Political Stability Essay

Political instability has become a huge and serious problem for both developing and underdeveloped countries. Pakistan is also in one of these countries which is facing the problem of political instability. The instability of government, inefficiency of political parties and a weak political culture make Pakistan a politically instable state. Political stability is important for keeping the society integrated, maintaining legitimacy, economic development and supremacy of law in a state. In political stable condition people have power they use their powers for the development of nation, and in politically instable condition people feel powerless, lose their trust on government and they prefer their own interest in front of state and then the society leads to split. Political stability is very important for nation-building. There are many countries which have comparatively stable political system such as in China, Egypt and so on. Many underdeveloped nations of Asia and Africa including Pakistan have been confused as how to overcome the problems of national integration, economic development, political participation which have been grown simultaneously in these states. There are five issue areas as described by Lenard Binder, which causes political instability in a state. These areas are: â€Å"Identity crises, legitimacy Crisis, Penetration crisis, Participation crisis and distribution crisis. † These all issues play an effective role in making the politics instable, but we only discussed the first two issues, the identity crisis and legitimacy crisis in Pakistan. Identity crisis creates negative effects on the sentiments of nationalism and the feeling of people towards political system. The dismemberment of East Pakistan and present situation in Sindh and balochistan is occurring due to the identity crisis. Identity crisis mostly occurs in pluralistic societies in the form of ethnic, language and religious differences. Pakistan is also a pluralistic society that’s why politically instability becomes more serious in Pakistan and the role of our leaders becomes more important than any other factor. In Pakistan there is also a problem of dysfunction of federal system. The federal crisis occurs when the pressure of regional demands goes to an extreme and don’t get satisfactory response from the state, and it cause separation from the federation. East Pakistan break-up was also due to this reason. A federation cannot exist or survive without a spirit of partnership and co-operation between the provinces and centre. The problem of identity and legitimacy crisis is closely related to each other. The sense of identity may also be developed by accepting the legitimacy of the authority. The legitimacy crisis regarded with the form of governmental institutions, the break down in the constitutional structure and the authority of leadership. Legitimacy crisis occur when people reject the leaders claimed based on historical preference and the leaders thrown out when they fail to fulfill the promises and then this situation leads to the crisis of authority. The problem of political stability in the context of identity and legitimacy crisis in Pakistan has been sharpened mainly due to the effects of rapid socio-political mobilization and, excessive and un institutionalized role of civil and military bureaucracy, which has unbalanced the entire political order of the country. The leadership in Pakistan is always from top to bottom, and in actual the process of becoming a leader starts from bottom to top, in which the first step is social welfare service then entering in political arena. The leadership in Pakistan is based on family patterns. In Pakistan the family leadership is popular amongst people because of lack of education. The lack of education and decay of leadership are the two most important contributing factors to the political instability in Pakistan. In Pakistan political instability is also due to our weak history of leadership that’s why the theme of a national leadership lost in these various levels of leadership. The other form of leadership exist in Pakistan for a long time is dictatorship and it rule in three decades. Dictatorship also the cause of political instability, it makes the institution of leadership weak. Weak organization of political parties also makes Pakistani politics instable. The present political trend in Pakistan is forming coalition amongst different political parties, which is the reason of current instable conditions. Coalition set up is considered temporary arrangement in political scenario everywhere in the world. Lack of clear majority of anyone political party also shows that people do not trust any of these partners that is why all enjoy less support. The most important and immediate challenge the political instable condition of Pakistan is creating is mishandling of issue of war on terrorism. Since September 2008 USA leading the NATO forces started attacking frontier areas of Pakistan and violated the sovereignty of Pakistan in the name of combating terrorism and chasing the terrorists may be hiding in these areas. These attacks are increasing by the times. Moreover, the indirectly contributing factor towards the worsening political situation is external interference of other powers for their selfish interests. Pakistan is a rich country in terms of important minerals, gas and important coasts the finding of resources and being a gate way towards the hot waters has made Pakistan an attractive country for external powers. The present world is a global world where every field is determined by intense competition: state craft, conduct of diplomacy, effective policy making, and strong economy are the most important challenges every state has to face. Political instability in any state leads to disorder amongst the units. The global world is providing aid and support to Pakistan but in presence of insincere leadership and political instable conditions the huge foreign aid is not giving any positive results. If we consider the case of Pakistan, it seems quite agreeable that adequate economic growth could only be possible if there are stable institutions in the political order. The political stability can be achieved if legitimacy of the institutions and personal legitimacy of the ruler has been solved. Conclusion: The present political instability in Pakistan has increased the external and internal challenges for its society and state. The present and immediate need of the time is a stable political system, since Pakistan has to combat inside terrorism, has to face and convince its own people that this war is necessary, and Pakistan has to satisfy its allies and as well as neighbors and manage the pressure that Pakistan is taking positive steps to counter the situation. The main problem in this whole scenario is lack of trust amongst Pakistan and the allies and neighbors keep exploiting the situation. This situation has endangered the future of Pakistani people who are now considering Pakistan is an insecure place. Without politically stability Pakistan did not become the world best state.

Human rights in South Africa Essay

Summary: Stephen Lewis is attempting to get Canadians to support a grassroot aids project in hopes of raising money in numerous ways. These ways are referred to as dares and Canadian citizens are encouraged to participate in various dares to raise money. Since Canada was in an economic recession at this time they were not able to participate in donating money to Africa, Throughout this project, Stephen Lewis raised $12,000,000 between 50,000 people. This had a large implication on the economy since Canada was in a recession and were not able to help. Article #2: Compulsory Testing This article is about South Africans being discriminated against their human rights South Africans are now required to test for HIV aids because they have one of the largest infected populations in the world. â€Å"Up to six million people in South Africa – around 17 per cent of the population – are believed to be HIV positive or suffering from Aids†. The provincial government’s proposal to introduce mandatory testing follows concerns many people are unaware of the fact they are infected. Article # 3: South Africans admit lousy job fighting AIDS. South Africa is the largest AID infected country in the world. Leaders in South Africa admit to mismanaging the AIDS crisis there. They denied that HIV was the cause of AIDS and prescribed the wrong medication to people with this sickness. This ultimately had a health effect on the people of South Africa. It has an impact on unborn babies. According to researchers, 37,000 babies will be infected with Hiv Aids in the next 6 years.

Evaluating People Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evaluating People Skills - Research Paper Example A competent manager with a team of unskilled individuals will not be able to score big on performance charts. On the other hand, a competent manager with a competent team always delivers satisfactory results. â€Å"One project management shoe no longer fits all feet† (DeCarlo, 2003). Trends in project management are constantly changing. Different project management techniques work for different projects. Moreover, certain project managers prefer particular project management technique and tools. In other words, project management gets customized frequently. New methodologies and templates are emerging to satisfy the needs of various projects. Trends in people skills have been shifting towards hiring people with tangible ‘People Skills’. Budget, schedule and technical specifications are the three features that determine the success and quality of a project. That is why project management trends are shifting towards putting together a team that can deliver according to the changing requirements of the projects. Accordingly, the trends in processes are also changing. More focus is now on the processes that deliver the most in relatively less amount of time as dramatic changes can be observed in technology leadership and practices. Usually, projects have technical difficulties and the needs for achieving more with less only puts pressure on team members of a project. Teams with significant human dimensions are successful in completing better projects. Virtual teams are the best examples of such human dimensions (Flannes, n.d.). These teams are better at handling cross-cultural variables. There is no doubt that project teams are facing more complexity and strain than ever. The world is recovering from a global economic downturn and this recovery process involves more innovation and more complexity in business projects. Moreover, there is more strain put on project teams due to global business competition. Now the projects generally involve people from

The Road to Stardom Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Road to Stardom - Article Example As a child Kobe Bryant loved the game of basketball. He was inspired by his father, Joe â€Å"Jellybean† Bryant, who was a professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Philadelphia 76ers. Kobe lived part of his youth in Europe and his family always made sure Kobe received a good education. In high school Kobe Bryant studied and played basketball for Lower Marion High School in Pennsylvania. During those teenage years Kobe was a phenomenon in the basketball court playing against other players his age. Scouts recognized his talent very early in his basketball career. Kobe was considered one of the nation’s top prospects in 1996.After Kobe graduated for high school he considered going to college to earn a degree and play for Duke University or another school since he received many scholarship offers. His talent in the courts was incredible and he opted to enter the NBA draft in 1996. Kobe was selected #13 in the draft by th e Charlotte Hornets. After being drafted Kobe heard the news that would change his life forever. . The L.A. Lakers traded Vlade Divac for the rights of an unproved rookie named Kobe Bryant. Kobe had a tough rookie season, but he learned what being a true professional is all about. He did win the slam dunk contest that season which made him a popular player. . Within three seasons he developed his game and gained the recognition in the league to be chosen to his first of many all-star game selections.

Role of Cardiac Nurses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Role of Cardiac Nurses - Assignment Example The term cardiac nursing is a broad term, and this encompasses care in different clinical areas. These areas may include areas of cardiac nursing in the cardiothoracic surgery, interventional cardiology, general medical cardiology, cardiac imaging and diagnostics, intensive and critical care units, pediatric cardiology and cardio-surgery, electrophysiology laboratory or pacemaker units, primary care, home care, and even community care. The care provided may need technological knowledge and expertise about the use of complicated instruments, implants, and procedures; ability to interpret data from sophisticated monitoring devices and investigations; capability to critically analyse biological manifestations about conditions, researching evidence from literature, and synthesize them to arrive at a medical decision and nursing care plan; dexterity to manage different critical and life-threatening cardiac situations in diverse environments; knowledge to intervene and educate patients to reduce cardiac risks; and ability to manage a care even in areas ranging from primary, home, and community settings. Research in these areas is diverse and voluminous. Therefore, identification of informative research in this area of practice is important, and to be able to extract useful findings, it would be legitimate to critically review the available relevant research. In this assignment, a critical literature review will be undertaken to that purpose so implications for clinical cardiac practice can be identified through evidence. The process of the literature search and findings from the review has been presented below. Literature Search To build a scientific basis of evidence, a comprehensive literature search was undertaken and then evaluated critically. For the purpose of the review of literature to support the rationale, need, and continuation of the project, this author conducted a literature search across databases. Those accessed for information included: CINHAL, Medline and Pubmed along with the Google Scholar internet search engine. Moreover MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL and Cochrane databases were searched to identify relevant literature on prevention of pressure ulcers. HighWire Press was also searched. The key words in the search included "cardiac nursing", "cardiac nurses", "role", "cardiovascular nursing", "intensive care nursing", "critical care nursing", "cardiac intervention nursing", "pacemaker units", "nursing," "clinical trials", "home cardiac nursing", "cardiac surgery nursing", "primary care cardiac nursing", "cardiac imaging nursing," "emergency cardiac nursing", "cardiac nursing education", and "cardiac patient education" published in the last 10 years. Inclusion criteria for each article reviewed were answers to the following questions: 1. Was the article a valid research article 2. Did the article's study include role of cardiac nursing in area of cardiac medicine practice and applied to nursing practice in that area 3. Was the article published within the past 10 years 4. Did the article have some identification with nursing practice and healthcare delivery related to cardiac care Each article must answer "yes" to all of

How would Virtue Ethics be used to solve moral controversies What Essay

How would Virtue Ethics be used to solve moral controversies What would Virtue Ethics say is the right action in regards to abortion - Essay Example Contextually, moral controversies and its impact on the society is vital and hence, the effect of virtue ethics is an important considerate in this regard. The discussion henceforth also stresses on the fact that the impact of social issues like abortion may lead to the death of several lives in the society and create a moral controversy. Virtue ethics, in its simplest form, implies the good character of individuals and their awareness of the moral rights they have. According to virtue ethics, a virtuous person will have his attention towards avoiding social moral controversies, as they focus towards the nature of the issue. In this context, it can be stated that virtue ethics focuses more upon the aspect to how an individual should live and portray his/her characteristics and express wisdom towards solving issues. Accordingly, these aspects and positive traits of the people minimize the risk of moral controversies to a considerable extent (British Philosophical Association, n.d.). Virtue ethics is based upon three tenets to avoid the moral controversies, which includes ‘agent-based theories, Eudaimonism, and the ethics of care’. In other words, virtue ethics is a form of â€Å"Modern Moral Philosophy†, which implies that every individual living in a society needs to have rational thoughts to avoid controversies. Hence, virtue implies towards the right action of an individual guided by their moral obligations (British Philosophical Association, n.d.). Concerning abortion, the right attitude or virtue depends upon the relevance of action, based on correct information. As virtue ethics refers fetus to be a life, and because killing a life is against the moral consideration, virtue ethics refers abortion as a wrong action. However, the action of abortion can be referred as virtuous, if the decision is based on accurate information, independence and self-determination by the expecting mother and the pregnancy may be a

Abstract article on evolution of hazardous explosives emergency Research Paper

Abstract article on evolution of hazardous explosives emergency response - Research Paper Example The trend today has been the development of realistic plans which are put down on paper. It is however noted that the emphasis of putting such plans on paper has to some extent drawn focus away from the planning process itself and from the original goal of ensuring that the community is well prepared in the case of emergencies. Unlike in previous times when emergency response was the preserve of federal, regional and local governments, the activity today involves policy makers, law enforcement agencies as well as the military. With regard to terrorism, a lot of emphasis has been put on understanding the way human beings behave when subjected to stress based on information logically drawn from past studies on technological and natural disasters. Explosion emergency preparedness and response today involves the sharing of information and cooperative planning among a diversity of parties unlike what used to happen a couple of decades ago. One of the main concerns when it comes to emergency response planning and execution is citizen panic. Based on past experiences with natural and technological disasters, new models of human behaviour in the event of different explosive disasters have been developed. A lot of variations in human behaviour in disasters are based on the effects and nature of the agents that cause the explosion. Past studies have shown that some agents cause higher and more acute fear levels as compared to others. Some of the elements that have been considered by emergency planners and responders in the event of disasters include the patterns of citizen response which are impacted by such factors as disaster syndrome, and panic among other factors. In general, it is noted that the response of citizens in the event of disasters such as explosions can be predicted. The outcome of such disasters on victims and citizens to a large extent can be extrapolated from past literature on people’s responses to

Fit And Filling Facility For The Elderly Assignment

Fit And Filling Facility For The Elderly - Assignment Example The most notable features of the space around and within the park are that the pathways are paved using colored concrete blocks. The paving of the pathways and the common areas are done using different colors, and that choice was made for different reasons. First, the choice of white materials for the pathways was made to guarantee that hygiene levels would remain as high as possible. Secondly, the different colors for the pavements will help the aged suffering from dementia to recall their respective rooms, and their way to facilities like the health center, the shopping center, and common facility amenities. From the outside, towards the front side of the facility, there is a pathway heading to the suburban shopping mall which is located about 50 meters from the facility. At the shopping mall, there are many of the stores that an aged person would need to visit, including a bread shop, a Starbucks outlet, and a wellness center, which provides aerobics, physical fitness, and physiotherapy services. From the outside, a visitor can see the two-bedroom apartments of different sizes, ranging from 825 to 2000 square feet. At one extreme side of the facility, close to the fence, there is the health center, where the elderly living at the facility are rushed for urgent medical care (Secker et al., 2003). At different sections of the facility, the common open parks will have different plant species, in order to help the aged to remember their respective house and the entrance to their main hall.

No topic, just answer the following questions Assignment - 2

No topic, just answer the following questions - Assignment Example After maturity, the sperm cells move along the vas deferens (Chiras 115-120). As the sperm cells move along the tube, they take fluid from seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and Cowper’s gland organs. The fluid is added to the sperm cells. The resulting mixture is known as semen. The fluid plays a significant role to the sperm cells. It provides nourishment to the cells, allows locomotion, and offers a suitable environment for the cells to exist. Exit of sperm occurs through a method identified as ejaculation (Chiras 115-120). However, ejaculation occurs when the male organ erect. Erection occurs once the male organ is filled with blood, and this makes it firm. As a result, semen is discharged through the tube known as the urethra. The tow cycles play a significant role in the reproduction process of a woman. A reflection on the two cycles is crucial. First, female ovarian cycle controls growth of the egg in the ovary. The process begins with the rise of level of estrogen in the woman body. Then increase level of this hormone causes an upsurge of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle Lutenising hormone (FSH) (Sloane 82-88). A rise of LH and FSH leads to growth and breakdown of the follicle, and this sets free the completely developed egg from the ovary. The menstrual cycle takes over the process from here. The process occurs in what is known as luteal phase. In the course of ovulation, the eggs disintegrate from its follicle (Sloane 82-88). However, the ruptured follicle floats on the ovary. For a period of 14 days, the follicle changes into a structure recognized as corpus luteum (Sloane 82-88). The structure plays a role of releasing progesterone and a limited amount of estrogen. The hormone helps in thicken ing of the uterine wall awaiting implantation of fertilized egg. Failure of egg to stick leads to various changes in the uterus. First, the corpus luteum shrinks and dies (Sloane

Review on Wood, Goffman, and Gergen's reading Essay

Review on Wood, Goffman, and Gergen's reading - Essay Example If one identifies his/herself with a tribe, the behavior or actions will reflect who or what an individual is (Fine & Manning 13). Information about the identity of someone helps one to define the situation, it also enables people to know what to expect of them in advance, and what an individual expects of others in advance. Identity enables people to know how best to act in order to get the best response from them. In order to know an individual well, an identity enables individual to see what the individual says about himself is true. It provides evidence of whoever the provider claims to be (Fine & Manning 18). To a communication scholar, identity enables the scholar resonates on why individuals judge themselves after their actions. One judges himself according to what others perceive him or her to be. One’s identity gets acquired through communicating with other people. Since we became not born with the understanding of whoever we are, we develop this understanding by communicating with other people. Goffman believes that individuals act purposive in order to bring out their desired state. This they achieve by continually changing their actions in order to make their current opinion relate to their desired perceptual state. Goffman believe that what man does gets guided with respect to the perceived culmination of the activity. According to Goffman, embarrassment does not come from poor performance, but rather from the answers of others as perceived by one’s self (Fine & Manning 28). He suggests that individuals have an obligation to maintain their own and others claims to relevant identities. Embarrassment emerges if individual, expressive facts become threatened by his assumptions about his own identity. Goffman suggests that human beings are performers who knowingly give and unwittingly give off different impressions. He claims that almost everyone is skilled in the arts of

Then Ill be brief Essay Example for Free

Then Ill be brief Essay In Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, Juliet matures very rapidly. In the start of the play Juliet is introduced as a young, innocent girl, but ends up as a woman in love with an opinion of her own, and is emotionally mature. Juliet goes through several stages of being a child, being in love, becoming a wife, being deceived and being a widow in a short space of time. In the beginning Juliet is shown to be an innocent and nai ve, almost a child, she is not yet fourteen years of age. She is open-minded and joins in when she is being teased. She is also willing to listen and respect the advice of her parents and nurse; Ill look to like, if looking liking move. This shows that Juliet at this point is obedient and is not emotionally aware and doesnt know what real love is yet. Another quotation that shows her obedience is Madam, I am here, what is your will? Also we can see that Lord Capulet, although Juliets father and considered her owner, values her opinion and thinks highly of her. She is the hopeful lady of my earth. We can see that that there is an innocence about her character and that the thought of marriage does not impress her. We know this because when she is confronted with the idea of marriage she says It is an honour that I do not dream of. Even though she is not interested in marrying Paris, she agrees to keep her father happy. Another point that shows Juliet is still a young girl is the way that she interacts with and is continually petted by the Nurse. Throughout the play the Nurse continually appears. In the beginning Juliet and the Nurse trust each other, protect each other and show love towards each other. Nurse speaks to Juliet in a little girl language What lamb! What ladybird! Juliet appears to have a better relationship with the nurse than with her mother. Juliet and her mother appear to have an awkward relationship. We can see this when she asks the Nurse to give a while but soon after asks her to return. Juliets behaviour rapidly changes when she is faced with new situations and soon finds that she is in love, and her life has changed. When she meets Romeo she uses a witty and intelligent language. Romeo metaphorically uses religion, saying that Juliet is a saint, a blessing from God. Although Juliet is only young she is very articulate and this is where her intelligence shows through. She smartly twists Romeos words and takes control over him. Juliet says, Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. Prayer is the emphasised word, and although Juliet is denying what Romeo is suggesting she is perhaps, urging him to kiss her. She is outrageously flirtatious. Her meeting with Romeo resulted in a very quick increase in her maturity. A major part in showing that Juliet is maturing is the way in which her language includes a sonnet. The way in which she and Romeo share the sonnet shows true love, even though they have only just met. In a way, Shakespeare is blessing their love and by doing this he is showing that Juliet accepts him and his manner, and is also showing how much she likes him. Shakespeare is once again showing Juliets intellect and the way she easily adapts to her surroundings. Once she has admitted her love for Romeo and committed her life to him, there is a new maturity in the way she responds to the people around her and the circumstances in which she finds herself. She is a young woman saying; this is want I want. During the balcony scene Juliet says: O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father or refuse thy name Or if thy wilt not, be but sworn my love And Ill no longer be a Capulet! This scene gives the effect that the couple are so in love that Juliet can take a mature approach to Romeo being a Montague. She strongly believes that Romeo is not her enemy, Montague is. Tis but a name that is my enemy. This shows that she loves Romeo more than she respects her parents and says that she will rid of her family name if it allows her to be with Romeo. She practically questions Romeo and tests him by proposing marriage. Juliet is starting to be more independent and questions her parents ideas and disobeys them. There appears to be passion and energy in Juliets speech when she is communicating with Romeo. Her language becomes very bold and she talks more to him. She is prepared to take responsibility and so proposes marriage to him. If that thy bent of love be honourable. Thy propose marriage, send me word tomorrow. This shows a decisive and self-motivated side of Juliet and we can see that she has already changed from the shy and polite Juliet that we were first introduced to. This shows a great, rapid increase in her maturity. Other factors that influence this increase is the way in which she chooses love, even at the risk of being cut from her family, And Ill no longer be a Capulet When Juliet sends the Nurse out to find out about her marriage to Romeo her temperament changes, showing Juliet in a different light. The clock struck nine when I did see the Nurse; Oh she is lame Is three long hours, yet shes not come. Shakespeare has used these short sentences to Juliets desperation and frustration. She has turned from being a pleasant and courteous girl to a frustrated one. These mannerisms where not expected from a young girl in this period of time. This is another change we are shown in Juliets behaviour and maturity. When the Nurse begins to say that Juliet should just agree and marry Paris, Juliet even cuts off from the Nurse leaving her alone. When the Nurse says Will you speak well of that who killed your cousin. Juliet replies Shall I speak ill of him who is my husband? She also says that That villain would of killed my husband protecting Romeo from the Nurse taking the side of he lover, rather than her family and openly rebelling showing that she is not trying to act the part that her parents want her to play. Although Juliet is drifting away from her family she once again she begins to play the role of a mature young woman and agrees to wed Paris, to put things right with her family. This is a very mature act, even though we know from the text that this is not what she wants. Juliet says Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it .. . And with this knife Ill help it presently. When Juliet agrees to marry Paris she says to her father To beg you pardon. Pardon I beseech you! Henceforth I am ever ruled by you. This is a very mature act, even though it is deceitful, Juliet has settled problems within her family, so they do not feel that they have killed her. She shows maturity by putting their needs before hers. After Juliet has arranged her death with Friar Lawrence, she is an emotionally awoken woman who will do anything to be with the one she loves. And I will do it without fear or doubt, to live an unstained wife to my sweet love. Juliet faces her fears and trusts in God and Friar Lawrence. She is forced to use trickery in order to stay true to dear Romeo. This showed remarkable courage. Before she takes the potion she uses a soliloquy that confronts all her fears. She speaks in blank verse showing the seriousness of the situation. When Juliet awakes to see a lifeless Romeo lying beside her, Juliets maturity and loyalty takes over and she takes the decision to choose eternity over the present. The quotation Then Ill be brief. O happy dagger! This is my sheath; there rust, and let me die. Shows the quickness and determination of Juliets death. During the period of a few days Juliet matures into a committed and reliable woman and wife, capable of taking decisions without the help of others. Shakespeare shows this by clearly stating the different stages that happen and by making everything occur in a short period of time. He also uses different language throughout the play, such as blank verse, sonnets and soliloquies and different sentence structures to show different emotions.

Findings Chapter on Resilience Research

Findings Chapter on Resilience Research Chapter four: Stage 1 qualitative data collection, analysis and empirical findings Introduction This chapter discusses the first stage of empirical study, including its data collection, data analysis and findings. This chapter discusses how different data collection and analysis methods were used during the research to find answers to the research questions. In particular, this chapter describes the use of semi-structured interview method to collect data for the research (next section). Sampling techniques used for the study are discussed, followed by the development of interview questions and process of conducting interviews. Then the qualitative data analysis approach will be discussed. Empirical findings of the stage one are presented and explained in detail. This chapter will also highlight the contribution to the concept of resilience. This would be achieved through incorporating empirical findings to refine the Proactive Performance Measurement for SC resilience (2PM-SCR) framework earlier developed from the literature. Four matrices have been developed to define the relations between the three main constructs of supply chain resilience: risks, KPIs, and capabilities. Sampling technique The number and content of interviews was based non-probability sampling techniques; Purposive (Judgmental), and Snowball sampling. The initial participant sample is based on the participants interest to participate in the research. In purposive sampling, participants were selected based on pre-selected criteria which will best enable the researcher to answer the research questions. Thus, purposive sampling ensures adequate representation of important themes. Then each interviewee was asked towards the end of the interview whom they may think would be suitable for a similar interview and who may be knowledgeable about the phenomena (snowball sampling). Thus, recommendations will be taken from people who know people who know that they are suitable for similar lines on questioning around the research framework. Purposive sampling represents a group of different non-probability sampling techniques. Also known as judgmental, selective or subjective sampling, purposive sampling relies on the judgement of the researcher when it comes to selecting the units (e.g., people, cases/organisations, events, pieces of data) that are to be studied. Usually, the sample being investigated is quite small, especially when compared with probability sampling techniques. In purposive sampling technique, the suitable interview participants were identified through industry contacts after they have been assessed based on the following criteria as stated earlier: The sample should be from the FMCG industry covering any of the FMCG categories such as (Food, Home, Personal Care, Agriculture, Retail, Medicinal Herbs, Bakery, Beverages, Dairy products, fast food) The company must be at least medium-sized (From 10 to 249 Employee) or Large-sized (Greeter than 249 Employees). SC manager interviewed must have a level of experience of more than 5 years. Company Type / Function ( Manufacture Distributor Supplier Retailer) To cover at least 3 categories of FMCG The sample should provide access to its key information (primary data) In application to my research, two informal meetings were conducted with experts from the SC Council Middle East Chapter based in Egypt. I was recommended to look for 35 companies from the FMCG that have appropriate SC activities. So I have emailed all the 35 companies and I have got 25 responses out of the 35 that were willing to participate in my research. From those 25 companies, 5 companies were neglected because either their SC activities are very limited or the people involved in the SC activities have less than 5 years of experience which will subsequently give a lack of understanding of the issue of y research. After the 25 companies were chosen, snowball sampling was obtained by asking participants to suggest someone else who was appropriate for the study. For example, Americana Olives SC manager was asked to suggest other companies which could contribute to the research, he recommended Americana Cakes SC manager. Nevertheless, based on the researcher knowledge and judgement , some companies were found to be not suitable for this research. In order to have a good sample to the research, 30 companies have been chosen that apply to the criterias that previously stated. The companies were selected by taking into consideration their position in the FMCG SC (i.e. supplier/manufacturer/distributor/retailer). It is essential to have companies that are continuously managing their SC in order to get a deeper understanding of the risks and different problems that face the entire network. The companies shall continuously manage their SC and be medium sized or big companies. Its important to get interviews with people with the right competence within the company in order to get the most insight from the interviews. Each expert who participated in the interview had direct involvement of the respective SCM position in MER and they all had direct work experience in supply chain for more than 10 years which indicates the high level of skills, in the field of supply chain. The choice to use a smaller number of cases were deliberate as it makes it possible to have  a more in depth study of the cases and is in this case more suitable. All interviewees were contacted over the phone by explaining the research topic, research questions, objectives and purpose of the interviews, in order to obtain their consent to participate in the interviews. All interviews were conducted on-site and were audio recorded with the consent of participants for word-for-word transcribing purposes. One interview was on average of 1.5 to 2 hours in duration. More information about the interviews will be discussed in the next section. The data collection will help in generating theory by jointly collecting data and analysing them to be the building block of the iterative conceptual model. Saunders et al. (2009) suggest to continuingly collect qualitative data such as by conducting additional interviews, until data saturation is reached; in other words until the additional data collected provides few, if any, new insights. In this study, interviews were conducted with 30 companies in the FMCG industry. Moreover, to cover different sectors in the industry; such as diary, food, retailers, and healthcare. Interviewing the 30 companies helped to gain adequate information to be able to generalize the findings. Apparently, there was an intention to involve a larger sample size since different participants might have different opinions and perceptions. But as the same time, if a large sample is used, data becomes repetitive (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). This is called the saturation point when the collection of new data wont add further insight to the research performed. The idea of data saturation in studies is important; nevertheless, it does not provide a practical guide for when this point has been touched (Guest et al., 2006). Moreover, authors argued that analysing interview results can be one of the methods that help to figure out the point at which data saturation has been attained (Bernard, 2012). Thus, owing to the exploratory nature of this research, saturation was not less below the 30 companies interviewed since new risks, capabilities, and KPIs were explored based on the companys place in the network (i.e. supplier/manufacturer/distributor/retailer) and the category of FMCG underneath the company falls. Empirical data collection After setting the criteria for the companies that could be part of this research, it has been assured that each SC manager who participated had direct involvement of the respective SCM position in MER and they all had direct work experience in SC for at least five years which indicated the high level of skills in the field of SC as previously stated in the previous section. The 30 companies have experience in SC shown in Table 4.1 representing manufacturing, supplier, distribution and retail sectors in MER. The category, country, company, size, level of experience, and the type of the company are shown in the columns of Table 4.1. The number of employees column provides an indication of the company size. In other words, the sample consists of mid and large scale companies with various business natures. Moreover, an interview template (see Appendix 1) was developed and used for this study and there was always freedom for participants to express their ideas with respect to the context being discussed. For further details about the background of the companies please check Appendix 1. Table 4.1: Summary of the companies involved in the empirical phase Category Country Interview with Food 8 Multinational 15 Supply chain top and middle management 5 Home and Personal Care 1 Local 15 Supply chain top management 25 Food and Personal Care 1 Company Size Type Agriculture 1 Medium-sized 2 Manufacture Distributor 13 Retail 4 Large-sized 28 Manufacture Distributor Supplier 10 Agriculture and Medicinal Herbs 1 Experience Manufacturer 1 Food and Bakery 1 More than 15 years 10 Retailer 4 Beverage 2 More than 10 years 9 Manufacture Retail 2 Dairy 5 More than 20 years 3 Medicinal Herbs 1 More than 5 years 6 Fast Food 2 More than 25 years 2 Dairy and Cheese 3 Conducting interviews The interviews were conducted in person to over a period of 15 months from May 2015 to August 2016. Interview times ranged from 90 minutes to 120 minutes, depending on the interviewees schedule and availability. Ethical issues have been considered as stated earlier through gaining informed consent and making confirming that the interview data will be treated as confidential to be used only for research purpose. Thus, a permission of audio recording the interviews was asked for in the beginning of the interview. The audio files were highly useful to help transcribe all interviews word-for-word in order to reduce the biasness and increase the reliability and validity of the research by obtaining confirmation for each transcription from respective interview participant. Moreover, this was because taking notes during the interviews might cause the researcher to lose focus of important data. Additionally, notes taking consume time due to interview time limitation. The researcher started the interview by introducing himself and giving an overall brief about the research conducted. Then, respondents were free to express themselves on any question asked. The interview template consists of nine sections (See Appendix 1). It starts with general questions asking about the company and the interviewee, then general specific SC questions are asked to know an overview of how the network looks like. Then, the researcher gets more specific sections to ask about the four main SC functions; purchasing, warehousing, planning, and logistics. The last three sections are concerned about the risks that the company faces, and a section asking about the risks facing the entire SC, and a final section questions regarding the SC resilience awareness, SC capabilities and resilience KPIs. After each question, the researcher confirmed with the interviewees about the meaning of their answers to make sure that the answers are well understood. Moreover, asking open-ended questions gave the interviewees to incorporate more data, themes, and attitudes towards some issues that may be useful while analysing the data collected. However, the intention of the interview questions was not just to confirm the important factors in the literature but rather to discover other new factors to be able to refine the 2PM-SCR conceptual framework pre-developed earlier. Data analysis process Qualitative data analysis consists of identifying, coding, and categorizing patterns or themes found in the data. The analytical skills of the researcher highly affects the clarity and relevance of the findings. Consequently, these skills would be either a great strength or weakness of any qualitative based research. However, it is crucial that the researcher reports and documents the analytic processes and procedures fully and truthfully so that others can evaluate the credibility of the researcher and their findings (Braun and Clarke, 2006). The Qualitative analysis process as proposed by Creswell (2009) starts by data collection and management, then the raw data are organized to be coded and described, after that comes the stage of conceptualization, classifying, categorizing, and identifying themes to be connected and interrelated together. At last, it is the interpretation process by creating explanatory accounts that provide meanings to the identified themes. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were qualitative data of participants opinions and ideas on the subject being discussed. Each interview audio file was transcribed word- for-word in order to avoid missing any element from the responses given by the interview participant. The analysis of the data started with some prior knowledge, initial analytic interests and thoughts. The transcription process was also an excellent way for the researcher to begin the process of familiarizing themselves with the interview data and creating meanings from them. According to Bird (2005), transcription is a key phase of data analysis within an interpretative qualitative methodology. The majority of the recorded interviews were first translated from Arabic into English and then transcribed. Therefore, during this stage, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in the collected data to the extent that he was familiar with the depth and breadth of the content. Afterwards, transcripts were carefully edit ed to clean them from irrelevant phrases which were not relevant to the interview topic. A combination of two qualitative data analysis methods have been used (see Figure 4.1) to analyse the cleaned transcripts: thematic analysis (Tharenou et al., 2007; King and Horrocks, 2010) and comparative analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Dawson, 2002). The thematic analysis has been used to allow new SC resilience themes (i.e. capabilities, KPIs and risks in this case) to emerge by coding openly and to confirm existing themes from the transcripts and documents, whilst comparative analysis method has been used to examine the set of themes across the 30 companies to detect the strength of evidence from empirical data (Dawson, 2002; Tharenou et al., 2007). The coding step comprised 3 key activities: identifying and confirming the themes of what, how, why and with-what for the risks, capabilities, and KPIs based on the frequency of occurrence of empirical data support from the 30 companies. Then the categories were derived and the findings were associated to relevant categories/topic s in order to increase the understanding of integrative work on SC resilience. Finally, the initial conceptual framework was refined, by integrating and summarizing the empirical findings. Since there was a high volume of interview data, NVIVO software was used in this research because it has various advantages, such as reducing the manual tasks and giving more time to discover tendencies, recognize themes and derive conclusions (Wong, 2008). Figure 4.1: Qualitative Data Analysis steps Integrating thematic and comparative analysis methods Thematic analysis and comparative analysis were used in order to analyse qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with SC managers from the 30 FMCG Companies. The themes were identified through coded data and categorized using thematic analysis. Therefore, thematic analysis should be seen as a foundational approach for qualitative analysis and can be defined as an approach that is used for identifying, extracting, analyzing and reporting patterns (themes) within the collected textual materials and then organizing and describing those themes in detail (Braun Clarke 2006). The step of generating the initial codes started when the researcher had become familiar with the data through the generation of an initial list of ideas about what was in the data and what was interesting about them. The QSR NVIVO was used to perform the second step of the data analysis. This was done by grouping and naming selections from the text within each data item. As suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006), the researcher coded as many potential themes and patterns as possible as it is never possible to know what might become of interest later on. The result of this step was a long list of the different codes that the researcher had identified across the data. In searching for themes, there was a need to re-focus the analysis at a broader level than had been undertaken with the codes. This required sorting and organizing all the different relevant codes into potential themes. This step ended when a collection of possible themes and sub-themes was generated, together with related codes. A thematic map was then refined to consider whether the collated codes for each theme appeared to form a coherent pattern, whether the individual theme was valid in relation to the entire data set, and if the thematic map accurately reflected the meanings evident in the data set as a whole (Braun Clarke 2006). After the step of searching for themes, the researcher came up with a set of themes. Throughout the analysis, the researcher identified a number of themes following the three phases underlined by King and Horrocks (2010): [1] Descriptive coding (first-order codes): the researcher classifies the transcribed data from the interviews that allocates descriptive codes and help in answering the research questions. [2] Interpretative coding (second-order themes): The descriptive codes allocated which seems to carry common meaning are grouped allocated are grouped and an interpretive code is created. [3] Defining overarching themes (aggregate dimensions): Overarching themes that can describe the main concepts in the analysis are identified. In application to this research, the second-order themes were identified using first-order codes, and they were categorized as aggregated dimensions to reveal the main categories of risks, capabilities, and KPIs. The comparative analysis is closely connected to thematic analysis (Dawson, 2002) and used with thematic analysis in this research. Using this method, data from different companies is compared and contrasted and the analysis continues until finding got saturated from the data collected. Comparative and thematic analyses are frequently used together within the same research data analysis, through moving backwards and forwards between transcripts, memos, notes and the literature in order to confirm the themes emerged through thematic analysis (Dawson, 2002; King and Horrocks, 2010). Comparative analysis was used to confirm the second-order themes discovered in the empirical findings for the three main SC constructs (risks, capabilities, and KPIs) to identify the similarities, agreements, and dis-agreements across the 30 companies interviewed. Consistent with the scaling structure adopted by Rihoux and Ragin (2008) shown in Table 4.2, the second-order themes are counted based on how frequently is referred to in the empirical data. Triple ticks (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡) represent strong evidence, double ticks (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡) represent average evidence, single tick (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡) represents weak evidence, and no ticks represent no evidence supported. Table 4.2: Scales used for comparative analysis Scale Symbol Frequency ofoccurrence No evidence [blank] Zero Weak evidence à ¢Ã…“â€Å" Between 1 and 4 (1à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤xà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤4) Average evidence à ¢Ã…“â€Å"à ¢Ã…“â€Å" Between 5 and 8 (5à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤xà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤8) Strong evidence à ¢Ã…“â€Å"à ¢Ã…“â€Å"à ¢Ã…“â€Å" More than or equal 9 (9à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤x) Source: Rihoux and Ragin (2008) Empirical findings that have been presented in narrative discussion above, will be analysed with existing studies. The purpose of this analysis is to examine whether evidences confirm, unconfirmed or existing studies. comparative analysis used  particularly to confirm the discovery of knowledge determinates and knowledge flows  (in the knowledge network model) revealed through thematic analysis. Empirical findings from stage one The most common way of writing up the thematic  analysis is to describe and discuss each overarching theme in turn, stating examples from the data and using quotes to facilitate theme characterisation.Braun and Clarke  (2006) argue that the aim of compiling the thematic analysis is not merely a descriptive  summary of the content of the theme, but rather building a narrative that informs the  reader how research findings have cast light upon the issue in hand. Moreover, Symon  and Cassell (2012) highlighted that whatever approach is selected, the use of direct  quotes from the participants is necessary. These quotes should normally include both  short quotes to aid the understanding of specific points of interpretation and more  extensive passages would provide readers a flavour of the original texts.

Liquidity Gap Analysis And Schedule Finance Essay

Liquidity Gap Analysis And Schedule Finance Essay The main technique used to measure liquidity position is liquidity gap analysis. Liquidity gaps are differences between assets and liabilities at present time and in the future (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Gaps generate liquidity risk; deficits will require funding and excess will result in interest rate risk. Gaps can either be static or dynamic. Static gaps will consider all assets and liabilities which are actually present in the balance sheet. In such case the analysis shows a reduction of the assets and liabilities as they mature. Dynamic gaps are simply the consideration of actual plus projected inflows and outflows; these depend on business uncertainties (Hampel et al 1999). A liquidity gap schedule provides an analytical framework for measuring future funding needs by comparing the amount of assets and liabilities maturing over specific time intervals (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Table 3 presents a sample liquidity gap schedule. Table 3: Liquidity gap schedule Less than 10 days Over 10 days but less than 3 months Over 3 months but less 6 months Over 6 months less than one year 1 to 5 years Over 5 years and capital Total Assets 10 10 10 5 65 0 100 Liabilities and Equity 50 30 15 0 0 5 100 Net outflow(Assets minus Liabilities) (40) (20) (5) 5 65 (5) 0 Cumulative net outflow (40) (60) (65) (60) 5 0 0 Source: Office of Thrift Supervision Jan 15 (2010) Sec 530 page 29 In the liquidity gap schedule, the company ranges assets and liabilities into different time intervals taking into account their remaining time to maturity. Generally, the company ranges assets and liabilities according to their effective maturities rather than their contractual maturities. For instance, a company will treat non maturity deposits as long-term liabilities rather than short-term liabilities. Negative gapping at the shorter end of the schedule increases the risk that the company will be unable to rollover maturing liabilities as they come due. While such a position is in favour to liquidity, it tends to enhance profitability over the long-term, provided the company keeps the gaps within manageable limit. However, a limitation of the liquidity gap schedule is that it does not capture projected balance sheet changes such as future loan and deposit growth. While it is important to understand the liquidity of a companys existing balance sheet, it is also essential to forecast the growth of key balance sheet components, such as deposits and loans, over time. (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010) 2.8.3 Risk Management Liquidity risk management should be vigorous with analysis and metrics that reflects a companys liquidity position and assess its options under different market conditions, such as economic stress, crisis, and collapse (Thomas Barnes 15 Jan 2010). Liquidity risk needs to be managed once it has been identified and measured. Risk is more integral to business for insurance that it is perhaps for any other industry (Capgemini 2006). Long-run profitability will suffer when companies hold too much low-earning liquidity assets. Holding too little liquidity can lead to severe financial problems. Managing liquidity risk is not only to eliminate the risk but rather find the equilibrium between return and risk (Decker, A, P 2000). Selling some assets rapidly seems to be an easy solution, but still insurers will have to face forced sales risk. For some insurers, their projects to improve risk management evolved into the establishment or expansion of their risk management department (Henry Essert march 2010). The aim in managing liquidity is to minimize cost. The cheapest approach is to try to restructure the balance sheet in such a way to reduce gap and that the appropriate level of risk is reached (Decker, A, P 2000). 2.8.3.1 Metrics used for liquidity risk management Most financial firms such as insurance companies use various metrics to control their liquidity risk. This consists of three basic approaches which can be categorized as: the liquid assets approach, the cash flow approach, and a combination of both. (Sharma paul et al 2006) Under the liquid assets approach, the company needs to maintain liquid instruments on their balance sheet which can be consulted whenever required. (Ratios are the relevant metrics in this approach) Under the cash flow matching approach, the company tries to match cash outflows against contractual cash inflows across a range of near-term maturity buckets. This approach is mostly used by insurance companies. The mixed approach is a combination of both cash flow approach and the liquid assets approach. The company attempts to match cash outflows each time bucket against a combination of contractual cash inflows. Insurance companies place more emphasis on the cash flow matching approach. When gaps in maturity buckets are unfavorable, insurance companies would utilize the mixed approach to help ensure that they will be able to meet their obligations to provide cash to counterparties. (Sharma et al 2006) 2.8.3.2 Assets Liability Management Assets Liability Management (ALM) can be termed as a risk management technique designed to earn an adequate return while maintaining a reasonable surplus of assets beyond liabilities. It considers interest rates, earning power and degree of willingness to take on debt and hence is also known as Surplus Management (Sayonton Roy 2010). Management of liquidity consists of raising fund and invests where excess of fund is available. The managers will buy, hold and sell assets and liabilities in order to maintain a predetermined level of liquidity (Matti Peltonen 2010). This technique forms part of the Asset liability Management and thus facilitates in Funding, Investing and Hedging issues to achieve predetermined strike between risk and return. The objective is to increase profitability, while monitoring risk, as well as complying with the constraints of companies (Arzu Tektas et al 2005). 2. 9 Study in the same field 2.9.1 Estimation of Liquidity Risk Patrick Tobin and Alan Brown 2003 designed a method to model liquidity using a bottom-up approach. They calculated average size of withdrawals as, Yt=ZtNt Where, Zt is the total withdrawals for time t Nt is the number of withdrawals for time t A period of 35 weeks was considered The average values were, N=t=1TNt, Y=t=1TYt, Z=t=1TZt Then they rescaled data as follows, Mt=NtN , Ct=YtY , Bt=ZtZ Where, Mt is the mob, Ct is the clip, Bt is the bag The basic model was found and applied to product p BLt=p=1KWpBpt, Where, BLt= Business Line at time t Bpt= Bag for each product p at time t Wp= Weight for product p This gives rise to a weekly factor. The dispersion of this weekly factor was the subject of further analysis. This model tries to estimate the weekly cash outflow. 2.9.2 Measuring liquidity risk in Insurance companies In an article namely Measuring Liquidity risk in Banking Management Framework Giampaolo Gabbi (2000, p.44-58) proposed a model to implement liquidity risk within the risk management mostly used, the Value at Risk (VaR). This model also applies for the Insurance sectors since they have similar operations such as fixed deposits, loan facilities and other banking activities. Value at Risk is the largest likely lost from market risk that an asset or portfolio will suffer over a time interval and with a degree of certainty selected by the decision maker Titus Lewis, 1997. In a general circumstance five factors are considered before calculating VaR, this are: volatility of prices, interest and exchange rates probability distribution of likely return time horizon confidence interval correlation among different positions Once these elements are known, risk manager can calculate VaR in the worst case scenario for the single position (pos) VaR pos= pos.n. Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  t where,  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  t is volatility for frequency t n is the scaling factor needed to obtain the desired confidence level under the assumption of a normal distribution of market returns Modeling liquidity in a VaR framework is given by: VaR= n { Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ L)  Ã‚ 1â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¯2 + Æ’( Ã‚ ­  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ©Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã†â€™.  Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚  +  Ã‚ ³Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ º log c â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ½ Where n depends on the underlying distribution,  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨ L)  Ã‚  is the expected execution log in selling the L shares,  Ã‚ ­ is the mean quality discount,  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  is the volatility of the discount and c â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨Lâ‚ ¬Ã‚ © is the quantity discount Unfortunately all these information are difficult to access or calculate, so indicators were used to simplify the equation, leading to the following outcome COL = 12  Ã¢â‚¬ º Pt â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¨S +  Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  spreadâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ©Ã‚ Ã‚  Where COL is the cost of liquidity, Pt is todays mid price for the assets or instrument, S is the average relative defined as  Ã¢â‚¬ ºbid ask Ã‚ Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯ mid price,  Ã‚ ¡ is the scaling factor and  Ã‚ ³Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  spread is the volatility of relative spread. 2.10 Overview of liquidity Risk Management in Mauritius 2.10.1 Liquidity in the Insurance Act 2005 Insurance Companies in Mauritius are governed by the Insurance act 2005 which is regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The FSC has the responsibility to ensure that Insurance companies are taking appropriate measures to manage all the risks to protect the interest of the clients and the public at large. The consequences of liquidity risk on a countrys financial system make its management become a very important issue. Section 23 of the Insurance Act 2005 considers liquidity and solvency issues. It also lists the different assets which are to be considered as liquid assets, for example; cash balances, fixed interest, equities. According to Section 24 (1)(a) of the insurance act an insurer shall in respect of its insurance business at all times have and maintain its level of liquidity as may be prescribed. It imposes Insurance to maintain an adequate and appropriate form of liquidity. At any time the Financial services Commission may order an Insurer to increase its level of liquidity, depending on risks in the Insurance operation, maturing liabilities, quality of assets and other financial resources. Failure to comply with the above will result in that Insurance not been permitted to assume any new risks of any kind, or underwrite or renew any insurance policy; unless it increases its level of liquidity to the indicated amount. 2.10.2 Guideline on Liquidity The Financial Services Commission has issued a Guideline on Liquidity in February 2008. This Guide is issued under section7 (1) (a) of the Financial Services Act 2007 and Section 130 of the Insurance Act 2005. The Guideline on Liquidity gives an exact indication of what the Financial Services Commission is expecting from the Insurers in their management of liquidity. In order to help insurance companies to foster professional standards the Commission expects all insurers to have regard to these Guidelines. These guidelines also require insurers to provide reports on its liquidity position every three months for the first year and at the end of each year afterwards. Guideline on liquidity also concerns contingency planning. A good contingency plan should be realistic, unambiguous, designed to be flexible and should indicate the responsibility and priority of the Insurance and their management team. This will enable an insurance company to withstand a liquidity crisis. Stress test is another aspect of the Guidelines on liquidity. The stress test requirement is the minimum amount of assets that an insurer should hold in excess of its liabilities. The stress test requirement is important in managing liquidity risk. Special attention should be given to assets, liabilities and off balance sheet, consider maturity of policies and their future prospects. The guideline is not intended to be prescriptive on how insurance should measure and control its funding requirement, but however, certain approaches in the theoretical review are recommended. Finally an Insurance company should manage access to fund and consider its diversification. Concentrating in few types of assets, liabilities or market may be risky. Therefore, internal limits on maximum fund engage in one type of activity should be set. The guideline also encourage Insurance to look for new arrangement and developing financial assets and market to have access to fund while reducing liquidity risk. 2.10.3 Solvency II consideration of liquidity Since the introduction of the Solvency I in the early 1970s, there has been continuous development of sophisticated risk management systems leading to its replacement by Solvency II. Solvency II has introduced a wide framework for risk management which helps in implementing procedures to identify, measure, and manage levels of risk. It is the most recent set of regulatory requirements for insurance companies and is scheduled to start on 1 January 2013. New funding sources and liquidity management techniques have been brought forward by financial and technological advances. Therefore, Insurance companies are expected to understand the liquidity levels and the behavior of cash flows in different circumstances and thus enabling them to react accordingly. Solvency II identifies the principles for a proper liquidity management. Those principles fall under the following main headings; reducing the risk that an insurer cannot meet its claims; To reduce the losses encountered by policyholders ; To enable supervisors to act spontaneously if capital goes below the level required; Increase confidence in the financial stability of insurance sector. The Solvency II framework has three major parts for the insurance sector: Quantitative requirements. Governance and risk management requirements. Disclosure and transparency requirements The Guideline on Liquidity issued by the Financial Services Commission reflects mostly the following principles; to develop a structure for the management of liquidity, to measure and monitor net funding requirements, to manage market access, contingency planning, and internal controls for liquidity risk management in improving Liquidity.

College Application Essay :: essays research papers

I am not a Martin Luther King, devoted to a movement, or a Christopher Columbus, devoted to a quest, or a Leonardo di Vinci, devoted to an image. Yet everyone needs some devotion in his life. I am a musician, a daughter, a Christian, a traveler, a sister, a friend, an animal lover, a writer, and many things besides. The biggest dilemma for me is finding ways to fuse these different parts of myself into a recognizable person. I would need several lifetimes to pursue all of my dreams individually, so they must become one dream, one working vessel of passion. So how can I mix my zeal for music, for example, with my need to write? They are one in the same for me, really, both means of ardent expression of sadness or anger or joy. The experience that brought about the conception of my understanding is starkly fixed in my memory. I was at a concert featuring one of Schubert’s Suites for String Quartet and my lack of familiarity with the work only served to heighten my already bursting excitement. They were late getting started and the audience around me fidgeted and chattered. I ignored them, sitting still in my seat, tense with anticipation. Finally the lights dimmed and a pregnant silence took hold. Despite my expectancy I was unprepared for the sudden eruption of applause like a bomb detonating in the hall as the four black figures strode onto the stage. Reminding me of Virginia Woolf’s description in The String Quartet, the performers â€Å"seated themselves facing the white squares under the downpour of light, rested the tips of their bows on the music stand, [and] with a simultaneous movement lifted them.† I leaned forward on my seat, straining to hear the first note even befo re it sounded. With an almost telepathic communication from the first violin, it began. From that moment I was lost. The audience, the musicians, even the music itself was forgotten, swept away by the surge of emotions that engulfed me. As I listened, or rather encountered the exquisite performance, for it was more intimate than listening, I realized with more force than ever before, that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to make people feel like this when I sang.

Rise And Fall Of The Kkk Essay -- essays research papers

The Rise and Fall of the Ku Klux Klan "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" - Thomas Jefferson (Cultural Racism 1) This excerpt from the Declaration of independence specifically stated that all men are created equal, but that is contradiction to the governments decisions. The Ku Klux Klan founded in 1865 by William Nathan Bedford a former confederate general, began a campaign of terror against free blacks and their white supporters. The KKK had a wide array of uneducated people because their main incentive was to recruit young, homeless, and mindless children to follow in their footsteps and become a member of the KKK. In many instances Klan members were taught the KKK did not believe that blacks were capable of the necessary decision making in life, they thought that Blacks were sub-human(Student Handbook 316). The KKK had many wrong beliefs, like that Blacks were not capable of decision making, recruiting young children who did not know better to become members of the KKK, that they were above the law in many instances. On the other hand very few Klan members were educated to know what they were in the Klan for, like David Duke. I believe in white supremacy until blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgement to irresponsible people. John Wayne Interview in Playboy Magazine, May 1971 (Cuturla Racism 2) White supremacy served as the basis for the organization of the Ku Klux Klan, despite slaves and white abolitionists. The KKK blames the abundance of ethnic groups for their misfortunes. The Supreme Court ruled many times that no slave had any rights as a free man. Either their plantation owners or high-ranking officials determined the exploitation and way of life. Whenever a slave escaped it was the right of the owner to reclaim its property (Hamm 27). The whites in the KKK then wanted to become the ultimate race and would do almost anything to do that, an example would be that their main incentive was to go out and recruit young, homeless, ... ...he received his BA in history in 1974, he became an enthusiastic admirer of Adolph Hitler, and by 1975, he had risen to Grand Wizard of the Louisiana Ku Klux Klan (Student Handbook 490).† The United States is known as the melting pot. Since its beginnings as small settlements, this country has always been known as a haven to those who love to cherish it. When people think of America they think of the land of opportunity and that is why so many people are immigrating or emigrating to or in this Country. The Ku Klux Klan is everything the American Dream is not. They are a sign of bigotry and hatred. They have tried for over a hundred years to shatter the dreams of so many people. Many people think that since the civil rights movement the KKK is no longer a danger but in fact it is still a great danger. There are still people like David Duke in office and there is no way to persuade someone to change their views, so we have to live with the bigotry and hatred for a very long time. The Klan of 1865 differs from the Klan of 1999 and it will always be changing. The Klan will never revolve around the main theme of 1865 again but they will always have the same people involved

Nuclear Weapons and their effects :: essays research papers

A nuclear explosion is caused by the release of energy in an atom, either through fission or fusion. Fission weapons cause an explosion by the splitting of atomic nuclei. This happens when a neutron collides with the nucleus of an atom. The protons in the nucleus are transformed into a great amount of energy and two or three more neutrons are sent out, which go on to split other nuclei. If this continues, a chain reaction will occur. The result is a gigantic explosion. To form a chain reaction, a certain amount of material is needed. This amount is known as the critical mass. If the amount is too small it is called a subcritical mass. The critical mass of a material depends on its purity. The materials used in making fission weapons are uranium and plutonium. They are the only elements able to be used in making a fission weapon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The destructive power in fusion weapons comes from the combining of very light atoms, such as hydrogen. The atoms of the element are fused, and they release a great amount of energy. The element must first be heated to a temperature of 50 million degrees Celsius. The only way to do this, without using more energy than is produced, is to use a fission explosion. So, a ball of hydrogen is surrounded by either uranium or plutonium and then by a non-nuclear explosive. The explosive is set off, and it causes the uranium or plutonium to react through fission, which in turn causes the hydrogen to fuse. Once again, the result is a colossal explosion meant for mass destruction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The three main effects that would follow a nuclear explosion are blast, thermal radiation or heat, and radiation. The very first thing to happen is the formation of a fireball. The fireball gives off the thermal radiation that cremates anything within a quarter mile and ignites any and all flammable materials within ten miles. The thermal radiation can cause eye injuries as well as skin burns called flash burns. Between 20 and 30 percent of the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were caused by flash burns. When the fireball begins to dissipate it forms a blast wave that travels away from the explosion at speeds up to 400 miles per hour. This destroys most building within 6 miles. It also kills most people within 3 miles and severely injures or kills most people up to 6 miles away. Nuclear Weapons and their effects :: essays research papers A nuclear explosion is caused by the release of energy in an atom, either through fission or fusion. Fission weapons cause an explosion by the splitting of atomic nuclei. This happens when a neutron collides with the nucleus of an atom. The protons in the nucleus are transformed into a great amount of energy and two or three more neutrons are sent out, which go on to split other nuclei. If this continues, a chain reaction will occur. The result is a gigantic explosion. To form a chain reaction, a certain amount of material is needed. This amount is known as the critical mass. If the amount is too small it is called a subcritical mass. The critical mass of a material depends on its purity. The materials used in making fission weapons are uranium and plutonium. They are the only elements able to be used in making a fission weapon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The destructive power in fusion weapons comes from the combining of very light atoms, such as hydrogen. The atoms of the element are fused, and they release a great amount of energy. The element must first be heated to a temperature of 50 million degrees Celsius. The only way to do this, without using more energy than is produced, is to use a fission explosion. So, a ball of hydrogen is surrounded by either uranium or plutonium and then by a non-nuclear explosive. The explosive is set off, and it causes the uranium or plutonium to react through fission, which in turn causes the hydrogen to fuse. Once again, the result is a colossal explosion meant for mass destruction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The three main effects that would follow a nuclear explosion are blast, thermal radiation or heat, and radiation. The very first thing to happen is the formation of a fireball. The fireball gives off the thermal radiation that cremates anything within a quarter mile and ignites any and all flammable materials within ten miles. The thermal radiation can cause eye injuries as well as skin burns called flash burns. Between 20 and 30 percent of the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were caused by flash burns. When the fireball begins to dissipate it forms a blast wave that travels away from the explosion at speeds up to 400 miles per hour. This destroys most building within 6 miles. It also kills most people within 3 miles and severely injures or kills most people up to 6 miles away.

Moot Court Essay

Jitender Sharma was a young boy of 18 years of age. He fell in love with Poonam Sharma who was a girl of 16 years of age. One day they eloped from their respective homes and finally got married as per Hindu rites and ceremonies. Poonam’s family members were against this marriage. Even her Grand Father and Paternal uncle were not ready to accept this marriage at any cost. They threatened Poonam of her life and safety. Thereafter Poonam’s father lodge First Information Report (FIR) against Jitender at Gandhi Nagar Police Station, Delhi under section 363 and section 376 of Indian Penal Code. On 05.05.2010, a typed letter signed by Poonam was received at the Gandhi Nagar Police Station stating that ‘she had married Jitender with her own will and requested not to file any criminal case against Jitender’. Thereafter on 07.05.2010 Jitender and Poonam were apprehended from Bilaspur in Utter Pradesh and produced before respective court. Poonam refuse to undergo any medical examination. She did not state any thing against Jitender in her statement before the Magistrate under section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Thereafter Jitender was sent to Juvenile Home. Subsequently, Poonam gave in writing that she had left her parents home by her own will and went along with Jitender. The court sent Poonam to Nari Niketan for some time. Then on 17.05.2010, Poonam’s custody was handed over to her Parents. Thereafter, on 15.06.2010 Jitendre was released. Subsequently, he demanded cudtody of her wife by filing writ petition in Delhi High Court. Now argue for the both side and also the law and procedure in the aforesaid matter. Some the issues are listed below and are not limited to the below mentioned issues. These issues are as follows: 1) Whether Jitender is lible for the kidnapping of Poonam from her legal guardian? 2) Whether the marriage is voidable under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955? 3) Whether the Jitender is liable under section 376 of I.P.C, 1960? 4) Whether Poonam must be sent with Jitender under Guardian and Wards Act, 1890?

History of Alcohol

Alcohol: Past, Present, and Future Karl Ballenger Mrs. Hines Communication Arts 200 period 7 February 20, 2007 The beginning of Alcohol While no one knows when alcohol was first used as a beverage (or even created) we do know that it has been used for over ten thousand years. Archeologists to this day are discovering old beer mug containers from the B. C period. Some other archeologist and a few scientists believe it was created in an experimental accident. Like most failed experiments alcohol was soon to be one of the most popular drinks in America.Not only was it going to impact America it impacted the whole world. Everyone would you alcohol in many different ways medicinal purposes, in South America and in the Middle East. They would use it for celebrations any type of celebration and it would be used in sacrifices or offering rituals too. As alcohol caught on people realized what a problem it could be. Everyday people would use alcohol as an everyday beverage not knowing what the affect could be or do; it wasn’t long until everyone was catching on to the harmful effects of the alcohol.Soon after Americans and people all over the world soon were able to control alcohol not before alcohol had gone through prohibition and much other banishment in countries and cultures. Alcohol is considered a drug though some people may not agree we all that once you had too much alcohol you’re not yourself. Although Americans were no always getting to the point where they were unconscious and becoming â€Å"drunk†, there was a lot tolerance for the type of people who would drink alcohol everyday they just knew how to control their selves.Alcohol in Early America Alcohol in early America was highly accepted, everyone would have their fair share of drinks. Alcohol can be easily found in the old days because it was so easy to make, before bars there were pubs and before that people would just drink in their own homes instead of going out to drink. It was so easy to make because alcohol back then would mostly be wine, wine was the typical form of alcohol to be found because it is made up fruits, any kind of fruits but if you wanted stronger tastier wine you would specific types of fruits.The most commonly type of fruit that people would use are grapes, after you pick them you would press them then add in some sugar and water basically and then some yeast. Then allow for fermentation to proceed. As time goes by you would have yourself some tasty drinkable wine. And from their you would end up having your many liquors and eventually beer. It wasn’t long until alcohol played a big role in American history which begun in the 1920s, which was when alcohol became prohibited for a time.Americans have always drunk alcohol especially beer liquor in the 1900s, they would drink daily â€Å"since the availability and purity of water supplies and other drinkable liquids were uncertain† (Clayton Rivers 94). Drinking was used as a socia l activity everyone would feel a little more comfortable than usually with a little wine or beer in their system; it would be breaking the social barrier at gathering for the shy people so that they can interact more.At the same time there has always been a passionate opposition towards alcohol many people would think it is evil and created by the â€Å"devil† because of the nasty effects and the illness’s that it caused. It would even ruin people financially in some cases because of the addiction people would have with it, â€Å"it was typical to see people in saloons night and day†(Karen F Balken04) for weeks just drinking or trying to get the bartender to give them a free drink.So there would be a huge conflict between the alcoholic supporters â€Å"wets† and the non supporters â€Å"dry’s† (Adam Wong03) has existed throughout American history, since the 20th century. It wasn’t until 1919 when the â€Å"dry movement† (Adam W ong03) achieved its greatest victory by banding alcohol nationwide. In 1919 a majority of states ratified the eighteen amendment to the constitution, which states: â€Å"After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within the importation thereof into, or the exportation hereof from the U. S and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is here by prohibited† (Adam Wong03). This banishment, called Prohibition, went into effect in 1920: it was accompanied by the† Volstead Act† (Clayton rivers94), congressional legislation that provided specific rules for enforcing the ban. So for the next 13 years prohibition remained in place, President Calvin Coolidge called it â€Å"the greatest social experiment of modern times† (President Calvin Coolidge). Prohibition in the 1920sAlthough Prohibition continued until 1933 it remains most closely associated with the 1920. in the 1920s â€Å"it was a colorful period in history† (Adam Wong03) bracketed on both ends by tragedy and misfortune. At the start of the twenties, America was just recovering from the devastation and deprivation of World War 1. At the decade’s end the stock market crashed of 1929 which then fell into the great depression and years of hardship. Then in between the 1920s it was a time of unusual prosperity, the economy seemed to be on an endless climb.That no one can believe, it was a type of miracle people had enough money to buy amazing new devices like radios, refrigerators and washing machines. Even the poorest family of the towns and states were able to afford a car, it was also an era of significant social change and great fun, â€Å"it was so fun that it was nicknamed the roaring twenties† and the â€Å"Jazz Age† (Adam Wong03). Everyone was relived and could relax after all the harsh full events that America had went through that now they were ab le to kick back and relax.People would listen to the radio dance in the nightclubs and saw â€Å"talkies† (which are present day movies) everyone was just happy to have their freedom back. Although the 1920s was a fun-loving atmosphere the people would still have to sustain the ban of liquor. But finally the anti alcohol forces succeeded and they were able to get across the eighteenth amendment and the Volstead act. The advocates who wrote and backed these new laws assumed that a majority of Americans would go along with it. They thought that even though you didn’t like the new law you would have to follow it because it was law of the land.But nonetheless law abiding citizens were still able to secretly drink liquor and beer by home brewing it. These illegal drinking parlors were called â€Å"speakeasies† (Adam Wong03). Criminal gangs and known thieves would smuggle the liquor and beer and they made a fortune each one of these â€Å"speakeasies† had their own little illegal organization by selling the illegal liquor. The law enforcement like nowadays would be corrupted by these small organizations with either money or liquor as a bribe and so there wasn’t really a stop to these guys.Prohibition Gone the Right to Drink Prohibition affected millions of Americans but it even went into deeper meaning than just not being able to drink, it touched onto a fundamental issue in American life. The role of government in regulating private lives. â€Å"Many Americans felt that a degree of federal control is justified for the good of the majority† (Adam Wong03). However others argued that the rights of each individual American citizen and states should not be limited by the federal government.This particular group argued that the federal government had no right to mandate something as personal and as trivial compared with serious crimes as drinking habits. â€Å"it was incredible to many people that the federal government, which h ad thoughtfully left their murders, lynching’s, adulteries, discriminations, frauds, and other transgressions to the disciplines of their state legislatures, would ever take a primary and oppressive interest in what American citizens might want to drink† (Historian Norman H.Clark). The conflict over liquor was a long hard-fought battle. But in the end everyone had their right to drink. Alcohol in modern days and future Present day alcohol is still considered somewhat of a menace to society, because alcohol by itself does no harm or damage to anyone, it is our actions and alcohol combined that make it a threat to anyone. In today’s society there have been over millions of alcohol related accidents involving car accidents and suicides and homicides.Every time someone gets into a problem with the police they blame the alcohol they had that it was to strong or they didn’t know what it had in it either way they blame it on the alcohol. Although alcohol does hav e a affects on you and your body it disrupts your nervous system and disrupts your brain waves so that you don’t have full control of your body. But you should already know that, you learn about alcohol your whole life on television school your parents.Alcohol does not change people; the people change their selves by drinking the alcohol, alcohol is a gateway drug which means that it leads to more drugs and more suffering to you and to the people who care about you. Alcohol should be thought up of in moderation like everything, everything and anything is bad for you in moderation so you must be able to control yourself when comes to things like alcohol and drugs alcohol is not as nearly serious as drug but it can lead up to either doing drugs or addiction.Alcohol addiction or an alcoholic is a person who must have some type of alcohol in their system their body won’t function well without the alcohol so they must drink every day. But there is special rehabilitation cen ters to help those kind of people who want to change their life and stop drinking. These places change people’s lives into a good path redirect them to a healthier long lasting life. One of the most important things that alcohol affects could be ones family, alcohol affects about 95 percent families in the United States.And especially affects the kids alcoholics lead to divorces in their family and can ruin sometimes child’s lives and lead them down that same path. There has always so many domestic violence around in America because of alcoholics and what they do to their wives and their children. After they realize what they have done its almost always too late they lose their job their belongings and their families so they basically ruin their lives.Now in the future who knows how bad alcohol and peoples actions will be with all of these new types of drinks they are creating everyday people will just continue drinking without getting any help and lives will be ruined the percentage of alcohol related deaths will probably increase , there is no telling on how bad alcohol will go. Bibliography http://www. drugrehab. net/the-history-of-alcohol-in-america/ http://www2. potsdam. edu/hansondj/Controversies/1114796842. html Alcohol Abuse: Clayton Rivers Prohibition Banning Alcohol: Adam Wong

Discrimination in fairytales

What do you think about fairytales? Do you think about a pretty little princess waiting for her prince or a dark sensual world of make-believe that revolves around violence? I seriously doubt it's the latter. This is because fairytales have drastically changed over the centuries. The modern versions we know today were preceded by a much darker kind of story, one that played heavily on the ideas of superstition, the devil and violence. Genders weren't as heavily criticised. Heroines used to save themselves and others too, usually with brains or charm opposed to brawn. But at least they were trying. An example of this could be â€Å"Sleeping Beauty†, Perrault's version, where the Princess saves herself and her two children from her husband's evil stepmother, by cooking a goat; instead of one of the children as the ogress requested. Her husband then comes in to save her. She played a crucial part in the story: saving her children from the cannibalism of their father's step-mother. Cannibalism is certainly frowned on in society, but is in fact actually a rather common theme in fairytales: Red Riding Hood also originally included cannibalism. The Wolf left the Grandmother's blood and meat for the girl to eat. After she unwittingly cannibalises her grandmother, she sometimes strips for the wolf and gets into bed with it. He then either eats her or ties her to a piece of string. She usually escapes using her own cunning. This is quite different from the grandma-loving biscuit-carrying Red Riding Hood of today. It actually comes across as a story more about child molesting, or at the very least, lust. The story is sometimes seen as a parable of sexual awakening. The red cloak symbolises the blood of the menstruation cycle or the hymen, although earlier versions of the tale do not state the cloak is red. The anthropomorphic wolf can symbolise a lover, a seducer, a rapist, or a molester. This is clearly a rather different take on the Red Riding Hood than we're used to. It seems to be a rather mature disturbing tale. I don't think it's necessarily something we would want our children exposed to. But that was how they were originally written. At least until they were bowdlerised by the Grimm brothers. Fairy stories were originally gothic tales and scary stories about what might come and take you in the night; they were far removed from the Disney classics. The Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, were born in Germany in the late 18th century. In an effort to preserve Germany's heritage and promote cultural unity, they collected a vast array of folk and fairy tales from their fellow Germans-mostly middle- and upper-class friends. Although their original intent was to preserve the stories exactly as told, one edit led to another, and soon they had given the stories a literary style and released them as Kinder- und Hausmirchen (Children's and Household Tales. ) Because their intended audience included children, the Grimms selectively bowdlerised the tales they published, notably removing evil mothers and replacing them with step-mothers (as in the case of †Snow White†), and removing implications of sex and pregnancy (as in †Rapunzel†). However, because standards of child-friendliness have shifted in the past 200 years, some of the Grimms' stories are now considered family unfriendly and the deaths written in them are considered to be shockingly violent. This was not the view at the time. So basically they took a fornicating girl in a tower, and turned her into a damsel in distress. This was not quite the same idea. This gave rise to the dependent needy princesses and maidens that feature so heavily in today's fairytales. These are characters that belittle everything that women fight and give their lives to achieve. And ironically it is the past stories that show less anti-feminism even though people were actually more sexist in that period. At least those women had some self-respect and the ability to plot, and in rare cases, use weapons. The blonde stereotype of women in modern fairytales is unparalleled. From a young age, it's almost as if we are being trained to indulge in the ideals of vanity and sexual dependence. Well excuse me†¦ but I'd rather not. It seems to me that this is the start of young girls' urge and desperation for ‘the look': this is something that many women will diet and exercise to achieve. Although as girls age they graduate off pretty princesses and onto fashion icons and models. I'm completely against this idea, partly because I'm a perpetrator of wanting ‘the look' myself, and the fact that I will never achieve it. In other fairytales, a heroine is willingly bound by a spell, whereas a male character may be cursed because he has refused to yield something, for example shelter, in ‘Beauty and the Beast'. If the female character is cursed unwillingly, she is cursed by a malignant character that is as ugly as her personality. This is the exact opposite of the maiden who is cursed. This amplifies the idea that beauty is idyllic and good and ugliness is evil and unforgivable. This isn't a very good role model for children and I find this interesting because it seems to reflect our desire for beauty. However, the reality is that women are not all beautiful and if they aren't, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are nasty unpleasant people. Some villains do have a sort of beauty, but this is usually a sharp-featured frightening beauty that terrifies the younger generation. A wronged women in a fairytale may take the form of a particular animal to escape an evil stepmother or an unwanted marriage. The animal they take is usually reflective of their main traits. For example a graceful and delicate woman may take the form of a swan or a doe. These are animals that are considered to be beautiful. Their fellow animals will provide some company and will somehow help the character to regain what they have lost. This animalistic form gives the character a connection to nature and separates them from society. They become wilder and less sophisticated, embracing a more instinctual kind of beauty. So characters have also gone from blonde to beast, the opposite of the current situation-where blondes prevail far more than beasts. Beastly women, however, are often considered to be connected the Devil, like ‘wild woman' who is the devil's offspring. Lots of hair or fur seems to show some relation to evil, perhaps as it isn't very attractive. This can be compared with the Elizabethan saying ‘Bush natural more hair than wit' which means that people with lots of hair or fur are supposed to be primitive, inferior, sexual and beastly. These weren't exactly desirable traits either at the time or now. Nowadays there seems to be a teeming population of blondes in fairy stories. An example could be â€Å"La Belle aux cheveux d'or† who had hair ‘finer than gold' that was ‘marvellously wonderfully blonde' and was ‘curly and fell to her feet'. This is a rather pleasing image: a beauty with long wondrously blonde hair. The story claims ‘you couldn't look upon her without loving her'. A rather amazing claim: that a woman or man may just gaze upon her and find themselves desperately in love with her, whether in a sexual way or not. This seems to be an illustration of the power possessed by mere appearances. The word blonde comes from the Latin ‘blandus' meaning charming. So in the past it had no implications of sex or great femininity. It also comes from the Medieval Latin ‘blundus' meaning yellow, which only serves to describe the colour not the appeal. In the 14th century, Chaucer began to use the word ‘blondinet' or ‘blondin', which was an affectionate diminutive. In fact it was mainly used for boys. Nowadays we don't think of boys being blonde in the same way girls are. Blonde began to become exclusively female and suggested sweetness, charm and youthfulness: everything a young princess would desire. Only in the 30's and 40's did the word acquire ‘hot' vampirish undertones and begin to be desired almost obsessively. The word blonde symbolises femininity and beauty; things that women crave beyond reason. However, the reality is that it's just a hair colour and that there are women of all hair colours- black, brown, red, grey†¦ white, if you count albinos- that are as beautiful as blondes. More disturbingly perhaps, in recent years the word blonde has been yoked with ‘dumb' to depict a particular character type. Not only is the heroine nearly always blonde, but she is always young. This seems rather ageist to me and isn't the sort of idea that we would want our children brainwashed with. Do we want them to idolise the youthful and not respect that the elderly can achieve things themselves? No. They should understand from a young age that you can't use people and that OAP's are not a step of the stairway of success, as people is fairy stories often do. The heroine never possesses great wisdom and seems to get things and assistance by flicking her hair and batting her eyelashes. Wow†¦ that's very useful. I don't think that that should be something that children aspire to be like. Intelligence and knowledge are more important than beauty, and fairytales seem to miss this. So the prince can slay a dragon, but can he win a game of checkers? I wouldn't count on it. It seems to me that in fairytales, only the villains seem to possess a decent IQ, as they're the only characters that use their brains or cunning to conjure up a scheme. Heroes rely on courage. I think it's almost sad that in the stories strength and beauty are idolised and seem to triumph over intelligence. This is similar today, however, if we think about how the bullies of the world act all big and tough, but aren't the brightest bulbs around. They tend to pick on the weak, so in today's world that would be the geek. Rather sad, don't you think? The stereotype of a maiden in fairy stories is dependent, needy and waiting for her happily-ever after. This is not exactly an image to aspire to. After all why would a woman need a man? She could get on perfectly well on her own. As the feminist saying goes, â€Å"A women needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle. † However, I think this is a little extreme. Perhaps this dreadful stereotype of women could be remedied if half the time the women went out to save the men. Perhaps it would ruin the men's egos, but at least the women could be portrayed with a little self-respect and not a day-dreaming ditz who has the attention span of a goldfish. The 90's Disney movies tried desperately to do this. Ariel, Belle and Mulan who rush to the aid of their lovers are the examples of this. I decided to write about fairytales because there are so many issues surrounding them. I remember them with fondness from my childhood, and I would want to read them to my children and grandchildren. I think gender discrimination is a serious issue. Just because someone has an X and a Y chromosome or two X's, it doesn't mean they are any better than the other. I think feminism is a step too far in the other direction however. Being co-dependent isn't necessarily a bad thing. Men need women too. Fairytales show both sides of this as well. The prince rescues his princess as he can't live without her and the maiden loves the man because†¦ well who can resist a man on a white horse? Not me! They are simple stories that are debated hotly because of the context of them. Are they too violent? Are they too idealistic? Are they too perfect? Fairytales are all about love and romance. They are about good triumphing over evil in a series of unlikely events. They tell us of deeds of valour and bravery in a time that we can only imagine. They show us how a poor little maid can fall in love and become a princess. The characters may be seriously flawed and have many issues, but they are stories. Wonderful stories. Stories that we read time and time again so that we can dream of being that brave knight or that damsel in distress. I think that my childhood would not have been the same without Chicken Licken or the Princess and the Pea. I think that even though they are unrealistic and give people impossible expectations and dreams, they are a part of our culture. To edit them, as the Grimm brothers did, would destroy a time long-forgotten. I think that they still exist today. The royalty of today is the celebrities-actors and models. We look at them and wish we were like them, just as the people of the Renaissance would have looked at a princess and thought ‘I wish I was her†¦ ‘ Dreaming is in our nature and to change that for the sake of a few misconceptions would be unforgivable.