The portfolio optimization theory by Markowitz

Table of Contents Introduction Boom and bust economy Normal economy Markowitz’s portfolio optimization theory Conclusion References Introduction A boom economy cycle refers to the period within which consumers have a high demand for products and those who provide the products make large sales that have high profit margins (Goldstein and Lardy 2004). A bust economy on the other hand refers to duration during which there is reduced levels of demand and supply and slow economic growth (Goldstein and Lardy 2004). A normal economy is one in which there is no marked acute market spirals. There is stability and economic activities are slower than they are in a boom economy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The portfolio optimization theory by Markowitz specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Gibson (2008), asset allocation policy refers to manner in which investors place value on assets in long-term mix so as to show balance between returns and risk taken. This is of great importance to investors who seek to increase potential for returns while reducing chances of loses. Markowitz portfolio optimization theory indicates a method of allocating wealth in a way that incorporates the expectations on returns as well as preferences of investors for the amount of risk they want to take (Bai et al. 2007). Through the use of different alternatives in investment, investors can attain higher levels of profits while at the same time, distributing their investment risk and thus maintaining minimum risk for anticipated returns. The concepts for this are expressed in mathematical formulations. Markowitz modern theory has been in practice for over half a century guiding the principles of asset investment (Bai et al. 2007). Boom and bust economy The boom and bust economies are similar in some aspects. One of the effects of boom economy is that this type of economy does not necessarily stay stagnant and is liable to changes that might not be explained by normal market movement (Alpanda 2007). Booms increase the returns on investment because of a flourishing economy. By using Markowitz’s optimization theory an investor may increase the return and yet take a short minimal risk. However, in long-term investment, the risk would increase as the boom period turns to be bust. According Bai et al. (2007), investors do not necessarily invest according to the logic of mathematical calculations. Some times investors trust their feelings about stock or bonds and may choose to ignore the use of tools to indicate safer investments or investment that may yield greater returns. A bust economy like a boom economy does not necessarily stay stagnant and is liable to changes that might also not be explained by normal market movement. In a bust economy therefore investors would be led to make investment that may yield very little margin of returns. The prices of stock reduce during this per iod which is also marked by unemployment and less market confidence. As a result, less investment is made and investors often try to avoid losses by withdrawing their investment.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a consequence, this worsens the economic bust. Still, even during this time investment can be made. With greater risk, returns are usually higher. Markowitz’s optimization theory treats risk in upward volatility as negative. However, that may not be viewed the same by investors since it is only a marker of risk taken and not loss which investors try to avoid. Greater risk in any case may yet yield greater profits. According to Bai et al. (2007), Markowitz’s optimization theory model in most cases is not intuitive. As a result, its estimates do not reflect the reality in the market. This may both lead to unexpected returns or to higher risk taken than had been desired. Although this can turn out to be favorable (greater returns with the increased risk), it can also lead to less returns with less risk taken that had been anticipated. For this reason, Michaud (1989) cites markowitz’s optimization theory as having potential to mislead. According to Michaud (1989), Markowitz’s optimization theory in addition does not factor in asset valuation. This hampers its ability to effectively predict market reactions and the real value of an investment. For that reason, it is hard to predict the movements in the market which are not always effective. During a bust or boom economy, this is important as it leads to better choices of the investments to be included in the portfolio. According to Gibson (2008), an efficient portfolio is the one that maximizes the returns paired with regards to a certain volatility degree. During a boom economy, returns are high as stock prices rise and the confidence is also high. It is during this ti me that asset investment should be increased in order to maximize returns. There is less risk during a boom period when it is at its peak or early stages. However, as the boom economy progresses, it is marked by inflation, reduction in stock prices and greater risk in investment. Unemployment and lower confidence marks this period as it slowly unwinds. Another important part of investment is the ability to use macroeconomics factors in order to anticipate returns. There is more to a market than just the assets and their investment potential. People’s reactions can greatly affect the outcome of investment over time. Markowitz’s optimization theory additionally takes the duration of an investment singularly whereas in reality, returns tend to be correlated. This can make it a weak determinant of market movement and as such as an indicator of returns and risk. Nonetheless, as a consequence, risk is often minimized than it should be if correlation is depended upon. It is f or this reason that Markowitz’s optimization theory can be helpful in measuring risk irrespective of correlation between past investment periods and new investment period.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The portfolio optimization theory by Markowitz specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More During a boom economy, economists encourage investment and asset allocation to be reviewed. According to Goldstein and Lardy (2004), during a boom economy there is a forward momentum that propels people to invest as they feel certain that the current situation will prevail, at least in time for them to receive returns. As a result, the economy is accelerated which in turn brings about an end to the boom after some time (Goldstein and Lardy 2004). In an examination of China economy that has been moving towards a boom period in late 1990s and early 2000, Goldstein and lardy (2004), state that the economists call for a slowing do wn of the economy to avoid the sharp turn in economy. The slowing is particularly targeted at banks and investment institutions (Goldstein and lardy 2004). The result of a boom economy is often the case as has been seen in China according to Goldstein and Lardy (2004), where investment becomes unstable. In order to avoid a collapse of the investment, measures have to be taken through macroeconomics to ensure that investment and economy pace is well maintained and adequately balanced. An examination of China’s asset allocation indicate that every time the boom in China rises above 30% it falls again in about four years to lower than 30% (Goldstein and lardy 2004). Despite theories used, these trends persist and have come to be associated with China’s economic history. Michaud (1989) states that in cases like these, Markowitz’s optimization theory does not offer optimum portfolios but is instead inadequate to offer meaningful portfolios that will survive the bust economy following a boom economy. The failure of Markowitz’s optimization theory to correspond to its theory according to Bau, Liu and Wong (2007) has been largely attributed to indicate that optimum returns are as a result of large returns from a numerous stocks. This is contrary to what Markowitz’s optimum theory proposes. It is this stocks that provide optimum returns and not smaller portfolios. According to Michaud (1989), the bases for Markowitz’s optimization theory which is returns and risk are prone to errors in estimation. This lead to Markowitz’s optimization theory to favor investment that presents bigger returns while indicating little variance (Michaud 1989). In essence, however, the covariance matrix is complex and changes may exceed expectation due to margin of error. In a study by Weiwei (2007), Chinese investment by firms was examined between 1993 and 2004. The results found were that during the bust economy, companies reduced their capit al so as to secure assets investment. Still there was considerable similarity between the sensitivity to sales and to asset investment. A somehow similar study was conducted by Alpanda (2007) on Japanese market and the effect of macroeconomics on asset prices.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Alpanda (2007) noted that there were crashes in stock and land prices for the period of 1980-1990. Alpanda (2007), study revealed how assets prices were determined by government policy and productivity growth. The government policies led to cycles that maintained the fall in asset prices due to taxation. However as the economy continued to slow down, the prices stabilized and people were once more able to invest despite the macroeconomics variables witnessed. Normal economy A normal economy is regarded as falling between a boom and bust economy. This economy is marked by moderate prices in stock without surges as witnessed during a boom economy or drops as witnessed during a bust economy. A normal economy can change at any time with economic growth and give way to a boom economy. Asset allocation at this time correlates more with Markowitz’s optimization theory and it is during this time that Markowitz’s optimization theory calculations could be most dependable. This i s because according to Michaud (1989), at its peak, this period presents stability in market without sharp changes in market confidence. Growth indicated by a growing gross domestic product (GDP) is generally steady and as a result, it is easier to calculate the expected returns and risks. However, as the normal economy progresses to a boom economy, there is marked growth and asset allocation can be adjusted to reflect the market changes in investment potential. Markowitz’s portfolio optimization theory According to Gibson (2008), asset allocation is determined by client’s individual tolerance of risk. The efficient frontier although ideal may still not present levels of volatility than all clients can handle despite the maximization of returns (Gibson 2007). As a result, Markowitz’s optimization theory can be used to calculate the returns particular to a client. According to Gibson (2008), however, historical data does not always help to make proper estimations for making returns and reducing risk. This is because variations occur and become part of the input that is computed in the calculations during asset allocation. Past returns can be adequately used to make sound expectation of returns in the future for an investment (Gibson 2008). Gibson (2008) states that the returns from stock though unexpected may sometimes exceed those of safer options like government treasury bills. This is what happened in the period 1978-1987 in America. The stocks which had showed limited returns out performed the treasury bills that had been expected to lead in returns (Gibson 2008). Thus, it is advocated that for Markowitz’s optimization theory to really make better estimates, longer historical relationships should be drawn upon (Gibson 2008). According to Choi (2006), it is important in asset allocation to invest in non-related assets. This offers a much better opportunity to subsidize risk while maintaining returns. Investment that readily show t heir performance like mutual funds are also ideal as investors can gauge them and make better investment that will satisfy their level of desired returns and risk tolerance (Choi 2006). Choi (2006), states that diversification remains important in asset investment as in every quarter, asset allocation speaks to around 93% total variations. In addition, between 75% to 98% total variation can be explained by it (Choi 2006). It is because of this impact that diversification of portfolio is important in ensuring that asset allocation is well primed. According to Goldstein and Lardy, as has been noticed in China, a boom unwinding can last longer in large economies. As a result, there is an extended period in the last stages of a boom. This increases the time period within which returns can still be high. However, since investment is already on a downward spiral it increase risk in new investments. According to Markowitz’s optimization theory, this time may be harder to predict as the market movements are unpredictable. In this kind of economic situation, Markowitz’s optimization theory model has received criticism as it does not make use of factors which could increase its accuracy in predicting returns and risks that will be actualized in the market. According to Michaud (1989), Markowitz’s optimization theory needs to be modernized to minimize its limitations. There has been a push towards improving Markowitz’s optimization theory by the use of what is now called modern Markowitz’s optimization theory. According to Goldstein and Lardy (2004), this can give better estimates that will relate to the market trends witnessed in the global business. Conclusion Markowitz’s optimization theory model has been in use and has guided the way asset allocation was conducted since 1950s. However, there have been increased efforts to make it more reliable in the current economy which have been less predictable. Global business and invest ment further complicates the use of Markowitz’ optimization theory as there are factors which make the market different in different markets. The tools used in one market may prove unreliable in another foreign market. In addition, emerging markets may not behave as might be expected. It is for this reason that more diligence has to be used in accurately determining the level of risks and expected returns. References Alpanda, S., 2007. The boom-bust cycle in Japanese asset prices. Web. Available At: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5895/1/MPRA_paper_5895.pdf  . Bai, Z. Liu, H and Wong, W., 2007. Making Markowitz’s portfolio optimization theory  practically useful. Web. Web. Choi, D., 2006. Cases for asset allocation. Journal of Business and Economics  Research, 4 (9), pp. 17-24. Gibson, R. C., 2008. Asset allocation: balancing financial risk. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Goldstein, M and Lardy, N. R., 2004. What kind of landing for Chinese economy?  Institute for International Economics, 4 (7), pp. 1-10. Michaud, R. O. 1989. The Markowitz optimization enigma: is ‘optimized’ optional?  Financial Analysts Journal, 45 (1), pp. 31-42. Weiwei, Y., 2007. Does macro economy have any effect on firm investment cash flow sensitivity? Frontiers of Economics in China, 2 (3), pp. 388-403. This essay on The portfolio optimization theory by Markowitz was written and submitted by user Prism to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Easiest Ways to Embrace Big Trends in Digital Marketing

The Easiest Ways to Embrace Big Trends in Digital Marketing Digital marketing  is predicted to change a lot in the coming years and its moving fast. Technology is disrupting the way people discover your brand and consume your content, and now is the perfect time to prepare. At the beginning of this year, Sujan Patel did a great article looking at the  biggest and most exciting marketing trends  to adapt to. Feeling inspired, I decided to follow up giving actionable tips on how we can actually embrace those trends using emerging marketing software that is there to help content marketers to innovate. Check Out ’s Entire Marketing Toolstack Before digging into these actionable tips, check out s own marketing toolstack. Voice Search Becomes More Prominent With the ever-growing market of smartphones, as well as with the fast adoption of smart speaker assistants, voice search is quickly making it way into the online marketing world. Voice search growth presents a few challenges to content marketers, including: Organic search discoverability: Being #1 is the only way to get any exposure from voice search. New content consumption journey: On-the-go voice searchers need solutions immediately, right now. Performance tracking: Too much is going on to be able to effectively analyze what helps and what hurts your organic search visibility. Luckily, there are tools for all three challenges: Competing for #1 on Voice Search By default, there's only one search result being presented to a voice search user. While we were previously competing for top 5 positions, we are now going to compete for one. The good news, where there's a challenge, there's an opportunity. The searching behavior is changing: Search queries are getting longer, more varied and less predictable. We previously knew pretty well what we were optimizing our content for (and so did our competitors). Nowadays marketers are dealing with a much wider variety of ways our content can be discovered via search. Spoken speech is less standardized than written text. When speaking a search query to a machine, we are less confined by the rules of grammar and we are less influenced by popular search suggestions. Thanks to voice search, SEO relies more on natural language and less on SERPs design and algorithmic matching. With that in mind, what can really be done? Unlike what you may have heard, SEO is not going to die any time soon, neither is  keyword research. You still need to research keyword queries people use when searching. The difference is: (Even)  more attention to long-tail, less popular queries  (Those are more likely to be generated by voice search users). A wider variety of keyword research sources  allowing you to aggregate data and dig deeper into possible searching behaviors. These should include both standard keyword research tools (  Spyfu,  Majestic,  Ahrefs,  Wordstream, etc.) and non-SEO sources, like Twitter monitoring and customer support emails. Recommended Reading: The Most Massive SEO Copywriting Guide That Will Make Your Traffic Soar So with a wider variety of queries and more keyword data sources, how to make sense of those lists and turn them into actual content plans? Keyword clustering (i.e. grouping) is the answer. Keyword clustering  means grouping your keywords by relevance. Serpstat  offers a unique  clustering feature  allowing you to submit long keyword lists and breaking those queries into categories based on how similar Google SERPs for each of them are. The logic is as follows: The more overlapping results (i.e. pages) Google returns for two queries, the more related those queries (i.e. keywords) are,  so there's no reason to create two separate landing pages to catch each of those. Put simply, clustering helps you optimize one content asset for a wider variety of keywords making it possible to cater to a wider variety of voice-search-driven queries. Recommended Reading: What Are Topic Clusters (And How Can They Boost Your Traffic)? Optimizing for the Immediate Need Another opportunity brought forward by voice searching is optimizing for "on-the-go" needs.   Google  claims that more than 90%  of their users turn to mobile devices and voice search for inspiration while in the middle of the task. New consumers need information "right here" and "right now". Those brands that optimize their content for these searching "micro-moments" satisfying an immediate need at any given moment will win the organic search game. Micro-moment content optimization involves: Optimizing for featured snippets  (news outlets can also use  Google Speakable  to record an audio which Google will read in response to a voice query). Optimizing for questions, lots of them (this includes using "People Also Ask" boxes for inspiration). Optimizing for  search intent. All of the three tactics above are not isolated: There's no need to create a separate strategy to hit each of them. Featured rankings depend on your overall organic rankings, answering questions helps you get featured, and whether your content is satisfying the query search intent determines how high you show up in Google. In other words, it's all inter-connected and luckily today's SEO software can help you on all those fronts. Text Optimizer  is one of my recent discoveries that uses semantic analysis to help you create content that: Matches the search intent Includes related and neighboring terms Answers popular questions on each topic Using TextOptimizer is easy: Run your core query you are creating content around (TextOptimizer runs your query in Google, extracts search result snippet and comes up with related terms to help you match Google's expectations better). Select 20-25 of the suggested terms you feel will fit your future content best and include them in your copy naturally. Use suggested questions to cover in your copy and structure it better (using subheads). Run the tool again, this time using your written content, to see how well you did optimizing your copy. Google  claims that more than 90%  of their users turn to mobile devices and voice search for...Monitoring Your Efforts Closely Finally, with mobile and voice search on the rise, it has become much more challenging to monitor all your content marketing assets and, more importantly, identify the actual impact of each new (optimization) tactic you have experimented with. I am still trying to figure that part out (content analytics is never a finished task really), but what I started doing differently recently is recording all my content and website updates on a micro-level to see a bigger picture over time. Rankedy  is an interesting tool allowing you to create a micro-journal for each of your important queries allowing you to track if any of your content marketing tactics is bringing the desired ranking growth. I am using it to record everything I am doing to the site to later see the impact. Rankedy tracks both mobile and desktop rankings helping you understand the impact of your content marketing efforts. Video Marketing is Still on the Rise Video content has been on the rise for a few years now bringing in new customers' expectations. Your audience expects  to find your brand on Youtube and for many queries they expect to engage with the video rather than text content. Youtube being the second biggest search engine in the world and Google giving more and more organic search visibility to videos (through video carousels and video featured snippets), failing to embrace video marketing means failing to get found  online. There are a few reasons why many brands still shy away from video marketing: Video production is hard to scale. Video market seems already over-cluttered. Video marketing requires solid investment (either in time or money or both). Last year I did a detailed  step-by-step tutorial  on how to overcome all those challenges using content re-packaging tactics. The video creation tools that I listed there include: Blue Jeans to put together video interviews  with influencers  and customers. Filmora to create screencasts and how-to videos. Animatron to create professional entertaining or instructional videos. All in all, there are many more video creation tools (as well as both  video footage  and  free image  resources) allowing you to launch your video marketing strategy on a low budget and helping you find your style and voice in this fast-growing industry. When it comes to researching your video marketing opportunities, there's a tool for that too!   Video SEO Tool  (Disclaimer: This tool has been developed by the company I work for)  grabs your domain’s most important queries and returns the list of videos that rank for each of them stealing your clicks from organic search results. Simply enter your domain and see video opportunities for each high-performing page of your site: Now use the tools above to create better, more up-to-date, videos than those currently ranking in Google and you are in the video marketing game. Personalization Finally, another big marketing trend that is disrupting digital marketing in general and content marketing, in particular, is advanced personalization. While there's a lot being said about personalized marketing, not many businesses clearly understand the concept. Personalized marketing is often confused with these two older (but still valid) marketing tactics: Segmentation Persona building If you are doing either (or both) of the above (which you probably should), it doesn't mean you are embracing personalized marketing just yet. To help you out: Personalized marketing is not making other â€Å"customization-based† marketing obsolete. You still need to segment your optin lists to send more engaging emails. And persona building is still a valid way to better understand your target audience and create more relatable and engaging content. But what about personalized marketing? Is there any way to adopt this more complicated trend? While personalized marketing seems a bit intimidating, it's what your target customer may be expecting from you. With the biggest digital marketing players (e.g. Amazon and Netflix) already offering artificial-intelligence-driven personalized shopping experience and many digital brands offering on-demand and  over-the-top  content, more and more customers are willing to see the same level of personalization from other (smaller) publishers. The good news is, marketing technology is catching up: With tools like  Alter  you can offer personalized marketing experience to your audience on a small budget, with no in-house technology investment needed.

Erving Goffman - Biography and Works

Erving Goffman - Biography and Works Erving Goffman (1922-1982) was a major Canadian-American sociologist who played a significant role in the development of modern American sociology. He is considered by some to be the most influential sociologist of the 20th century, thanks to his many significant and lasting contributions to the field.  He is widely known and celebrated as a major figure in the development of  symbolic interaction theory  and for developing the dramaturgical perspective. His most widely read works include  The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life  and  Stigma: Notes the Management of Spoiled Identity. Major Contributions Goffman is credited for making significant contributions to the field of sociology. He is considered a pioneer of micro-sociology, or the close examination of the social interactions that compose everyday life. Through this type of work, Goffman presented evidence and theory for the social construction of the self as it is presented to and managed for others, created the concept of framing and the perspective of frame analysis, and set the foundation for the study of impression management. In addition, through his study of social interaction, Goffman made a lasting mark on how sociologists understand and study stigma and how it affects the lives of people who experience it. His studies also laid the groundwork for the study of strategic interaction within game theory and laid the foundation for the method and subfield of conversation analysis. Based on his study of mental institutions, Goffman created the concept and framework for studying total institutions and the process of resocialization that takes place within them. Early Life and Education Erving Goffman was born June 11, 1922, in Alberta, Canada. His parents, Max and Anne Goffman, were Ukrainian Jews and had emigrated to Canada prior to his birth. After his parents moved to Manitoba, Goffman attended St. Johns Technical High School in Winnipeg and in 1939 he began his university studies in chemistry at the University of Manitoba. Goffman would later switch to studying sociology at the University of Toronto and completed his B.A. in 1945. Following that, Goffman enrolled at the University of Chicago for graduate school and completed a Ph.D. in sociology in 1953. Trained in the tradition of the Chicago School of Sociology, Goffman conducted ethnographic research  and studied symbolic interaction theory. Among his major influences were Herbert Blumer, Talcott Parsons, Georg Simmel, Sigmund Freud, and Émile  Durkheim. His first major study, for his doctoral dissertation, was an account of everyday social interaction and rituals on Unset, an island among the Shetland Islands chain in Scotland (Communication Conduct in an Island Community, 1953). Goffman married Angelica Choate in 1952 and a year later the couple had a son, Thomas. Sadly, Angelica committed suicide in 1964 after suffering from mental illness. Career and Later Life Following the completion of his Ph.D. and his marriage, Goffman took a job at the National Institute for Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. There, he conducted participant observation research for what would be his second book,  Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, published in 1961. He described how this process of institutionalization socializes people into the role of a good patient (i.e. someone dull, harmless and inconspicuous), which in turn reinforces the notion that severe mental illness is a chronic state. Goffmans first book, published in 1956, and arguably his most widely taught and famous work, is titled  The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Drawing on his research in the Shetland Islands, it is in this book that Goffman laid out his dramaturgical approach to studying the minutiae of everyday face-to-face interaction. He used the imagery of the theater to portray the importance of human and social action. All actions, he argued, are social performances that aim to give and maintain certain desired impressions of oneself to others. In social interactions, humans are actors on a stage playing a performance for an audience. The only time that individuals can be themselves and get rid of their role or identity in society is backstage where no audience is present. Goffman took a faculty position in the department of sociology at the University of California-Berkeley in 1958. In 1962 he was promoted to full professor. A few years later, in 1968, he was appointed the Benjamin Franklin Chair in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience  is another of Goffman’s well-known books, published in 1974. Frame analysis is the study of the organization of social experiences and so with his book, Goffman wrote about how conceptual frames structure an individual’s perception of society. He used the concept of a picture frame to illustrate this concept. The frame, he described, represents structure and is used to hold together an individual’s context of what they are experiencing in their life, represented by a picture. In 1981 Goffman married Gillian Sankoff, a sociolinguist. Together the two had a daughter, Alice, who was born in 1982. Sadly, Goffman died of stomach cancer that same year. Today, Alice Goffman is a notable sociologist in her own right. Awards and Honors Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1969)Guggenheim Fellowship (1977-78)Cooley-Mead Award for Distinguished Scholarship, Second on Social Psychology, American Sociological Association (1979)73rd President of the American Sociological Association (1981-82)Mead Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems (1983)6th most cited author in humanities and social sciences in 2007 Other Major Publications Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction (1961)Behavior in Public Places (1963)Interaction Ritual (1967)Gender Advertisements (1976)Forms of Talk (1981)

Formal Education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Education - Assignment Example This essay discusses that in a complex society, committed educational institutions are a requirement, even though Illich (1970) indicates persuasively that they are not. On the other hand, being taught something properly is never better than second-best. The error is always committed by people who recommend ever more accessions to the standard curriculum, like "citizenship", "managing personal relations†. "Pass/Fail† by Linda Pastan You will never graduate From this dream Of blue books. No matter how You succeed awake, Asleep there is a test Waiting to be failed. The dream beckons With two dull pencils, But you haven’t even Taken the course; When you reach for a book - It closes a door In your face; when you conjugate a verb - it is in the wrong language. The above lines from the poem reveal the concealed theme reflecting the real modern trend of learning. The poetess says that man can never free himself from the dreams of success and failure. Both are the two sides of a coin. One ceases to exist in the absence of the other. The dream of passing or failing is something from which we can never free ourselves. So, the right approach is to do and leave it to God. The situation of â€Å"To be or not to be†¦..† is to be entertained by all. Dwindling among things and hanging in the balance will not set us the right path. The subject of success and failure is such that even if we try to forget it and sleep, we are sure to dream about verbs, vocabulary, etc., which will boomerang only for the worst. However, the solution to such problem remains concealed.

Health Psychology Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health Psychology - Article Example The research further aimed at identifying applied methods for managing effects of the realized stress among the students and significance of the strategies. Further, the researchers aimed at exploring existence of significant difference among the factors to stress, approaches to management, and the degree of effects of stress that the students realize. The differences were based on â€Å"gender,† â€Å"age,† â€Å"ethnicity,† â€Å"relationship status† and â€Å"previous contact with cancer patients† (Jones, Fellows and Horne, 2011, p. 220). Research findings identified a significant difference in reported level of stress by gender in which females reported higher stress scores than males while the other demographic factors did not report significant differences. The results identify cancer patients’ status as one of the factors to the students’ reported stress. Effects of the disease on patients physical and psychological well being as well as effects on the patients’ family members are other factors to the students’ stress. The process of disclosing bad news to relatives of a cancer patient is another stressor to the students. The participants also reported application of â€Å"problem and emotion focused coping strategies† in managing stress and application of the strategies depended on the students’ reported degree of stress (Jones, Fellows and Horne, 2011, p. 221). One of the researchers’ recommendations is a further research to investigate possible impacts of the realized stress on the students’ health. Assuming the role of a nurse to implement this research, my research would include determination of a research question for exploring the new study. It would further include development of a research methodology for the research question, determination of the most appropriate design for implementation and sampling of medical students for the study. Data

Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness Essay Example for Free

Human Resources Organizational Effectiveness Essay Small scaled businesses are very important for developing countries and as well as developed countries. In a country like the China a small business can become success and it will play an important role in the economy of the country. Small businesses are growing in importance in the China; hundreds of small businesses are opened every month in the country, by people who have found themselves squeezed out of a corporation due to downsizing or who voluntarily leave the corporate world so that they can seek a slower pace and healthier balance between world and family life. Small businesses are mostly opened by women and minorities in the China. As the smallest businesses become increasingly complicated due to globalization, government regulations and customer demands for better quality at lower prices, managerial dexterity is very complex and it is very hard to become a success. (Szarka, 1990) Managers in small businesses tend to emphasize roles different from those managers in large companies. Managers in small companies often see their most important role as a spokesperson, because they need to promote the small, growing company to the outside world. The entrepreneur role in the small business is very important, because the managers must be very creative and help their company to develop new ideas so that they can be competitive with other companies. Small business managers tend to rate lower on the leader role and on information processing roles compared with counterparts in large companies. As the world of small organizations become increasingly complex, managers should carefully incorporate the 3 categories for roles. They must simultaneously mange by information; manage through people, and mange through action to keep their organizations healthy. (Szarka, 1990) Managing a Small Growing Business Once a business is set up and running, how does the owner manage it? Often the traits of self-confidence, creativity and internal locus of control lead to financial and personal grief as the company grows. A hands-on to the entrepreneur who gave birth to the small business or company, loves perfecting every ting detail of the company. But after the start-up, continued growth requires a shift in the management style. Those who fail to adjust to a growing business can be the cause of the problems rather than the solution for the company. A small business goes through distinct stages of growth; with each of the stage the company requires different management styles and skills. Intrapreneurship in a Small Business Intrapreneurship can be defined as a process which recognizes the need for innovation within the company, plus it helps with managing the company. The following rules help to develop the necessary environment which is required in the company, they are as follows: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The employees should be encourages 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The management should use informal meeting whenever possible 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company should learn to tolerate failure and learn from it 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The employees should be rewarded for their innovative ideas 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Teams should be formed Human Resource Practices The human resource practices in a small and medium business differ from large organizations. Planning In the early stage of existence, formal planning tends to be nonexistence except for the business plan. The business plan can be defined as a document which specifies the business detail of the company by the entrepreneur. The primary goal is to remain alive within the industry. As the company grows, formal kind of planning is not usually instituted until the company does not reach its success stage in the growth stages of the company. For example, records selling company in the China has defined a goal by carving out a niche in the volatile record industry by focusing only on roots music, which is an electric mix of soulful and down home sounds with country edge. This company is only one of the few surviving profitable companies in the country.   (Cameron Miller, 2008) Organizing In the 2 stages of company’s growth, the company’s organization structure is very informal, where all the employees are reporting to the owner of the company. By the third stage the functional managers are hired to take over the duties from the owner. A functional organization will be created and there will be changes in all the departments of the company. In this stage the managers will be able to learn how to delegate responsibilities to others. But these days most small companies in the China are limiting creating ways so that they can stay small but still grow. For example, Woodspirits, it a company that produces and distributes 300,000 soaps to its customers annually. It just employs 3 that work for the company. The company doesn’t want to lose its edge and flexibility; therefore the companies are willing to stay small. Leading Leading is considered to be the driving force in the development of the company, and it is one of the ways to manage a company. The vision along with the leader’s personality actually shapes the small company. With the help of leadership, it is able to point out cultural values, efficiency and ethics of the company. Leadership is also considered important because a great deal of small businesses usually have a hard time of employing qualified workers. There is always a labor shortage for a small company, and these shortages usually damage the company a great deal. Controlling It is also important that there is a financial control in the company. In the company’s starting days control was exercised by simple accounting records and through personal supervision. The control techniques usually become more sophisticated during the resource maturity of the company. For example, the Sock Shop was originally a hit in the US, but it failed due to a lack of control within the company. (Fullmer, 1983) Compensation Compensation of employees in a SME is mostly based on the jobs and its evaluations.   With job analysis information as a part of the department’s HR information system, compensation analysts have the minimum information needed to evaluate the work activities of their employees. Job evaluations are steps and procedures that help to identify the relative worth of jobs or work activities. There are different kinds of approaches to the evaluation of a job; these approaches consider the responsibility of the employee, skills that are needed for the job, efforts done by the employee and the working conditions related to the job. Without job evaluation the HR department would not be able to create a rational approach to pay. The most common methods for job evaluation that helps with a compensation plan are job ranking, job grading system where as in large organizations it is done through factor compensation and the point system.   But the best way the HR can compensate the employ ees is through job grading, why, because, it is the simplest way to classify a job and the companies don’t have to spend a great deal of money on it. (Werther Davis, 1996)

Comparing the Role of Women in Emma and Jane Eyre Essay -- comparison

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout history women have played important roles in society. Women have gone through much adversity to get where they are today.   Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontà « are some the pioneers of women's literature. Each shows their different aspects of a women's role in society in their books Emma by Austen and Jane Eyre by Brontà «.   In both of these books the author shows how a woman deals with societies' norms, values, and manners.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jane Eyre is an orphaned daughter of a poor family.   She is brought up by her aunt Sarah Reed.   Where she is teased and tortured by the aunt and the family.   She is not very pretty and is barely on the social structure. On the other hand Emma Woodhouse is a beautiful girl and is financially sound.   She is raised by her maternal father.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Emma, Emma Woodhouse is in search of finding the appropriate man for herself is the main theme.   As the reader goes deeper into the text Emma slowly progresses into a self-deception.   Having since childhood been obliged to manage her father, she still likes to manage things,   and particularly people.   She manages to manipulate everyone except Mr. George Knightley.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Jane Eyre, Jane demonstrates a strong need to be herself, to take responsibility for her action.   She is put to the test by her daily teasing and abuse from her cousins. When she is brought to a boarding school she soon distinguishes herself through her classes.   Eventually ends up in Thorn... ... finds out the Bertha Mason Rochester set it on fire and jumped off the roof.   Austen in a way showed this as a rebirth for Rochester and Jane Eyre.   Jane returns to Rochester even though he suffered an amputated hand and is blinded by the fire.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eventually they marry and Rochester regains his sight in one eye and produces a son.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In both of these books the author shows how a woman deals with societies' norms, values, and manners.   Jane and Emma endure harsh realities in life.   Jane had to be a strong character to go through what she did.   Emma not as strong but the determination in find a spouse.   Even though Jane and Emma had different hardships the had similar characteristics.   They both had wisdom, imagination, and character.

Presidential Election of 1828 Essay

A rematch between two bitter rivals, Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, the presidential election of 1828 was highlighted by the split of electoral votes in New York and Maryland. Andrew Jackson had swept through the west, gaining every single state, and even got Pennsylvania. The winner from the election of 1824 by the ‘corrupt’ bargain, John Q. Adams, had gained the support of all the northeast states. However, the real surprise was the split electoral votes in Maryland and New York. The northern states loved Adams because he favored elites and their manufacturing industries. The south and west favored Jackson because he believed in equal opportunity for any citizen of the United States of America. Two states, Maryland and New York, did not give all their electoral votes to either Adams or Jackson, but were divided equally among the two. The reason for this split was both states were divided into districts that all had one vote. These districts could settle on who they wanted to give their electoral vote to. In every single other state, the electoral votes were decided upon by the state legislature, and once decided, all the electoral votes would be given to one candidate. However, in lone New York, the whole state could back Adams, but if one small self-sufficient farmer district wanted Jackson, then they could award their one electoral vote exclusively for him. So, if there was a dispute in states with a system like New York, the electoral vote could be split. The split between these two states showed how divided and diverse one state could be. If one little district went against the majority, it changes where the electoral votes are distributed, and can thus change the outcome of the election. New York and Maryland proved that one little group can make a large difference. These small changes made the election of 1828 unique, and actually exemplified how dissimilar one state’s people could be.

Architectural Branding Essay

The 4P’s have been extended to 7P’s namely: Price, Place, Promotion, People, Physical Evidence and Process. Architectural Branding is an important element of Physical Evidence very strongly prevailing in International Brands e. g. Calvin Klein, Nike town, D&G, Prada etc. With the changing Indian Market scenario and customer awareness Indian Brands have now realised to incorporate the culture of Architectural Branding as an important brand element. Possibly Brands like Colour Plus, Wills Lifestyle, Sepia also are trying to incorporate the concept of Architectural Banding. Therefore through an exploratory research on the related topics of branding it was felt that architectural branding will help us in the long run in the industry and would widen our horizon of knowledge. Down the line I felt that this concept would be taught to us in our course curriculum of Fashion Management. Through this topic of Architectural Branding we would get to learn about basics of Architecture, Interior Design and Design Space and relating these subjects to the Market Research and Consumer Behaviour. Information Needed ? Introduction to Architectural Branding Concepts of Architecture †¢ Material †¢ Types of Structure ? Architecture in Retail †¢ Exteriors †¢ Interior Design †¢ Store Layout, Design &

Parable - Definition and Examples of Parables

Parable s of Parables A story, usually short and simple, that illustrates a lesson. The parable is related to the exemplum in classical rhetoric. Parables And The New Testament Some of the best known parables are those in the New Testament. Certain longer works of modern literaturesuch as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the fiction of Franz Kafkaare sometimes regarded as secular parables. Biblical Parables The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.(Proverbs 26:7, The Bible) Secular Parables The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe There were six men of Hindustan,to learning much inclined,Who went to see an elephant,though all of them were blind,That each by observationmight satisfy his mind.The first approached the elephant,and happening to fallAgainst his broad and sturdy side,at once began to bawl,This mystery of an elephantis very like a wall.The second, feeling of the tusk,cried, Ho, what have we here,So very round and smooth and sharp?To me ’tis mighty clear,This wonder of an elephantis very like a spear.The third approached the elephant,and happening to takeThe squirming trunk within his hands,thus boldly up and spake,I see, quoth he,the elephant is very like a snake.The fourth reached out an eager hand,and felt above the knee,What this most wondrous beastis like is very plain, said he.Tis clear enough the elephantis very like a tree.The fifth who chanced to touch the earsaid, E’en the blindest manCan tell what this resembles most;deny the fact who can;This marvel of an elephantis very like a fan.The sixth no sooner had begunabout the beast to grope,Than seizing on the swinging tailthat fell within his scope;I see, said he, the elephantis very like a rope.So six blind men of Hindustandisputed loud and long,Each in his own opinionexceeding stiff and strong;Though each was partly in the right,they all were in the wrong! MORAL:So oft in theologic wars,The disputants, I ween,Rail on in utter ignoranceOf what each other mean,And prate about an ElephantNot one of them has seen! The Invention of Letters SOCRATES: I heard, then, that at Naucratis, in Egypt, was one of the ancient gods of that country, the one whose sacred bird is called the ibis, and the name of the god himself was Theuth. He it was who invented numbers and arithmetic and geometry and astronomy, also draughts and dice, and, most important of all, letters. Now the king of all Egypt at that time was the god Thamus, who lived in the great city of the upper region, which the Greeks call the Egyptian Thebes, and they call the god himself Ammon. To him came Theuth to show his inventions, saying that they ought to be imparted to the other Egyptians. But Thamus asked what use there was in each, and as Theuth enumerated their uses, expressed praise or blame, according as he approved or disapproved. The story goes that Thamus said many things to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts, which it would take too long to repeat; but when they came to the letters, This invention, O king, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians w iser and will improve their memories; for it is an elixir of memory and wisdom that I have discovered. But Thamus replied, Most ingenious Theuth, one man has the ability to beget arts, but the ability to judge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their users belongs to another; and now you, who are the father of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess. For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise. PHAEDRUS: Socrates, you easily make up stories o f Egypt or any country you please. (Plato, Phaedrus, translated by H. N. Fowler) Parable of the Scorpion Theres a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it. A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river.The fox said, No. If I do that, youll sting me, and Ill drown.The scorpion assured him, If I did that, wed both drown.The fox thought about it, finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him.As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, Why did you do that? Now youll drown, too. I couldnt help it, said the scorpion. Its my nature.(Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay in Scorpion. Star Trek: Voyager, 1997) David Foster Wallaces Fish Story There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, Morning, boys, hows the water? And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, What the hell is water? . . .None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awarenessawareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: This is water, this is water.(David Foster Wallace, commencement speech at Kenyon College, Ohio. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006, ed. by Dave Eggers. Mariner Books, 2006) Parables in Politics Right now, as [Elizabeth] Warren and [Scott] Brown meet voters, they are telling their stories as political parables, loaded with ideas about opportunity versus just deserts, social investment versus making your own way, fairness versus the free market. The ordinary Massachusetts voterthe kind who doesn’t tune in until the last minutewill have to choose between two story lines. They will talk about it this way: he’s a small-town Wrentham boy who solves problems based on facts, while she’s a leftist ideologue from Harvard. Or they will talk about it this way: he’s a lightweight with a pretty face and a truck; she’s a real person who will fight off the banks and others trying to ruin the middle class. They will assess which one is more likable and sincere. They will (or won’t) be pulled to the polls by more politically motivated neighbors. In such haphazard ways, Massachusetts independents will decide one of the most closely watched and possibl y most expensive races of the 2012 campaign, outside the presidency.(E.J. Graff, Elizabeth Warren: Yes She Can? The Nation, April 23, 2012) Etymology From the Greek, to compare Also see: AllegoryAnecdoteExemplumFableHomileticsThe Little Girl in Lavender Spats by Don MarquisNarration  and  NarrativeVignetteThe Whistle by Benjamin Franklin   Pronunciation: PAR-uh-bul Also Known As: exemplum, fable

A look at the deity of Poseidon

A look at the deity of Poseidon Poseidon I just finished reading about the god Poseidon. I am going to tell you a little about him. Some of the things that I am going to tell you about, are some of his relatives, his symbol, his power, a few interesting facts, and a brief summary of one of the many stories that he is mentioned in. First I am going to tell you about his symbol. It is a trident. It was given to him by the Cyclopes to arm him in the battle against the Titans. The trident is not just something that looks like a pitchfork. It is much more powerful. It has the power to fork up whole continents and islands. After that, this became his tool of power. He would also throw his trident at the ground and it would create huge earthquakes. This is how he got his nickname Earthshaker. Now I am going to tell you about the relatives of Poseidon. His parents were Cronus and Rhea. Poseidon is the brother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia and Zeus. Zeus banished him to the underwater kingdom. Then Poseidon hurled huge waves at Zeus kingdom on Mount Olympus. He was unable to reach the kingdom, so he threw the waves at the land. This eroded it everywhere except where Mother Earth put cliffs. Now I am going to tell you a summary of a myth about Poseidon. The name of this story is Poseidon. In the days of Cronus and the Titans, the sea was ruled by Nereus. Nereus was the father of fifty sea nymphs. When Poseidon came to take over the sea, Nereus gave him his daughter Amphitrite for his queen. Then Nereus retired and went into an underwater grotto. Poseidon had a son with Amphitrite. His name was Triton. He had a fishtail instead of legs. Just like his grandfather. He rode around on the back of a sea monster. Poseidon was barely ever at home because he was always racing the waves with his snow white horses. Poseidon had many wives and many children but Amphitrite was not jealous. One of the islands that Poseidon made was named Delos. It was so new that it still floated about the ocean. The only thing that grew on this island was a palm tree. This island had barely been discovered. This is the island on which Apollo and Artemis would be born. This is why Apollo and Artemis will be born on the island of Delos. Hera found out that Zeus had married Leto. She got very mad and ordered all the lands to refuse to give her shelter. Therefore Leto could not give birth to the babies. She then went to Delos. They could accept her there because it was still floating and was not a land yet. But she still could not give birth to the babies because Hera had forbid Ilithyia the goddess of childbirth to go to her. Without her help no child could be born. All the goddess felt bad for Leto, so they bribed Hera with a necklace. It was nine feet long and made of gold and amber. Hera gave in and let Ilithyia go to Leto. Then Apollo and Artemis were born. Zeus was filled with joy at the sight of his beautiful twins. He gave them each a silver bow and quiver full of arrows. The arrows of Artemis were soft as the moon and brought painless death, those of Apollo were hard and piercing as the rays of the sun. Zeus blessed the island and attached it to the bottom of the sea. Plants grew everywhere on the island and this island became the richest Greek island of all. Pilgrims flocked to it and loaded it with temples and treasures to honor Leto and her Twins. That was just some of the many interesting facts that I found about Poseidon. Poseidon is just one of the many Greek gods. So think of all the interesting facts about Greek mythology there are. I hope that you enjoyed reading my report on Poseidon.

The Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony and Repressed Memories Essay

The Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony and Repressed Memories - Essay Example Although many people rely on eyewitness testimony, there are a huge number of factors which can influence the way that a victim or other witness recalls the perpetrator of a crime. For example, the stress of being a victim of, or viewing, a crime can mean that some people remember certain elements more vividly or psychologically adapt the memory to make it more bearable (Loftus, 1994). Additionally, there is evidence that cross-racial identification issues, meaning that many eyewitnesses have proven difficulty identifying a perpetrator from a race other than their own (Buckhout, 1974). Pressure from law enforcement agencies can also make a difference, as those who cannot correctly remember the individual in question may feel forced to make a rash judgment that does not correlate with the real criminal (Loftus, 1996). Another common problem that comes from identifying a perpetrator comes from the fact that the witness usually assumes that the actual criminal is present in the line-up, and thus will feel forced to choose from one of those presented to him or her (Loftus, 1996). However, line-ups can be composed of a group of people that happen to fit the description given, or those who were in the area at the time and do not always contain the perpetrator (Loftus, 1996). Police and law enforcement can help to prevent this problem by giving line-up instructions that inform the witness of this fact and ensuring that the witness does not feel pressure to make an immediate judgment, although this does not always work in practice (Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart & Roy, 2011). It is also a common belief that people can repress memories of traumatic events and then later retrieve these memories (using counseling or otherwise), which could then be used in a court of law. This idea is still really controversial amongst psychologists, with some believing that there