Marketing Financial Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Marketing Financial Services - Essay Example Hence, they started to follow and implement free trade policies that encourage multinational companies to enter into the global markets. Ultimately, overall market became competitive and matured. Monopoly market structure has become very rare and oligopoly becomes prominent. Hope and Maeleng have defined free trade policy as â€Å"competition-enhancing device† (Hope and Maeleng, 1998, p.52). The international and domestic countries started to compete with each other on price, better service, customer satisfaction etc for achieving greater market share. In this respect, to gain competitive advantage in market, the post modern organisations are using latest management tools, theories and models developed by many experts, critics and scholars. Financial services industry consist a number of financial services sectors like banking sectors, insurance, security market, factoring, credit ratings etc. With increased activities of trade and business and intensified competition, the imp ortance of these financial services sectors has grown significantly. This paper will attempt to present and SWOT analysis of American International Group (AIG) which is one the most popular financial service organisation. In order to indentify its major internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, this paper will analyse important areas of this organisation like its customer relationship managements, marketing tools used the company, major issues and its mechanism of control system. Finally, the overall findings of this paper will be summed up in the conclusion. Brief Overview of American International Group (AIG) American International Group Inc. (AIG) is one of the popular insurance services providers in US and in global market. Primarily, it is a New York-based company and it is considered to be one of the most prominent market leaders in global insurance sector. AIG is a multinational company and offers its insurance services in more than 130 countries in the world. The company has acquired a large base of customers and its consumers primarily consist of institutional, commercial and individual clients. The major market share of the company comes from its domestic market i.e. from United States. In this market, the AIG offer retirement services and life insurance. With better performance, it has acquired an upper hand position in U.S. insurance sector. Along with the domestic market, AIG’s stocks are also listed in Tokyo and Ireland Stock exchange (American International Group, Inc-a, 2011). While tracing the history of AIG, its primary origin is found in Shanghai, China during 1919. However, later during the 1940s due to political issues, the company withdrew from the Chinese market. â€Å"AIG abandoned China completely in 1949, as the Communist People’s Liberation Army, led by Mao Zeding, advanced on Shanghai† ( H.W. Wilson Company, 2000, p.247). In U.S., the AIG had been formed by consolidating three compan ies and its multiple affiliates. These leading three companies are New Hampshire Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Company and National Union Fire Insurance Company. Since its inception, AIG has undergone through many significant occurrences like mergers and acquisitions. SunAmerica Inc was merged with AIG on January 01, 1999. In November 2000, the company

Critical Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Critical Evaluation Essay The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus, in Greek Ionia. Aristotle the major source of Thales’ philosophy and science identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, for in the sixth century he broke away from explaining the natural phenomena through myths and adopted rational means of explaining it. In explaining the totality of all things, Thales described one primary material substance as the elemental foundation of all things, for he believed that there must be some natural substance either one or more than one from which other things come into being while it is preserved, and he postulated that this primary principle is water. Being an astronomer on the other hand he was believed to have predicted an eclipse in 585BC. It is therefore the purpose of this essay to critically evaluate Thales’ metaphysics in the context of aim, content and method of philosophy then proceed to clearly underscore his unique contribution to the development of philosophy. To begin with, as pointed out earlier on, Thales was the first philosopher to ask questions about the structure and nature of the cosmos as a whole and is known to be the founder of philosophy of physis which is the study of the totality of reality. Being the first philosopher, he affirmed the existence of a unique principle and cause of all things that exist. He said this principle is water because it is wholly from water that life itself comes from and into which it dissolves, he also declared that the earth rest on water getting the notion perhaps from seeing that the nutriment of all things is moist and that heat itself is generated from moisture and kept alive by it, and that from which they come to be is a principle of all things. He got his notion from this fact and from the fact that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of the nature of moist things (Guthrie, 1978: 55). By saying principle Thales meant the reality that remains identically the same throughput the changes in its characteristics and it continues to exist unchanged throughout the process of the generation of everything (Presocratics, 1995: 42). However, despite postulating that water is a principle, he also had two other propositions which came down from his verbatim and these were â€Å"magnet possesses the soul† because it is capable of moving things like iron, and that â€Å"all things are full of goods†. In saying this Thales implicitly implied that his water principle is the source, sustainer and font of all things and that he used the gods in his assertion for the people’s easy understanding of it (Radhakrishnan, 1953: 28). Having looked at a number of Thales’ assertions and their meanings, it is necessary that we clarify the aim of Thales as regards to philosophy. On this point Aristotle states that philosophy has a purely theoretical character, that is, it is contemplation, and that it simply seeks truth for its own sake. Philosophy is not sought because of any advantage that is extrinsic to it, but it is sought just for itself (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore in this sense, as Thales was explaining the principle of all things he did not benefit any wealth from it and this is why he was mocked for his poverty, insinuating that his philosophy was of no practical use to him (Presocratics, 1995: 45). Since philosophy does not bake bread nor fix gadgets but rather aims primarily at knowledge, we then see that Thales without any practical benefits tries to find the origin of all things just for philosophy’s own sake. With respect to content, philosophy wanted to explain the totality of all things, that is, the whole of reality without the exclusion of any part or aspect of it, thus distinguishing itself structurally from the special sciences that instead are limited to explaining particular sections of reality, groups of particular things or particular phenomena. In trying to explain the whole of reality the first philosophers were asking the question, what is the principle of all things? (Reale, 1978: 17). Thales in responding to this question in accordance to the content of philosophy, he said water is the principle, for him, he did not necessarily consider the importance of water in life but the thought which most likely must have struck Thales’ mind are those which link water with the idea of life. Hence he observes that food and semen always contain moisture and that the very warmth of life is damp warmth. Furthermore, the composition of all things is moist and that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of moist. Therefore the explanation of water being the principle of things is what is contained in the content of Thales’ philosophy. Finally, on the aspect of method, philosophy wanted to explain the totality which is its object in a strictly rational manner. What is of value in philosophy is its rational arguments, its rational purpose or simply its logos. It is not enough for philosophy to confirm and find out the data derived from experience on a factual level, philosophy must go beyond the facts and experience in order to discover the reasons, the cause and the principle (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore, Thales with a minimum amount of factual information was able by reasoning to devise an ingenious hypothesis to account for diverse things as gaseous liquid and solid characteristics of the earth, for he believed that all objects are variations of one basic ingredient-water, for water, if heated becomes steam, thus all entities which are gaseous, in its natural state is liquid, and all things which flow must be made up of it and finally, if cooled sufficiently becomes solid (Popkin, 2006: 336). Having looked at a number of things concerning the principle of Thales, we now have to look at a number of contributions which Thales brought forth to the development of philosophy. Firstly, he is believed to have paved way for materialism in metaphysics, which is simply the view that reality is essentially material, and the materialist held that reality is made up of indivisible material particles which move around in a void and combined together to form all the different kinds of things to be found in the world. In this bold speculation the materialist or atomist in particular were following in the footsteps of earlier thinkers (one of them being Thales) who had posited the key idea that underlying the apparent diversity of the world we inhabit, there is a fundamental unit. Therefore Thales is the man who is credited with being the first philosopher and he believed that this unity consisted in the fact that everything comes from or was in some sense made of water (Horner, 2000: 19). Through Thales we have also experienced the transition from explaining natural phenomena through myths to rational and scientific explanation of the origin of nature. At first when explaining the origin of all things, people in Greece referred to a poem called Theogony, written by Hessiod about 725BC. The Theogony contained myths of the gods and speculates in part about the origin and the order of the universe (Audi, 1995: 595). However, with the coming of Thales, the origin of all things was explained systematically using the method of reasoning. The other contribution of Thales to philosophy is that he began the study of cosmology which is branch of metaphysics. Cosmology is a theory of the process of reality and it deals with the science of ultimate reality as a whole. The study analyses and explains the nature of elements of which reality as a whole is underpinned and it establishes whether there are principles that may give us a fuller explanation of the nature of existence (Audi, 1995: 595). In this sense then, we see that Thales gives an account of his principle in line with cosmology, the branch of metaphysics, this therefore entails that Thales started cosmology as he was the first philosopher. Lastly, on the contributions, Thales was the first philosopher to devote himself to the study and the investigation of nature; he is generally regarded as the first who taught the Greeks the investigation of nature. Although, he had many predecessors as Theophrastus has remarked, he surpassed them all to such a degree that they are forgotten, he is as well considered to be one of the seven wise men to undertake the study of natural philosophy for he declared water to be the beginning and the end of all things (Presocratics; 1995, 42). However, despite an articulate explanation on the reasoning of Thales, his method is likely to be criticized, for the one cause that the reasoning process behind his conclusion that water is the first material principle is unknown, so that it becomes a matter of conjecture. Aristotle had no means of knowing the reasons which led Thales to make his statement and when he ascribes a possible line of thought, to him it makes no secret of the fact that he was guessing (Guthrie, 1978: 54). And when we compare the reasoning of Thales to that of other Milesians like Anaximander, Thales’ reasoning is put to the spotlight that he was just guessing because in Anaximander we clearly see that his thinking goes beyond experience, confirming that he was really contemplating rather than just guessing as Aristotle had put it. Another weakness of his explanation of a single principle that was the cause of all reality, is that he never explained the process into which water goes through to become a component of all things more specifically a thing like fire. Other philosophers like Anaximenes, who said the principle is air, explained that through the process of rarefaction air produces fire and when the air condenses through condensation, it gives origin to wind, the clouds, the water, the earth, rocks and other things. This kind of explanation is what was lacking in the philosophy of Thales. In conclusion, Thales of Miletus was one of the first Greek philosophers to seek natural causes for natural phenomena. He traveled widely throughout Egypt and the Middle East and became famous for predicting a solar eclipse that occurred in 585 BC. At a time when people regarded eclipses as ominous, inexplicable, and frightening events, his prediction marked the start of rationalism, a belief that the universe can be explained by reason alone. Rationalism remains the hallmark of science to this day. BIBLIOGRAPHY Audi, R. (1992). Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, New York. Guthrie, A. (1978). A history of Greek Philosophy. Vol 1. Cambridge University Press, Britain. Radhakrishnan, S. (1953). History of Philosophy, Eastern and Western. Vol 2. George Allen Unwin Ltd, London. Reale, G. A. (1987). History of Ancient Philosophy From the Origins to Socrates. State University of New York, New York.

Macroeconomic Analysis Of South Africa

Macroeconomic Analysis Of South Africa Introduction The financial crisis, in fact, affects the global world since 2008. There is high inflation, increasing unemployment rate, low export, decreasing GDP and so on. In every country as well as in South Africa that also faces the macroeconomic problems, representing by the falling of the output, high inflation, and the microeconomic problems also affect to the economic market. Therefore, the objective of this report is to analyze and focus on the macroeconomic environment and formulate a strategy in responding to the Economic crisis in South Africa. The reason to know and analyze the macroeconomic in a country is, because the microeconomic, institutional changes are unlikely to be implemented if the economy is in a state of macroeconomic chaos-plummeting widespread unemployment and hyperinflation. Macroeconomic stabilization must and can precede the more fundamental microeconomic, institutional transformation. Macroeconomics in terms of business is dealing with the performance, structure and the behavior of national or regional economy as a whole. It is also a study about GDP, unemployment rates, national income, output, inflation, savings, investment, international trade and economic growth. Macroeconomic Background South Africa Located in base of the continent of Africa, South Africa is a diverse nation with an appealing mix of people, culture, faith and languages. Despite the people, South Africas physical state also has its own distinctive features. It has its own unique geological formations that aids in producing the mountains, plains and coasts. South Africa also has large amount of fertile land. Furthermore, a more extraordinary feature about South Africa is that it is home to the rarest species of wildlife and plant life. The nation has a total area of 1, 127 200 square kilometers and it is divided in four provinces, which are the Cape Province, the Transvaal, the Orange Free State and Natal. Being located in a subtropical area, South African generally enjoys warm weather all year round. Naturally, being located in Southern Hemisphere, winter is experienced during June and summer is experienced in December. Demographic South Africa has a population of 49 billion people (2009). It has particular demographic due to the heterogeneity in population base, apartheid, ethnic groups and emigration Table: Population % (Wikipedia, 2010) Basically the black people theyre the ethnic group like Zulu, Xhosa as well as immigrant form the other parts of Africa (mostly from Nigeria and Zimbabwe). The whites theyre the descendants of French, British or German settlers whom arrived to Cape Town from the late of 17th century. Some of them are from immigrants from Europe and Portuguese colonies left over. Coloureds are the descendants of earliest settlers, their slaves and indigenous people. The last part of racial population can be counted as Indian or Asian (Chinese) Table: Age structure % (Wikipedia, 2010) The average total fertility rate from 2001s to 2009s is 2.41 children born per woman. So thats why each family in South Africa usually has more than 2 children In the country they have around 11 official languages, the most spoken language of black people is 30.1% speak Zulu, 22.3% speak Xhosa while most the white residents speak Afrikaans at home (59.1%), 39.3 speak Englishà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Wikipedia, Demographics of South Africa, 2010) Political situation South Africa has multi-party system where the President Jacob Zuma is the head of government and the parliament. The African National Congress is the ruling party in the national legislature, which received 65.9% of the votes during the 2009 general elections and has 74.25% of total seats in the parliament. Democratic Alliance is the second major party that received only 16.66% of the votes and has 11.75% of total seats. All the other parties represent less than 20 %. From this huge gap between the ruling party and the democrats we can see that political situation is stable and will stay like that in near future. (Parliament monitoring group 2009); (Number of Political Party Seats: National Assembly May 2009 | Parliamentary Monitoring Group | Parliament of South Africa monitored) Laws regulations South Africa has progressive legal framework. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law. Commerce and labour legislation is well developed while laws relating to competition policy, copyright, patents, trademarks and disputes conform to international norms and conventions. South African commercial laws and company laws are similar to the laws of the United Kingdom. Sanctity of contract is protected under common law, and independent courts ensure respect for commercial rights and obligations. The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed by the Constitution. South Africas financial systems are sophisticated, robust and well regulated. Banking regulations rank with the best in the world, while the sector has long been rated among the top 10 globally. Foreign banks are well represented and electronic banking facilities are extensive. (South Africa info 2008); (South Africa: open for business SouthAfrica.info) South Africas economy South Africa is one of the most stable economies in the Arican continent. Its a middle-income country, emerging market with rich supply of natural resources. The country has fully developed infrastructure supporting efficient distribution of goods throughout the southern African region ,with well-developed financial, legal, energy, communications, a stock exchange ranked among the top 20 in the world. The primary sector, based on manufacturing, services, mining, and agriculture is well developed. Economic growth was strong from 2004 to 2008 due to macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom. Because of world financial crisis in the second half of 2008 economy began to slow down. GDP was growing 5.1 % in 2007 and 3.1 % in 2008. In 2009 it fell nearly 2 %. Unemployment is high (24 % in 2009). Daunting economic problems remain like poverty (47 % in 2009 below poverty line), lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policies, which are focused on controlling inflation and attaining budget surplus, are efficient. Inflation rate in 2009 was 7.2 %. To welcome the foreign investment in South Africa, the government has made it clearly by investor- friendly policies. Corporate tax is 29%. VAT on hotels and retirement hostels are charged at 8.4%. South Africa has a huge potential as an investment destination, offering the first world developed infrastructure with a vital emerging market economy. It is also one of the most advanced and useful economies in Africa. (CIA World Factbook 2010); (CIA The World Factbook South Africa) Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate Monetary policy can be defined as the measures taken by the monetary authorities to influence the quantity of money or the rate of interest with a view to achieving stable prices, full employment and economic growth. The South African Reserve Bank conducts monetary policy in South Africa. (About SA Economy, 2009) Exchange rate: Rand (ZAR) per US dollar in 2009 (8.54), in 2008 (7.95); (About SA Economy, 2009) As we know the macroeconomic discussion focuses on monetary policies in the country. And any decision of the government can affect the business-cycle changes in output, inflation, exchange rate or employment. South Africa emerged out of a recession in Q3 2009. A pick up in capital inflows and support from expansionary monetary and fiscal policy is contributing towards its recovery: (Euromonitors Economic Review of Emerging Market Economies: January 2010) A rebound in the manufacturing sector and increased government spending on the construction of roads, railways and infrastructure for the 2010 World Cup helped stimulate growth. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 15 % of GDP expanded by 7.6% over the previous quarter in Q3 2009; The South African rand appreciated to R7.48 per US$ in December 2009 from R9.97 per US$ in the same month of 2008, suggesting a gain of 25.0% in 2009. It has been one of the best performing emerging market currencies in 2009 attracting capital inflows due to rising liquidity and commodity prices. Nonetheless, this limits the recovery process as a stronger rand weakens exports. So far, the government has not intervened in the foreign currency markets to help curb the unprecedented rise in the rand; In November 2009, the annual rate of inflation eased for the ninth consecutive month to 5.8%, below the central banks target rate of 3.0-6.0% for 2009. The South African Reserve Bank is likely to keep its key interest rate (repo rate) unchanged at 7.0% in the beginning of 2010, despite calls from labour unions for an interest rate cut. Unemployment problem :Picture 1.png (South Africa Country Profile 2010, December) Year Unemployment rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information 2003 37.00 % 18 2001 est. 2004 31.00 % 24 -16.22 % 2003 est. 2005 26.20 % 161 -15.48 % 2004 est. 2006 26.60 % 168 1.53 % 2005 est. 2007 25.50 % 172 -4.14 % 2006 est. 2008 24.30 % 169 -4.71 % 2007 est. 2009 22.90 % 170 -5.76 % 2008 est. 2010 24.00 % 171 4.80 % 2009 est. (South Africa Country Profile 2010, December) The unemployment rate was 24% (2009 est.) and was highest among 15 to 24 year old, at 48.4 percent, and lowest among 55 to 64 years old, at 6.8 percent. Of South Africas estimated 49.3-million people, around 31-million people are between 15 and 24 years old. Today, the government gives some change for SAs unemployed who dont have education by create the training of unemployed project that aims to minimize the negative effects of the recession. The project trains people as electricians, boiler-markers, welders and mechanics, so when they are trained and easy to get the job and facing with the world with confidence. Inflation C:Documents and Settingshim.STUDENTMy DocumentsDownloadsSouth-Africa-Inflation-Rate-Chart-000002.png Market structure Automotive industry The country is one of the best performing automobile market in the world. In 2006, it brought around R118 billion of increasing to sales. In 2007, vehicle exports were about 170 thousand unit sales which were expected to jump up to 285 thousand in 2008. The vehicle market had a huge development when comparing to year 1997, the unit exported only 20 thousands. The sector is about 10% in account of manufacturing exports, 7.5% of contribution in GDP with the employment of around 36 thousand people. The government aims to increase the vehicle production to 1.2 million units by 2020 because of the definition of the automotive industry is a key growth sector Many of multinational companies such as Ford, Toyota, GMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦use South Africa as source components and assemble vehicles for both the local and overseas markets. From 2000 to 2006, the investment in production and export infrastructure was multiplied by four, which was R1.5-billion to R6.2-billion. An R4-billion in investment was expected in 2008. Most of the investment came from foreign where the parent companies wanted to expend the local operations to improve product capacity, support export and infrastructure (Big Media Publishers, South Africas automotive industry, 2008) 690-1823-0-0_1464872.jpg Table: Automotive revenue (Big Media Publishers, 2008) Mining and mineral resources South Africa is well-known in the world by its wealthy in mineral resources. The wealthy of the country has been built on the countrys vast resources. There are various kinds such as: Platinum, Chrome (which the quality is the 1st in the world), Gold (1st largest producer), Diamond (4th largest producer)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but only crude oil and bauxite is those that the country doesnt have. Mining was an industry that contributed 21% total exports of goods in 2006 Gold was once the keystone of South Africa but it has been diminished in importance due to economys diversity. From 1970s to 1980s, the exports of gold were the predominant source of country foreign exchange earnings which made up a 14% of total value added in economy. In the year of 2007, this shifted to 5.8% contribution to country GDP of mining and quarrying. The mining industry is South African biggest employer. It attracts more than 860 thousand employees of labor force Currently, more than 70% of mining industrys labor force is black. Opposite of that number, its just only less than 5% of managerial positions belongs to black people. The mining sectors key issue is transformation. The target has been set by the government that an expect of 40% managerial positions would be held by South Africans in all mining companies (Big Media Publishers, 2008) 692-1827-2678-0_1452532.jpg Table: Mineral resources (Big Media Publishers, 2008) Agriculture South African agriculture isnt dominated by subsistent farming. In fact, it has both well developed commercial farming which is predominant and more subsistent influenced in deep areas. The country has more than enough output to export massive amounts of agricultural produce. Because of the variousness of climates, there are good conditions (such as mix farming in winter rain fall and in summer rain fall) for growing different crop production in South Africa. The diversity in climate, which is tropical, sub tropical and desert allows diversity in products either. South Africa also has advantages in marine resources which is 3000km of coastline that is appreciated to develop mariculture and aquaculture. The main agriculture export production can be listed as: maize (some southern African countries rely on this import), wine (South Africa is the 5th largest producer worldwide), fruits (grapes, pears, peachesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦), livestock farming (sheep, cattleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Agricultural contribution represents less than 4% of GDP but 10% of total reported employment in accounts while farming is 8% of countrys total exports. The key agricultural trading partners of South Africa are America and some countries in EU. They gain the benefit from the market by exporting through number of trade agreements. The agriculture sector is highly protected and evolved to governments control. In 1996, the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act they closed agricultural marketing boards, eliminated subsidies and set the import tariffs to protect South African farming from unfair international competition. So the South African farmers and agribusiness could be placed themselves as players in a globally competitive environment. Nowadays there are still some factors that even though the government has tried to implement, these couldnt bring any efforts to the rest of the economy. For examples: most of indigenous people are subsistence farmers, subsidies from other developed countries, climate changeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦are reducing sector growth (Big Media Publishers, South African agriculture, 2008) (Wikipedia, 2010) Infrastructure Energy infrastructure Among the countries that have the lowest cost of electricity, however South Africa has to face its problem of the demand for power outstripping supply. The economy grows strongly, a lot of rapid industrialization development, the electrification programme is being mass led and distinct lack of investment are all the issues which cause the power supply crisis in South Africa. As a result, the state energy company Eskom and the government has come up with a projected ZAR 343 billions over five years to fund new power stations for energy increasing such as nuclear and electricity storage. Eskom also aims to reduce the demand of electricity by 3 000 megawatts in 2012 and 5 000 megawatts more in 2025 Table: Energy Overview (Big Media Publishers, 2008) There are some thought about using natural energy as wind or solar. Despite South African sunny weather, the ideas havent really taken off and there are some concerns that the country somehow isnt appreciated with the wind energy. Energy contributes an amount of 15% country GDP. The country is 11st country in the world that has highest commercial primary energy intensities due to its large scale economy structure, mining industries and some benefit based on minerals activities which push the usage of energy above average (Big Media Publishers, South Africas energy supply, 2008) Source: EIA Transportation The transport network has been identified and highlighted as a competitive advantage in global market. The road system in South Africa has a total of 754 thousand km in which 9.6 thousand km is national road. 2.4 thousand km are toll roads. However the road infrastructure needs to be constructed due to overloading of heavy vehicles and volumes increasing of road freight vehicles. It has approximately 95% of country trading business are done by passing through the sea as well as the traffic from others countries like Europe, Asia, America and even Africa itself. The railway system is also one of the main transportation which is 10th longest in the world. It connects all the parts in the country together so it can be used for transporting goods or even tourism. The airline industry carries about 33 million passengers a year. There are a lot of airports such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban which are the 3 main international airport and the others at South Africa (ArriveAlive, 2010) ( Publishers, 2008) Technology sector Technology sector is well developed with modern manufacturing sectors like machinery, scientific equipment and motor vehicles. South Africa has strong technological research centers. South Africa has developed a number of leading technologies, principally in the fields of energy and fuels, steel production, mining, and telecommunications. There is all necessary technology for hospitality industry. (South Africa info 2008) Tourism in South Africa South Africas major attractions for tourists are mainly involved with nature. They are the large variety of game parks, nature parks and a magnificent scenic diversity of landscape varying from desert plains blooming with spring flowers to mountains overlooking vineyards, valleys and large farmlands, tribal communities and modern cities. The countrys coastline, which represents many names to our world today, such as; Africas southern most coastline and the base of the large continent, is 3000km long. This 3000km long coastline is nothing but serene sandy beaches with charismatic seaside resorts scattered along. Some of these locations are famous beaches and surfing areas. For animal lovers, there are other attractions that are available. For example, in Pretoria there are various botanical gardens, bird sanctuaries, aquariums and zoo. The National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria is ranked to be the top ten zoos in the world. Some examples of daytime activities are coach tours, ocean cruises, museums, art galleries and a wide range of sports. Other famous attractions in South Africa are the wines produced. South African wines are categorized under New World Wines. These wines are famous all over the world. South Africa is the worlds most known hunting destination. It offers hunting at large land areas that are protecte d under legislative laws and hunters can find many rare species. Hunting seasons are usually between May to July. And the Professional Hunters Other outdoors activities for tourists that are famous in South Africa are canoeing, river rafting, safaris, wilderness trails and rambling. Hiking as well has a rising popularity as the National Hiking Way has been developed and improved. All activities mentioned are easily accessible by the generally good infrastructure in South Africa. Overall, most tourist attractions in South Africa are not for the faint hearted and for nature lovers. According to some reports, international travel to South Africa has increased, in 1994 the year South Africas first democratic elections, only 3.9 million foreign tourists to the country. By 2004, the international visitors have more than doubled to 6.7 million. And in 2007 the total number of 9.07 million foreigners visited South Africa- 8.3% increase compared to 2006- as the country broke its annual tourist arrivals record for the third year running. In South Africa, nowadays, Cape Town has become an important retail and tourism centre, and attracts the largest number of foreign visitors come here for their holidays. (South Africas tourism industry SouthAfrica.info) International tourist arrivals (in millions) nternational tourist arrivals in South Africa (Source: Department of Tourism); (South Africas tourism industry SouthAfrica.info) Tourism is also one of the fastest growing sectors of economy in South Africa, and it contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of country increasing from 4.6% in 1993 to 8.3% in 2006. Tax system Untitled.png Table: Paying taxes (IFC, 2010) SWOT analysis Strength South Africa has a world class infrastructure as their competitive input, like 3 deep water ports, 3 international airports, a network of roads and high ways, well developed cold chain facilities and a sophisticated financial sector. These infrastructures are even comparable to first world developed countries and its cost is favourable (the cost of electricity is still remain inexpensive and competitive in labour rates as well) (Big Media Publishers, South African agriculture, 2008) The free trade agreement and high technology, high infrastructure offering are the key values for international investment from America and European Union The strength includes the mineral resources as well as South Africa is considered as a major mining country. Its the world largest producer and exporter of gold and platinum. They also have a high level of technology (such as a ground-breaking process that converts low-grade superfine iron ore into high-quality iron units) and production expertise (the raw materials such as iron, carbon steelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦were added more values before exporting) which make mining industry is one of the key sectors of the country Weakness South Africa has a high ratio of unemployment which is from 30% 40%. The education of the labour force is still very low, especially black people. A result showed us that just 22% of Black Africans have completed high school. When we do comparison, it has difference amount of 70.7% of Whites have completed high school More than 5.7 million South Africans are infected with HIV in which 350 thousand have already died of Aids with millions of South Africans have been victims of violent crime Opportunities The FIFA World Cup 2010 will be held at South Africa this summer so this will be not only the opportunities for the South Africa itself to increase their international images and reputations. Its a good change to advertise and promote the values of the country so itll attract more investment and partnership from foreign and internal either. For the FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa has a plan to include a Bus Rapid Transit system which will promote the use of public transportation between host cities as Cape Town, Durban with other cities. They also received an amount of R9 billion investments and an incentive from FIFA to improve the infrastructure in the nine host cities due to the expected massive visitors. It means a lot of upgrades to countrys airports and general transportation including taxi system, passenger trail and bus (Osec, 2010) Threat Because South Africa is an export led economy, its very easy to be influenced by global demand. The depreciation in price of commodities which go deeper to very low levels could be resulted to job losses The power supply crisis leads to needs of diversity in energy mix including natural gas, nuclear power and various forms of renewable energy as well. The indigenous source of energy is coal which use to produce electricity and its one of the causes of greenhouse gases. The activity to increase electricity by using coal can pollute the environment and it requires the government have to have plans to prevent global warming The roads system needs to be constructed because of massive traffic and transportation. An official report said that it would be cost around R65 billion for urgent repair. Otherwise the cost for a year due to overloading will be surpassed R650 million in destruction to roads (Osec, 2010) Future development When South Africa decides to invest into other countries of Africa, they are helping to diversify African economies and reduce the dependent on primary sector industries. South Africa doesnt focus only on oil and gas, but they concentrate about telecommunicating, banking service, mining also. They enter the African market, but creating them as well by building infrastructure, transferring technology and knowledge, encouraging the foreign country to enforce laws and strengthen democratic institutions. For examples: South Africa exported to the rest of Africa a R43 billion worthy, most of involved import related to oil from Nigeria which was R5 billion. That number show an imbalance in South African goods and services with African consumers. The countrys companies also try to integrate themselves with the local economies by hiring local staff or buying materials from local procedures. In return, South Africa received the favour by investment from the other African countries which is go od for South African own domestic economy. Thats why South African engine is very important for economic development across the African continent (Leon, 2004) In 2009, the government spent a total amount of R787 billion on public infrastructures over the next 3 years which would push the countrys budget deficit to 3.8% of GDP in 2009. They explained that it was necessary to borrow the funds to finance planned public infrastructure projects due to the decreased demand for South African commodities and lower output. In the R787 billion: R390 billion would be spent on state owned enterprises R25 billion for Rail Computer Corporation R12 billion for the Bus Rapid Transit system R1.6 billion South African Airways Conclusion After we analyzed the economy of South Africa and predict the future of the country, we realize that South Africa has potential to invest money in this country which can create profit for us as entrepreneurs as well as for the countrys economy. South Africa has many strong sectors but we decide to invest our money in health care sector which is currently not strong in this country. We believe this is the right decision which will bring to us return on investment and profit for the future.

The Physics of Hockey Essay examples -- Essays Papers

The Physics of Hockey Physics is everywhere. Consequently, physics is a part of sports and more specifically, hockey. As the scientific discoveries progressed with time, so did the advancements in the sport of hockey, reflecting on how important and influential science truly is. Physics takes part in the ice, the skates, the protective gear, the shots, goaltending, and all other aspects of ice hockey. Skates used to be more like skis. Players glided on the ice rather than actually skated. Artifacts also show the use of animal bones as skate blades as well. Currently, steal blades are used. There is a small arc groove on the blade that provides the friction needed to counteract the slipperiness of the ice (Hachà © 37). The boot of the skate is hard enough to protect the foot from puck impact but also flexible enough â€Å"to allow the calf muscle to push forward and to ease knee bending when the player crouches† (Hachà © 35). An ice rink is approximately 1,600 meters. Therefore, filling a rink 2 cm requires 32 million grams of water. Cooling this water to 0 ° Celsius requires 2.7 billion joules which is a lot of energy. Turning this liquid into a solid requires more energy called the latent heat of fusion which is equivalent to 340 J/g (Hachà © 4). Pressure on the ice reduces the melting point. If pressure is afterward reduced, water will freeze again. This is called regelation. When a player skates across the ice, he or she applies a lot of pressure, leaving a trail of water where the blades were. Because the pressure leaves quickly, the water freezes to ice again (Hachà © 22). Nevertheless, pressure is not the only factor that causes this melting. Friction also takes part because it creates heat. With help... ... make this possible, goalies observe the body language and facial expressions of opponents to know when a shot is coming. That way, they have more time to position their body accordingly (Hachà © 133). There is no questioning that physics is important in the game of hockey. It explains how all the aspects work including skating, shooting, checking, protective gear and goaltending. It also allows for scientific discoveries which continue to improve the sport in multiple ways. Without a doubt, physics is indeed everywhere. Works Cited - Hachà ©, Alain. The Physics of Hockey. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2002. - "Rule Book." National Hockey League Officials Association. 13 Nov. 2005 . - "Science of Hockey, The." Exploratorium. 13 Nov. 2005 .

American History. The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade

Think piece #1 I choose to answer the second topic. the dehumanizing forces of the transatlantic slave trade The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade was considered the most abominable and cruel force of slavery, during the trade, the way of obtaining the slave is dehumanizing, if we were to conclude the dehumanizing force in only one word, it would be: the minimum food, clothing, and shelter was given to those slaves who survived the Middle-Passage, and the maximum amount of work was expected of them. The first challenge was on their homeland, they were towed into a forest where no one can see them, then people who work for the capitalist beat the person to faint, and then they were chained together and â€Å"escorted† to the small boat which will send them to the slave boat. After that, when they were on boat, they were put on the lower cabin like cargos, there was almost no room to breathe or take a turn. And the food is horrible as well, the slaves can only get food once or at most twice a day, and the food is at most one-spoon full and the taste is awful. Slaves also have no bowls or spoons to eat; they ate with their bare dirty hands. What is more horrible is that ships often run out of food or sometimes there is infectious disease on board, then the slaves who is extra will be thrown into the sea with a bag of heavy rock tied in the beginning. Thus the survival rate during the transportation is extremely low; the number is only 13% or so. The first reason why that method is employed is that slaves were better used to the tropical weather than the capitalist, what is more, their physical building is tough and the number of slaves is much more than the solders on the ship. If they were treated like a human, whom they can get sufficient food and shelter, there might be a rebellion which may put those capitalist into peculiar situation. And at second, the slaves were considered property instead of human in the mind of those capitalists, thus they will not be treated like human. Despite all those horrible conditions and treatments, black people formed a strong culture tie between one and another to keep their rebellion force. The culture they formed is fusion of their own cultures with that of the white colonists, and the culture varies from country to country, region to region across the Americas. Although the slaves were captured from the same kingdoms, for instance, Louisiana is vastly different from that in Haiti or in Brazil. The differences were due to the differing conditions of slavery and the different input from whites in those places.

Features of Public Management and Administration Essays

Features of Public Management and Administration Essays Features of Public Management and Administration Essay Features of Public Management and Administration Essay What are the distinguishing features of public management? How different is public management from traditional public administration. The public sector has undergone a critical phase changing both its theoretical and practical underpinnings as a result of the advent of public management. There are debates from various scholars and social scientists to whether Traditional Public Administration has changed and whether there are differences between (TAP) and new public management (PM). Therefore It Is the purpose of this paper to examine the undergoing of public management In an endeavor to dullnesss It from Its predecessor (TAP). Public management also known as new public management is singled out for its great emphasis on decentralization of authority, downsizing of the public sector through prevarication of state enterprises, strict management of performance in a goal directed and result oriented manner, market-centric management, complex interdependence between politics and administration and adoption of private sector managerially to list but a few. A sharp cleavage exits when the tenets of (PM) are Juxtaposed with (TAP) principles such as bifurcation of politics and administration, overall division of labor, a defined hierarchy of authority, aroma set of rules and procedures and Job security with awarding of pension funds among others will be made lucid in the discussion that follows. Background information Public management is defined by Polloi (1993;32) as a vision, an Ideology or a bundle of particular management approaches and techniques borrowed from a private sector : Yet Rococo Martin cited In Hughes (2003;45) Is of the view that It is the craft perspective that caters for decision making, actions outcomes, political skills needed to perform effectively specific management roles This implies that its main features involve adoption of private sector managerial mechanisms such as entrepreneurship and affording managers enough responsibility to autonomously set goals in a bid to operate effectively and efficiently in an economic manner. Bonham and Horton (1996; 25) plausibly lamented that TAP on the other hand Is the process where by public officials, employed by state agents, Implement and execute governmental policies determined by political authorities Where efficient use of resource is of secondary importance. Hence a general view generated is that traditional public administrators jack autonomy in their work as they are politically controlled in a central manner. Underpinnings of public management Public management agitates for a radical restructuring of the core public sector to provide more operational flexibility at an agency level. This Insinuates that management authority is decentralized or hived-off to semi-autonomous service delivery units within this sector either through delegation or departmental Hughes (2003;23). In this case, managers are given budgetary responsibility and autonomy to set their goals that cater for full achievement of results. For example Ministries In Zanzibar formulate their budgets to achieve their desired goals. In vertically integrated monolithic bureaucracies to flatter and responsible ones. This includes the downsizing, delivering and rationalist of the public sector through sub- contracting government entities to the private bodies. Peters and Pierre (2007; 4) stipulate that The hierarchical nature of public organizations which accorded greater autonomy to the front line staff leading to greater efficiency. This was put into practice in New Zealand where the state owned enterprise act of 1986 and the State Actor Act of 1988 privatized the countrys post bank and Telecommunication Corporation which caused the fall in number of civil servants from 66000 to 34500 and some were delegated to public sector executive agents (ibid,51). This entails that public management is distinct in the sense that it ensures accountability, transparency and responsiveness since departments are brought closer to the public for inspection. Furthermore PM calls for public and private sector partnership in delivering goods and services in a manner that places the government in the role of an overseer. The private sector is involved in financing and operation of public project s through contracting that cultivates competition in the provision of goods and services. There is an argument that government is no longer an autonomous actor in implementing its polices but often depends on the private sector. Under this partnership employment is based on long and short term contracts signed individually by employees and appointment is based on expertise only Peter and Pierre (2007; 22). In South Africa the government privatized Telecoms its major communication company and Eskimo which provides electricity. O the nation. This resulted in contract based employment which did not go well with their trade unions (COASTS). Vaporization brought no Job security and old age pension funds enjoyed in the TAP. Hence the private public sector partnership opens a wide market, access to a variety of customer attuned goods and free market choice since competitions force goods and service providers to produce high quality goods in large quantities. Apart from that public management adopts and adheres to private sector styles of management. This includes a strict focus on profitability, result orientation and reference as a determination of salary increment. In this respect civil servants are thoroughly assessed alongside set targets. This might result in demotion of some employees as a result of poor performance. For example the President was quoted in the Herald of September on the 8th parliamentary session saying to engender accountability and ensure efficient service delivery to the public, heads of pratfalls and local authorities will be obliged to sign performance appraisals. In line with this Peters and Pierre (2007; 41) point that He government has adopted several efferent strategies including pay-for performance to allocate salary increments Result oriented performance appraisals. These are purely private mechanisms used to motivate workers to increase their productivity in order to channel profits and growth to public organizations. This is accompanied by output controls which restricts adherence to auto-machine and computerizing of documents to cut off the need for human resources that might siphon a lot of resources from the government. Moreover public management is hinged on the expertise or know-how, temperament of managers and interdependence of politics and management. This is adumbrated by Frederick and Finer (2007, 3) polices are implemented when they are formulated and politicians act entrepreneurs who are disposed to take risk and work hand in hand to achieve the goals of the government. PM views administration and politics as inseparable core variants that together I unity usher good governance. For instance the parliament of Zanzibar initiated a setting up of the Anti-Corruption Commission to monitor and eradicate corrupt tendencies with the public sector. This enables great discipline, parsimony in resource allocation, transparency and accountability. A comparison of TAP and PM Traditional Public Administration dissects politics from administration. This is illustrated in the Wilson politics administration dichotomy. Hughes (2003; 19) indicates that TAP stipulates that politicians craft policies whilst administrators implement them. However this perspective has been castigated for trailblazing expertise capacities of managers and PM provides an alternative of the amalgamation of the two and devolving of managerial authorities from higher level politicians to managers at agency levels to discretionary execute their own policies. As a result PM and TAP take divergent routes in management approach. Furthermore TAP is built on Marx Weepers bureaucratic theory which calls for hierarchical organization of authority. This means control over government agencies emanate from the superiors who are elected officials and channels of communication follow a top down authoritarian model and no room is given to other employees to air their views in regard to decisions made. Mayo (1992; 22) argues that this tall and closed form of organization deprives civil servants much needed self-actualization ND it is crippled by plasticization and distortion of information as it sails along a huge bureaucracy. PM differs from this type of organizational structure due to its strict inclination to downsizing of the public service and hiving-off authority. Foxed tall (1991 ;22) postulate that PM cooperates with its environment and management involves consultation with subordinates in order to gather much information necessary for attainment of set targets hence one is made to conclude that public management breaks the hierarchy or one would even argue to say it rather distorts it. In addition TAP separated administrative functions into different ministries with clearly stated areas of specialization. Thus Farm and Horton (1996; 23) indicate that specialization and division of labor is currently challenged by Ann.s introduction of general managers who cut across departments with general controlling authority. However one wonders whether this generalization of function is reasonably applicable in present circumstances with the rapid population growth and existence of government ministries that are separated according to functions and services handled. Nevertheless the distinction theoretically remains. TAP management is based on written documents, the file that is preserved for precedence. This entails that administrators adhered to the rules of the thumb and made incremental decisions based on past organizational records Fox e tall (1991). This approach is contradicted by PM that calls for rationalization of the public sector which forces managers to be intuitive and critical in arriving at a particular course of action. PM considers changes in the environment and strives for adoption of policies that accommodates changes fashion, taste and technology. As a result TAP thrives hard under this era of technology and files are now causing poor service Home Affairs where the recurrent reports on the disappearance of birth certificate records. PM is accommodative to information technology which has basically replaced the Hibernia way of keeping records Hughes 92003; 46). However digitization which is articulated by chief proponents of PM is s implantable in economically stable countries that can afford purchasing of the machineries for data storage. Apart from that TAP emphasizes Job security, old age pension funds and appointment based on seniority this means bosses are those with working experience rather than high level of education. This is however different with PM as appointment is based on competence, performance and level of education Farm and Horton (1996; 52). In PM managers are experts and this account for efficiency in management. However this notion is debatable since most politicians are not that much educated but still modify policies made by experts at a managerial level. This dilemma is responsible for patronage and nepotism rampant in both TAP and PM employees are recruited on political grounds and affiliations which causes poor performance due to expertise incapacity of such people, hence reflecting a similarity within these paradigms. Conclusively public management has a greater impact on the traditional public administration. It attempts to overturn orthodox approaches and import new ones from the private sector in a bid to come up with more effective and efficient paradigm. Hence these two approaches vary to a greater extent, PM tries to cover the pitfalls of TAP by devising new plans of action different from TAP, ND as a result PM seems favorable as compared to TAP in terms of goal attainment and resource management.