implicitly as and when required. EFFECTIVENESS OF MONETARY POLICY STATEMENT IN PAKISTAN Economic policies aim to increase the welfare of the general public and monetary policy supports this broad objective by focusing its efforts to promote price stability. Embedded in this objective is the belief that persistent inflation would compromise the long term economic prospects of the country. The objective of monetary policy in Pakistan, as laid down in the SBP Act of 1956, is to achieve the targets of inflation and growth set annually by the government. In pursuit of this mandate, SBP formulates the country's monetary policy that is consistent with these announced targets. In my remarks today, I plan to provide perspective on: First, why central banks focus on price stability? Second, how the monetary policy transmission mechanisms work? Third, what are the principal features of Pakistan's monetary policy framework? Fourth, selected thoughts on effectiveness of Pakistan's monetary policy framework Finally, what measures are needed to improve the effectiveness of the monetary policy framework in Pakistan? These questions have been a subject of much debate lately, as monetary tightening – an inevitable policy response for regaining macroeconomic stability – has aroused anxiety but better public understanding of this question will help them to appreciate central bank's monetary policy stance. Why Focus on Price Stability? Monetary Policy Transmission Mechanism The monetary transmission mechanism refers to a process through which monetary policy decisions affect the level of economic activity in the economy and the inflation rate. Understanding the transmission mechanism of monetary policy is crucial for appropriate design and efficient conduct of monetary policy. As monetary policy actions affect policy variables with a considerable lag and with high degree of variability and uncertainty, it is important to predict the possible impact and extent of monetary policy actions on the real variables. Thus, by its very nature, monetary policy tends to be forward-looking. It is also important to know which transmission channels are more effective in terms of transmitting changes in monetary policy actions to ultimate policy goals. Since various financial sector developments particularly regarding introduction of new financial products, technological changes, institutional strengthening, and expectations about future policy, etc can potentially change economic effects of the monetary policy measures, there is a need to regularly update, empirically test and reinterpret monetary policy transmission channels. The impact of monetary policy is perceived to transmit in to the real economic activity through five channels. †¢ The first channel and most widely studied and understood channel of monetary policy transmission relies on the link between changes in the short-term nominal interest rate (induced by changes in the policy rate) and the long-term real interest rate that ultimately affect components of aggregate demand such as consumption and investment in an economy. As such, it is the changes in the long-term real interest rates that have its impact on aggregate consumption, business investment and other components of aggregate demand. †¢ The second channel, known as the credit channel, involves changes in monetary policy that not only affects the ability of firms to borrow money (by affecting their net worth) but also affects the ability of banks to lend money. The strength of this channel depends on the degree to which the central bank has allowed banks to extend loans and the dependence of borrowers on bank loans. These factors are clearly influenced by the structure of the financial system and its regulation. †¢ The third channel of monetary policy transmission focuses on asset prices (other than the interest rate) such as the market value of securities (bonds and equities) and prices of real estate. A policy-induced change in the nominal interest rate affects the price of bonds and stocks that may change the market value of firms relative to the replacement cost of capital, affecting investment. Moreover, a change in the prices of securities entails a change in wealth which can affect the consumption of households. Fourth, a policy-induced change in the domestic interest rate also affects the exchange rate that in turn affects the foreign financial flows, net exports and thus aggregate demand. The strength of the exchange rate channel depends on the responsiveness of the exchange rate to monetary shocks, the degree of openness of the economy, sensitivity of foreign private inflows and n et exports to exchange rate variations, and the net worth of firms and thus their borrowing capacity if they have taken exposure to foreign currency. Moreover, exchange rate changes lead to changes in the domestic price of imported consumption goods and imported production inputs affecting inflation directly. †¢ Since expectations influence the inflation dynamics, there is a fifth channel that is based on the economic agents' expectations of the future prospects of the economy and likely stance of the monetary policy. According to this ‘expectations channel', most economic variables are determined in a forward-looking manner and are affected by the expected onetary policy actions. Thus, a consistent, credible, and transparent monetary policy can potentially affect the likely path of the economy by simply affecting expectations. Monetary Policy Framework in Pakistan Considering the economic and financial market structure in Pakistan, SBP has for sometime pursued a monetary targeting regime with broad money supply (M2) as a nominal anchor to achieve the objective of controlling inflation without any prejudice to growth. The process of monetary policy formulation usually begins at the start of the fiscal year when SBP sets a target of M2 growth in line with government's targets of inflation and growth (usually in the month of May) and an estimation of money demand in the economy. The basic idea is to keep the money supply close to its estimated demand level, as both a significant excess and a shortfall may lead to considerable deviations in actual outcomes of inflation and real GDP growth from their respective targets. Underlying this framework are two strong assumptions: first, there is a strong and reliable relationship between the goal variable (inflation or real GDP) and M2; and second, the SBP can control growth in M2. While containing the M2 growth close to its target level is the key consideration in the current monetary framework, the composition of the money supply does matter and at times requires policy actions even if these actions lead to a deviation in monetary growth from its target level. To understand this point, it is necessary to know the major components of money supply and their relative importance. Net foreign Assets (NFA) and Net Domestic Assets (NDA) of the banking system are the two major components of money supply. The NFA is the excess of foreign exchange inflows over outflows to the banking system, or in other terms it is a reflection of underlying trends in the country's external Balance of Payment (BoP) position. It is estimated by the projected values of all major external transactions such trade, workers' remittances; debt servicing, foreign investment, and debt flows etc. The NDA of the banking system, which primarily consists of credit to the government and the private sector, reflects changes in the fiscal and the real sectors of the economy, If is estimated as a residual of M2 and the NFA. Further break-up of NDA is estimated on the basis of projected credit needs of the government and the private sector. NOW coming to the importance of these components of the money supply, depletion in NFA is generally considered as an unhealthy development. Sharp NFA depletion reflects worsening BOP position and a pressure on exchange rate. In such a case, a higher NDA growth, though helps in expanding M2 to reach ifs target level, may further deteriorate external accounts, sharper depreciation of local currency, and higher depletion of country's foreign exchange reserves. Although since FY07, only the indicative M2 growth target is being announced, SBP also takes into consideration the causative factors for monetary expansion while pursing this target. Considering the changes in monetary aggregates and other economic variables, the changes in monetary policy are signaled through adjustments in the policy discount rate (3-day repo rate). Further, the changes in the policy rate are complemented by appropriate liquidity management mainly through Open Market Operations (OMOs) and if required changes in the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) and Statutory Liquid Reserve requirement (SLR) are also made. † Significance of various channels that transmit the monetary policy shocks in Pakistan to the real economy has been analyzed by few economists. Ahmad et al. (2005) found that credit channel is the most ‘important conduit for transmitting monetary policy actions to the real economic activity. Evidence confirms transmission through the active asset price channel and exchange rate channel. According to this study, monetary policy shocks impact real output after a lag of 7 to 11 months. Tasneem and Waheed (2006), on the other hand, investigated whether different sectors of the economy respond differently to monetary shocks. The presence of sector wise differences in the monetary transmission mechanism has profound implications for macroeconomic management as the central bank then has to weigh the varying consequences of its actions on different sectors. Investigating the transmission of changes in interest rate to seven sub sectors of the economy, the authors found evidence supporting sector-specific variation in the real effects of monetary policy. They found that the interest rate shock on manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and finance and insurance sectors transmit after a lag of 6 to 12 months. On the other hand, monetary policy shocks have negligible impact on agriculture, mining and quarrying, construction and ownership of dwelling sectors. Generally, historical evidence does reflect that Pakistan has been a high inflation and high interest economy given its inherent structural weaknesses. The role and effectiveness of monetary policy appears more visible in the 2000s when financial sector reforms started bearing fruits in terms of a more market based money and foreign exchange markets. Entering the 21sf century, the loose monetary policy stance in the face of low inflation, low growth and low twin deficits, along with structural measures to open up the economy and alleviate some first round constraints, triggered the economy on a long-term growth trajectory of above 7 percent. Monetary policy stance was however altered as the inflationary pressures started to build up in 2005. At the end of the fiscal year, the economy, which had been showing sustained steady growth since FY01, registered a historically high level of growth (9 percent), average inflation rose sharply (9. percent) and the external current account balance turned into deficit (-1. 4 percent of GDP) Coinciding with these developments, the fiscal module started to show signs of stress as the fiscal balance was converted into a deficit and the stock of external debt and liabilities, which had been declining since FY00 after the Paris Club rescheduling, began increasing. These indicators largely capture t he high and growing aggregate demand in the economy on account of sustained increase in peoples' income. With the emerging domestic and global price pressures, SBP tightened its monetary policy after a prolonged gap of a few years. The efforts to rein-in inflation, however, proved less effective due to a rebound in international commodity prices and a rise in domestic food prices later on. The rise in the international commodity prices, particularly oil, exacerbated the fight against inflation. The international oil prices (Arabian Light) rose from US$27. 1 at end 2004 to US$50. 9 at end 2006, whereas international food prices rose by 24, 24 and 21 percent during 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. Realizing the complications of monetary management and adverse global and domestic economic developments, the implementation of SBP monetary policy during FY06 varied significantly from the preceding fiscal years. In addition to the rise in the policy rate, the central bank focused on the short-end of the yield curve, draining excess liquidity from the interbank money market and pushing up short-tenor rates. Consequently, not only did the overnight rates remain close to the discount rate through most of the year, the volatility in these rates also declined. These tight monetary conditions along with the Government's administrative measures to control food inflation helped in scaling down average inflation from 9. 3 percent in FY05 to 7. 9 percent in FY06, within the 8. 0 percent annual target. This was certainly an encouraging development, particularly as if was achieved without affecting economic growth as the real GDP growth remained strong at 6. 6 percent in FY06. Further Strengthening of Tight Monetary Policy For FY07, the government set an inflation target of 6. 5 percent. To achieve this, a further moderation in aggregate demand during FY07 was required as the core inflation witnessed a relatively smaller decline in FY06, indicating that demand-side inflationary pressures were strong. In this perspective, SBP further tightened its monetary policy in July 2006 raising the CRR and SLR for the scheduled banks; and its policy rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 9. 5 percent. Moreover, proactive liquidity management helped in transmitting the monetary tightening signals to key interest rates in the economy. For instance, the Karachi Inter Bank Offer Rate (KIBOR) of 6 months tenor increased from 9. 6 percent in June 2006 to 10. 02 percent at end-June 2007 and the banks' weighted average lending and deposits rates (on outstanding amount) increased by 0. 93 percentage points and 1. 1 percentage points, respectively, during FY07. In retrospect, it appears evident that monetary tightening in FY07 did not put any adverse impact on economic growth, as not only was the real GDP growth target of 7. 0 percent for FY07 was met, the growth was quite broad based. At the same time, the impact of the monetary tightening was most evident in the continued deceleration in core inflation during FY07. One measure of core inflation, the non-food non-energy CPI, continued its downtrend from YoY high of 7. 8 percent in October 2005, to 6. 3 percent at end-FY06, and to 5. 1 percent by the end of FY07. However, much of the gains from the tight monetary policy on overall CPI inflation were offset by the unexpected rise in food inflation. On the downside, however, broad money supply (M2) grew by 19. 3 percent during FY07, exceeding the annual target by 5. percentage points. Slippages in money supply growth largely stemmed from an expansion in NFA due to the higher than expected foreign exchange inflows. Equally stressful was the impact of Government borrowings from the central bank during the course of the year. The pressure from the fiscal account was due to mismatch in its external budgetary inflows and expenditures. With the privatization inflows and th e receipts from a sovereign debt offering at end-FY07, the Government managed to end the year with retirement of central bank borrowings, on the margin. By end-FYO7, SBP holdings of government papers were still around Rs 452 billion, despite a net retirement of Rs 56. 0 billion during the year. Another major aberration in FY07 emanated from the high level of SBP refinancing extended, for both working capital and long-term investment, to exporters. Aside from monetary management complexities, these schemes have been distorting the incentive structure in the economy. FY08 and Beginning of FY09: More Challenging FY08 was an exceptionally difficult year. The domestic macroeconomic and political vulnerabilities coupled with a very challenging global environment caused slippages in macroeconomic targets by a wide margin. After a relatively long period of macroeconomic stability and prosperity, the global economy faced multifarious challenges: (i) hit by the sub prime mortgage crisis in U. S in 2007, the international financial markets had been in turmoil, the impact of which was felt across markets and continents; (ii) rising global commodity prices, with crude oil and food staples prices skyrocketing; and (iii) a gradual slide in the U. S dollar against major currencies. Combination of these events induced a degree of recessionary tendencies and inflationary pressures across developed and developing countries. Policy-makers were gripped with the dual challenge of slowdown in growth and unprecedented rising inflationary pressures. Central bankers faced a demanding task of weighing the trade-off between growth and price stability. With the exception of few developed countries, most central banks showed a strong bias towards addressing the risk of inflation and responded with tightening of monetary policies. On the domestic front, the external current account deficit and fiscal deficit widened considerably to unsustainable level (8. 4 and 7. 4 percent of GDP). The subsidy payments worth Rs 407 billion by Government, which account for almost half of the fiscal deficit, shielded domestic consumers from high international POL and commodity prices and distorted the natural demand adjustment mechanism. While the government passed on price increase to consumers, the rising international oil and other importable prices continued to take a toll on the economy. Rising demand has cost the country dearly in terms of foreign exchange spent on importing large volumes of these commodities. Rising fiscal deficit and lower than required financing flows resulted in exceptional recourse of the Government to the highly inflationary central bank borrowing for financing deficit. At the same time the surge in imports persisted. As a result, inflation accelerated and its expectations strengthened due to pass through of international oil prices to the domestic market, increases in the electricity tariff and the general sales tax, and rising exchange rate depreciation. These developments resulted in a further rise in headline as well as core inflation (20 percent weighted trimmed measure) to 25 percent and 21. 7 percent respectively in October 2008. Considering the size of macroeconomic imbalances and the emerging inflationary pressures, SBP remained committed to achieve price stability over the medium term and thus had to launch steeper monetary tightening to tame the demand pressures and restore macroeconomic stability in FY09. SBP thus increased the policy rate from 13. 5 to 15%. What Needs to be Done to Improve the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy? Apart from taking policy measures to address the emerging challenges, SBP also introduced structural changes in the process of monetary policy formulation and conduct to make the monetary policy formulation and implementation more transparent, efficient, and effective. Specifically, during the last couple of years, SBP focused on †¢ Institutionalizing the process of policy formulation and conduct †¢ Stepping up movement towards a more market based credit allocation mechanism Developing its analytical and operational capacity †¢ Improving its capabilities to assess future developments to act proactively and †¢ Improving upon the communication of policy stance to the general public. However, the following areas need attention and are keys or effective monetary management. 1. Effectiveness of monetary and fiscal co-ordination would be helpful. Section 9A and 9B of the SBP Act (amended in 1994) art iculates the institutional mechanism for economic policy making and co-ordination and defines the ground rules for both the process and the policy making. However, the track record of the Monetary and Fiscal Policies Co-ordination Board (MFPCB), established in February 1994 that requires quarterly meetings of the SBP and the government, has been less than satisfactory. Furthermore, the sequencing of economy-wide projections is done in isolation of the budget and monetary policy making process, and the budget making process has not respected the monetary compulsions. With rising spending and stagnating revenues, the budget assumes at the start of the year certain recourse to the central bank rather than treat it as mere ways and means advances. . For effective analysis of developments and policy making, timely and quality information is extremely important. However, due to weaknesses in the data collection and reporting mechanism of the various agencies of the country, information is not available with desired frequency and timeliness. Also there are concerns over the quality of data. Unlike many developed and developing countries, data on quarterly GDP, employment and wages, etc is not available in case of Pakistan. Moreover, the data on key macroeconomic variables (such as government expenditure and revenue, output of large-scale manufacturing, crop estimates, etc) is usually available with substantial lags. This constrains an in-depth analysis of the current economic situation and evolving trends, and hinders the ability of the SBP to develop a forward-looking policy stance. 3. Unlike many countries, both developed and developing, there is no prescribed limit on government borrowing from SBP defined in the SBP Act or the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (FRDL) Act 2005. Besides being highly inflationary, government borrowing from SBP also complicates liquidity management. Borrowing from the central bank injects liquidity in the system through increased currency in circulation and deposits of the government with the banks. In both cases, the impact of tight monetary stance is diluted as this automatic creation of money increases money supply without any prior notice. Moreover, access to potentially unlimited borrowings from the SBP provides little incentives to the government to put the fiscal accounts in order. Therefore, the foremost task to improve the effectiveness of monetary policy is to prohibit the practice of government borrowings from the SBP. In this regard, appropriate provisions are required to cease or limit government recourse to central bank financing through amendments in the SBP Act and the FRDL Act 2005. 4. Another issue is to make a clear distinction between exchange rate management and monetary management. Currently, there is a general perception that the State Bank is bound to keep the exchange rate at some predefined level and any movement away from this level is then considered as an inefficiency of the SBP. There is a need to understand that for an open economy, it is impossible to pursue an independent monetary and exchange rate policy as well as allowing capital to move freely across the border. Since the SBP endeavors to achieve price stability through achieving monetary targets by changes in the policy rate, it is not possible to maintain exchange rates at some level with free capital mobility. This can only be achieved by putting complete restrictions on capital movements, which is not possible. SBP's responsibility is to ensure an environment where foreign exchange flows are driven by economic fundamental and are not misguided by rent seeking speculation. 5. Finally, based on experience particularly gained during the last two months is to differentiate between liquidity management and monetary policy stance. Recently, when the banking system experienced extraordinary stress due to shallow liquidity in the system, rumor mongering heightened the general public anxiety over few banks' sustainability. Consequently, the SBP had to intervene in the market by injecting ample liquidity through various measures. In some quarters, these changes were deemed as a change in the bank's tight monetary policy stance. However, this was not the case and the bank had to clearly and repeatedly communicate that the existing stance is being continued. Later on, the bank further tightened its monetary policy. It must be understood that quite often, liquidity management can drive the market interest rates away from the direction desired under the monetary policy stance. However, this has to be temporary and ‘the interest rates are bound to move in the policy stance direction. To resolve this issue, the SBP is studying various options, including the introduction of a â€Å"Standing Deposit Facility† to keep the interbank rate within a corridor. In conclusion, it is imperative that above steps be taken urgently. Over the period, however, this needs to be complemented with much deeper structural reforms to synchronize and reform the medium term planning for the budget and monetary policy formulation process Several studies and technical assistance have provided extensive guidance in this area, but the lack of capacities and short term compulsions have often withheld such reforms. What is important is to recognize that a medium term development strategy, independently worked out, would help minimize one agency interest which has often been a source of co-ordination difficulties. It would also help the budget making process more rule based than the incrementally driven process to satisfy conflicting demands. THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MONETARY POLICY (2007-2009) The SBP has kept its tight monetary policy stance in the period July 01, 2008-April 20, 2009. The policy rate was adjusted upward in November 2008 to shave-off some aggregate demand from the economy and kept constant in January 2009. However, noticing visible signs of demand compression enabled the SBP to reduce 100 basis points on April 20, 2009. During July 01, 2008-April 18, 2009, money supply (M2) expanded by 1. 6 percent against the target of expansion of 8. 0 percent for the year and last year expansion of 8. 1 percent in the comparable period of last year. The reserve money witnessed contraction of 2. 2 percent in this period as against expansion of 10. 3 percent in the comparable period of last year. Net domestic assets (NDA) have increased by Rs. 307 billion as compared to increase of Rs. 627. 5billion in last year. However, it is showing an increase of 7. 6 percent in stock during this period, whereas, last year the growth in stock was 20. 4 percent in the comparable period. Net foreign assets (NFA) have recorded a contraction of Rs. 263. 9 billion against the contraction of Rs. 356. 4 billion in the comparable of last year [See Table-6]. {draw:frame} Government borrowing for budgetary support has recorded an increase of Rs. 240. 5 billion as compared to Rs. 336. 0 billion in the comparable period of the last year. The government has over performed against freezing the net borrowing from SBP at Rs. 57 billion in 2008-09 and the SBP financing has shown a net increase of Rs. 103. 3 billion and financing from scheduled banks witnessed a net increase of Rs. 137. 2 billion during July 01, 2008-April 18, 2009. Credit to private sector witnessed a net increase of Rs. 55. 4 billion during July 01, 2008-April 18, 2009 as compared to Rs. 359. 7 billion in the comparable period of last year. The stocks st ill went up by 9. 1 percent. SBP undertook aggressive monetary tightening during the period, further increasing the policy rate by 300 bps in two rounds. On a cumulative basis, this means a 550 bps increase during the last 18 months up to March 2009. However, the policy rate was decreased by 100 bps on April 20, 2009. These policy measures were in response to carryover of macroeconomic stresses of the preceding year and increase in real aggregate demand. Monetary tightening has worked in the right direction. Weighted average lending rate have witnessed slight decline from 15. 5 percent in October 2008 to 14. 8 percent in February 2009. Weighted average deposit rate on the other hand has increased from 6. 2 percent in October 2008 to 7. percent in February 2009 which implies narrowing of the spread amidst intensive deposit mobilization efforts on the part of the banks. The weighted average yields on 6 months T-bill has declined by almost 250 basis points to 11. 5 percent in March 2009 as against 14 percent in November and December 2008 [See Fig-2]. {draw:frame} Recent Discount Rate in Pakistan (2007-2009) During 2007-08, the SBP contin ued with tight monetary policy stance, thrice raising the discount rate and increased the Cash Reserve requirement (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Requirement (SLR). In the light of continued inflationary buildup and increasing pressures in the foreign exchange market, the SBP announced a package of monetary measures on May 21, 2008 that included;(i) an increase of 150 bps in discount rate to 12 percent; (ii) an increase of 100 bps in CRR and SLR to 9 percent and 19 percent, respectively for banking institutions (iii) introduction of a margin requirement for the opening of letter of credit for imports (excluding food and oil) of 35percent, and (iv) establishment of a floor of 5percent on the rate of return on profit and loss sharing and saving accounts. The year 2008-09 is characterized by a reduction in CRR by 2 percent in two equal phases to help the liquidity issues of the banking system. Later on, the SBP announced a 200 bps hike in discount rate to 15 per cent on November 12, 2008 in response to persistent hike in core inflation and current account deficit in a last ditch effort to demand compression. Following a slight reversal in the mounting inflationary and demand pressures, the SBP announced a downward adjustment of policy rate by 100 bps on April 20, 2009. SBP’s tight monetary policy and rationalization of fiscal subsidies and expenditure controls are the key factors that contributed a reasonable progress towards macroeconomic stability. The private consumption grew by 5. 2 percent in real term during 2008-09 which implies that notwithstanding substantial reduction in the fiscal and current account deficits, demand pressures are still confronting monetary management. {draw:frame}

Accounting as a discipline has no theory Essay

Accounting is concerned with the collection, analysis and communication of economic information, which can be used to make decisions and plans about business by various users. The Committee On Terminology of the American Institute of Certified Pubic Accountants defined accounting as follows: â€Å"Accounting is the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in past at least, of a financial character and interpreting the results thereof†. (Ahmeo Riahi-Belkaou, page 32) Accounting is said to be a language used to communicate information to people. Accounting is also an intellectual discipline and a profession. Moreover, accounting is socially constructed and practiced by people for people, which influence workings and relationships in society. See more: The stages of consumer buying decision process essay The history of accounting stretches back to when the first ancient accounting system began, which was originally based on measurement and recording activities, and then the significant emergence of double-entry bookkeeping around the 15th century, as a basis for further accounting development that consequently resulted in modern Ango-American accounting in the 20th century. Whereas accounting was mainly an â€Å"internal matter† where the proprietors were close to the business, the growth of companies led to the requirement of stewardship accounting. As a result of further industrial development, changing social environment and establishment of professional accounting bodies, the accounting theory should systematically develop in accordance with importance of accounting in modern society. In recent years, more and more theorists start to assess the nature of accounting theory as well as argue whether there is an accounting theory or not. In this essay, I am going to exam the definition of accounting theory and provide evidence to ascertain the existence of a complete accounting theory. A theory is defined as â€Å"a set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions and propositions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables with the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena.†(Kerlinger, 1964, page 11) According to this definition, the statement â€Å"accounting as a discipline has no theory† implies  that as a subject, accounting has no a coherent set of concepts and definitions to explain and predict the phenomena. Obviously, the subject of accounting broadly covers all the phenomena in the scope of accounting. In this sense, the accounting theory refers to a general complete accounting theory which is a coherent set of principles and concepts to explain and predict all the phenomena. Before examine the nature of accounting theory, I need to know where the theory come from. â€Å"A fundamental requirement of a theory structure is that it must come to terms with the conditions of knowledge†. (Mathews & Perera, 1996,page 52) Simply, the theory is from knowledge, the big question,† how do we know what we know?† such as, the principles of logic. Correspondingly, one of main characteristics of a theory is a body of knowledge. The study of knowledge is the domain of epistemology, which is concerned with the nature and derivation of knowledge, the scope of knowledge and the reliability of claims to knowledge. Accounting is social constructed and practiced by people and people in terms of its roles. Consequently, Knowledge comes from people. In accounting, we want to generate knowledge and theories of accounting help us to understand accounting better. But there was a big problem arose in accounting in relate to the lack of a knowledge base. In order to solve this problem, SSAP 2 as a first step to provide a knowledge base for accounting was introduced in1971, which defines accounting bases, accounting policies and fundamental accounting concepts such as, going concern, prudence. Afterwards, more accounting standards were developed. Particularly, corporate report was introduced in 1975 which identified a number of user groups. But different users normally require different information. The conflicts of interests of information and the inconsistent of accounting standards resulted in the development of a conceptual framework. Some people argue that a comprehensive accounting theory has not existed at the present time. First of all, I will illustrate a conceptual framework to certify this argument according to the following statement: â€Å"In recent years much effort has been directed towards developing a general theory for the guidance of practice. Such a general theory has come to be known as a conceptual framework† (Underdown & Taylor, 1985, page 1) A conceptual framework that attempts to offer the theories and explanations was significantly produced and developed in order to construct a single coherent set of accounting principles and concepts which could explain accounting practice. FASB defined a conceptual framework as â€Å"a coherent system of interrelated objectives and fundamentals that can lead to consistent standards and that prescribes the nature, function and limits of financial accounting and financial statements.† (FASB, 1976, page2)A conceptual framework is tend to provide a more rigorous way of setting standards, eliminate the inconsistence between statutory and professional provisions and provide a frame of reference for accountants to address specific issues in the absence of specific standards, for example. An ASB statement of principles issued the qualitative characteristics of financial information. Specifically, comparability assists the development of a conceptual framework which tries to restrict the alternatives available to reporting bodies. â€Å"But the alternatives may not be absolutely reduced unless a conceptual framework produces the accounting standards on a completely coherent basis†. (Mathews & Perera,, 1996, page 109)However, the limitation of a conceptual framework includes the time and cost of preparation. Clearly, it is time consuming and expensive to operate. Particularly, some countries with limited economies cannot afford it. Furthermore, a conceptual framework provides too much guidance to accounting and encourages rigidity so that new ideas cannot be easily introduced. If the conceptual framework is poorly designed, it may only benefit some of user groups. For example, the Trueblood and SFAC 1 Reports give inadequate recognition to the needs of user groups other than investors and creditors. In addition, the conflict of principles still exists in the conceptual framework. The illustrative principles are relevance and reliability in the Statements of Principles. Relevance was preferred at the beginning as opposed to prevalence of reliability later. Therefore, a uniform conceptual framework may be difficult to achieve on the basis of inconsistent developments so leading to the impossibility of a general coherent accounting theory. On the other hand, Hendriken and Van Breda argue that an general accounting  theory as to a coherent set of principles is possible at present. They define accounting theory as † a coherent set of hypothetical, conceptual, and pragmatic principles forming a general frame of reference for inquiring into the nature of accounting.† (Hendriksen, E.S., 1977, page 1) The main objective of accounting theory is to provide a coherent set of logically derived principles that serve as a frame of reference for evaluating and developing accounting practice. I strongly do not agree with this statement, because there are some evidences could prove that there is no such an accounting theory involving a coherent set of principles and concepts. First of all, the earlier given example, conceptual framework, proved that it is difficult to achieve it on the completely coherent basis at present. For example, economic ratio analysis predicts the future information are made base on past information. SSAP2 introduced the principles of accrual and prudence which conflict with each other. Specifically, the accruals concept may suggest research and development be carried forward but the prudent concept may require the expenditure to written off in the present period. Moreover, true and fair view hasn’t been defined, but accountants are required to produce the accounts with true and fair view which depends on their constructed reality, so it is problematical that it might be fair to you, but not fair to somebody else. Furthermore, Image that shaped accounting theory tries to offer suggestions as to what accounting is all about or should be about. In Davis, Menon &Morgan’s article, four different images were created to influence the accounting theory in the various contexts in response to changing social environment. Specifically, accounting was assumed to be objective, as suggested by the image of historical record. But in recent years, new images have been created for accounting theory, which are current economic reality, the information system and commodity. Accountants now believe that accounting is subjective. Hence, the subject and object conflict with each other. We also have to see in what context each image is presented other than see it on its own. For example, the public commodity image has emerged in the context of a regulated environment. Therefore, no one image can fully  capture the essential aspects due to subjectivity and new images are being created to add new dimensions to future accounting theories. Moreover, other images which Solomon and Tinker debate about were created for domination of theory and practice of accounting. Solomon, a traditionalist, advocates neutrality or objective as opposed to the view of Tony tinker, a radical thinker. In addition, image that influences accounting theory could be partial or one-side results from view of reality can be produced partially and rather one-sidedly. In other words, accounting theorists created the various images by justifying their views of reality based on observation of social phenomena. Accounting as a discipline has no a complete theory due to the lack of a coherent set of principles and concepts in the scope of accounting and the changing social environment. According to American Accounting Association’s Committee on concepts and standards, they concluded that no single governing theory of financial accounting is rich enough to encompass the full range of user-environment specifications effectively, hence, there exists in the financial accounting literature not a theory of financial accounting but a collection of theories which can be arrayed over the differences in user-environment specifications. (American Accounting Association, 1977, page 1-2) It is indicated that no one single accounting theory applies to all the user-environments but a collection of theories could. For example, different users need different information. Investors need profit information and creditors are satisfied with cash flow information. AAA’s conclusion proved again that there is no a complete general accounting theory. In fact, at present no single accounting theory can affect all the user-environments because different users demand different information. We also live in a complex and changing society so that accounting theory only can achieve its compliant objective in one particular time, such as, image. No one accounting theory can also explain and predict all the phenomena. True and fair view is still a myth, how can accountants practice with such a view? A conceptual framework is still developing for trying to achieve a complete general accounting theory. On balance, I agree with this statement â€Å"accounting as a discipline has no theory†. I am of the opinion that in the subject of accounting, there is no a general complete accounting theory which is a coherent set of principles and concepts to explain and predict all the phenomena. I have proved with some examples that some of principles and concepts are inconsistent, such as, relevance and reliability, and also it is noticeable that accounting theory is partial and one-side, such as, image, because images that shaped accounting theory were captured through theorists’ different view which could be partial. Changing social environments also influence images. Clearly, each image only emerges in a particular context and period, as suggested by Davids. In addition, the incomplete of a conceptual framework which tries to construct a coherent set of principles to explain the practice proved the absence of a general accounting theory. The entire poof strongly against the Hendriken and Van Breda’s opinion which a general accounting theory have emerged. However, a conceptual framework is still improving so I personally believe that a complete general accounting theory could be achieved in the future in accordance with the complete of a conceptual framework due to the development of accounting in response with the development of modern society. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ahmed Riahi-Belkaoui(2000) â€Å"Accounting Theory†, 4th Edition, Thomson Learning. Mathews & Perera (1996) â€Å"Accounting theory & development†, 3rd Edition, Nelson. Underdown & Taylor (1985) â€Å"Accounting Theory & Policy Making†, Heinemann.